Father Alex Karloutsos presented with Presidential Medal of Freedom by Joe Biden

US President Joe Biden presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom to 17 distinguished personalities during a grand event held at the White House on Thursday, with the honorees praised for having made an “exemplary contribution to the prosperity of the United States,” as characteristically stated in the official press release issued in Washington.

Among those honored was Fr. Alexander Karloutsos, a Greek, who was born in the village of Latzoi, Ilia prefecture, and who is considered as one of the most influential clerics in the history of the Orthodox Church in America.

“Father Alex”

“Father Alex”, as he is called endearingly, is known for his tireless work in support and reinforcement of Hellenism around the world, as well as his dynamic position on issues dealing with religious freedom and human rights, having served for many years as a special assistant to the Archbishop of America.

He became a liaison with other Church Primates, the White House, the US Congress, federal and local office-holders, Greek-American organizations and political action committees.

Fr. Alexander was the force behind the effort to rebuild the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church at the World Trade Center in Manhattan, which was destroyed in the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, and which was consecrated on Wednesday — 21 years after its destruction.

Fr. Alexander is also the spiritual guide for the Order of St. Andrew, Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in America.

The White House statement regarding Fr. Alexander reads: “Father Alexander Karloutsos is the former Vicar General of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. After over 50 years as a priest, providing counsel to several U.S. presidents, he was named by His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew as a Protopresbyter of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.”

Fr. Alexander is the third individual of Greek descent who has been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by a US President. The first was the late Archbishop Iakovos, who was presented with the Medal 42 years ago by then US President Jimmy Carter. George Tenet, the former director of the CIA, was honored with the distinction in 2004 by then President George W. Bush.

Another 16 distinguished individuals were honored during the Thursday event at the White House, including actor Denzel Washington, a Manhattan nurse who was the first American to receive the Covid-19 vaccination after clinical tests, gymnast Simone Biles, one of the greatest Olympic athletes of all time, as well as the late co-founder of Apple, Steve Jobs,

Career

Fr. Alexander was born on April 5, 1945 in the village of Latzoi, in Ilia prefecture of southern Greece.

At a young age he moved with his family to the United States. The death of his mother, when he was only eight, prompted him to become a priest.

He studied at the Greek college in Brookline, Massachusetts, while he completed his graduate studies in theology at the Hellenic College Holy Cross of Boston, and was ordained a deacon and then a priest in 1970 at the parish of Sts. Constantine and Helen in south Chicago.

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew appointed Fr. Alexander as a Protopresbyter, or Archpriest, of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in 1994, the highest honor ever bestowed on a married Orthodox priest. In the late 1990s, he was appointed to the parish of the Holy Cathedral of the Dormition of the Theotokos, in The Hamptons, New York.

Fr. Alexander is married with Xanthi, with whom he has three children and 10 grandchildren.

Fr. Alexandros, Xanthi Karloutsos and their son, Michael, also enjoy a long-standing friendship with the family of current US President Joe Biden.

Xanthi Karloutsos, in fact, is a member of the board of directors of the Beau Biden Foundation for the Protection of Children (BBF), named after the late son of the US President.

Fr. Alexander and Presvytera, or Hon. Priest’s wife Xanthi, continue to travel around the world, in support of Greece, the Ecumenical Patriarchate, but also for the Diaspora, in any way they can.

“Father Alex” maintains close relations with many distinguished members of the Greek Diaspora in America, including with the current US Ambassador to Greece, George Tsunis.

A year before his retirement, Fr. Alexander was appointed as the Vicar General of the Archdiocese of America and continues to work for the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew Foundation.