[i]MADISON, WI[/i]: [b]Bishop Demetrios of Mokissos[/b], Chancellor of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Chicago, was invited to the Chazen Museum of Art on the campus of the University of Wisconsin-Madison on Friday, March 10, as a Guest Speak at the “Mount Athos in Context: Art, History, Ritual and Spirituality of Eastern Orthodox Monoasticism” Symposium.

The [i]University of Wisconsin-Madison[/i] Department of Art History has organized an exhibit “Holy Mountain: Icons from Mount Athos and Photographs by Frank Horlbeck” in the Oscar F. and Louise Greiner Mayer Gallery at the Chazen Museum of Art. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, Mount Athos is a beautiful, wooded and mountainous peninsula in Northeastern Greece that constitutes one of the most sacred sites for the Eastern Orthodox Christianity. It includes twenty working monasteries and their dependencies and a rich cultural heritage dating back as far as the tenth century.

Warmly welcomed by University Dean Karl Scholz, Professor of Art History Thomas Dale, Professor Emeritus Frank Horlbeck, Madison Parish Priest Michael Vanderhoef, and many of the other presenters today, [b]Bishop Demetrios[/b] said "I will conclude this most cursory introduction to what is perhaps of greatest importance and influence of Mount Athos on the faithful of my Orthodox tradition: the beauty of the Holy Mountain - its physical beauty in its landscape and in its ancient architecture, in its iconography, and the beauty of its liturgical life - is one that inspires every pilgrim and visitor and moves the imagination of those who learn of it from afar."

[b]Bishop Demetrios of Mokissos[/b] serves as the Chancellor of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Chicago, under the leadership of Metropolitan Iakovos of Chicago. In his position, he travels throughout the Metropolis of Chicago to visit most of the parishes annually. He has received nationwide recognition for his human rights activities and interfaith outreach, including his leadership in ending the death penalty in Illinois, state resolutions calling for Religious Freedom for the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, and just recently last year for the official recognition by the United States of the Genocide by ISIS against the Christian minority population of Syria and Iraq.

The Eastern Orthodox Church is the second largest Christian denomination worldwide. The Metropolis of Chicago oversees all Greek Orthodox Parishes within Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, as well as large portions of Missouri and Indiana. You can find more information on His Grace Bishop Demetrios and the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Chicago on our website: [i][b]www.chicago.goarch.org[/b][/i].

Contact: John C. Ackerman
Director of Media Relations