was installed as president of the National Council of Churches (NCC) on November 15, 2001, at a special service of vespers in Oakland, California. An Oregon attorney, she is a prominent member of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, and the first Orthodox woman to hold the NCC post.
These excerpts from her remarks at that event are provided by the National Council of Churches News Service.
"In all of recorded human history, and no doubt even prior, humans have always managed to divide themselves into an 'us' and 'them' configuration. We are all, apparently by our very nature, inclined to divide our relationships in such a manner. This starts at a very early age when 'us' is our family and 'them' is everyone else.
