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Archbishopric of Athens

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For the Roman Catholic archdiocese, seeRoman Catholic Archdiocese of Athens.
Archbishop ofAthensand AllGreece
Archbishopric
Eastern Orthodox
Coat of arms of the
Coat of arms
Incumbent:
Ieronymos II
since 7 February 2008
Location
CountryGreece
Information
Established1st century
autocephalous since 1850
Current form since 1923
DioceseAthens
CathedralCathedral of Annunciation
Website
http://www.iaath.gr/

TheArchbishopric of Athens(Greek:Ιερά Αρχιεπισκοπή Αθηνών) is aGreek Orthodoxarchiepiscopal seebased in the city ofAthens,Greece.It is the senior see of Greece, and the seat of theautocephalousChurch of Greece.Its incumbent (since 2008) isIeronymos II of Athens.As the head of the Church of Greece, the holder is styledArchbishop of Athens and All Greece(Αρχιεπίσκοπος Αθηνών και πάσης Ελλάδος).

History[edit]

As with most of Greece, the Church of Athens was established bySt. Paulduring hissecond missionary journey,when hepreachedat theAreopagus,probably in 50 or 51 AD. According to theActs of the Apostles(17:16–34), after the sermon, a number of people became followers of Paul, thus forming the kernel of the Church in Athens.Dionysius the Areopagitewas the first Bishop of Athens.[1]

With theChristianization of the Roman Empireand the establishment of a regular Church hierarchy, Athens became asuffragan seeof theMetropolis of Corinth,themetropolitan seeof theRoman provinceofAchaea.[2]As with most of Greece, however, the old pagan religion continued for considerable time. Despite imperial prohibitions during the 4th century, there is considerable evidence for a flourishing pagan culture up to the end of the century, and it was probably only the devastation of theGothicraids in 395–397 that dealt a first hard blow to the ancient pagan culture. The last pagan vestiges in Athens itself survived until the 6th century and the closure of the city'sNeoplatonic AcademybyJustinian Iin 529.[3]

As with the rest of theIllyricum,Athens belonged originally to the jurisdiction of thePatriarch of Rome,but the progressive strengthening of thePatriarch of Constantinople,and the changing political circumstances of the 7th century led finally to the subordination of the entireEastern Illyricumto Constantinople inc. 731/2.[3]Despite the occasional appointment of its bishop as papal vicar—chiefly in an attempt to shore up Rome's position in the area—Athens itself remained firmly subordinated to Corinth during the earlyByzantineperiod.[4]

Due to the influence of EmpressIrene of Athens,the see was raised to the rank of a metropolis sometime after 765, but this was short-lived and was reversed after the protests of the Metropolitan of Corinth.[5]Nevertheless, by 819 Athens had become anautocephalousarchbishopric, and in the ecumenical councils of 869/70 and 879, the see of Athens appears as a metropolis, but the preserved inscriptions on theParthenonshow that this was not permanent. The power struggle with Corinth was finally settled until 975, when Athens was permanently raised to the status of a separate metropolis.[5]In the variousNotitiae Episcopatuumof the 8th and 9th centuries, the position of Athens in the hierarchy of the metropolises under Constantinople fluctuates, but is relatively low (34th out of 37 inNotitia 2,and 48th out of 49 inNotitia 3). It rose to 28th place byc. 901,a place it held for the next three centuries.[6]Its jurisdiction encompassed the southeastern parts of the province (theme) ofHellas,i.e. southeasternCentral Greeceand the nearest of theCyclades.The original suffragans of Athens were, in order:Euripus,Dauleia,Koroneia,Andros,Oreos,Skyros,Karystos,Porthmos,Aulon,andSyros.[7]With the exception of the addition of the sees of "KeaandThermia"and ofMegarain the middle of the 12th century, the list remained the same until theFourth Crusade.[7]

At the time of the Fourth Crusade, the see of Athens was in the hands ofMichael Choniates.Refusing to acknowledge the authority of the Pope, he was forced to abandon his see, which became aRoman Catholic archbishopricunder the Frenchman Berard.[8]Based on a 1209 letter byPope Innocent III,the list of suffragans under Latin rule only slightly changed: Euripus (Egripontis),Thermopylae(Cermopilensem,seat inBodonitsa), Dauleia (Davaliensem), Aulon (Abelonensem), Oreos (Zorconensem), Karystos (Caristiensem), Koroneia (Coroniacensem), Andros (Andrensem),Megara(Megarensem), Skyros (Squirensem), and Kea (Cheensem), although most of these sees were vacant. In 1212, the formerly autocephalous archbishopric ofAegina,and the newly founded see ofSalona(Salonensis) also appear as Athens' suffragans.[8]The Catholic see remained vacant for a period after theCatalan CompanyconqueredtheDuchy of Athensin 1311 due to the Catalans' conflict with the papacy, and a residential archbishop is not attested until around the mid-14th century.[9]

For the duration of the Frankish rule, the Orthodox see had continued to be filled in exile, either with titular holders or with bishops of other sees functioning as stewards (proedros) of the archiepiscopal see of Athens. The Orthodox clergy were consecrated by passing bishops, but were forced to acknowledge the authority of the Latin Archbishop in order to exercise their office. In the ByzantineNotitiaeof the period, Athens fell in rank to 35th place underAndronikos II Palaiologos(r. 1282–1328), rose to 28th underAndronikos III Palaiologos(r. 1328–1341), and rose to 21st place by the turn of the 15th century.[6]In 1388, the Duchy of Athens passed into the hands of the FlorentineAcciaiolifamily. With little military might of their own, and surrounded by potential rivals and enemies, the Acciaioli cultivated a policy of conciliation towards the overwhelmingly Orthodox local Greek population. To that end, they adopted Greek as the official language of their chancery, and allowed an Orthodox metropolitan,Dorotheus,to resume residence in their capital. The cathedral Church of the Virgin in the Parthenon remained the residence of the Latin Archbishop of Athens, however, and Dorotheus used the small church of Dionysius the Areopagite in the lower city.[6][10]

This situation prevailed until theOttomanconquest of the city in 1456, when the Latin see was abolished and the Orthodox metropolitans were restored to their former position.[9][11]In accordance with the Ottomanmillet system,the metropolitan became also the chairman of the council of the community of Athens. The metropolitan cathedral in the Parthenon, however, was converted into a mosque, and the metropolitan bishop instead used the Church of St. Panteleimon, now destroyed.[11]

Following theGreek War of Independenceand the declaration of the autocephaly of theChurch of Greecein 1833, the Church was reorganized and the Bishopric of Attica (Επισκοπή Αττικής) was established, with its jurisdiction covering theAttica Prefecture.[12]Following the recognition of the autocephaly by the Patriarchate of Constantinople in 1850, the bishopric was raised again to metropolitan rank and renamed to Metropolis of Athens. As the sole metropolitan see of the independentKingdom of Greece,its incumbent was assigned the permanent presidency of the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece.[12]This situation lasted until 1922, when all episcopal sees in Greece were raised to metropolitan status. As a result, on 31 December 1923 the new Constitutional Charter of the Church of Greece raised the bishop of Athens to the position of Archbishop of Athens and All Greece.[12]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^"Ιστορία της Εκκλησίας των Αθηνών: Ίδρυση της Εκκλησίας των Αθηνών"(in Greek). Archbishopric of Athens. Archived fromthe originalon 21 July 2015.Retrieved26 September2015.
  2. ^Koder & Hild 1976,p. 79.
  3. ^abKoder & Hild 1976,p. 80.
  4. ^Koder & Hild 1976,pp. 80–81.
  5. ^abKoder & Hild 1976,p. 81.
  6. ^abc"Ιστορία της Εκκλησίας των Αθηνών: Από το 733 έως το 1456"(in Greek). Archbishopric of Athens. Archived fromthe originalon 21 July 2015.Retrieved26 September2015.
  7. ^abKoder & Hild 1976,p. 82.
  8. ^abKoder & Hild 1976,p. 84.
  9. ^abKoder & Hild 1976,p. 86.
  10. ^Miller 1908,pp. 334–338.
  11. ^ab"Ιστορία της Εκκλησίας των Αθηνών: Από το 1456 έως το 1833"(in Greek). Archbishopric of Athens. Archived fromthe originalon 21 July 2015.Retrieved26 September2015.
  12. ^abc"Ιστορία της Εκκλησίας των Αθηνών: Από το 1833 κι εξής"(in Greek). Archbishopric of Athens. Archived fromthe originalon 21 July 2015.Retrieved26 September2015.

Sources[edit]

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