Metropolitan Augoustinos Kantiotes of

Florina Florina ( el, Φλώρινα, ''Flórina''; known also by some alternative names) is a town and municipality in the mountainous northwestern Macedonia, Greece. Its motto is, 'Where Greece begins'. The town of Florina is the capital of the F ...

( el, Αυγουστίνος Καντιώτης, 20 April 1907 – 28 August 2010) was a bishop of the

Greek Orthodox Church The term Greek Orthodox Church ( Greek: Ἑλληνορθόδοξη Ἐκκλησία, ''Ellinorthódoxi Ekklisía'', ) has two meanings. The broader meaning designates "the entire body of Orthodox (Chalcedonian) Christianity, sometimes also cal ...

. He was born in

Paros Paros (; el, Πάρος; Venetian: ''Paro'') is a Greek island in the central Aegean Sea. One of the Cyclades island group, it lies to the west of Naxos, from which it is separated by a channel about wide. It lies approximately south-east of ...

in village of Piso Livadi. Kantiotes was a defender of traditional Greek Orthodox beliefs and

Greek nationalism Greek nationalism (or Hellenic nationalism) refers to the nationalism of Greeks and Greek culture.. As an ideology, Greek nationalism originated and evolved in pre-modern times. It became a major political movement beginning in the 18th century, ...

. He was a writer of spiritual literature and is credited for the spiritual renewal of Greece and the establishment of traditional Orthodox theology. He also preached countless sermons that have been recorded and distributed worldwide. For many years, he was at the forefront of the anti-ecumenism movement since he believed that ecumenism contradicted the basic principles of Greek Orthodoxy. Kantiotes is known for his conservative activism and ideals; for example, in 1952, he led a 1500-strong group that protested the "Miss Greece" pageant, denouncing what he saw to be an "exhibition of naked bodies", a "scandal" and an "orgy". Despite support from the Holy Synod of the Greek Church, he was unsuccessful in his campaign to ban beauty pageants; in fact, the 1952 pageant was attended by many, including former prime minister Konstantinos Tsaldaris, who was a prominent conservative politician, and the Athens Police Chief at the time. Bishop Augoustinos also denounced the implicit neo-paganism he saw in the use of the Olympic flame. Augoustinos, who published over 80 books in Greek, of which over 25 have appeared in English, and other languages, was known as a classic writer in the English-speaking world of Orthodox Christianity. In 1958, Greek theologian and

University of Athens The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA; el, Εθνικό και Καποδιστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών, ''Ethnikó ke Kapodistriakó Panepistímio Athinón''), usually referred to simply as the Univers ...

professor Panagiotis Trembalas testified to the Archdiocese of Athens that Augoustinos was mentally ill. In 1960, Metropolitan of Chios Panteleimon also testified that Augoustinos was mentally disturbed. On June 25, 1967, the newly elected

Archbishop of Athens 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 ...

, who was installed earlier the same year by the far right military dictatorship of Greece, ordained Augoustinos as Bishop of Florina. In 1971, with the support of dictator

Georgios Papadopoulos Geórgios Papadopoulos (; el, Γεώργιος Παπαδόπουλος ; 5 May 1919 – 27 June 1999) was a Greeks, Greek military officer and political leader who ruled Greece as a military dictator from 1967 to 1973. He joined the Hellenic ...

, Augoustinos succeeded in demolishing the main historic cathedral in Florina St. Panteleimon and replaced it with a new Greek style structure. In 1972 with the aid of the army, which Papadopoulos made available to Kantiotes, demolished the historic church of Amyntaio and many others in the region of Florina. Augoustinos pointed to the "danger" of the old church buildings collapsing; however, according to residents and recent church publications, he intended to destroy the churches purposefully because they were of Slavic architectural style and contained Slavic inscriptions. During the dictatorship Augoustinos also succeeded in removing abstract public art forms from the city, including a sculpture made by acclaimed Greek sculptor Dimitris Kalamaras, and in 1981 Augoustinos expelled a priest from his diocese for baptizing the infant son of Kalamaras. Only shortly after his death in 2010 was the sculpture was re-installed in Florina, having been on display in the

Athens metro The Athens Metro ( el, Μετρό Αθήνας, Metro Athinas, translit-std=iso) is a rapid-transit system in Greece which serves the Athens urban area and parts of East Attica. Line 1 opened as a conventional steam railway in 1869 and electrif ...

since its removal. In the early 1990s, at the height of the dispute between

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

and

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Yugoslavia. It ...

, Augoustinos tried to prevent the marriage between a man in his diocese and a woman from the neighboring city of Bitola, but later allowed the marriage on the condition that they would not play any Slavic language songs at their wedding. During the same period, Augoustinos also organized protests in Florina to prevent the acclaimed filmmaker

Theo Angelopoulos Theodoros "Theo" Angelopoulos (; ; 27 April 1935 – 24 January 2012) was a Greek filmmaker, screenwriter and film producer. He dominated the Greek art film industry from 1975 on, and Angelopoulos was one of the most influential and widely re ...

(who was critical of the dictatorship) from filming in Florina his newest movie, The Suspended Step of the Stork. Kantiotes died on 28 August 2010 of renal failure while in a hospital in

for a stroke.

References

External links

Augoustinos Kantiotes' homepage

at

Eleftherotypia ''Eleftherotypia'' ( el, Ελευθεροτυπία, lit=freedom of the press) was a daily national newspaper published in Athens, Greece. Published since 21 July 1975, it was the first newspaper to appear after the fall of the Regime of the ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kantiotes, Augoustinos 1907 births 2010 deaths Greek Eastern Orthodox priests Bishops of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople Greek centenarians Men centenarians Deaths from kidney failure People from Paros Eastern Orthodox bishops in Greece 20th-century Eastern Orthodox bishops 21st-century Eastern Orthodox bishops