{"id":5749,"date":"2024-08-10T00:23:33","date_gmt":"2024-08-09T21:23:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.afentouli.gr\/?p=5749&lang=en"},"modified":"2024-08-10T00:23:43","modified_gmt":"2024-08-09T21:23:43","slug":"hellenic-congress-of-america-hosted-its-cutting-of-the-vasilopita-in-astoria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.afentouli.gr\/en\/hellenic-congress-of-america-hosted-its-cutting-of-the-vasilopita-in-astoria\/","title":{"rendered":"Hellenic Congress of America Hosted Its Cutting of the Vasilopita in Astoria"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

February 7, 2024<\/h4>\n<\/header>\n
\n
\n

By The National Herald<\/a><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n

\"HECA<\/p>\n

Members of the Hellenic Congress of America at the cutting of the Vasilopita on February 4 with Fr. Gedeon Varytimos. Photo: Courtesy of Despina Afentouli<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

ASTORIA \u2013 The Hellenic Congress of America (HCA) hosted its cutting of the Vasilopita on February 4 at St. Demetrios Cathedral\u2019s Petros Patrides Cultural Center in Astoria with the organization looking forward to continuing its efforts unifying Hellenism. During its first eight years of operation, HCA was one of the organizations that pushed for Greeks living abroad to finally be able to vote from their place of residence.<\/p>\n

HCA General Secretary Dr. Despina Afentouli, journalist and sociologist, gave the welcoming remarks and served as MC for the event.<\/p>\n

HCA President Dr. Demetrios Markouizos emphasized that the goal of the Congress is \u201cto creatively and progressively unite the Omogenia,\u201d while he referred to the new goals that have been set, such as the writing of a World Greek History, but also the establishment of the Day of Greeks Abroad by the Hellenic Ministry of Foreign Affairs.<\/p>\n

HCA Executive Advisor Demetris Filios spoke to The National Herald and recalled the establishment of the HCA in 2016 as everyone noted the contribution of the founding president and now President Emeritus Nick Apostolopoulos, who shared a greeting at the event. Theodora Abazis, HCA Advisor to the President and head of the event organizing committee, also shared her remarks and best wishes.<\/p>\n

\"\"
The Hellenic Congress of America hosted its cutting of the Vasilopita on February 4 at St. Demetrios Cathedral\u2019s Petros Patrides Cultural Center in Astoria. Photo: TNH\/ Christodoulos Athanasatos<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

During the event, the Pan Arcadian Federation of America \u2018Geros tou Morea\u2019 Chapter was honored with the Hellenic Community Excellence Award which was accepted by the organization\u2019s President Evaggelia Lamproulou Sarafoglou. Former president of the Pan Arcadian Federation of America \u2018Geros tou Morea\u2019 Christos Vournas and Society of Kastorians \u2018Omonia\u2019 of New York President Demos Siokis were also honored with the Hellenic Leadership Award.<\/p>\n

The prayer and the cutting of the Vasilopita were presided over by the assistant priest of St. Demetrios Cathedral, Archimandrite Gedeon Varytimos, who represented His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America, conveying his best wishes and support for HCA\u2019s efforts. He also conveyed the best wishes of Dean of St. Demetrios Cathedral Fr. Anargyros Stavropoulos. Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity Director of Music Maestro Costas Tsourakis, bass-baritone, performed the National Anthems of Greece and the United States.<\/p>\n

A traditional Greek meal was also served at the event, accompanied by live Greek music by Giannis Kyriazis.<\/p>\n

Among those present were Consulate General of Greece in New York Department of Economic and Commercial Affairs Head Nikos Thomopoulos, head of the Greek Public Diplomacy Office Mary Vaxevanidou, Pan-Arcadian Federation of America President Angeliki Vournas, Athenians\u2019 Society President Panos Adamopoulos and General Secretary Sylvia Adamopoulos, former president of the Federation of Hellenic Societies of Greater New York Cleanthis Meimaroglou, and HCA 1st Vice President Gus Lambropoulos.<\/p>\n

Source: The National Herald<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

February 7, 2024 By The National Herald Members of the Hellenic Congress of America at the cutting of the Vasilopita on February 4 with Fr. Gedeon Varytimos. Photo: Courtesy of Despina Afentouli ASTORIA \u2013 The Hellenic Congress of America (HCA) hosted its cutting of the Vasilopita on February 4 at …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5750,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2341,2342],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5749","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category--en","category-activities-en","has-thumbnail"],"yoast_head":"\nHellenic Congress of America Hosted Its Cutting of the Vasilopita in Astoria - \u0394\u03ad\u03c3\u03c0\u03bf\u03b9\u03bd\u03b1 \u0391\u03c6\u03b5\u03bd\u03c4\u03bf\u03cd\u03bb\u03b7<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.afentouli.gr\/en\/hellenic-congress-of-america-hosted-its-cutting-of-the-vasilopita-in-astoria\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hellenic Congress of America Hosted Its Cutting of the Vasilopita in Astoria - \u0394\u03ad\u03c3\u03c0\u03bf\u03b9\u03bd\u03b1 \u0391\u03c6\u03b5\u03bd\u03c4\u03bf\u03cd\u03bb\u03b7\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"February 7, 2024 By The National Herald Members of the Hellenic Congress of America at the cutting of the Vasilopita on February 4 with Fr. Gedeon Varytimos. Photo: Courtesy of Despina Afentouli ASTORIA \u2013 The Hellenic Congress of America (HCA) hosted its cutting of the Vasilopita on February 4 at …\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.afentouli.gr\/en\/hellenic-congress-of-america-hosted-its-cutting-of-the-vasilopita-in-astoria\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"\u0394\u03ad\u03c3\u03c0\u03bf\u03b9\u03bd\u03b1 \u0391\u03c6\u03b5\u03bd\u03c4\u03bf\u03cd\u03bb\u03b7\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-08-09T21:23:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-08-09T21:23:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.afentouli.gr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/HECA-Feb-2-2024-Despina-Afentouli2-1568x1289-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1568\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1289\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"dafentouli\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"dafentouli\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.afentouli.gr\/en\/hellenic-congress-of-america-hosted-its-cutting-of-the-vasilopita-in-astoria\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.afentouli.gr\/en\/hellenic-congress-of-america-hosted-its-cutting-of-the-vasilopita-in-astoria\/\",\"name\":\"Hellenic Congress of America Hosted Its Cutting of the Vasilopita in Astoria - \u0394\u03ad\u03c3\u03c0\u03bf\u03b9\u03bd\u03b1 \u0391\u03c6\u03b5\u03bd\u03c4\u03bf\u03cd\u03bb\u03b7\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.afentouli.gr\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.afentouli.gr\/en\/hellenic-congress-of-america-hosted-its-cutting-of-the-vasilopita-in-astoria\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.afentouli.gr\/en\/hellenic-congress-of-america-hosted-its-cutting-of-the-vasilopita-in-astoria\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.afentouli.gr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/HECA-Feb-2-2024-Despina-Afentouli2-1568x1289-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-08-09T21:23:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-08-09T21:23:43+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.afentouli.gr\/#\/schema\/person\/20781629e5d05e7e5e20155c4549483c\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.afentouli.gr\/en\/hellenic-congress-of-america-hosted-its-cutting-of-the-vasilopita-in-astoria\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.afentouli.gr\/en\/hellenic-congress-of-america-hosted-its-cutting-of-the-vasilopita-in-astoria\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.afentouli.gr\/en\/hellenic-congress-of-america-hosted-its-cutting-of-the-vasilopita-in-astoria\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.afentouli.gr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/HECA-Feb-2-2024-Despina-Afentouli2-1568x1289-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.afentouli.gr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/HECA-Feb-2-2024-Despina-Afentouli2-1568x1289-1.jpg\",\"width\":1568,\"height\":1289},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.afentouli.gr\/en\/hellenic-congress-of-america-hosted-its-cutting-of-the-vasilopita-in-astoria\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"\u0391\u03c1\u03c7\u03b9\u03ba\u03ae\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.afentouli.gr\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Hellenic Congress of America Hosted Its Cutting of the Vasilopita in Astoria\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.afentouli.gr\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.afentouli.gr\/\",\"name\":\"\u0394\u03ad\u03c3\u03c0\u03bf\u03b9\u03bd\u03b1 \u0391\u03c6\u03b5\u03bd\u03c4\u03bf\u03cd\u03bb\u03b7\",\"description\":\"\u03a0\u03c1\u03bf\u03c3\u03c9\u03c0\u03b9\u03ba\u03ae \u0399\u03c3\u03c4\u03bf\u03c3\u03b5\u03bb\u03af\u03b4\u03b1\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.afentouli.gr\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.afentouli.gr\/#\/schema\/person\/20781629e5d05e7e5e20155c4549483c\",\"name\":\"dafentouli\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.dafentouli.gr\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.afentouli.gr\/en\/author\/dafentouli\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Hellenic Congress of America Hosted Its Cutting of the Vasilopita in Astoria - \u0394\u03ad\u03c3\u03c0\u03bf\u03b9\u03bd\u03b1 \u0391\u03c6\u03b5\u03bd\u03c4\u03bf\u03cd\u03bb\u03b7","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.afentouli.gr\/en\/hellenic-congress-of-america-hosted-its-cutting-of-the-vasilopita-in-astoria\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Hellenic Congress of America Hosted Its Cutting of the Vasilopita in Astoria - \u0394\u03ad\u03c3\u03c0\u03bf\u03b9\u03bd\u03b1 \u0391\u03c6\u03b5\u03bd\u03c4\u03bf\u03cd\u03bb\u03b7","og_description":"February 7, 2024 By The National Herald Members of the Hellenic Congress of America at the cutting of the Vasilopita on February 4 with Fr. Gedeon Varytimos. Photo: Courtesy of Despina Afentouli ASTORIA \u2013 The Hellenic Congress of America (HCA) hosted its cutting of the Vasilopita on February 4 at …","og_url":"https:\/\/www.afentouli.gr\/en\/hellenic-congress-of-america-hosted-its-cutting-of-the-vasilopita-in-astoria\/","og_site_name":"\u0394\u03ad\u03c3\u03c0\u03bf\u03b9\u03bd\u03b1 \u0391\u03c6\u03b5\u03bd\u03c4\u03bf\u03cd\u03bb\u03b7","article_published_time":"2024-08-09T21:23:33+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-08-09T21:23:43+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1568,"height":1289,"url":"https:\/\/www.afentouli.gr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/HECA-Feb-2-2024-Despina-Afentouli2-1568x1289-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"dafentouli","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"dafentouli","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.afentouli.gr\/en\/hellenic-congress-of-america-hosted-its-cutting-of-the-vasilopita-in-astoria\/","url":"https:\/\/www.afentouli.gr\/en\/hellenic-congress-of-america-hosted-its-cutting-of-the-vasilopita-in-astoria\/","name":"Hellenic Congress of America Hosted Its Cutting of the Vasilopita in Astoria - \u0394\u03ad\u03c3\u03c0\u03bf\u03b9\u03bd\u03b1 \u0391\u03c6\u03b5\u03bd\u03c4\u03bf\u03cd\u03bb\u03b7","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.afentouli.gr\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.afentouli.gr\/en\/hellenic-congress-of-america-hosted-its-cutting-of-the-vasilopita-in-astoria\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.afentouli.gr\/en\/hellenic-congress-of-america-hosted-its-cutting-of-the-vasilopita-in-astoria\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.afentouli.gr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/HECA-Feb-2-2024-Despina-Afentouli2-1568x1289-1.jpg","datePublished":"2024-08-09T21:23:33+00:00","dateModified":"2024-08-09T21:23:43+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.afentouli.gr\/#\/schema\/person\/20781629e5d05e7e5e20155c4549483c"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.afentouli.gr\/en\/hellenic-congress-of-america-hosted-its-cutting-of-the-vasilopita-in-astoria\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.afentouli.gr\/en\/hellenic-congress-of-america-hosted-its-cutting-of-the-vasilopita-in-astoria\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.afentouli.gr\/en\/hellenic-congress-of-america-hosted-its-cutting-of-the-vasilopita-in-astoria\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.afentouli.gr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/HECA-Feb-2-2024-Despina-Afentouli2-1568x1289-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.afentouli.gr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/HECA-Feb-2-2024-Despina-Afentouli2-1568x1289-1.jpg","width":1568,"height":1289},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.afentouli.gr\/en\/hellenic-congress-of-america-hosted-its-cutting-of-the-vasilopita-in-astoria\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"\u0391\u03c1\u03c7\u03b9\u03ba\u03ae","item":"https:\/\/www.afentouli.gr\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Hellenic Congress of America Hosted Its Cutting of the Vasilopita in Astoria"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.afentouli.gr\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.afentouli.gr\/","name":"\u0394\u03ad\u03c3\u03c0\u03bf\u03b9\u03bd\u03b1 \u0391\u03c6\u03b5\u03bd\u03c4\u03bf\u03cd\u03bb\u03b7","description":"\u03a0\u03c1\u03bf\u03c3\u03c9\u03c0\u03b9\u03ba\u03ae \u0399\u03c3\u03c4\u03bf\u03c3\u03b5\u03bb\u03af\u03b4\u03b1","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.afentouli.gr\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.afentouli.gr\/#\/schema\/person\/20781629e5d05e7e5e20155c4549483c","name":"dafentouli","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.dafentouli.gr"],"url":"https:\/\/www.afentouli.gr\/en\/author\/dafentouli\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.afentouli.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5749","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.afentouli.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.afentouli.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.afentouli.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.afentouli.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5749"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.afentouli.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5749\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5752,"href":"https:\/\/www.afentouli.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5749\/revisions\/5752"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.afentouli.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5750"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.afentouli.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.afentouli.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.afentouli.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}