To the Reverend Clergy and All the Faithful of the Metropolis of San Francisco:

It is with profound sorrow that I write to inform you that His Eminence Metropolitan Anthony, our beloved Father and Arch-Shepherd, departed this life in the hope of resurrection yesterday, December 25th, at 4:05pm, following a battle with Burkitt’s Lymphoma. His Eminence passed away at UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, California, surrounded by his family and loved ones; his departure was truly “painless, blameless, and peaceful.

Metropolitan Anthony served as the first bishop of the Diocese of San Francisco, standing at the helm of the Diocese and later Metropolis for over twenty-five years. His presence and enthusiasm, his warmth and vigor, and his prophetic vision for the Church in this region will be sorely missed, but never forgotten.

Funeral arrangements are as follows: on Tuesday, December 28, Orthros will be celebrated at 8:00 AM, and the Divine Liturgy at 9:00 AM, after which Metropolitan Anthony will lie in state in the Bishop Anthony Chapel of Annunciation Cathedral in San Francisco throughout the day. The Trisagion Service will be celebrated on Tuesday evening, January 28, at 7:30 PM, at the Annunciation Cathedral, after which His Eminence’s body will be transferred to the Ascension Cathedral in Oakland. On Wednesday morning, January 29, Orthros will take place at 8:00 AM, and the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy at 9:00 AM, at the Ascension Cathedral in Oakland. The funeral service, over which His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios and members of the Eparchial Synod will preside, will begin at 11:00 AM, with the Makaria luncheon to follow. Metropolitan Anthony will be temporarily interred at the Greek Orthodox Memorial Park in Colma, California, pending final interment at the Monastery of the Theotokos the Life-Giving Spring in Dunlap, California.

May his memory be eternal.

Yours in Christ,

Fr. Paul Schroeder