Was born in Loutra on the island of Mytilene in 1948. He came to Jerusalem in 1961. Graduating from the Patriarchal School in 1966, he was tonsured Monk, ordained as Deacon and appointed to the Chief -Secretariat.
In 1970 he was ordained Priest and studied at the Theological School of the University of Athens from where he graduated in 1974, to be promoted to Archimandrite.
On his return, he was reappointed to the Chief-Secretariat, serving as Secretary of the Holy and Sacred Synod. In 1981 he pursued post graduate studies at the University of Durham in England, receiving the Masters Degree in Patristic Theology.
In 1986 he was appointed as Patriarchal Commissioner in Constantinople, while in 1988 he was ordained Bishop of Iamnia. In 1992 he was elected Archbishop of Gerassa and in 1993 he was appointed as Patriarchal Commissioner in Bethlehem. Between 2005 and 2009 he served as Exarch of the Most Holy Sepulchre in Athens. In 2006 he was appointed as representative of the Patriarchate for the dialogue with the Roman Catholic Church.