Dear friends,
I wanted to be here in person at this joyous event, that is pointedly significant, not only for these dear friends of the Manatos Family, but for the entirety of the Omogeneia.
For forty years as an organization, and for more than forty as a force for good in Washington, D.C., this family has served our country and most certainly the interests of our Diaspora. The founders of Manatos and Manatos, Andy and his father Mike N. Manatos, who was a legendary figure in service to our Nation here in the Capital City, brought about a uniquely Greek presence within the American Halls of Power. The namesake, Mike A. Manatos, is now the third generation to carry on the family tradition of excellence in the age-old and truly Hellenic art of the πόλις.
All of us have benefited from our association with this remarkable family. Their passionate advocacy for Hellenism – for Cyprus, for Greece, for the Ecumenical Patriarchate, and for our Sacred Archdiocese of America – is well known throughout the land.
Their forty-year sojourn is filled with historic wins and stories of their championing our every cause.
As Archbishop, I feel delighted to express on behalf of the entirety of the Omogeneia our highest esteem and gratitude for the service they have brought to the community. May their successes and accomplishments be even greater in the next forty years, and in the generations to come.
Εἰς Ἀνώτερα!