Christodoulos Paraskevaidis

Christodoulos was born in Xanthi, Thrace, Northern Greece in 1939. His civil name was Christos Paraskevaidis. When he was two years old, his family moved to Athens to escape German and Bulgarian occupation of the area during World War II. His father subsequently returned to Xanthi following the war and ran a successful bid for mayor. Christodoulos attended high school at the Roman Catholic Marist Leonteion Lyceum of Athens. He then studied law at the University of Athens, graduating in 1962, after having been ordained a deacon in the Orthodox Church in 1961. He also attended a graduate school at the University of Athens for a degree in theology. Christodoulos was ordained a priest in 1965 and graduated from the School of Theology in 1967. He worked as a parish priest in Palaio Faliro, a suburb of Athens, between 1965 and 1974. During that time he also became Chief Secretary of the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece. In 1974, he was elected bishop of Demetrias in Volos, Thessaly, a post which he held until his election as Archbishop of Athens in 1998. Christodoulos was a Doctor of Theology, had a degree in French and English, and also spoke Italian and German. He was the author of a number of theological books and received Honorary Doctorates from the University of Craiova and the University of Iasi. Due to Christodoulos' attending a Catholic high school, he felt open to dialogue between the Orthodox and Catholic churches having experienced both sides. Christodoulos succeeded Archbishop Seraphim to the seat of the Prelate of the Greek church in 1998. At 59 years of age, he was the youngest Archbishop to head the Greek Church. His chief rivals in ballot were Metropolitan Anthimos of Alexandroupolis and Metropolitan Ieronymos of Thebes. The latter would eventually succeed him in 2008. As archbishop, Christodoulos was an influential and innovative leader. He appeared on radio and television regularly and made numerous public appearances at churches, hospitals, and schools throughout Greece. Recognizing the importance of new media, he established an Internet service for the church that included an electronic library and art gallery. He also reformed the administrative structure of the church, which had fallen into disrepair under his predecessor, and established ad hoc and permanent committees to address a variety of institutional and pastoral needs. Further, Christodoulos advocated dialogue to mend the historic rift between his church and the Roman Catholic Church. Perhaps his most dramatic act was to welcome Pope John Paul II to Athens in 2001. The first papal visit to Athens since 710, this meeting generated fierce opposition among many traditional Orthodox Christians yet garnered a papal apology for the treatment of Orthodox Christians by Catholic armies during the Crusades. Christodoulos also took a strong stance on national issues, such as the dispute with Turkey over Cyprus and the Aegean Sea, and the controversy over the use of the name Macedonia by the neighboring country. He opposed the removal of the religious affiliation from the identity cards of Greek citizens, arguing that it was a violation of the human rights and the religious identity of the Greek people. He also supported the rights of the Greek minority in Albania and the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. Christodoulos was diagnosed with liver cancer in June 2007 and underwent a liver transplant in Miami, Florida, in November 2007. However, the transplant was unsuccessful and he returned to Greece in January 2008. He died at his home in Athens on January 28, 2008, at the age of 69. He was buried at the First Cemetery of Athens, where thousands of people attended his funeral. He was widely mourned by the Greek people and the Orthodox world, as well as by political and religious leaders from various countries and denominations. He was praised for his charisma, his social work, his ecumenical spirit, and his defense of the Greek national interests. He was also criticized for his conservatism, his involvement in politics, his opposition to some reforms, and his alleged ties to the military junta. Christodoulos remains a controversial and influential figure in the history of the Church of Greece and the modern Greek society.