Father Alexandros Karloutsos: Biden honors him with the “Presidential Medal of Freedom”

The “Presidential Medal of Freedom” from the President of the USA, Joe Biden, is received today by Father Alexandros Karloutsos. A development that was “informed with great joy and paternal pride” by the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.

His Eminence Protopresbyter of the Ecumenical Throne Alexandros Karloutsos becomes the second Greek to be awarded the “Presidential Medal of Freedom”. The first time was in 1980, when Jimmy Carter honored Archbishop Iakovos with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

“The Patriarch contacted the honoree and warmly congratulated him, as well as his blessed family, adding that this high honor reflects on the Ecumenical Patriarchate, of which Fr. Alexander was and is a worthy cleric, and expressing to him the Patriarchal pleasure and paternal wish and blessing”, according to relevant announcement.

It is noted that Father Alex has offered for decades his devotion to Orthodoxy, to the Patriarchate and of course to Hellenism in America. He adopted close to three archbishops of America and helped with his efficiency and tireless industry.

The Presidential Medal of Freedom is an award presented by the president of the USA to recognize individuals who have made a particularly meritorious contribution to security or national interests, world peace, cultural or other important public or private endeavors.

Except for Fr. Alex Carloutsos 16 more personalities from the United States will be honored including Simone Biles, who is the most decorated athlete in history, with a total of 32 Olympic and World Championship medals, actor Denzel Washington and Sandra Lindsay, an intensive care nurse in New York who served on the front lines against the coronavirus and was the first American woman to receive the vaccine outside of clinical trials.

The Presidential Medal of Freedom – awarded to about 10 individuals each year on a date around the Fourth of July – was established by John F. Kennedy in 1963 and replaced the Medal of Freedom established in 1945 by Harry Truman to honor civilian service during World War II.

Father Alexandros Karloutsos

It’s about an iconic figure both for the Greek diaspora and more generally for the orthodox flock of the USA. As a spiritual advisor to the Order of Saint Andrew of the Lords of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in America, he has brought important personalities close to the US Orthodox Church by organizing events for charitable purposes from time to time, while he has open channels of communication with politicians, diplomats and financial actors of the Community.

Father Alex, he is associated with a close friendship with the president of the USA for more than 40 years, when he was a close associate of Archbishop James, while Joe Biden was a member of Congress.

As Father Alex himself had said in earlier interviews, the turning point was the year 1976 when the then elected American President Carter had not invited Archbishop Iakovos to his inauguration. The Archbishop then assigned Father Alex to develop the Archdiocese’s public relations with the White House and Congress. Then father Karloutsos started hanging out with senators and especially with Paul Sarbani from Maryland, whom Joe Biden loved very much.

When Biden contested for the first time in 1987-1988 the nomination of the Democrats for the Presidency, Fr. Alex Karloutsos helped him in the electoral contest. Thus, their friendly relationship began, while their sons Michalis and Hunter also hung out. In 2008, when Biden again claimed the anointing, he contacted Carloutsos again to support him, as he did. In 1972, Joe Biden lost his first wife and one-year-old daughter. While in 2015 he lost his son Bo to brain cancer. Then the one who stood up to him enough was Father Alex, while the death of Biden’s son brought the two men even closer. In fact, when Joe Biden created the Bo Biden Foundation for the protection of children, he asked his father Alex’s wife, elder Xanthi, to be on the committee.

It is remarkable that Father Alex was the man who catalyzed Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ trip to Washington last May where he had met with the American president. Father Alex Karloutsos, having an excellent knowledge of the human geography in the American centers of power, was the one who, when necessary, picked up the phone and spoke with President Joe Biden and people in his close environment to overcome difficulties that had appeared and in which persons who were not involved were involved. they viewed the Greek Prime Minister’s visit as absolutely positive, even when the relevant dates for his arrival in Washington had been given by the White House.

The origin of Fr. Alexandros Karloutsos is the martyred semi-plain village of Ilia Latzoi. Before he was even three years old, he left with his parents for the “Promised Land” as they called the United States in those days. He studied Theology and did postgraduate studies in Boston and at the University of Geneva

Now on the walls of his modest office, on the ground floor of the Archdiocese of America next to Central Park, hangs the modern political history of the United States. In the photo frames, Father Alex appears with the American presidents of the last decades. And this is what explains why Fr. Alexandros Karloutsos is considered one of the strongest Homogenes. Every summer, Father Alex organizes in Southampton, the southern part of the New York resort of the Hamptons, the charity gala blue dream with all the billionaires of the expatriate as guests. Joe Biden was present in 2019. By his side, Fr. Alex Karloutsos has Elder Xanthi, while no matter how much time is occupied by his activities, he will always find extra for his children and grandchildren.