Antonios Varthalitis, AA (; 1 January 1924 in – 27 October 2007) was from 1962 to 2003 Catholic Archbishop of the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Corfu, Zakynthos and Cephalonia The Archdiocese of Corfu, Zakynthos, and Cefalonia () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church comprising the Ionian islands of Corfu, Zakynthos and Cephalonia in western Greece.

Life

Antonios Varthalitis joined the Congregation of the Assumption (

Augustinians of the Assumption The Assumptionists, formally known as the Congregation of the Augustinians of the Assumption (; abbreviated AA), is a worldwide congregation of Catholic priests and brothers. It is active in many countries. The French branch played a major rol ...

) in Athens. He studied theology and philosophy in Lyon. On 11 January 1953, Varthalitis was ordained as a Catholic priest. He served as a priest in the parish of Saints Peter and Paul in

Piraeus Piraeus ( ; ; , Ancient: , Katharevousa: ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens city centre along the east coast of the Saronic Gulf in the Ath ...

and engaged in the

ecumenical movement Ecumenism ( ; alternatively spelled oecumenism)also called interdenominationalism, or ecumenicalismis the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships ...

with the

Greek Orthodox Church Greek Orthodox Church (, , ) is a term that can refer to any one of three classes of Christian Churches, each associated in some way with Christianity in Greece, Greek Christianity, Antiochian Greek Christians, Levantine Arabic-speaking Christian ...

. In 1962 he was named by

Pope John XXIII Pope John XXIII (born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death on 3 June 1963. He is the most recent pope to take ...

as Archbishop of the Archdiocese of

Corfu Corfu ( , ) or Kerkyra (, ) is a Greece, Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands; including its Greek islands, small satellite islands, it forms the margin of Greece's northwestern frontier. The island is part of the Corfu (regio ...

Kefalonia Kefalonia or Cephalonia (), formerly also known as Kefallinia or Kephallonia (), is the largest of the Ionian Islands in western Greece and the 6th-largest island in Greece after Crete, Euboea, Lesbos, Rhodes and Chios. It is also a separate regio ...

and

Zakynthos Zakynthos (also spelled Zakinthos; ; ) or Zante (, , ; ; from the Venetian language, Venetian form, traditionally Latinized as Zacynthus) is a Greece, Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the third largest of the Ionian Islands, with an are ...

. From 1962 to 1964 Varthalitis participated of the I, II, III and IV sessions of the

II Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City for sessions ...

. The episcopal ordination was done by

Venediktos Printesis Venediktos Printesis (Greek language, Greek: Βενέδικτος Πρίντεζης; February 10, 1917 – October 21, 2008) was a Greece, Greek Bishop in the Catholic Church, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Church. Biography Printesis was born i ...

, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Athens.

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

in 1992 named him the first

Apostolic Vicar Apostolic may refer to: The Apostles An Apostle meaning one sent on a mission: *The Twelve Apostles of Jesus, or something related to them, such as the Church of the Holy Apostles *Apostolic succession, the doctrine connecting the Christian Churc ...

of Thessaloniki. Varthalitis became involved in the

Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Community The Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Union, formerly the Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Community, (; COMECE) is the association of Catholic Church episcopal conferences in member states of the Europ ...

(COMECE) and the

Council of European Bishops' Conferences The Council of the Bishops' Conferences of Europe (; CCEE) is a conference of the presidents of the 33 Roman Catholic episcopal conferences of Europe, the Archbishop of Luxembourg, the Archbishop of Monaco, Maronite Catholic Archeparch of Cyprus ...

(CCEE). In 2003 his resignation was accepted by John Paul II.

External links

* * Greek Roman Catholic archbishops 1924 births 2007 deaths People from Poseidonia Assumptionists Roman Catholic archbishops of Corfu 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Greece Greek expatriates in France {{Greece-RC-archbishop-stub