Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith: The Sovereign Role of Religion in the Greek Diaspora

Superficially a unit of religious administration, Greek immigrants to the US established the institution of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese America at the turn of the twentieth century. Although management of clergy and confessional regulation were its primary functions, by the 1930s, the Archdiocese became the seat of immigrant life, overseeing political, intellectual, cultural, and philanthropic programming. Thus, as a locus of power, it was not only the center of spiritual authority, but of education and diplomacy.

Its leader, the Archbishop of America, was recognized as head of not simply the Greek Orthodox Church as religious institution, but also of the Greek diaspora as a commonwealth by exercising presidency over the immigrant networks as a collective. The nodes of this network included benevolent organizations, such as local community centers (where lay trustee boards governed Greek worship and educational concerns), schools, diaspora societies based on common locality, and charitable institutions.

While scholars assert that the Archdiocese became the crown jewel of Greek-America, an accounting of what factors determined that trajectory is lacking. This paper seeks to fill that gap by exploring how the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America came to be established as a central mechanism of power distribution for the Greek diaspora—both among immigrant communities and between immigrants and their host communities. Particular attention will be given to the office and authority of the Archbishop of America. By considering the nature of his “sovereign” role as “head of the nation,” this paper will cast a broad and inclusive net in understanding the intellectual, theological, and cultural currents driving how he became the point of unity for national identity and pride, acting as mediator, pedagogue, community patron, and high priest of the Greek immigrant.

The paper will draw from primary sources, including correspondences, periodicals, and immigrant publications.