State Department’s Michael Rigas Makes Pilgrimage to Mount Athos

Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources, Greek-American Michael Rigas, recently spent 24 hours in the monastic community of Mount Athos in Greece.

He is in Greece for the U.S.-Greece Energy Conference (P-TEC), scheduled to take place this Thursday and Friday at the Zappeion Hall in Athens.

Michael Rigas: Greek roots and religious devotion

Rigas has deep familial ties to Greece: His father immigrated to the U.S. in 1948 from Aigio, located in the northern Peloponnese. His mother is from Sparta, in the region of Laconia in the Peloponnese.

According to sources, this was the third time the deeply religious Rigas had visited Mount Athos. The visit was organized just two days prior, when his staff informed the Greek consulate in Thessaloniki of his desire to visit the Holy Mountain.

Rigas arrived at Mount Athos around noon on Tuesday, traveling from Ouranoupoli.

He first went to the Administration Building, where he held a warm discussion with the Administrator, Alkiviadis Stefanis. From there, he proceeded to the Church of Protaton, where he venerated the icon of the Axion Esti, one of the most revered icons in Orthodoxy.

Rigas also visited the Holy Monastery of Xenophontos and spent the night at the Monastery of Simonopetra.

Rigas sworn-in Ambassador Guilfoyle

The Deputy Secretary of State departed for Athens this afternoon. He is expected to attend the first reception hosted by the new U.S. Ambassador, Kimberly Guilfoyle, at the ambassadorial residence tonight.

The event holds a special significance, as Ambassador Guilfoyle was sworn in as Ambassador by Michael Rigas himself at the State Department before she departed for Greece.

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