Archbishop Dorotheus Of Athens

Dorotheus ( el, Δωρόθεος, secular name Ioannis Kottaras el, Ιωάννης Κοτταράς) was

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 ...

from 1956 to 1957. He was born in

Hydra Hydra generally refers to: * Lernaean Hydra, a many-headed serpent in Greek mythology * ''Hydra'' (genus), a genus of simple freshwater animals belonging to the phylum Cnidaria Hydra or The Hydra may also refer to: Astronomy * Hydra (constel ...

in 1888 and studied theology at the

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 ...

, from where he graduated in 1909. He then studied law at the Universities of Athens and

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

, and specialised in

ecclesiastical law Canon law (from grc, κανών, , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. It is th ...

. For a brief period, he was a schoolteacher in

Sparta Sparta ( Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referre ...

. He became a

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

, and was ordained 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 ...

on 18 September 1910 by the then Metropolitan Bishop of Hydra and Spetses Ioasaph and served as a deacon for nine years in the Church of St George Carytses in Athens. On 18 December 1922 he was ordained a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

by the then Metropolitan Bishop of Hydra and Spetses Procopius. Two days later, he was ordained a bishop by the then Metropolitan Bishops of Fthiotida Ambrosius and Syros Athanasius, and was appointed Metropolitan Bishop of

Kythera Kythira (, ; el, Κύθηρα, , also transliterated as Cythera, Kythera and Kithira) is an island in Greece lying opposite the south-eastern tip of the Peloponnese peninsula. It is traditionally listed as one of the seven main Ionian Islands, ...

and

Antikythera Antikythera or Anticythera ( ) is a Greek island lying on the edge of the Aegean Sea, between Crete and Peloponnese. In antiquity the island was known as (). Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality of Kythira islan ...

. On 15 January 1935 he was transferred to the

Metropolis of Larissa and Platamon The Metropolis of Larissa and Tyrnavos ( el, Ιερά Μητρόπολις Λαρίσης και Τυρνάβου) is a Greek Orthodox metropolitan see in Thessaly, Greece. History Christianity penetrated early to Larissa, though its first bishop ...

from where he was appointed Archbishop of Athens and All Greece on 29 March 1956, succeeding Archbishop Spyridon. He died in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

on 26 July 1957. During his life, he wrote over forty treatises on ecclesiastical law. 1888 births 1957 deaths People from Hydra (island) Archbishops of Athens and All Greece 20th-century Eastern Orthodox archbishops Bishops of Larissa {{EasternOrthodoxy-bishop-stub