Metropolitan Apostolos of New Jersey Elected Archbishop of Canada by the Ecumenical Patriarchate
By the HNA Newsroom
PHANAR, Constantinople — The Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, convening on Wednesday, July 22, 2026, under the presidency of His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, unanimously elected Metropolitan Apostolos of New Jersey as the new Archbishop of Canada.
The election took place at the Patriarchal Church of St. George at the Phanar, where the members of the Holy Synod selected Metropolitan Apostolos to lead the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Canada.
A Life of Service to the Orthodox Church
His Eminence Metropolitan Apostolos of New Jersey (born Evangelos Koufalakis) was born on the island of Rhodes, Greece, to Ioannis and Stergia Koufalakis. He completed his early education at the Ecclesiastical School of Patmos.
In 1993, he was tonsured a monk at the Holy Monastery of Panagia Paramythia in Rhodes, receiving the monastic name Apostolos. That same year, he was ordained a deacon by the late Metropolitan Apostolos of Rhodes. Three years later, in 1996, he was ordained to the holy priesthood by the same hierarch.
He earned his theology degree from the Faculty of Theology at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in 2000 before traveling to the United States the following year, with the blessing of his spiritual elder, to pursue advanced theological studies while serving parishes in the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Boston.
In 2004, Metropolitan Apostolos received a Master of Sacred Theology from Boston University School of Theology. That same year, the late Archbishop Demetrios of America appointed him Dean of the historic St. Demetrios and St. Catherine Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Astoria, New York, where he served faithfully and became widely respected for his pastoral leadership.
In 2009, he was appointed Director of the Hellenic Cultural Center of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America in Astoria.
Leadership in the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
In 2011, Metropolitan Apostolos was appointed Chancellor to Metropolitan Gerasimos of San Francisco.
The Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate unanimously elected him Bishop of Medeia in 2014 to serve as Auxiliary Bishop to then-Archbishop Demetrios of America. He was consecrated to the episcopacy on December 20, 2014.
His leadership responsibilities continued to expand. In 2018, he became Chief Secretary of the Holy Eparchial Synod of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.
In 2021, Archbishop Elpidophoros of America appointed him Patriarchal Vicar of the then-vacant Greek Orthodox Metropolis of New Jersey, overseeing its pastoral and liturgical life.
On July 24, 2023, following the recommendation of His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the Holy and Sacred Synod unanimously elected him Metropolitan of New Jersey.
Metropolitan Apostolos Becomes Archbishop of Canada
With today’s unanimous election by the Holy and Sacred Synod, Metropolitan Apostolos assumes the leadership of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Canada, one of the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s most important eparchies in North America.
His election marks a significant moment for Orthodox Christians throughout Canada and the broader Greek Orthodox community, as he brings decades of pastoral, administrative, and spiritual experience to his new ministry.
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