Bishops – 3

His Eminence Demetrios, Archbishop of Lydda (civil name, Nikolaos Basileiades) was born in Thessaloniki in 1958. He studied the Sacred Sciences at the Theological School of the University of Thessaloniki.

He was tonsured Monk in 1981 at the cell of Small St Anna on Mount Athos. He arrived in Jerusalem in 1987. He was ordained as Deacon in 1987, and as Priest in 1988. In 1990 he received the title of Archimandrite.

He served as the Boarding School Manager and Secretary at the Patriarchal Offices, Hegoumen at the Holy Monastery of the Archangels in the Old City of Jerusalem, which he renovated, and as ministering Priest at the Holy Monastery of Megali Panagia.

In 1991 he was appointed Secretary of the Holy and Sacred Synod.

On 19th February 2013 he was elected Archbishop of Lydda. His ordination was held on 24th February 2013 in the Church of the Resurrection.

His Eminence Makarios, Archbishop of Qatar (civil name, Georgios Mavrogianakkis) was born in Harakas, Heraklion, Crete in 1968.

He arrived in Jerusalem in 1980. After graduating from the Patriarchal School, he was tonsured Monk in 1986 and ordained as Deacon in 1987. In 1992 he was ordained Priest and in 1993 he received the title of Archimandrite. He studied the Sacred Sciences at the Theological School of Belgrade, graduating in 1995.

He served as Secretary of the Election Committee, Sacristan, Teacher and Principal at the Patriarchal School of St Sion, which he renovated, Priest in Gaza and Hegoumen in Fhes, Jordan, where he constructed the Hegoumen’s Quarters. In 2002 he attended the Arab Language Course at the Literature School of the University of Jordan.

In 2004 he was appointed Patriarchal Commissioner in Qatar where by the funding of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem as well as of reverend Christians, he constructed a building complex in Doha including a Holy Church dedicated to St. Isaac who strove in ascesis in Qatar, and to the Holy Great Martyr George; he also built the Bishop’s residence, a reception hall and halls for the Sunday Schools. 

In 2011 he received a postgraduate degree in Liturgical Science from the University of Belgrade. He represented the Patriarchate in several Conferences.

On 19 February 2013 he was elected Archbishop of Qatar. His ordination was held on 25 February 2013 in the Church of the Resurrection.

His Eminence Isidoros, Archbishop of Hierapolis (civil name, Elias Fakitsas) was born in Achladea, Trikala, in 1973. He arrived in Jerusalem in 1986. After graduating from the Patriarchal School, he was appointed to serve in the Church of the Resurrection. He was tonsured Monk and ordained as Deacon in 1991. In 1996 he was ordained Priest and received the title of Archimandrite.

He served as deacon and Priest in the Church of the Resurrection. In 2005 he was appointed Assistant Sacristan and in 2013 Elder Sacristan of the Holy Sepulchre. He studied the Sacred Sciences at the Theological School of the University of Athens.

On 19th February 2013 he was elected Archbishop of Hierapolis. His ordination was held on 3rd March 2013 in the Church of the Resurrection.

In October 2013 he was appointed Chairman of the School Board of the Patriarchal School of Jerusalem.

In 2017 he received his postgraduate degree on the Old Testament from the University of Athens. 

His Eminence Nektarios, Archbishop of Anthedon (civil name, Constantinos Selalmatzides) was born in Drama in 1962. After graduating from the Ecclesiastical Lyceum of Xanthe, he was admitted to the Pedagogical Academy of Rhodes and, after his graduation, went on to study the Sacred Sciences at the Theological School of the University of Thessaloniki. 

He was tonsured Monk and ordained as Deacon in 1983. In 1985 he was ordained Priest and received the title of Archimandrite.

For eleven years he taught at Greek educational units abroad, in Argentina and Brazil. He also taught “Etymology of the Spanish Language” at the State University of Argentina, and “Greek Mythology Applied to Modern Psychiatry” at the State University of Brazil.

In Jerusalem he arrived in 2001. He taught at the Patriarchal School and served as Hegoumen at the Monastery of St Stephen. He also served as Member of the Council of Expatriate Greeks and coordinator of the sub-committee of Education in Southern America.

In 2003 he was appointed Patriarchal Commissioner in Constantinople, where he renovated the Metochia of the Holy Sepulchre, recently regaining, after eighty years, the first property title of the Neochorion Metochion in the name of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem.

On 19th February 2013, he was elected Archbishop of Anthedon. His ordination was held on 11th March 2013 at the Patriarchal Church of St George in Phanar, by the  Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.

 

His Eminence Philoumenos, Archbishop of Pella (civil name, Souhel Mahamre) was born in Safout, Jordan, in 1970. After graduating from high school in his birthplace in 1988, he served six years of military service in the Arab Army of Jordan. In 1997 he won a scholarship from the Greek Foreign Ministry to study at the Theological School of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.

In 2004 he arrived at the Holy Monastery of Hosios Gregorios on Mount Athos and was tonsured monk in 2006. In 2006 he came to Jerusalem where, in 2008, he was ordained as deacon and in 2010 presbyter, receiving the title of Archimandrite.

He served as Rapporteur at the Patriarchal Office, Teacher at the Patriarchal Schools of St Demetrios in Jerusalem and of the Archangel Michael in Joppa, Hegoumen at the Monastery of John the Baptist in the Old City of Jerusalem, Hegoumen in Bir Zeit and a member of the Ecclesiastical Court of First Instance. In 2010 he was appointed member of  the Holy and Sacred Synod.

On 19th February 2013 he was elected Archbishop of Pella and appointed Patriarchal Commissioner in Irbet, Jordan.

His ordination was performed on 4th March 2013 in the All-holy Church of the Resurrection.

In 2018 he was appointed Hegoumen of the Holy Monastery of the Sacred Cross in Jerusalem.

His Eminence Metropolitan Joachim of Helenoupolis (civil name, Constantinos Contovas) was born in Volos in 1966, where he completed his secondary education. He studied Theology at the University of Athens. He was ordained as deacon in 1986 and as Priest in 1993, serving at various Churches in Greece. 

In 1996 he moved to Africa, initially to minister in Ethiopia. In 1997 he was transferred to Alexandria, where he was appointed Secretary-General of the Holy and Sacred Synod of the Patriarchate of Alexandria and Head of the Patriarchal Holy Church of St. Nikolaos of Ivraimia, which he fully reconstructed. 

In 2003 he was elected Bishop of Zambia, while in 2009 he received the title of Metropolitan, and the neighbouring country of Malawi was added to his pastoral duties. During his Episcopal office in Africa he constructed Holy Churches, schools, clinics, and worked in the preaching of the Gospel, drawing a large number of people in Orthodoxy. 

In 2015, having submitted his resignation from his active ministry, he arrived in Jerusalem, where he was appointed teacher of the Patriarchal School of the Holy Sion and Head of the rentals department of the Financial Committee of the Patriarchate. In 2016 he was settled as Metropolitan of Helenoupolis.

The Most Reverend Archbishop Christophoros of Kyriakoupolis (civil name Ioannis Kaml Atalla), comes from Jifna town of Palestine, and was born in the Holy City of Jerusalem in 1970. He completed his primary education at the Friends Boys School and the secondary education at the Ecclesiastical Lyceum of Holy Zion of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem. He was tonsured a monk and ordained as Deacon in 1988. In 1991 he was ordained as Priest.  In 1996 he graduated the Sociology School of the University of Jordan. He ministered in Amman until the year 1997. Then, he was appointed a spiritual Caretaker at the town Gerassa of Jordan. In 1999 he founded the Holy Monastery of the Life-giving Spring in Dibin of Jordan, where he is also the Spiritual Father. In 2000 he was elected Chancellor of the Holy Committee in Amman and also served as Vice President of the Orthodox Ecclesiastical Court of Jordan until the year 2009. From 2004 to 2013 he ministered as the Patriarchal Representative in North Jordan. In 2017 he was appointed member of the Holy and Sacred Synod of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem. In 2017 he had the initiative of founding the Orthodox Centre in Dibin of Jordan, which was inaugurated by H.H.B. the Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos III, along with His Royal Highness Prince Gazin ibn Hussein Muhammad. He represented the Patriarchate of Jerusalem in many International Orthodox Conferences against heresies. In 2016 he escorted His Beatitude the Patriarch of Jerusalem at the Great Synod of Orthodoxy in Crete. He was elected Archbishop of Kyriakoupolis and Patriarchal Commissioner in Amman on May 15, 2018  and was ordained on 19th of the same month at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

 

The Most Reverend Archbishop Aristovoulos of Madaba (civil name Styllianos Kyriazis), was born in Cologne, in Germany in 1970. He studied at the Ecclesiastical Lyceum of Florina. He arrived in Jerusalem in 1987, at the Patriarchal School and at the same time he undertook the duties of the Left Choir Singer at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Having graduated the Patriarchal School, he was appointed Secretary of the Estate Committee. He was tonsured a Monk and was ordained a Deacon in 1988, while in 1992 he was ordained a Priest and received the title of the Archimandrite at the same time. From the year 1989 to 2004, simultaneously with his other ministries, he was a volunteer translator and escort for the Greek and Cypriot hospitalized patients at the bone marrow transplant department of the Hadassah Ein Karem Hospital. In 1990 he was appointed Byzantine Music teacher and Choir Leader at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, a position that he kept until his election to Bishop. He received the Byzantine Music Degree from the Music School of Athens and the Byzantine Music Diploma from the National Music School. In 2002 he was appointed Hegoumen in Beit Jalla. Having completed his studies in theology at the University of Athens in 2008, he was appointed Hegoumen of St. Nikolaos, Librarian Assistant, in charge of the Russian-speaking congregation and of the pastoral ministry of the prisons in Israel. In 2015 he received his Masters Degree in Theology from the University of Friborg. In 2017 he founded the Russian-speaking Parish of Patriarch Abraham in Beer Sheba. On May 2, 2018, he was elected Archbishop of Madaba and was appointed Patriarchal Representative in Madaba. His ordination took place on May 7, 2018 at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.