Metropolitan Christodoulos (Paraskevaidis) of Dimitriada was elected Archbishop of Athens and all Greece on 28 April 1998

METROPOLITAN CHRISTODOULOS (PARASKEVAIDIS) OF DIMITRIADA WAS ELECTED ARCHBISHOP OF ATHENS AND ALL GREECE ON 28 APRIL 1998

Metropolitan Christodoulos (Paraskevaidis) of Dimitriada was elected Archbishop of Athens and all Greece on 28 April 1998.

The new Primate of the Orthodox Church of Greece is 59. In 1965 he presented his doctorate work in Church Law and received a scholarly degree of Professor of Theology. For 7 years he served as a secretary of the Holy Synod, and was elected Metropolitan of Dimitriada in 1974.

Archbishop Christodoulos is regarded as one of the most educated hierarchs of the Church of Greece. He is fluent in four foreign languages, teaches Canon Law in the University of Thessaloniki and often appears on TV with pastoral sermons. Many of his social programmes are widely recognised and scholarly work of the Archbishop is highly appreciated in the learned world.

After his election the new Primate of the Church of Greece said in his message that he would strictly pursue the traditional policy of the Church of Greece, though stressed the need for the Church to make new openings towards the people aimed at the solution of their concrete problems.

His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and all Russia wholeheartedly congratulated Archbishop Christodoulos on behalf of the Russian Orthodox Church.