Athens, March 6, 2024
Photo: romfea.gr
Metropolitan Theodoritos of Elaia, a retired hierarch of the Greek Orthodox Church, reposed in the Lord yesterday evening at the age of 84.
He had been hospitalized recently at the NIMTS Hospital in Athens, where he breathed his last, reports Vima Orthodoxias.
He served as an ordained clerics of the Church for 61 years.
May his memory be eternal!
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Met. Theodoritos was born in the village of Velia in Laconia in 1941.
From a young age, he showed a particular inclination toward theology, which led him to study at the Theological School of Halki. However, due to the suspension of the school’s operation, he continued his studies in Athens, graduating from the Theological School of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens in 1974.
In 1979, he was awarded a doctorate from the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Grenoble in France.
He was tonsured a monk at the Holy Monastery of the Forty Martyrs of Sparta in 1963. A few months later, on January 30, 1964, he was ordained a deacon and on July 1, 1967, a priest by Metropolitan Cyprian of Monemvasia and Sparta.
From 1968 to 1976, he served as abbot of the Holy Monastery of the Forty Martyrs of Sparta. In 1978, he assumed the position of professor at the Patmian Ecclesiastical School and shortly after was sent to Persia, where he served as Patriarchal Exarch and Director of the Greek School there.
In 1980, he became abbot of the Holy Monastery of Vlatadon, a position he held until 1985. On March 25, 1984, he was ordained titular Bishop of Elaia.
After many years of pastoral service, he withdrew from active duty in 1985. However, the Church recognized his enduring contribution, and on January 10, 2023, he was promoted to acting Metropolitan, with the same title.
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Source: Orthodox Christianity