The Church of Greece Elects New Metropolitans and Bishops, Bishop Philotheos of Oreoi Elected as Metropolitan of Thessalonikii

OCP News Service – 11/10/2023

Athens- Greece: Council of Bishops of the Church of Greece that was held on 09 October 2023 elected new metropolitans and bishops.

Newly elected hierarchs include:

• Bishop Philotheos of Oreoi, assistant bishop of the Archdiocese of Athens – as the new Metropolitan of Thessaloniki

• Archimandrite Serapion Michalakis as Metropolitan of Paramythia

• Archimandrite Irenaios Laftsis as Metropolitan of Florina

• Archimandrite Epiphanios Karageorgos as Bishop of Talantio

• Archimandrite Ignatios Sotiriadis as Bishop of Salona

• Archimandrite Pavlos Kitsos as Bishop of Thespies

• Archimandrite Nikodimos Efstathiou as Bishop of Skopelos

• Archimandrite Apostolos Kavaliotis as Bishop of Tanagra

• Archimandrite Theophilos Mantzavrakos as Bishop of Lacedaemonia

• Archimandrite Christophoros Angelopoulos as Bishop of Amphipolis

According to Orthodox Times:

Bishop Filotheos of Oreoi was elected as the new Metropolitan of Thessaloniki with 73 votes, while Archimandrite Barnabas Giagkou and Archimandrite Iakovos Athanasiou also distinguished themselves in the triprosopon.

Archimandrite Serapion Michalakis, secretary of the Holy Synod, was elected as the new Metropolitan of Paramythia with 59 votes. Fr. Serapion received 57 votes, Metropolitan Theoklitos of Vrestheni 41 votes and Archimandrite Spyridon Katramados 6 votes.

Finally, the Protosyncellus of the Metropolis of Alexandroupolis, Fr. Eirinaios Laftsis, was elected as the new Metropolitan of Florina.

The new Metropolitan received 61 votes while in the triprosopon he had received 63. Archimandrite Nikolaos Kladis (13 votes) and Archimandrite Stefanos Devrelis (10 votes) were also in the tritroprosopon.

According to orthochristian.com:

The newly elected Metropolitan Philotheos of Thessaloniki was born on July 9, 1977, in Chalkida.

He initially studied at the Higher Ecclesiastical School of Athens (1995-1998) and then at the Theological School of the University of Athens (1998-2002). He pursued postgraduate studies at the Theological School of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.

On February 16, 2002, he became a monk at the Monastery of St. George Arma (near the village of Fylla, Evia). On February 17, 2002, he was ordained a deacon by Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Chalkida. On June 19, 2002, he was ordained a priest by the same Metropolitan, receiving the title of archimandrite.

He served as a preacher (2002-2009) and General Archpastoral Commissioner (2009-2016) of the Metropolis of Chalkida, Istiaia, and Northern Sporades. Additionally, he worked in youth catechesis, serving as a catechist and leading one of the camp seasons at the camps of the Holy Metropolis of Chalkida in Rovies. Since 2014, he has been a member of the Child Protection Society of Chalkida, representing the Metropolis.

He holds a diploma in Byzantine Music (2000) and served as director and professor at the School of Byzantine Music of the Holy Metropolis of Chalkida. He also taught as a professor in the special schools of the Metropolis for Catechism Candidates and Camping Leaders.

For several years, he coordinated the parents’ schools of the Holy Metropolis of Chalkida. He served as a member of the administrative board of the Ecclesiastical Orphanage of Boys and the St. Timothy of Evripos Cultural Foundation.

In 2016, he was appointed Secretary of the Synodal Committee for Ecclesiastical Education and Training of the Clergy. In 2018, he was appointed First Secretary-Recorder of the Holy Synod. On March 21, 2019, he was appointed Chief Secretary of the Holy Synod, following a decision by Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens.

On October 11, 2019, with the proposal of the Archbishop, he was elected Assistant Bishop of the Holy Archdiocese of Athens with the title of the former Diocese of Oreoi. He was consecrated on October 15, 2019, at the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens by the Archbishop of Athens, with the participation of a group of Metropolitans.