Christodoulos (17 January 1939 – 28 January 2008) (, born Christos Paraskevaidis, Χρήστος Παρασκευαΐδης) was Archbishop of Athens and All Greece as such the primate of the Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Greece from 28 April 1998 to 28 January 2008.
Titles
The official title of the Archbishop of Athens and All Greece is:
The late Christodoulos, Archbishop of Athens and All Greece
in Greek:
Ο Μακαριστός Αρχιεπίσκοπος Αθηνών και Πάσης Ελλάδος Χριστόδουλος
Early life and career Christodoulos was born in Xanthi, Thrace, Northern Greece in 1939. His civil name was Christos Paraskevaidis. When he was two years old, his family moved to Athens to escape German and Bulgarian occupation of the area during World War II. His father subsequently returned to Xanthi following the war and ran a successful bid for mayor.
Christodoulos attended high school at the Roman Catholic Marist Leonteion Lyceum of Athens.S. B. Christodoulos, a marist alumnus He then studied law at the University of Athens, graduating in 1962, after having been ordained a deacon in the Orthodox Church in 1961.
He also attended a graduate school at the University of Athens for a degree in theology. Christodoulos was ordained a priest in 1965 and graduated from the School of Theology in 1967. He worked as a parish priest in Palaio Faliro, a suburb of Athens, between 1965 and 1974. During that time he also became Chief Secretary of the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece. In 1974, he was elected bishop of Demetrias in Volos, Thessaly, a post which he held until his election as Archbishop of Athens in 1998.Biography of Archbishop Christodoulos, website of the Church of Greece.
Christodoulos was a Doctor of Theology, had a degree in French and English, and also spoke Italian and German. He was the author of a number of theological books and received Honorary Doctorates from the University of Craiova and the University of Iasi. Due to Christodoulos' attending a Catholic high school, he felt open to dialogue between the Orthodox and Catholic churches having experienced both sides.
Archbishop of Athens (1998–2008)
Christodoulos succeeded Archbishop Seraphim to the seat of the Prelate of the Greek church in 1998. At 59 years of age, he was the youngest Archbishop to head the Greek Church. His chief rivals in ballot were Metropolitan Anthimos of Alexandroupolis and Metropolitan Ieronymos of Thebes. The latter would eventually succeed him in 2008.
Supporting the existing Church social services, he launched new services to face social issues such as the welfare of drug addicts and immigrants, the support for single mothers and abused women, the care for the victims of trafficking, the establishing of a chain of nurseries and infant schools, the provided assistance to poor families and families with many children. He also established "Solidarity", an NGO of the Church of Greece, which allowed a humanitarian intervention of the Church on an international level in the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe. "Solidarity" caused several controversies, such as the case where it received 5.6 million Euros from the Greek State in order to send humanitarian relief to Iraq. Instead, "Solidarity" only spent 740 thousand Euros to buy food, which it kept in storage houses without ever sending it to Iraq,"Solidarity" with rotten poultry, Ελευθεροτυπία, 2007-06-07 and kept the rest in a bank account. After the death of Archbishop Christodoulos, the Greek Church started an investigation of the financial activities of "Solidarity" and found gross irregularities.The sinful proceedings of “Solidarity” , Το Βήμα, 2008-08-03
In 2003, he fell out with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew over who should have the final say in the appointment of bishops in northern Greece. As a result, Christodoulos' name was stricken off the Diptych of the Church as a punishment. He was reinstated three months later, as the conflict seemed to be coming to a resolution. The rift was mended a month later.
The visit of Pope John Paul II in Athens and Archbishop Christodoulos' visit to Pope Benedict XVI in Rome were significant steps towards the cause of Church unity.Biography of Archbishop Christodoulos, website of the Church of Greece
On May 20, 2001, Konstantinos Poulios (Κωνσταντίνος Πούλιος in Greek), an Old Calendarist, attacked Christodoulos and slapped him in the face, while the Archbishop was giving an interview to a TV crew outside the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens.Eleftherotypia, 21/5/2001 The attack was broadcast on live television; Poulios was arrested by Christodoulos' police bodyguards, but in the end he faced no charges.
Views
Support for Serbia The Archbishop played a leading role in supporting Serbia (a mainly Orthodox country), and stoking public opposition to NATO and the Kosovo War of 1999 in which Greece, as a NATO member, played a significant, though largely non-interventionist, role. He also spoke out strongly against the intention of the Greek government under Costas Simitis to follow EU directives, especially where they clashed with what he regarded as traditional Greek policies."New Greek Orthodox archbishop enthroned", BBC News, 1998-05-09 Shortly after his swearing in, Christodoulos stated that it was "a disgrace for the modern Greeks to decide on the basis of what directives from Brussels might ask, at one time or another.
Identity cards controversy In 2000, a major clash between church and state erupted when the then Greek socialist government sought to follow a decision of the Greek Data Protection Authority, by removing the "Religion" field from the national ID cards carried by Greek citizens. Christodoulos opposed the decision, complaining that socialist prime minister Costas Simitis did not consult with the Greek Church on the matter and saying that it was part of a wider plan to marginalise the Church from Greek public life; he also stated that the decision was "put forward by neo-intellectuals who want to attack us like rabid dogs and tear at our flesh".Greek church at war over plans to change ID cards, The Guardian, 22 May 2000 The archbishop organised two demonstrations in Athens and Thessaloniki, alongside a majority of bishops of the Church of Greece, supporting the inclusion of religious data on a voluntary basis, and asked for a referendum on the matter. For this purpose, he was greatly supported as more than three million Greek citizens signed and asked for a referendum.
In 2001, Christodoulos prompted international criticism after saying that the ID decision had been instigated by Jews."Religious row blazes over Greek identity", BBC News, 2001-03-15 The Central Board of the Jewish Community in Greece subsequently sent him a letter on 20 March 2001, asking him to clarify the matter and expressing their opposition to the mandatory writing of religious status in identity cards.H ΕΚΚΛΗΣΙΑ ΤΗΣ ΕΛΛΑΔΟΣ : Κεντρική σελίδα του Αρχιεπισκόπου The Archbishop replied in a letter that his source was the official web site of the USA Jewish Community where it was stated that the US Jewish Community had asked the Greek Government to remove religious status from Greek identity cards. He also said that in Israel, the writing of religious status in identity cards is mandatory.H ΕΚΚΛΗΣΙΑ ΤΗΣ ΕΛΛΑΔΟΣ : Κεντρική σελίδα του Αρχιεπισκόπου The official position of the Greek Church became that the writing of religious status on identity cards should be optional. However, the Greek Government proceeded to remove the writing of religious status completely from new identity cards.
Military junta It emerged the same year that despite Christodoulos' saying that he had no knowledge of nor involvement with human rights violations by the Greek military junta of 1967-1974, because those seven years he was busy studying to become a priest, he had been present in the swearing-in ceremony of the new regime Photo of a younger Christodoulos after the swearing-in of the Regime of the Colonels. while he held the office of Arch-Secretary of the "Holy Synod", the collective council of Metropolitan bishops of the Church of Greece. At the same time, he was serving as chief advisor to Archbishop Hieronymus, a regime appointee and supporter.
Ecumenical relations Christodoulos consented in 2001 to the Greek government's decision to allow Pope John Paul II to visit Greece. He commented that he would not "close the door" on the Pope, because he was coming to the country as a pilgrim. The two men met for discussions during the Papal visit in May 2001, though they did not pray together. After a private 30-minute meeting, the two spoke publicly. Christodoulos read a list of "13 offences" of the Catholic Church against the Eastern Orthodox Church since the Great Schism, including the pillaging of Constantinople by crusaders in 1204, and Christodoulos' decision led to major controversy in Greece, where many Orthodox Christians regard the Pope (and the Catholic Church as a whole) as a schismatic heretic."Pope breaks new ground", BBC News, 2001-05-03 He also consented in 2002 to the construction of a mosque in Athens, to end the fact that Athens is the only EU capital without a Muslim place of worship. On the other hand, he asked that the mosque will be outside the city center, a wish that was granted by the government who chose a site 20 km outside Athens against the wishes of the Muslim community."Olympic city to build first mosque", BBC News, 2002-10-29
Archbishop Christodoulos visited Pope Benedict XVI in Rome in 2006. They issued a common proclamation together that included the statement that: "We look forward to a fruitful collaboration to enable our contemporaries to rediscover the Christian roots of the European Continent which forged the different nations and contributed to developing increasingly harmonious links between them. This will help them live and promote the fundamental human and spiritual values for all people, as well as the development of their own societies"
Role of the clergy in Greek schools
In 2006, Greek newspapers reported the Archbishop's displeasure at a decision by the centre-right government of New Democracy under Kostas Karamanlis to discontinue the practice of allowing Greek Orthodox priests to use public schools for confessionary purposes, that is to hear student's confessions on a voluntary basis. The vast majority of students in Greek public schools were practising Orthodox and the Archbishop was concerned for their access to the Sacraments and their spiritual welfare. Until then, calling in priests to hold private confession sessions within schools, was at the discretion of local educational authorities; these opportunities for the Sacrament of Confession took place on a voluntary basis for young Greeks in high school and primary school. Greek media reported that the Archbishop characterised the move a "hostile act" against the Church, while the Synod of the Greek Orthodox Church, presided by Christodoulos, sent a letter of complaint to the Ministry for National Education and Religious Affairs under Marietta Giannakou. The decision, however, was applauded by representatives of the Greek Teachers' Association, who supported it as a measure that safeguarded freedom of belief and fostered respect for cultural and religious differences in schools.
Greek politics Christodoulos supported views on Greek politics and culture that were criticized by The New York Times, an American newspaper, as conservative and nationalist and supported by others as "standing up" for Greece and Greek culture. He led protests in 2002 against Greece's version of the television programme Big Brother, urging followers to "pray for the young kids" on the shows and to "turn off our television sets"."Ban on Greek Big Brother overturned", BBC News, 2002-03-22.
Greek history