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Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Canada

The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Canada, formerly known as the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Toronto (Canada), is an archdiocese of the Eastern Orthodox Church based in Canada. It is under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. The present Archbishop and Exarch of All Canada is Sotirios Athanassoulas.[6] Its jurisdiction covers members of the Greek Orthodox community living in Canada. Archbishop Sotirios was born in Arta, Epirus in Greece. The headquarters of the archdiocese is in the East York district of Toronto.

Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Canada

Ελληνική Ορθόδοξη Αρχιεπισκοπή Καναδά
orthodox
Annunciation Of The Virgin Mary Greek Orthodox Cathedral, Toronto
Location
CountryCanada
Headquarters86 Overlea Boulevard, Toronto
Coordinates43°42′32″N 79°20′22″W / 43.70895690°N 79.33957440°W / 43.70895690; -79.33957440
Statistics
Parishes75[1]
Members220,000[2]
Information
DenominationEastern Orthodox
RiteByzantine Rite
Established
  • 1960: Ninth Archdiocesan District of GOARCH
  • 1996: Metropolis of Toronto (Canada)
  • 2019: Archdiocese of Canada[3][4]
CathedralAnnunciation of The Virgin Mary Greek Orthodox Cathedral, Toronto.[5]
LanguageGreek, English
Parent churchEcumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople
PatriarchBartholomew I of Constantinople
Metropolitan ArchbishopSotirios (Athanassoulas), Archbishop of Canada and Exarch of the Arctic
Website
goarchdiocese.ca

History

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At the beginning of the 20th century there were approximately 300 Canadians of Greek descent. The first community was established in Montreal in 1906.[7] This was followed in 1909 by the community of "St. George" in Toronto.[8] Other early communities were established in Winnipeg (1912) and in Thunder Bay (1918).

As these communities began forming parishes, the Greek believers looked the Church of Greece for priests. Responding to the calls from the New World, in 1908, the Patriarchate in Constantinople issued a decree giving episcopal oversight of the Americas to the Church of Greece. In 1922, Meletius, now Patriarch of Constantinople, revoked the decree of 1908, and formally organized the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America on May 11, 1922 and appointed Bp. Alexander, the titular Bishop of Rodostolou, as his Patriarchal Exarch in America. More communities were established in Vancouver (1927), in Ottawa (1929) and in Edmonton in (1938). At this time, all parishes in the Americas were part of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America. In 1960, the Metropolis of Toronto became the Ninth Archdiocesan District of Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America.[9]

The first Bishop in Canada, Metropolitan Athenagoras of Elaia, was appointed by the Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras in 1960 and was followed by Bishop Timothy of Rodostolon 1963-1967 and Bishop Theodosios of Ancona 1967-1973.

The present Metropolitan of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Toronto (Canada), Sotirios, was elected Bishop of Constantia on December 18, 1973 and ordained on January 27, 1974. Since then, he is serving the Church in Canada. He was promoted to Bishop of Toronto in 1979 and Metropolitan of Toronto in 1996.

At the time of his election as Bishop, there were only 22 Churches in Canada. Under his tenure, that number has grown to 76 Churches and 350,000 Greek Orthodox Christians. During his Archieratical service, the Diocese and now Metropolis have established the Annual Youth Assemblies (1980); a monthly newspaper, Orthodox Way (1982); Social Services (1984); Metahomes (1984), providing transitional housing for the homeless; Greek Orthodox Order of Canada (1987); weekly television program Orthodox Voice (1990), which is broadcast across all of Canada; School of Byzantine Music (1991); Convents of St. Kosmas of Aitolos in Ontario and the Virgin Mary of Consolation in Quebec (1993); Greek Orthodox Education in Ontario, (1996) (“Metamorphosis” Greek Orthodox Day School, “Metamorphosis” Child Care Centre, Toronto, Metamorphosis Preschool, Toronto, “St. Nicholas“ Child Care Centre-Toronto). Homes for the Aged, (nine Homes: Toronto, Montreal, Laval, Vancouver); 50 Homes for Needy Families (Thunder Bay); Toronto Orthodox Theological Academy (1998); “Metamorphosis” Summer Camps (1999); Metropolis Cultural Centre (2002).[10]

In 1996, the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America was split by the Ecumenical Patriarchate, into four parts: Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Canada, Central America, South America and the America which was left with the territory of the United States of America. As stated earlier, on 24 September 1996, Sotirios was elevated to the rank of "Metropolitan Archbishop of Toronto and Exarch of all Canada".[11]

On June 13, 2019, the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in its meeting with His All Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew presiding elevated the Metropolis of Toronto to the Archdiocese of Canada and, consequently, its Metropolitan to Archbishop Sotirios of Canada.[12]

Parishes and monasteries

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Archbishop Sotirios

As of 2020 there are 75 parishes in Canada.[13] They are organised into four regions:

  • Atlantic Canada (4 parishes)
  • Ontario (39 parishes)[14]
  • Quebec (13 parishes)
  • Western Canada (19 parishes)[15][16]

There are two monasteries in the metropolis.[17] In 1993, the Convents of St. Kosmas of Aitolos in Ontario, and the Virgin Mary of Consolation in Quebec were established.

Episcopacy

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  • Archbishop Sotirios (Athanassoulas) of Canada and Exarch of the Arctic[3][4] (1973–present)

Auxiliary bishops

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  • Bishop Bartholomew (Mostratos) of Keramos[18][19] (July 2020 – present)
  • Bishop Athenagoras (Salmas) of Patara[18][20] (July 2020 – present)
  • Bishop Iakovos (Antonopoulos) of Zenoupolis[18][21] (July 2020 – March 2024)

Deceased hierarchs

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  • Bishop Theodosios (Sideris) of Ancona,[22] GOA Ninth (Canadian) District (1967-1973)
  • Bishop Timotheos (Haloftis) of Rodostolou,[23] GOA Ninth (Canadian) District (1963-1967)
  • Metropolitan Athenagoras (Kokkinakis) of Elaia,[24] GOA Ninth (Canadian) District (1960-1963)

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Parishes. Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Canada.
  2. ^ Canada, Government of Canada, Statistics (8 May 2013). "2011 National Household Survey: Data tables – Religion (108), Immigrant Status and Period of Immigration (11), Age Groups (10) and Sex (3) for the Population in Private Households of Canada, Provinces, Territories, Census Metropolitan Areas and Census Agglomerations, 2011 National Household Survey". www12.statcan.gc.ca.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ a b Metropolis of Toronto Named Archdiocese of Canada Archived 8 November 2020 at the Wayback Machine. The National Herald. 20/6/2019. Retrieved: 13 August 2020.
  4. ^ a b Toronto Mayor John Tory and Councillor Jim Karygiannis Congratulate Archbishop Sotirios. Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Canada. 7 July 2019. Retrieved: 13 August 2020.
  5. ^ (in Greek) Archbishop Iakovos (Coucouzis) of America. "Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church - Cathedral Letter." Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America. 14 November 1967.
  6. ^ "Holy Metropolis Of Toronto". patriarchate. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
  7. ^ [1] HCGM History
  8. ^ [2] Toronto History
  9. ^ "Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America - OrthodoxWiki". orthodoxwiki.org. Retrieved 25 October 2021.   Text was copied from this source, which is available under a Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.5) license and the GNU Free Documentation License.
  10. ^ [3] - Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Canada - History.
  11. ^ Greek Reporter - Andrew Scheer, Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada and Leader of the Opposition, visited the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Canada on Friday and congratulated the Archbishop on the recent elevation of the Metropolis of Toronto to the Archdiocese of Canada.
  12. ^ [4] Archived 8 November 2020 at the Wayback Machine Metropolis of Toronto Named Archdiocese of Canada.
  13. ^ [5] - Parishes
  14. ^ St Nicholas Greek Orthodox parish - new church openedly opened its doors on 4 December 1983.
  15. ^ Orthodox Times - Archbishop Sotirios met Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides in Calgary.
  16. ^ Greek Orthodox Church in Regina - St Paul's parish.
  17. ^ [6] - Monasteries
  18. ^ a b c The ordinations of the three Auxiliary Bishops for the Archdiocese of Canada. ΟΡΘΟΔΟΞΙΑ INFO. 01/08/2020 / 11:41. Retrieved: 13 August 2020.
  19. ^ HG Bishop Ioan Casian participated in the ordination HG Bartholomew of Keramos vicar - bishop (Ecumenical Patriarchate - Canada). The Romanian Orthodox Diocese of Canada. 27 July 2020. Retrieved: 13 August 2020.
  20. ^ (in Greek) Η Χειροτονία του Επισκόπου Πατάρων Αθηναγόρου στο Τορόντο. Ορθοδοξία News Agency. 27/07/2020 - 10:06. Retrieved: 13 August 2020.
  21. ^ (in Greek) Χειροτονία Επισκόπου Ζηνουπόλεως Ιακώβου (ΒΙΝΤΕΟ). ΡΟΜΦΑΙΑ (Romfea.gr). 30/07 16:54. Retrieved: 13 August 2020.
  22. ^ Bishop Theodosios (Sideris). Canadian Orthodox History Project. Retrieved: 13 August 2020.
  23. ^ Bishop Timotheos (Haloftis). Canadian Orthodox History Project. Retrieved: 13 August 2020.
  24. ^ Archbishop Athenagoras (Kokkinakis). Canadian Orthodox History Project. Retrieved: 13 August 2020.
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