Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia

Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia
Official seal
Location
Country	Australia
Headquarters	Cathedral of The Annunciation of Our Lady, Redfern, Sydney
Statistics
Population - Total	400,000 approx (2021 Census)
Parishes	121
Information
Denomination	Eastern Orthodox Church
Cathedral	Cathedral of The Annunciation of Our Lady (1970-present) Greek Orthodox Cathedral of Saint Sophia (1927-1970)
Patron saint	Saint Paisios of Mount Athos
Language	Greek, English, Ukrainian
Parent church	Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople
Metropolitan Archbishop	Makarios Griniezakis
Auxiliary Bishops	Metropolitan Ezekiel of Dervis Metropolitan Seraphim of Sevastias Bishop Pavlos of Christianopolis Bishop Iakovos of Miletoupolis Bishop Emilianos of Meloa Bishop Elpidios of Cyneae Bishop Silouan of Sinope Bishop Kyriakos of Sozopolis Bishop Christodoulos of Magnesia Bishop Evmenios of Kerasounta Bishop Bartholomew of Charioupolis
Judicial Vicar	Very Reverend Father Christophoros Krikelis
Website
greekorthodox.org.au

The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia is the Australian archdiocese of the Greek Orthodox Church, part of the wider communion of Eastern Orthodox Christianity. The archdiocese is a jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. As of 2024, there were over 130 parishes and eight monasteries in the six dioceses of the archdiocese in Australia.

Archbishop and governance

Since May 9, 2019, Bishop Makarios is Archbishop of Australia. He was elected by the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and was enthroned in front of thousands of faithful on 29 June 2019 at the Cathedral of the Annunciation of the Theotokos.

Since February 2024, the Archdiocese of Australia is governed by the Holy Eparchical Synod, at which the incumbent Archbishop of the day presides, and whose members are his active assistant Bishops in their capacity as Regional Bishops.

History

The first churches founded by Greek Orthodox in Australia were Holy Trinity in Surry Hills, Sydney (1898), and Annunciation of the Theotokos in East Melbourne (1900). The first priest to serve the religious needs of the Greek Orthodox population in Sydney and Melbourne was Archimandrite Dorotheos Bakaliaros. In March 1924, the "Metropolis of Australia and New Zealand" was established under the Ecumenical Patriarchate to cover the expanding Greek population, which by 1927 numbered over 10,000 and had established churches in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Port Pirie in South Australia. The first metropolitan of the new province of the Ecumenical Patriarchate was Christoforos Knitis of Serres. In 1929, Metropolitan Christoforos returned to his homeland, Samos. He died on 7 August 1959.

In 1931, Timotheos Evangelinidis was elected as the second Metropolitan of Australia and New Zealand. He arrived in Australia on 28 January 1932 and presided over the church in Australia and New Zealand until 1947 when he was elected Metropolitan of Rhodes. On 22 April of that year, Theophylactos Papathanasopoulos was elected as the third metropolitan. On 2 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 27 April 1959.

On 1 September 1959, the Metropolis of Australia and New Zealand was elevated to an archdiocese and Metropolitan Ezekiel to an archbishop. Archbishop Ezekiel's episcopacy coincided with a period of great expansion in the numbers of Greek Orthodox in Australia through immigration, and many of the parishes that the church has today were formed under his guidance. In August 1974, the Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate elevated Archbishop Ezekiel to the titular see of Metropolitan of Pisidia. He died in Athens in July 1987. On 3 February 1975, the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate unanimously elected the Metropolitan of Miletoupolis, Stylianos Harkianakis, a lecturer at the University of Thessaloniki, as the new Archbishop of Australia. Archbishop Stylianos arrived in Sydney on 15 April 1975 and was officially enthroned on Lazarus Saturday, 26 April 1975.

Primates

• Metropolitan Christoforos of Australia and New Zealand (1924-1929)
• Metropolitan Timotheos of Australia and New Zealand (1931-1947)
• Metropolitan Theophylactos of Australia and New Zealand (1947-1958)
• Metropolitan Ezekiel of Australia and New Zealand (1959), Archbishop Ezekiel of Australia and New Zealand (1959-1970), Archbishop Ezekiel of Australia (1970-1974)
• Archbishop Stylianos of Australia (1975-2019)
• Archbishop Makarios of Australia (2019–present)

Current hierarchs

The following clergy are members of the archdiocese's current hierarchy.

Greek Orthodox Hierarchs in Australia

Hierarch	Position(s)	Years	Notes
Archbishop Makarios of Australia	Archbishop of Australia	2019–present
Bishop Kyriakos of Sozopolis	Chorbishop of Melbourne	2024–present
Bishop Elpidios of Kyanea	Chorbishop of Perth	2024–present
Bishop Silouan of Sinope	Chorbishop of Adelaide	2024–present
Bishop Bartholomew of Charioupolis	Chorbishop of Brisbane	2024–present
Bishop Evmenios of Kerasounta	Chorbishop of Chora	2024–present

Archdiocesan Districts and Heads

Archbishop Makarios at the opening of the Greek Orthodox Archepiscopal Church of Holy Wisdom (St. Sophia) in the Archdiocesan District of Adelaide, November 2022.

Bishop Nikandros of Dorylaion, assistant Bishop to Archbishop Stylianos between 2001 and 2019, conducting the Epiphany service in Adelaide, 2008.

District of Sydney

See also Greek Orthodox Churches in NSW

• Bishop Panteleimon of Theoupoleos (1971–1972)
• Unknown (1973–1990)
• Bishop Seraphim of Apollonias (1991–2019)
• Bishop Emilianos of Meloa (2019–2021)

Since November 2021, the Archbishop of Australia has assumed responsibilities of the Archdiocesan district of Sydney

• • Bishop Iakovos of Miletoupolis (2021–present) (assistant)
  • Bishop Christodoulos of Magnesia (2021–present) (assistant)

District of Melbourne

• Bishop Dionysios of Nazianzus (1965–1970)
• Unknown (1971)
• Bishop Aristarchos of Zinoupolis (1972)
• Bishop Panteleimon of Theoupoleos (1972–1975)
• Bishop Aristarchos of Zinoupolis (1976–1981)
• Bishop Panteleimon of Theoupoleos (1979–1984)
• Bishop Ezekiel of Dervis (1984–2021)
  • Bishop Joseph of Arianzos (2001–2003) (assistant)
  • Bishop Iakovos of Miletoupolis (2011–2019) (assistant)
• Bishop Kyriakos of Sozopolis (2021–present)

District of Adelaide

See also Greek Orthodox Churches in South Australia and the Northern Territory

• Bishop Panteleimon of Theoupoleos (1975–1979)
• Bishop Ezekiel of Dervis (1980–1984)
• Bishop Paul of Christianoupolis (1984–1989)
• Bishop Joseph of Arianzos (1990–2000)
• Bishop Seraphim of Christianoupolis (2001–2002)
• Bishop Nikandros of Dorylaion (2002–2019)
• Bishop Silouanos of Sinope (2020–present)

District of Perth

• Bishop Aristarchos of Zinoupolis (1972–1975)
• Unknown (1975-1976)
• Bishop Ezekiel of Dervis (1977–1980)
• Unknown (1981–2001)
• Bishop Nikandros of Dorylaion (2001–2002)

From June 2002 until January 2020, Perth and Western Australia was under the jurisdiction of the Adelaide Archdiocesan district

• Bishop Elpidios of Cyneae (2020–present)

District of Brisbane

• V. Rev. Fr Gregory Sakellariou (1961–2000)
• V. Rev. Fr Dimitri Tsakas (2000–2019)
• Bishop Iakovos of Miletoupolis (2019–2021)
• Bishop Emilianos of Meloa (2021–2024)
• Bishop Bartholomew of Charioupolis (2024–present)

District of Northcote, Victoria

Until its formation in 2019, this region was a part of the Melbourne Archdiocesan district

• Bishop Evmenios of Kerasounta (head of this district as a priest 2019-2020, as a bishop 2021-present)

District of Canberra and Tasmania

Until its formation in 2020, the Canberra region was under the jurisdiction of the Sydney district and the Tasmanian region was a part of the Melbourne district

• Bishop Bartholomew of Charioupolis (head of this district as a priest 2020, as a bishop 2021-2024)
• Unknown (2024-present)

St Andrew's Greek Orthodox Theological College

St Andrew's Greek Orthodox Theological College is an Eastern Orthodox Christian seminary located in Redfern, Sydney, New South Wales. The college was established in 1986 by Archbishop Stylianos, who had proposed the establishment of a theological college during the fourth clergy and laity congress in 1981. There was a need for a theological college that would be primarily dedicated to theological study in co-operation with other theological colleges. It would be hoped that a centre of theological reflection and ecumenical dialogue would be created, offering the Orthodox worldview and perspective with scriptural commentaries, the writings of the Greek Fathers, the Orthodox liturgy, iconography and spirituality.

Greek Orthodox monasteries in Australia

• Holy Monastery of St George (New South Wales)
• Holy Monastery of Panagia Pantanassa (New South Wales)
• Holy Monastery of the Holy Cross (New South Wales)
• Holy Monastery of Panagia Gorgoepikouos (Victoria)
• Holy Monastery of Axion Estin (Victoria)
• Holy Monastery of Panagia Kamariani (Victoria)
• Holy Monastery of St Nektarios (South Australia)
• Holy Monastery of St John (Western Australia)

See also

• Archbishop of America
• Greek Australian
• Greek Orthodox Churches in NSW
• Greek Orthodox Churches in South Australia and the Northern Territory
• Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of Australia, New Zealand, and Oceania

Bibliography

• Kiminas, Demetrius (2009). The Ecumenical Patriarchate: A History of Its Metropolitanates with Annotated Hierarch Catalogs. Wildside Press LLC. ISBN 9781434458766.

External links

• Official website