Metropolitan Apostolos of New Jersey was elected Archbishop of Canada on Wednesday, July 22, after Archbishop Sotirios resigned.
The Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate chose him unanimously during its meeting at the Phanar, under the presidency of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, Orthodoxia Info reported.
His election opens a leadership transition in the Metropolis of New Jersey, whose jurisdiction includes New Jersey, Greater Philadelphia, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia.
Apostolos was born Evangelos Koufallakis in Rhodes in 1969. He studied at the Patmias Ecclesiastical School and Aristotle University of Thessaloniki before moving to the United States for graduate study. He earned a Master of Sacred Theology degree from Boston University in 2004 while serving Greek Orthodox communities in the Metropolis of Boston.
He later served in Astoria, directed the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America’s cultural center, and became chancellor of the Metropolis of San Francisco. He was elected Bishop of Medeia in 2014 and appointed chief secretary of the Holy Eparchial Synod in 2018.
Archbishop Elpidophoros assigned him to oversee the pastoral and liturgical responsibilities of the vacant Metropolis of New Jersey in 2021. The Ecumenical Patriarchate elected him Metropolitan of New Jersey on July 24, 2023, and he was enthroned that September, according to his official Archdiocese biography.
In Canada, Apostolos succeeds Archbishop Sotirios, who served as a bishop there for more than 52 years. Sotirios was elected bishop in December 1973 and ordained in January 1974. He became Metropolitan of Toronto and Exarch of All Canada in 1996 and was elevated to Archbishop of Canada in 2019, according to the Canadian Archdiocese.
The Metropolis of New Jersey now awaits an announcement on interim administration, followed by the election of Apostolos’ successor.