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The Metropolis of Rhodes ( el, Ιερά Μητρόπολις Ρόδου) is the
Greek Orthodox The term Greek Orthodox Church (Greek language, Greek: Ἑλληνορθόδοξη Ἐκκλησία, ''Ellinorthódoxi Ekklisía'', ) has two meanings. The broader meaning designates "the Eastern Orthodox Church, entire body of Orthodox (Chalced ...
metropolitan see Metropolitan may refer to: * Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories * Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England * Metropolitan county, a t ...
covering the island of
Rhodes Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the So ...
in the
Dodecanese The Dodecanese (, ; el, Δωδεκάνησα, ''Dodekánisa'' , ) are a group of 15 larger plus 150 smaller Greek islands in the southeastern Aegean Sea and Eastern Mediterranean, off the coast of Turkey's Anatolia, of which 26 are inhabited. ...
island group in
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 with ...
. It belongs to the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the
Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople ( el, Οἰκουμενικὸν Πατριαρχεῖον Κωνσταντινουπόλεως, translit=Oikoumenikón Patriarkhíon Konstantinoupóleos, ; la, Patriarchatus Oecumenicus Constanti ...
.


History

The foundation of the Christian community of Rhodes is traditionally attributed to the
Apostle Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...
, as the island is mentioned (
Acts 21 Acts 21 is the twenty-first chapter of the Acts of the Apostles in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It records the end of Paul's third missionary journey and his arrival and reception in Jerusalem. The book containing this chapter is ano ...
) during the latter's third missionary journey. Paul's companion
Silas Silas or Silvanus (; Greek: Σίλας/Σιλουανός; fl. 1st century AD) was a leading member of the Early Christian community, who according to the New Testament accompanied Paul the Apostle on his second missionary journey. Name and et ...
is also held to have preached and performed miracles on the island. The exact date of the establishment of an
episcopal see An episcopal see is, in a practical use of the phrase, the area of a bishop's ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Phrases concerning actions occurring within or outside an episcopal see are indicative of the geographical significance of the term, mak ...
in Rhodes is unknown, although tradition mentions Prochorus as the first bishop in the 1st century AD. Euphranor is attested as a bishop during the 2nd century, while bishop Photinus is mentioned in the late 3rd century. During the
First Ecumenical Council The First Council of Nicaea (; grc, Νίκαια ) was a council of Christian bishops convened in the Bithynian city of Nicaea (now İznik, Turkey) by the Roman Emperor Constantine I in AD 325. This ecumenical council was the first effort ...
in 325, Rhodes was represented by bishop Euphrosynus. In
Late Antiquity Late antiquity is the time of transition from classical antiquity to the Middle Ages, generally spanning the 3rd–7th century in Europe and adjacent areas bordering the Mediterranean Basin. The popularization of this periodization in English ha ...
, Rhodes became the capital of the
Roman province The Roman provinces (Latin: ''provincia'', pl. ''provinciae'') were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was rule ...
of the
Islands An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...
, encompassing most of the Aegean Islands. Consequently, it was raised to a
metropolitan see Metropolitan may refer to: * Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories * Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England * Metropolitan county, a t ...
, probably some time in the late 4th or early 5th century, with a number of
suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdictiona ...
sees in the other islands of the province. In the earliest of the ''
Notitiae Episcopatuum The ''Notitiae Episcopatuum'' (singular: ''Notitia Episcopatuum'') are official documents that furnish Eastern countries the list and hierarchical rank of the metropolitan and suffragan bishoprics of a church. In the Roman Church (the -mostly Lati ...
'' dating to the early 5th century, Rhodes ranked 26th among the sees under the
Patriarchate of Constantinople The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople ( el, Οἰκουμενικὸν Πατριαρχεῖον Κωνσταντινουπόλεως, translit=Oikoumenikón Patriarkhíon Konstantinoupóleos, ; la, Patriarchatus Oecumenicus Constanti ...
, falling to 28th place after the
Fourth Ecumenical Council The Council of Chalcedon (; la, Concilium Chalcedonense), ''Synodos tēs Chalkēdonos'' was the fourth ecumenical council of the Christian Church. It was convoked by the Roman emperor Marcian. The council convened in the city of Chalcedon, Bithy ...
in 451, to 33rd in the mid-6th century, and rising to 30th in the early 9th century. In Late Antiquity and until the early 9th century, the metropolis of Rhodes counted 11 suffragan sees. In the mid-9th century, the foundation of two new sees, in
Nisyros Nisyros also spelled Nisiros ( el, Νίσυρος, Nísiros) is a volcanic Greek island and municipality located in the Aegean Sea. It is part of the Dodecanese group of islands, situated between the islands of Kos and Tilos. Its shape is appro ...
and
Astypalaia Astypalaia (Greek: Αστυπάλαια, ), is a Greek island with 1,334 residents (2011 census). It belongs to the Dodecanese, an archipelago of fifteen major islands in the southeastern Aegean Sea. The island is long, wide at the most, and ...
, raised the number of suffragans to 13, but in the early 10th century the number briefly fell to 10, after the two new sees were disbanded and
Andros Andros ( el, Άνδρος, ) is the northernmost island of the Greek Cyclades archipelago, about southeast of Euboea, and about north of Tinos. It is nearly long, and its greatest breadth is . It is for the most part mountainous, with many fr ...
came under the
Metropolitan 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. Its ...
. Soon, however, the two sees were re-established, and the see of
Ikaria Icaria, also spelled Ikaria ( el, Ικαρία), is a Greek island in the Aegean Sea, 10 nautical miles (19 km) southwest of Samos. According to tradition, it derives its name from Icarus, the son of Daedalus in Greek mythology, who was b ...
added, bringing the number back to 13, and, after the 970s, to 14, with the addition of the bishopric of Tracheia. Eventually, the metropolis counted 15 suffragan sees, with the addition of the bishops of Linos and Apameia. The metropolis held the 38th rank from the 10th to the early 12th century, before falling to the 45th from the late 13th until the early 14th century. From 1308/9, the island fell under the rule of the
Knights Hospitaller The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic Church, Catholic Military ord ...
. The Knights evicted the Orthodox metropolitan, and installed a Latin Archbishop in his stead. The Patriarchate of Constantinople continued to appoint metropolitans in exile, but after 1369 the see of Rhodes was awarded to the metropolitan of
Side Side or Sides may refer to: Geometry * Edge (geometry) of a polygon (two-dimensional shape) * Face (geometry) of a polyhedron (three-dimensional shape) Places * Side (Ainis), a town of Ainis, ancient Thessaly, Greece * Side (Caria), a town of an ...
on the coast of
Asia Minor Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
. The Orthodox community on the island was administered by a council comprising local priests and secular potentates. In the early 15th century, the rising power of the
Ottomans The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...
forced the Knights to adopt a more conciliatory stance, and the Orthodox metropolitans were allowed back on the island. The Union of the Churches in the
Council of Florence The Council of Florence is the seventeenth ecumenical council recognized by the Catholic Church, held between 1431 and 1449. It was convoked as the Council of Basel by Pope Martin V shortly before his death in February 1431 and took place in ...
(1447) met with ardent opposition by the Orthodox populace of the island, forcing the Knights to violently suppress their reactions. Rhodes finally fell to the Ottomans in 1522, allowing for the full restoration of the Orthodox Church on the island. Ottoman rule was characterized by relative calm, despite occasional disputes. Having lost all its suffragan sees by the early 14th century, by the early 17th century, the metropolis had risen back to 38th place among the metropolises under Constantinople, with a single suffragan, the see of Lerni, until it was raised to a separate metropolis in 1888. During the
Greek War of Independence The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. The Greeks were later assisted by ...
(1821–29), the Orthodox Church on the island suffered persecution, and its privileges were suspended until 1835, when a new ''
firman A firman ( fa, , translit=farmân; ), at the constitutional level, was a royal mandate or decree issued by a sovereign in an Islamic state. During various periods they were collected and applied as traditional bodies of law. The word firman com ...
'' restored them. In 1912, during the
Italo-Turkish War The Italo-Turkish or Turco-Italian War ( tr, Trablusgarp Savaşı, "Tripolitanian War", it, Guerra di Libia, "War of Libya") was fought between the Kingdom of Italy and the Ottoman Empire from 29 September 1911, to 18 October 1912. As a result o ...
, Rhodes along with the rest of the Dodecanese was occupied by Italy. Although at first welcomed as liberators, and promising autonomy for the islands or even a union with Greece, the Italians soon began to implement a policy of
Italianization Italianization ( it, italianizzazione; hr, talijanizacija; french: italianisation; sl, poitaljančevanje; german: Italianisierung; el, Ιταλοποίηση) is the spread of Italian culture, language and identity by way of integration or a ...
in their new colony. As the main native institution on the islands, the Orthodox Church was a major target of this campaign, such as the gradual revocation of its Ottoman-era privileges, attempts to split it from the Patriarchate and make the Dodecanese Church
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 ...
, and persecution of the leading clergy. The period of Italian rule came finally to an end with the
German occupation German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 an ...
of the islands in 1943, leading after the war to the union of the Dodecanese with Greece (1947). The metropolitan of Rhodes, Apostolos Tryphonos, played a leading role in maintaining the islands' Greek identity throughout the period. In April 2004, the islands of
Symi Symi, also transliterated as Syme or Simi ( el, Σύμη), is a Greek island and municipality. It is mountainous and includes the harbor town of Symi and its adjacent upper town Ano Symi, as well as several smaller localities, beaches, and areas o ...
,
Chalki Halki ( el, Χάλκη; alternatively ''Chalce'' or ''Chalki'') is a Greek island and municipality in the Dodecanese archipelago in the Aegean Sea, some west of Rhodes. With an area of , it is the smallest inhabited island of the Dodecanese. It ...
,
Tilos Tílos ( el, Τήλος; grc, Τῆλος, Telos) is a small Greek island and municipality located in the Aegean Sea. It is part of the Dodecanese group of islands, and lies midway between Kos and Rhodes. It has a population of 780 inhabitants ( ...
and
Kastellorizo Kastellorizo or Castellorizo (; el, Καστελλόριζο, Kastellórizo), officially Megisti ( ''Megísti''), is a Greece, Greek island and Communities and Municipalities of Greece, municipality of the Dodecanese in the Eastern Mediterranean ...
were split off to form the new Metropolis of Symi, while the island of
Nisyros Nisyros also spelled Nisiros ( el, Νίσυρος, Nísiros) is a volcanic Greek island and municipality located in the Aegean Sea. It is part of the Dodecanese group of islands, situated between the islands of Kos and Tilos. Its shape is appro ...
came under the
Metropolis of Kos A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural center for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications. A big ci ...
. Currently, the Metropolis of Rhodes comprises 17 parishes in the municipal unit of Rhodes City, 2 in the municipal unit of
Ialysos Ialysos ( el, Ιαλυσός, before 1976: Τριάντα ''Trianta'') is a town and a former municipality on the island of Rhodes, in the Dodecanese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Rhodes, of which ...
, 6 in the municipal unit of
Petaloudes Petaloudes ( el, Πεταλούδες) is a former municipality on the island of Rhodes, in the Dodecanese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Rhodes, of which it is a municipal unit. Its population was 1 ...
, 8 in the municipal unit of
Kameiros Camirus or Kamiros ( grc, Κάμιρος; ) or Cameirus or Kameiros (Κάμειρος) was a city of ancient Rhodes, in the Dodecanese, Greece. Its site is on the northwest coast of the island, west of the modern village of Kalavarda. History T ...
, 6 in the municipal unit of
Attavyros Attavyros ( el, Αττάβυρος) or Atavyros (Ατάβυρος) is the highest mountain on the island of Rhodes in the Dodecanese in Greece. It rises to a height of 1,215 m. It lies to the south of the village of Embonas. In Greek mythology ...
, 10 in the municipal unit of
South Rhodes South Rhodes ( el, Νότια Ρόδος - ''Nótia Ródos'') is a former municipality on the island of Rhodes, in the Dodecanese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Rhodes Rhodes (; el, Ρόδο ...
, 5 in the municipal unit of
Lindos Lindos (; grc-gre, Λίνδος) is an archaeological site, a fishing village and a former municipality on the island of Rhodes, in the Dodecanese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Rhodes, of which it ...
, 3 in the municipal unit of Archangelos, 2 in the municipal unit of
Afantou Afantou ( el, Αφάντου) is a village and a former municipality on the island of Rhodes, in the Dodecanese The Dodecanese (, ; el, Δωδεκάνησα, ''Dodekánisa'' , ) are a group of 15 larger plus 150 smaller Greek islands in the ...
, and 4 in the municipal unit of
Kallithea Kallithea (Greek: Καλλιθέα, meaning "beautiful view") is a district of Athens and a municipality in south Athens regional unit. It is the eighth largest municipality in Greece (96,118 inhabitants, 2021 census) and the fourth biggest i ...
. The current metropolitan bishop is, since 20 April 2004, Cyril (born Konstantinos Kogerakis).


Episcopal list

This is a list of the known bishops who have occupied the see of Rhodes (Roman Catholic archbishops under Hospitaller rule not included):


References


Bibliography

* {{Dioceses of the Ecumenical Patriarchate Rhodes
Rhodes Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the So ...
Rhodes Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the So ...
Metropolitans of Rhodes
Rhodes Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the So ...