The brilliance of Orthodoxy was in full array in Troy Michigan Tuesday evening, February 19, as Metropolitan KALLISTOS made his first visit to Detroit to discuss the Future of Orthodoxy in the United States. The visit was hosted by St. Andrew House Center for Orthodox Christian Studies.
In what was undoubtedly the most successful Pan Orthodox event ever held in this city, more than 500 people jammed into St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church in Troy, Michigan, to hear the presentation.
The setting was the beautiful Byzantine sanctuary of St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church in Troy, Michigan, under the pastoral care of Fr. Joseph Antypas. The event had to be moved into the sanctuary when it became apparent that the original setup in the church hall would not suffice.
"We must say the catholicity and universality of the church are more valuable, more fundamental than our national, ethnic, and cultural identity," His Eminence told the assembled group. "If the basis of the Church’s existence is life in the Eucharist, it means that the church is organized on a territorial, and not on an ethnic principle," he continued.
"We need to be clear about our priorities; the catholicity and universality of the Church, are much much more precious than our national or ethnic identity," said the hierarch.
By Douglas Cramer, Editor, Antiochian.org 
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His Eminence Metropolitan PHILIP presided over the Nativity Liturgy in 2007 at St. Nicholas Cathedral of Brooklyn, New York. This recording, provided by Fr. Thomas Zain of St. Nicholas and produced by John Maddex of 