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Written on 01 August 2024.

3. Metropolitan of Nafpaktos

On the 19 July 1995 he was elected Metropolitan of Nafpaktos and St Vlassios. He was ordained on 20 July 1995 at the Metropolitan Cathedral in Athens, with Metropolitan Theoklitos of Ioannina as the presiding bishop, by order of Archbishop Seraphim of Athens and All Greece, and with the following Metropolitans concelebrating: Christodoulos of Dimitrias (later Archbishop of Athens and All Greece), Kallinikos of Piraeus, Hieronymus of Thiva and Levadia (now Archbishop of Athens and All Greece), Maximus of Serrai and Nigrita, Alexander of Mantineia and Kynouria, Agathonikos of Kitros, John of Pergamon, Ignatius of Arta and Panteleimon of Veria. He was enthroned in Nafpaktos on 10 September of the same year (1995).

In the Holy Metropolis of Nafpaktos and St Vlassios, apart from his ecclesiastical, liturgical, pastoral and administrative work:

he founded ‘Charity Associations’ in the parishes of the city, which undertake significant social work
he founded the Benevolent Fund of the Metropolis
he has ordained and appointed new members of clergy
he has organised parish life, inaugurating spiritual centres in central parishes.
he has established monthly meetings of clergy
he has taught Orthodox hesychastic monasticism, in accordance with the Orthodox tradition
he has organised the offices of the Holy Metropolis
he has twice renovated the building of the Holy Metropolis in Nafpaktos
he has renovated the Spiritual Centre of the Holy Metropolis in Nafpaktos
he has put on a legal basis and completed the building complex on St David’s Hill and established it as a ‘Cultural and Research Centre’
he has rebuilt, inaugurated and renovated church buildings
he has renovated and brought back into operation the summer camps and the ‘Communication Centre’ of the Holy Metropolis in St Panteleimon, Antirrio
he takes an interest in young people and catechism. He visits schools and speaks to the pupils.
he assisted in reviving events to mark the Battle of Lepanto (1571) and the liberation of Nafpaktos from the Ottoman yoke (1829)
he assisted in the establishment and operation for many years of a branch of the Technological Educational Institution and an evening Vocational High School in Nafpaktos
he gives talks to teachers and students
he organises and speaks at conferences and seminars for priests, teachers, students, academics, doctors, lawyers and engineers
he speaks every Monday at the Spiritual Centre of the Holy Metropolis of Nafpaktos, expounding subjects from the Orthodox teaching of the Church
he has founded a School of Byzantine Music and a choir of traditional music, which operate in Nafpaktos
he founded a School of Ecclesiastical Iconography
he established the publication of the newspaper of the Holy Metropolis, Ekklisiastiki Paremvasi, in which all the pastoral work in the Metropolis is recorded
he brought the website of the Holy Metropolis into operation
he travels around mountainous Nafpaktia and St Vlassios in the summer months
he takes an active part in the cultural movement in Nafpaktos
he organises events and pastoral outings

To date he has organised ten Theological Conferences in Nafpaktos, and is publishing their Proceedings.
The subjects of the Theological Conferences to date are (video, in Greek):

(See website for the Conference)

Apart from the rebuilding and renovation of parish churches, he has renovated the buildings of the Holy Monasteries of the Dormition of the Theotokos Ambelakiotissa and the Honourable Forerunner Vomvokous, and he has overseen the renovation of the Hesychasterion of the All-Holy Virgin Gorgoepikoos, in all of which blessed communities live the ascetic life according to Christ. The first two communities were set up during his time as Metropolitan.

In parallel with the weekly broadcast on the Radio Station of the Church of Greece (in greek) for the last twenty years, in 2016 he also started a weekly television programme on the Lychnos Television Channel of the Holy Metropolis of Patras under the title ‘Theology of Facts (in greek)’.

He established in Nafpaktos a shared feast of the holy Metropolitans of Nafpaktos who took part in Ecumenical Councils, the holy Bishops Kallikrates (3rd Ecumenical Council, Ephesus, 431), Irenaeus (4th Ecumenical Council, Chalcedon, 451), Anthony (8th Ecumenical Council, Constantinople, 879-880), who are commemorated together with St Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, a portion of the relic of whose hand is kept in the Holy Monastery of the Dormition of the Theotokos Ambelakiotissa.

He has dedicated chapels in honour of St David the Elder and the newly-canonised saints Porphyrios of Kavsokalyvia, Paisios of the Holy Mountain, Silouan the Athonite, Sophrony the Athonite and Kallinikos Metropolitan of Edessa, the Aitolian.

In Nafpaktos, since the beginning of his episcopal ministry (1995 to date) he has been Chairman of the Supervisory Committee of the Papacharalambos Public Library in the city, which greatly assists pupils and residents of the city, and the whole of Aitolia and Akarnania, as it functions as a lending library and also organises other activities for pupils.

As Metropolitan of Nafpaktos he is Chairman of ten Foundations and Bequests in the Province: the Foundations ‘Demetrios and Vassiliki Papacharalampous’, which has a large hall for events; ‘Georgios Kapordellis - Ioannis Xykis’; ‘Georgios and Maria Athanasiadis-Novas’; ‘Andreas Tsaras’; ‘Gabriel Oikonomou’; ‘Antonios and Panagiota Anastasopoulou’; Demetrios Asimakopoulos’; ‘Andreas Kozonis’; ‘Ioannis Vardakoulas’, and ‘Demetrios Ploumis’ (Chairman of the Committee for Awarding Scholarships).

On his initiative, a building of about 2000 square metres was constructed, with a potential capacity for sixty or more people, which will soon operate as a Care Centre for Elderly Persons (residential home for the elderly).

As Chairman of these Foundations, together with the Members of the Councils, he makes a valuable contribution to society, includes the award of scholarships to pupils and students. To date, in his time in office, scholarships have been given to the value of 1,500,000 Euros to pupils and students. In addition, various grants have been made to organisations in the city, to destitute people, to provide dowries for poor girls, and to the Papacharalambos Public Philharmonic Band of Nafpaktos.

He established the annual public review of the Foundations, at which the abovementioned scholarships are awarded, and this event is indicative of his methodical way of working and his transparency. The work that is undertaken by the Foundations is very clearly set out in the book that he published under the title The Foundations and Bequests of Nafpaktos, with the subtitle History, Administrative and Development Activities and Public Announcements during the years 1995-2020.

The Mayor of Nafpaktos, Mr Basil Gizas, notes in the Foreword to the book, in 2020:

“… Both in my capacity as a lawyer for the last twenty-one years, and in my capacity as Vice Chairman of most of the foundations, in which I have participated as Mayor of Nafpaktia for the last two years [now six years], I am firmly convinced that the administration of the foundations and the development of their financial assets take place in a clear, complete and effective manner. This is mainly due to the Chairman of the Administrative Councils of the Foundations, Metropolitan Hierotheos, but also to the members who participate in them over time. This administration is, on the one hand, a real honour to all those who made their wealth available for the benefit of all, and, on the other hand, it makes it possible to offer the greatest possible benefit to our local community, in spite of the often unfavourable circumstances of the international and national situation.

The public review, which has taken place systematically all through these years, is none other than the practical expression of respect both to the person of the benefactors, donors etc, and to the members of our local community, as it gives everyone the opportunity to know the details even of the financial state of the foundations, to express opinions and objections, or to make proposals in any direction …”

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Written on 01 August 2024.

2. In the Holy Metropolis of Thiva and Levadia, and in the Holy Archdiocese of Athens

In 1987 he was transferred for six months as Diocesan Preacher to the Holy Metropolis of Thiva and Levadia, under the guidance of its then Metropolitan, now Archbishop Hieronymus of Athens and All Greece.

From 1987 until 1995 he was transferred as Diocesan Preacher to the Holy Archdiocese of Athens, under Archbishop Seraphim. At the same time he was appointed Director for Youth and a member of the Administrative Council of the Foundation for Youth of the Holy Archdiocese. In both these capacities he organised and directed the Church catechetical schools of the Holy Archdiocese of Athens, and conferences and meetings for those responsible for the work of catechism. He ran a training centre for catechists, where he taught for seven years. He oversaw the Parish Centres for Youth and organised athletic events among young people in the parishes.

He spoke at clergy, theological and academic conferences organised by the Holy Synod, the Holy Archdiocese of Athens and various Holy Metropolises, including the Metropolises of Katerini, Eleia, Kalavryta, Patras, Corinth, Argos, Aitolia and Akarnania, the Holy Archdiocese of Crete, the Pan-Hellenic Union of Theologians, and others. During this period he also took part as a speaker in conferences in Cyprus, Vancouver in Canada, Seattle in the U.S.A., Tacoma in Washington State in the U.S.A., and elsewhere.

While he was serving in the Holy Archdiocese of Athens, by the decision of Archbishop Seraphim of Athens and All Greece, he represented the Church of Greece and the Holy Archdiocese of Athens as a member of various councils: the Foundation for Youth of the Holy Archdiocese of Athens (1988); the Coordinating Body of the National Committee against AIDS of the Ministry of Health and Welfare (1989-1991); deputy member of the National Council for Radio and Television (1990); the Coordinating Committee in the Holy Archdiocese of Athens for dealing with problems caused by narcotics and AIDS (1992); deputy member of the Administrative Council of the Centre for the Control of Special Infections of the Ministry of Health and Welfare (1992); the Programming Committee of the Radio Station of the Church of Greece (1992); the Committee for Celebrating the International Year of the Family (Ministry of Health, Welfare and Social Security) (1992-1994); the Administrative Council of the Organisation against Narcotics of the Ministry of Health and Welfare (1993). He represented the Church and expounded her views on the Inter-Party Parliamentary Committee on the Demographic Problem (1992).

As Diocesan Preacher of the Holy Archdiocese of Athens he was one of the prime movers in setting up and running the Radio Station of the Church of Greece, a member of the Programming Committee of the Radio Station, and producer of the programme entitled ‘The Fathers in the Modern World’ for six consecutive years (1989-1995). Since 2010, as Metropolitan, he has a weekly programme on the same Radio Station entitled ‘Theology in our Life’.

He has been producing broadcasts on the Radio Station of the Church of Greece for a total of twenty years.

He was seconded to the Patriarchate of Antioch in 1988 for six months to teach in the Theological School in Lebanon, and continued to teach at intervals during the academic years 1988-1989, 1989-1990 and 2000-2001, with the permission of the Holy Synod, during the civil war in Lebanon.

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Written on 01 August 2024.

1. In Edessa

After graduating from the Theological School of Thessaloniki with first class honours, he chose, despite proposals from his Professors for further studies and an academic career, to enter the ecclesiastical ministry. He moved to the Metropolis under the supervision of Metropolitan Kallinikos (Poulos), who has recently been included by the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in the Church’s calendar of saints, whom he knew already and with whom he had been linked spiritually since the time when he was studying at high school in Agrinio. He served with him as an assistant lay Preacher of ‘Apostoliki Diakonia’ (1969-1971).

Saint Kallinikos Archimandrite Hierotheos He was tonsured as a monk of the great schema by St Kallinikos on 13 September 1971, and on 10 October of the same year he was admitted to holy orders, being ordained deacon by him. He was appointed Diocesan Preacher of what was then ODDEP (Organisation for the Management of Church Property) (1971). On 25 June 1972 he was ordained priest and made Archimandrite in the Metropolis of Edessa, Pella and Almopia.

As Diocesan Preacher he travelled around the borderline province and organised talks, sermons, catechetical instruction and the summer camps of the Holy Metropolis. He directed, and taught at, fast-track training courses for priests, spoke at clergy conferences, worked with young people, set up hostels, and organised meetings to study Holy Scripture and afternoon sermons.

With the blessing of his Elder, St Kallinikos, he was in close contact with the Holy Mountain, which he knew from his University studies. He was linked spiritually with many Athonite monks, including St Paisios of the Holy Mountain and St Ephraim of Katounakia, and he would visit the monasteries and the sketes of the Holy Mountain. He also met and formed strong spiritual connections with St Sophrony the Athonite, who was then living as a monk at the Holy Monastery of St John the Baptist in Essex, England. Every summer he would visit the Monastery, where he was also initiated into the hesychastic tradition of the Church.

As a result of his acquaintance with all these great ascetic figures, he wrote books and published articles about them. He also made proposals to the Ecumenical Patriarchate for the canonisation of St Porphyrius of Kavsokalyvia, St Paisios of the Holy Mountain and St Sophrony the Athonite.

Living under the same roof in the Metropolis for fifteen years with an ascetic bishop, Metropolitan Kallinikos, led him, after the Metropolitan’s death, to write his biography and record his miracles. In this way he also contributed to his canonisation by the Ecumenical Patriarchate in 2020.
For three years he met the liturgical needs of the officers and soldiers of the Second Division Edessa, acting as a military priest.

He served in Edessa for a total of eighteen years.

In Edessa he also founded, and directed as spiritual father, a monastic community for women, which is today settled in the Birth of the Theotokos Monastery (Pelagia) in the Holy Metropolis of Thiva, Levadia and Avlida. The nuns, apart from their other monastic duties, have as their main work of obedience the editing, publication and distribution of his writings (https://pelagia.org).

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