The new regional bishop of the Greek Orthodox Church in America has been installed, one month after he was unanimously elected to the post by church officials.
The Very Rev. Archimandrite Evangelos Kourounis, 41, is now the Metropolitan of the New Jersey Diocese, which also covers Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and the Philadelphia area. He was elevated during ceremonies held Sunday at the Cathedral of St. John the Theologian in Tenafly.
The post had been vacant since the death of Metropolitan George Papaioannou, who suffered a stroke in 1999. Kourounis, a New York native, is one of the few American-born Greek Orthodox bishops and has held several positions in the church, including a term as chancellor of the New Jersey Diocese.
The church has 26 parishes in New Jersey and 540 in the United States. Nationwide, 800 priests serve about 1.5 million members in eight dioceses.