National Commander

Anthony J. Limberakis, MD
Archon Aktouarios, National Commander

Anthony J. Limberakis, MD, an Archon of the Ecumenical Patriarchate since 1987 and a member of the Archon National Council since 1988 is a practicing radiologist in Philadelphia, PA. A 1978 graduate of Duke University School of Medicine, he is president and owner of Bustleton Radiology Associates, Ltd., a leading full service outpatient radiology practice in Philadelphia.

Active in the Greek Orthodox Church, Doctor Limberakis serves as the National Commander of the Order of St. Andrew, an organization comprised of the leading Orthodox churchmen in the United States whose mission is to defend and support the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, the spiritual center of the world’s 300 million Orthodox Christians located in Istanbul, Turkey. To be invested as an Archon of the Ecumenical Patriarchate is the highest honor a layman may achieve in the Orthodox Church.

With the blessings of Archbishop Demetrios of America, the Exarch (or representative) of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in the United States, Doctor Limberakis has led the Order of St. Andrew in a major international religious freedom initiative for the Ecumenical Patriarchate, which is under heavy religious persecution. The Ecumenical Patriarchate traces its origin to the first called Apostle of Jesus Christ, St. Andrew, who was the brother of St. Peter. Ecumenical Patriarch BARTHOLOMEW is the 269th successor of St. Andrew and the First Among Equals (Primus Inter Pares) of all Orthodox Patriarchs and Pope BENEDICT XVI, the head of the Roman Catholic Church, is the 265th successor of St. Peter. The Ecumenical Patriarchate, the Spiritual Center of worldwide Orthodoxy, is under oppressive religious persecution by the government of the Republic of Turkey. It is in this milieu of state persecution that the continued existence of the Ecumenical Patriarchate is threatened. Under the leadership of Doctor Limberakis, the Archons in the United States have initiated an assertive multifaceted religious freedom project enlisting the assistance of the government of the United States, as well as the European Union and the Helsinki Commission to convey the urgent message to the Turkish government that unless the religious persecution ceases, the very survival of the Ecumenical Patriarchate is in peril.

Doctor Limberakis is a member of the Corporate Board of Hellenic College/Holy Cross School of Theology and has served on the governing board of several Greek Orthodox churches in the Philadelphia area. In May 2002 Doctor Limberakis received an Honorary Doctorate Degree in Humanities from Hellenic College, Brookline Massachusetts, for his professional and community leadership. In May 2000 he received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor in recognition of his contributions to the Greek American community.

Active at the Duke University Medical Center, Doctor Limberakis serves on its Board of Visitors and was past president of the Duke Medical Alumni Association and its major gift organization, the Davison Club. In addition, he has served as member of the Medical Alumni Council and as chairman of its Strategic Planning Committee, which provided the blueprint for the reorganization and revitalization of the Medical Alumni Association. He has been awarded the Charles A. Dukes Award, Duke’s highest recognition for volunteer service to the University and is a member of the Founder’s Society and the Century Cub. In November 1999 Doctor Limberakis was the recipient of the Duke Medical Center Distinguished Service Award that is given periodically to an alumnus who has demonstrated exemplary service to the Medical Center and School of Medicine.

Doctor Limberakis, born in 1952 in Fresno, California and a former Page in the United States Senate while in high school, earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in political science at the University of Pennsylvania in 1975. After graduating medical school from Duke in 1978, he completed his medical internship at the Graduate Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and his residency in radiology at the Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in 1983. He is married to Dr. Maria A. (Borden) Limberakis, a family practitioner and together have three children, John, Anthony and Elizabeth.