Ieronymos I ( el, Ιερώνυμος Α´, ''Ierōnymos''; Latin: Hieronymus I; English: Jerome I; 1 May 1905 – 15 November 1988) was a Greek monk and theologian, who served as the

Archbishop of Athens and All Greece The Archbishopric of Athens ( el, Ιερά Αρχιεπισκοπή Αθηνών) is a Greek Orthodox archiepiscopal see based in the city of Athens, Greece. It is the senior see of Greece, and the seat of the autocephalous Church of Greece. It ...

and as such the primate of the

Autocephalous Autocephaly (; from el, αὐτοκεφαλία, meaning "property of being self-headed") is the status of a hierarchical Christian church whose head bishop does not report to any higher-ranking bishop. The term is primarily used in Eastern Ort ...

Orthodox Church of Greece in 1967–1973, during the

Greek military junta of 1967–1974 The Greek junta or Regime of the Colonels, . Also known within Greece as just the Junta ( el, η Χούντα, i Choúnta, links=no, ), the Dictatorship ( el, η Δικτατορία, i Diktatoría, links=no, ) or the Seven Years ( el, η Ε ...

Life

He was born Ieronymos Kotsonis (Ιερώνυμος Κοτσώνης) to a poor family in the village of Ysternia, the island of Tinos. His father died three months before his birth, and his mother was soon forced to go to

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

and work as a cook to sustain her family. Thus Ieronymos grew up with relatives until the age of 2, when he went to Athens. He studied at the Rizareios Ecclesiastical School and continued his studies at the Theological Faculty of the University of Athens. After graduation, he went for further studies to Germany (in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

and

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...

) and Britain. Through his spiritual father, the

archimandrite The title archimandrite ( gr, ἀρχιμανδρίτης, archimandritēs), used in Eastern Christianity, originally referred to a superior abbot (''hegumenos'', gr, ἡγούμενος, present participle of the verb meaning "to lead") who ...

Seraphim Papakostas, he became a protégé of the then-Archbishop of Athens, Chrysanthus. He became a monk and, on 4 January 1939, a

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 churches, such as the Catholic Churc ...

. He rose quickly in the ecclesiastical hierarchy, being appointed second secretary of the Holy Synod, becoming presbyter and archimandrite on 23 June 1940. As a close associate of Chrysanthus, he was dismissed from his secretary to the Holy Synod by the collaborationist government during the Axis Occupation of Greece, and spent the Occupation as chaplain of the

Evangelismos Hospital Athens General Hospital 'Evangelismos' ( el, Γενικό Νοσοκομείο Αθηνών «Ο Ευαγγελισμός») is one of the largest public hospitals in Greece. It is located in a sub-neighbourhood of Kolonaki named after it, Evange ...

. After the occupation, he submitted a dissertation for a position of lecturer at the Theological Faculty, but later withdrew it after quarrelling with his teachers. On 29 September 1949 he was appointed head priest of the Royal Palace. In 1959 finally he was elected as Professor of Canon Law in the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Ieronymos was elected as Archbishop of Athens on 14 May 1967 after the forced resignation of his predecessor, Chrysostomos II, following the military coup d'état of 21 April 1967. Due to his well-known staunchly conservative and anti-communist views, he was widely seen as nominee of the junta's leadership, many of whom had ties to para-religious organizations. He continued to serve under the junta until his resignation on 15 December 1973. His, and by extension the whole Church of Greece's close cooperation with the junta during his primacy continues to be a subject of controversy. Following his resignation, he retired to his birthplace. He died on 15 November 1988. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ieronymos 01 Of Athens 1905 births 1988 deaths Eastern Orthodoxy and far-right politics People from Tinos National and Kapodistrian University of Athens alumni Leaders of the Greek junta Archbishops of Athens and All Greece Eastern Orthodox monks 20th-century Eastern Orthodox archbishops Greek theologians