Hellenic College-Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology

Athenagoras of America soon after his enthronement became convinced that a seminary was needed in America to prepare American born man for the priesthood. At the 1936 Clergy-Laity Congress, he announced that the school would open next year in Pomfret, Connecticut, on an estate owned by the Archdiocese, bought for a song during the Great Depression. The establishment of the seminary in Pomfret was a bold experiment, fraught with difficulties. Demetrios Michaelides, who entered the Holy Cross in the 1937, remembered: "The first year was very hard. We were isolated. Being the first class of the start of the seminary was a challenge. The school had very little money, which was a hardship for all. There was not much money for food or books or other supplies. People from Boston and Worcester would bring food for us."
In 1966, Holy Cross expanded its undergraduate division into a full four-year liberal arts college named Hellenic College, which opened in 1968. Hellenic College Holy Cross is the only accredited Orthodox …