Greek Orthodox Church, Qatari Government Discuss Investment Projects

The Church of Greece is reportedly exploring potential investment projects with the Qatari government due to a decline in its rental incomes caused by the ongoing economic crisis in Greece. The news comes in the wake of the recent visit to Qatar of Archbishop Jerome II (Liapis) of Athens, the first hierarch of the Greek Orthodox Church. More here.

Greek Orthodox Archbishop Orders Assistance for Turkish Earthquake Victims

Archbishop Jerome II (Liapis) of Athens has ordered an NGO affiliated with the Church of Greece to provide every assistance to the victims of the recent earthquake in far eastern Turkey. More (in Greek) here.

In Memoriam: Metropolitan Dionysius of Chios

Metropolitan Dionysios of Chios of the Constantinopolitan Orthodox Church in Greece has fallen asleep at the age of eighty-four. The newly reposed metropolitan was born on the Greek island of Evia and studied law and theology before being ordained to the deaconate and serving as such in the Greek Navy and Athens.

In 1960 the future metropolitan was ordained to the priesthood and given oversight of the Greek chaplaincy before being elected in 1979 as Metropolitan of Chios by the Holy Synod of the Church of Constantinople. In total Metropolitan Dionysios served his flock faithfully for more than three decades.

Metropolitan Dionysios was hospitalized in Athens and reposed in the Greek capital. His funeral is to be served later this week by Archbishop Jerome II (Liapis) of Athens in Chios' metropolitan cathedral. More (in Greek) here. May Metropolitan Dionysios' memory be eternal!

Pope Theodore, Archbishop Jerome Meet in Athens

Pope Theodoros II (Horeftakis) of Alexandria has begun a visit to Athens, meeting with Archbishop Jerome II (Liapis) of Athens to discuss relations between the Alexandrian and Greek Orthodox Churches and to thank him for all of the support provided by the Church of Greece to the missionary and pastoral work of the Orthodox Church in Africa. More (in Greek) here.

Syriac Orthodox Metropolitan Visits Greece

Metropolitan Mor Gregorios (Yohanna) of Aleppo of the Syriac Orthodox Church has concluded a visit to Greece. During his time in Greece Metropolitan Mor Gregorios met with representatives of the Greek Foreign Ministry to discuss the ongoing unrest in Syria and also with Archbishop Jerome II (Liapis) of Athens to convey to him the greetings of Patriarch Moran Mor Ignatios Zakka I (Iwas) of Antioch and discuss relations between the Syriac and Greek Orthodox Churches. More (in Arabic) here.

Patriarch Bartholomew Visits Athens

Patriarch Bartholomew (Arhondonis) of Constantinople has begun a visit to Athens accompanied by several of metropolitans of the Constantinopolitan Orthodox Church. The ecumenical patriarch was received in the Greek capital by Archbishop Jerome II (Liapis) of the Greek Orthodox Church. More (in Greek) here.

Metropolitan Hilarion Meets with Archbishop Jerome, Participates in Orthodox-Catholic Commission

Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev) of Volokolamsk has begun another visit to Greece, meeting with Archbishop Jerome II (Liapis) of Athens in the Greek capital to discuss relations between the Russian and Greek Orthodox Churches before proceeding to Crete to participate in a meeting of the working group of the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches. More here.

Archbishop Jerome of Athens Hospitalized

Archbishop Jerome (Liapis) of Athens has broken his leg after falling during a visit to the Church of St. Christopher in Agrinion, Greece, on the Saint's new style feast and is undergoing surgery today to fix the break. More (in Greek) here.

Cypriot Orthodox Holy Synod Meets, Discusses Visit of Athens Archbishop

The Holy Synod of the Cypriot Orthodox Church met today to discuss various issues in the life of the Church and to finalize preparations for the upcoming visit of Archbishop Jerome (Liapis) of Athens to the island. More (in Greek) here.

Metropolitan Hilarion Meets with Archbishop Jerome, Celebrates Sunday Liturgy in Athens

On the first day of his visit to Greece Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev) of Volokolamsk met with Archbishop Jerome II (Liapis) of Athens to discuss relations between the Russian and Greek Orthodox Churches, the preparations for a general council of the Local Orthodox Churches, and the Church's place and role in the world today. More on their meeting can be found here.

On the second day of his visit to Greece Metropolitan Hilarion celebrated the Sunday Liturgy in Athens' Church of St. Panteleimon, which ministers to the city's residents from the former USSR. The service, which was celebrated in both Slavonic and Greek and was broadcasted on Greek television, was attended by Archbishop Jerome of Athens. More here.

Metropolitan Hilarion Visiting Greece

Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev) of Volokolamsk has begun a visit to Greece with the blessing of Archbishop Jerome II (Liapis) of Athens of the Greek Orthodox Church. During his time in Greece Metropolitan Hilarion will meet with Archbishop Jerome and other hierarchs of the Church of Greece and also participate in the presentation of the Greek-language version of his book "The Mystery of Faith." More here.

Consecration of New Metropolitan of Brusa

The consecration of Metropolitan Elpidophorus (Lambriniadis) of Brusa, a man best known for his controversial remarks regarding the Ecumenical Patriarchate and American Orthodoxy during a recent visit to the United States, took place this past Sunday. In addition to Patriarch Bartholomew (Arhondonis) of Constantinople, Archbishop Jerome II (Liapis) of Athens of the Greek Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev) of Volokolamsk, and other hierarchs and clergy of the Local Orthodox Churches took part in the consecration. Clergy of the OCA from St. Vladimir's Seminary in Crestwood, New York, were among those in attendance. More here.

Archbishop Jerome of Athens Against Separation of Church and State

In an interview Archbishop Jerome II (Liapis) of Athens has stated that the separation of the Church from the state is inconsistent with the heritage of the Orthodox Church and "unrealistic." In the same interview he affirmed the teaching of the Tradition that women cannot be ordained to the priesthood, but said that the ordination of deaconesses may become more common in the future (whether in a monastic or parish context he did not say). The full interview can be found here.

Syriac and Greek Orthodox Primates Meet in Damascus

Archbishop Jerome II (Liapis) of Athens of the Greek Orthodox Church met today with Patriarch Ignatios Zakka I (Iwas) of Antioch of the Syriac Orthodox Church at St. Ephraim's Monastery in Ma'arat Saydnaya, Syria, to discuss potential areas of cooperation between the two Orthodox Churches. More here.

Athens Archbishop to Visit the Levant

Archbishop Jerome II (Liapis) of Athens of the Greek Orthodox Church will be visiting Syria and Lebanon next week on a visit to the Antiochian Orthodox Church. More here.

Greek Orthodox Metropolitan Blasted for Anti-Semitic Comments

Following blatantly anti-Semitic comments made on Greek television Metropolitan Seraphim (Mentzelopoulos) of Piraeus of the Greek Orthodox Church is the subject of a campaign by American Jews to have his comments publicly condemned by the Ecumenical Patriarchate as well as Archbishop Jerome II (Liapis) of Athens and All Greece. More here.