The Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain is an

archdiocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associated ...

of the

Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople (, ; ; , "Roman Orthodox Patriarchate, Ecumenical Patriarchate of Istanbul") is one of the fifteen to seventeen autocephalous churches that together compose the Eastern Orthodox Church. It is heade ...

in the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, officially the Orthodox Catholic Church, and also called the Greek Orthodox Church or simply the Orthodox Church, is List of Christian denominations by number of members, one of the three major doctrinal and ...

. The

incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position. In an election, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the position that is up for election, regardless of whether they are seeking re-election. There may or may not be ...

archeparch is Archbishop Nikitas (Loulias). Its jurisdiction covers those Orthodox Christians living in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, the

Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...

, and the

Channel Islands The Channel Islands are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They are divided into two Crown Dependencies: the Jersey, Bailiwick of Jersey, which is the largest of the islands; and the Bailiwick of Guernsey, ...

. The adherents are largely of

Cypriot Greek Cypriot Greek (, or ) is the variety of Modern Greek that is spoken by the majority of the Cypriot populace and Greek Cypriot diaspora. It is considered a divergent dialect as it differs from Standard Modern Greek in various aspects of its ...

descent, mainland Greek migrants and their descendants, and more recently native British converts along with a few Poles, Belarusians, and Ukrainians. The

episcopal seat A cathedral is a church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominations with an episcop ...

is the Cathedral of Holy Wisdom (also known as Saint Sophia's) which is situated in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Archdiocesan administration

The archdiocese is one of many

metropolises A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural area for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications. A big city b ...

of the

Ecumenical Patriarchate The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople (, ; ; , "Roman Orthodox Patriarchate, Ecumenical Patriarchate of Istanbul") is one of the fifteen to seventeen Autocephaly, autocephalous churches that together compose the Eastern Orthodox Church. ...

. It was established as part of an expansion of Orthodox metropolises in

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's extent varies depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the Western half of the ancient Mediterranean ...

including

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, Belgium,

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, Sweden and

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. The archbishop is considered the '

Primus inter pares is a Latin phrase meaning first among equals. It is typically used as an honorary title for someone who is formally equal to other members of their group but is accorded unofficial respect, traditionally owing to their seniority in office. H ...

' of the various Orthodox ecclesial bodies in the

. The archbishop, therefore sits at the head of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of Great Britain and Ireland. The headquarters of the Archdiocese is at Thyateira House, in the

Bayswater Bayswater is an area in the City of Westminster in West London. It is a built-up district with a population density of 17,500 per square kilometre, and is located between Kensington Gardens to the south, Paddington to the north-east, and ...

district of London.

History

The first recorded organised Greek Orthodox community in England was established in 1670 by a group of 100 Greek refugees from Mani. There were also theologians, students, coffee shop owners, traders and sailors. Their priest was Daniel Boulgaris, who also seems to have taken the initiative to gain permission from the

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

Bishop of London The bishop of London is the Ordinary (church officer), ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of London in the Province of Canterbury. By custom the Bishop is also Dean of the Chapel Royal since 1723. The diocese covers of 17 boroughs o ...

to build a permanent church for his growing flock. His efforts were boosted in 1676 by the arrival of the Archbishop of Samos, Joseph Georgerines, who had originally travelled to London to publish his '' Anthologion'', "for the use of the Eastern Greek Church". Soon, the London authorities granted them permission to build a church. Georgerines then travelled around the country with his manservant, Dominikos Cratianas, to raise the necessary funds. The church was inaugurated in 1677 in

Soho SoHo, short for "South of Houston Street, Houston Street", is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Since the 1970s, the neighborhood has been the location of many artists' lofts and art galleries, art installations such as The Wall ...

and dedicated to the

Panagia Panagia (, fem. of , + , the ''All-Holy'', or the ''Most Holy''; pronounced ) (also transliterated Panaghia or Panayia), in Medieval and Modern Greek, is one of the titles of Mary, Mother of God, used especially in Orthodox Christianity and E ...

on what soon became Greek Street. However, the situation turned precarious when Dominicos Cratiana was taken to court by his master over the alleged disappearance of funds. Cratiana counteracted by accusing him of being a " Popish plotter". The church was confiscated in 1684 and handed over to Huguenot refugees from France, much to the anger of the Greek archbishop, who wrote and circulated a furious pamphlet which criticised this move and detailed how the English authorities had expropriated the community. He wrote that the community "never sold the said Church, nor received any sum for the building thereof". The church no longer stands but the dedicatory plaque that was embedded over the main entrance is now housed in the

narthex The narthex is an architectural element typical of Early Christian art and architecture, early Christian and Byzantine architecture, Byzantine basilicas and Church architecture, churches consisting of the entrance or Vestibule (architecture), ve ...

of the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of St Sophia in Bayswater. During the next 150 years, the community had to worship in the Imperial Russian Embassy. Finally, in 1837, an autonomous community was set up in Finsbury Park in London. The first new church was built in 1850, on London Street in the City. In 1877, the Church of St Sophia (the Holy Wisdom) was constructed in London to cope with the growing influx of Orthodox immigrants to the United Kingdom. By the outbreak of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, there were large Orthodox communities in London, Manchester, Cardiff and Liverpool, each focused on its own church.

Metropolis of Thyateira and Great Britain (1922–1968)

The issue of how these significant communities were to be governed was not resolved until 1922, when the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, following the initiative of the

Ecumenical Patriarch The ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople () is the archbishop of Constantinople and (first among equals) among the heads of the several autocephalous churches that comprise the Eastern Orthodox Church. The ecumenical patriarch is regarded as ...

, Meletius IV, established a Metropolis to oversee both Central and Western Europe with its See in

, naming it ‘Metropolis of Thyateira and Great Britain’. The city of Thyateira, after which the Metropolis was named, was one of the seven Apostolic Churches mentioned in the

Book of Revelation The Book of Revelation, also known as the Book of the Apocalypse or the Apocalypse of John, is the final book of the New Testament, and therefore the final book of the Bible#Christian Bible, Christian Bible. Written in Greek language, Greek, ...

. The

elected Metropolitan Germanos Strinopoulos as the first Hierarch of the newly-founded Metropolis. His long term in office (1922-1951) was marked by the founding of a large number of Greek Orthodox Communities both in Great Britain as well as in other countries in Western and Central Europe under the See of the Metropolis of Thyateira and Great Britain. In 1951 the previous Metropolitan of Philadelphia, Athenagoras Kavvadas was elected Metropolitan of Thyateira and Great Britain. During his tenure he continued the pastoral and spiritual work of his predecessor, further contributing to the shaping of the historical, social and theological Greek-Orthodox presence in Great Britain and the rest of Western Europe. On 10 December 1963, the then Metropolitan Athenagoras Kokkinakis was elected Metropolitan of Thyateira and Great Britain and on 24 February 1968, the Metropolis of Thyateira became the Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain, specifically in charge of the British Isles. Under his term of office, the development of the archdiocese was impressive, despite the fact that the pastoral jurisdiction of the archdiocese was restricted due to the loss of the Scandinavian Eparchies and of Iceland, as a result of the establishment by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of the Metropolises of France, Germany and Austria.

Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain (1968-present)

Archbishop Athenegoras embarked on a program of modernisation and the development of the archdiocese included a series of reforms concerning the relationship of the archdiocese to the other institutions of the Greek and Cypriot Diaspora in Great Britain, namely the organization of the educational projects of its Communities, the publication of journals (Orthodox Herald, the official pastoral publication), the election of new, efficient Bishops and the successful handling of the ‘deluge’ of refugees as a result of the invasion of the Turkish Army in Cyprus in 1974. Archbishop Athenagoras died on 9 September 1979, in London. The Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate then appointed the previous Metropolitan of Axum (Ethiopia) under the Alexandrian Church, Methodios Fouiyas, to the archdiocese in 1979. He had moved from the Alexandrian Church to the Ecumenical Patriarchate in order to do so. He continued the project of Archbishop Athenagoras until he was revoked by the Ecumenical Patriarchate in April 1988 and was given the title of Metropolitan of Pisidia. He died in Athens in 2006. In April 1988, the

elected Bishop of Tropaiou, Gregorios (Theocharous), as the new archbishop. Being well-informed in the affairs and realities of the Greek-Orthodox Diaspora due to his former service in Great Britain as

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian denominations, such as the Cathol ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

, Archmandrite and

Bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

, and armed with an enviable zeal for reform, the new archbishop drastically transformed the archdiocese, the communities and its schools. He served a lengthy tensure as archbishop, holding the throne for thirty-one years. For reasons of prolonged age and fragile health, Archbishop Gregorios resigned and Nikitas (Loulias) was elected Archbishop of Thyateira and Great Britain by the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, following the recommendation of

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I Bartholomew (born Dimitrios Archontonis, 29 February 1940) is the current Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople since 1991. In accordance with his title, he is regarded as the ''primus inter pares'' (first among equals) in the Eastern Orthodox ...

. His enthronement took place in the Cathedral of the Divine Wisdom in

on 27 July 2019.

Archbishops of Thyateira and Great Britain

Several

archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

s have served the Metropolis/Archdiocese since 1922 including: * Germanos (Strinopoulos) (1922–1951) * Athenagoras (Kavadas) (1951–1962) * Athenagoras (Kokkinakis) (1963–1979) * Methodios (Fouiyas) (1979–1988) * Gregorios (Theocharous) (1988–2019) * Nikitas (Loulias) (2019–present)

Parishes and monasteries

there are 114 parishes and monasteries in the UK and Ireland:

Southwest

* SS Michael the Archangel & Piran, near Falmouth * SS Demetrius & Nicetas, Plymouth * St Andrew, Torquay * St Andrew the Apostle, Weston-super-Mare * SS Peter & Paul, Bristol * Nativity of the Mother of God (Eastern Orthodox Church), Bristol * St John of Kronstadt, Bath * Community of St John Chrysostom, Gloucester * St John the Forerunner, Salisbury * Community of St Spyridon, Bournemouth * Holy Prophet Elias, Exeter & Combe Martin

Southeast

* Holy Trinity & Annunciation, Oxford * SS Ambrose & Stylianos, Milton Keynes * Community of St Phanourius, Aylesbury * Community of St Gregory the Theologian, Beaconsfield * Prophet Elias, Reading * St Andrew the Apostle, Windsor * St Nicholas, Southampton * Community of Portsmouth * Holy Trinity, Brighton * St Mary Magdalene, St Leonards-on-Sea * SS Panteleimon & Theodore, Eastbourne * Annunciation of the Mother of God, Maidstone * SS Mark & Fotini, Folkestone * Archangel Michael, Margate

London

Central London

* Cathedral & Metropolitical Church of St Sophia, Bayswater * Cathedral of St Andrew, Kentish Town * Cathedral of All Saints, Camden Town *Archdiocesan Chapel of the Annunciation of the Mother of God, Bayswater

North London

* Cathedral of the Dormition of the Mother of God, Wood Green *Cathedral of the Holy Cross & St Michael, Golders Green *SS Cosmas & Damian, NW5 1LN *SS Anthony the Great & John the Baptist, Islington * St Barnabas, Wood Green *St Demetrius, Lower Edmonton, N9 0LP *St John the Baptist, Hornsey * St Katherine, Friern Barnet *SS Panteleimon & Paraskevi, Harrow *Community of SS Raphael, Nicholas & Irene of Lesbos (Mytiline), Enfield North & District *Chapel of the Resurrection, Muswell Hill

South London

*Cathedral of the Nativity of the Mother of God, Camberwell *SS Constantine & Helen, Upper Norwood *St Nectarius, SW11 5QR *St George, Kingston-upon-Thames *Christ the Saviour, Welling

East London

* SS Eleutherius, Anthia & Luke the Evangelist, Leyton *St John the Theologian, E8 3RD *SS Lazarus & Andrew the Apostle, Forest Gate

West London

*Cathedral of St Nicholas, Shepherds Bush

East of England

*St Mamas, Bedford *St Charalambos, Luton *The Twelve Apostles,

Brookmans Park Brookmans Park is a village in Hertfordshire, southeast England, known for its Brookmans Park transmitting station, BBC transmitter station. Brookmans Park railway station, on the East Coast Main Line, is operated by Thameslink and Great North ...

*SS Athanasius & Clement, Cambridge * Mother of God, Norwich *Pan-Orthodox Chapel of Life-Receiving Source, Walsingham *St Spyridon, Great Yarmouth *Community of SS Cosmas & Damian, Ipswich *Community of St Sophia & Her Three Daughters, Bishop's Stortford *

Patriarchal Stavropegic Monastery of St. John the Baptist The Patriarchal Stauropegic, Stavropegic Monastery of St John the Baptist is a monastic community for men and women, directly under the Church of Constantinople, Ecumenical Patriarchate. It is located in Tolleshunt Knights, near Maldon, Essex, in ...

, Essex *SS Barbara, Phanourius & Paul, Southend-on-Sea

West Midlands

*Community of SS Stephen & Thecla, Hereford *Community of Oswestry *Holy Fathers of Nicaea & St John the Baptist, Shrewsbury *Community of the Holy Fathers of Nicaea, Telford * Cathedral of the Dormition of the Mother of God & St Andrew, Birmingham * Holy Trinity & St Luke, Birmingham *Nativity of the Mother of God, Walsall *The Holy Transfiguration, Coventry *Ascension of the Lord, Rugby *SS Mary & Marina, Stoke-on-Trent

East Midlands

*St Neophytos, Northampton *Cathedral of SS Nicholas & Xenophon, Leicester * Virgin Mary Eleousa, Nottingham * SS Aidan and Chad, Nottingham *SS Cyril & Methodius, Mansfield * St Basil the Great & Saint Paisios, Lincoln

Northwest

* St Barbara, Chester * St Nicholas, Toxteth * Annunciation of the Mother of God, Manchester *St Nicholas, Blackley *Community of the Holy Apostles, Leyland *Community of St Simon the Zealot, Dalton-in-Furness *Community of St Bega, St Mungo, & St Herbert, Braithwaite

Yorkshire and the Humber

* Annunciation of the Mother of God, Sheffield * Three Hierarchs, Leeds * Community of St Constantine the Great, York

Northeast

* Annunciation of the Mother of God, Middlesbrough * Community of SS Cuthbert & Bede, Durham * St Anthony, Newcastle-upon-Tyne

Wales

* St Nicholas, Cardiff * Three Hierarchs, Lampeter * Community of Rhuddlan

Scotland

* Cathedral of St Luke, Glasgow * Chapel of St Andrew, Edinburgh *Chapel of St John the Baptist, Ardross Castle *Community of Dundee *Community of St Andrews *Community of Perth *Oratory of the Mother of God & St Cumein, Fort Augustus *The Highland Orthodox Community of St Columba, Inverness *Community of St Matthew the Apostle, Aberdeen

Channel Islands

* Community of SS Simon, Andrew the Apostle & Philon, Jersey * Community of All Saints, Guernsey See also Greek Orthodox churches in the United Kingdom

References

Bibliography

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain Eastern Orthodox dioceses in the United Kingdom Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain Thyateira Dioceses established in the 20th century Christian organizations established in 1922 1922 establishments in England Metropolises without suffragan dioceses