Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia
Encyclopedia
The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia is the Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n archdiocese of the Greek Orthodox Church
Greek Orthodox Church
The Greek Orthodox Church is the body of several churches within the larger communion of Eastern Orthodox Christianity sharing a common cultural tradition whose liturgy is also traditionally conducted in Koine Greek, the original language of the New Testament...

, part of the wider communion of Orthodox Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

. The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia is a jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople
Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople
The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople , part of the wider Orthodox Church, is one of the fourteen autocephalous churches within the communion of Orthodox Christianity...

.

Archbishop of Australia 

Archbishop Stylianos
Archbishop Stylianos
Stylianos Harkianakis is the Greek Orthodox Archbishop of Australia, and Primate of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia. He serves as inaugural and permanent Chairman of the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Churches in Australia and Dean of Saint Andrew's Greek Orthodox...

 is the primate
Primate (religion)
Primate is a title or rank bestowed on some bishops in certain Christian churches. Depending on the particular tradition, it can denote either jurisdictional authority or ceremonial precedence ....

 of the Greek Orthodox Church of Australia. He was appointed to this position in 1975. Archbishop Stylianos is a theologian of international standing. He is the co-chairman of the official dialogue between the Roman Catholic and the Orthodox churches. Archbishop Stylianos has won an award for poetry, and has written 16 collections.

History

The first priest to serve the religious needs of the Greek Orthodox population in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

 and Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

 was Archimandrite Dorotheos Bakaliaros. In March 1924, the 'Metropolis of Australia and New Zealand' was established under the Ecumenical Patriarchate. The first Metropolitan of the new province of the Ecumenical Thronos was Christoforos Knitis of Serres. In 1929 Metropolitan Christoforos returned to his homeland, Samos. He died on the 7th August, 1959.
In 1931, Timotheos Evangelinidis
Timotheos Evangelinidis
Timotheos Evangelinidis was a Greek Orthodox bishop who presided over the Metropolis of Rhodes from 1947 to 1949 and the Metropolis of Australia and New Zealand from 1931 to 1947. Evangelinidis was born in 1880, on the island of Mytilene , Greece....

 was elected as the second Metropolitan of Australia and New Zealand. He arrived in Australia on the 28th January 1932 and presided over the Church of Australia and New Zealand until 1947 when he was elected Metropolitan of Rhodes. On the 22nd April of that year Theophylactos Papathanasopoulos
Theophylactos Papathanasopoulos
Theophylactos Papathanasopoulos was a Greek Orthodox Metropolitan Bishop in the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia.-Overview:...

 was elected as the third Metropolitan. On the 2nd August 1958, Metropolitan Theophylactos was killed in a car accident. In February 1959 the Assistant Bishop of the Archdiocese of America, Bishop Ezekiel Tsoukalas of Nazianzos was elected Metropolitan of Australia. He arrived in Sydney on the 27th April, 1959.

On the 1st September 1959 the Metropolis of Australia and New Zealand was elevated to Archdiocese and Metropolitan Ezekiel to Archbishop. In August 1974, the Ecumenical Patriarchate promoted His Eminence Archbishop Ezekiel to the Metropolis of Pisidia. He died in Athens July 1987. On the 3rd February 1975, the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate unanimously elected His Eminence Metropolitan of Miletoupolis Stylianos Harkianakis, lecturer at the University of Thessaloniki, as the new Archbishop of Australia. Archbishop Stylianos arrived in Sydney on the 15th April 1975 and was officially enthroned on Lazarus Saturday on the 26th April 1975.

There is a growing monastic presence in the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia. Examples are the newly built "Holy Cross" and "Pantanassa" monasteries.

Primates in Australia

  • Metropolitan
    Metropolitan bishop
    In Christian churches with episcopal polity, the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan, pertains to the diocesan bishop or archbishop of a metropolis; that is, the chief city of a historical Roman province, ecclesiastical province, or regional capital.Before the establishment of...

     Christoforos
    Christoforos Knitis
    Christoforos Knitis was a Greek Orthodox bishop in the Metropolis of Australia and New Zealand from 1924 to 1928.-Overview:...

     of Australia and New Zealand (1924-1929)
  • Metropolitan
    Metropolitan bishop
    In Christian churches with episcopal polity, the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan, pertains to the diocesan bishop or archbishop of a metropolis; that is, the chief city of a historical Roman province, ecclesiastical province, or regional capital.Before the establishment of...

     Timotheos
    Timotheos Evangelinidis
    Timotheos Evangelinidis was a Greek Orthodox bishop who presided over the Metropolis of Rhodes from 1947 to 1949 and the Metropolis of Australia and New Zealand from 1931 to 1947. Evangelinidis was born in 1880, on the island of Mytilene , Greece....

     of Australia and New Zealand (1931-1947)
  • Metropolitan
    Metropolitan bishop
    In Christian churches with episcopal polity, the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan, pertains to the diocesan bishop or archbishop of a metropolis; that is, the chief city of a historical Roman province, ecclesiastical province, or regional capital.Before the establishment of...

     Theophylactos
    Theophylactos Papathanasopoulos
    Theophylactos Papathanasopoulos was a Greek Orthodox Metropolitan Bishop in the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia.-Overview:...

     of Australia and New Zealand (1947-1958)
  • Metropolitan
    Metropolitan bishop
    In Christian churches with episcopal polity, the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan, pertains to the diocesan bishop or archbishop of a metropolis; that is, the chief city of a historical Roman province, ecclesiastical province, or regional capital.Before the establishment of...

     Ezekiel  of Australia and New Zealand (1959), Archbishop Ezekiel of Australia and New Zealand (1959-1970), Archbishop Ezekiel of Australia (1970-1974)
  • Archbishop
    Archbishop
    An archbishop is a bishop of higher rank, but not of higher sacramental order above that of the three orders of deacon, priest , and bishop...

     Stylianos of Australia

External links

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