Stylianos Harkianakis ( el, Στυλιανός Χαρκιανάκης; 29 December 1935 – 25 March 2019) was the Greek Orthodox
Archbishop of Australia and Primate of the
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia
The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia is the Australian archdiocese of the Greek Orthodox Church, part of the wider communion of Eastern Orthodox Christianity. The archdiocese is a jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinop ...
. He served as inaugural and permanent Chairman of the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Churches in Australia and Dean of
St Andrew's Greek Orthodox Theological College. He was a
theologian
Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...
specialising in
ecclesiology
In Christian theology, ecclesiology is the study of the Church (congregation), Church, the origins of Christianity, its relationship to Jesus, its role in salvation, its ecclesiastical polity, polity, its Church discipline, discipline, its escha ...
and also an award-winning poet.
Overview
Stylianos Harkianakis was born in
Rethymno
Rethymno ( el, Ρέθυμνο, , also ''Rethimno'', ''Rethymnon'', ''Réthymnon'', and ''Rhíthymnos'') is a city in Greece on the island of Crete. It is the capital of Rethymno regional unit, and has a population of more than 30,000 inhabitants ...
on the island of
Crete
Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, ...
,
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 ...
, on 29 December 1935. He studied theology at the
Theological School of Halki
The Halki seminary, formally the Theological School of Halki ( el, Θεολογική Σχολή Χάλκης and tr, Ortodoks Ruhban Okulu), was founded on 1 October 1844 on the island of Halki ( Turkish: Heybeliada), the second-largest of the ...
on the island of
Halki and graduated in 1958. He was ordained a deacon in 1957 and a priest in 1958. He completed postgraduate studies in systematic theology and the philosophy of religion at the
University of Bonn
The Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (german: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) is a public research university located in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the ( en, Rhine ...
in
West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
from 1958 to 1966. His lecturers included Joseph Ratzinger, who later became
Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the soverei ...
. He wrote his thesis on the concept that the Orthodox Church possessed infallibility when it acted together in conciliarity (e.g. the Ecumenical Councils). At that time, the idea of infallibility was thought to be an exclusively Roman Catholic idea, entirely alien to the Orthodox Church.
In 1965, whilst still completing his postgraduate studies, Harkianakis was appointed Professor of 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 ...
. In 1966, he was appointed abbot of the Holy Patriarchal Monastery of Vlatodon, in
Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...
. He was a founding member, then became vice-president and later president, of the Patriarchal Institute of Patristic Studies within the monastery. From 1969 to 1975, he lectured in systematic theology at the
University of Thessaloniki
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...
.
In 1970, Harkianakis was elected the Titular Metropolitan of
Militoupolis (whilst remaining in the Holy Monastery of
Vlatadon) as exarch in matters concerning Northern Greece and
Mount Athos.
Archbishop of Australia
On 3 February 1975, Harkianakis was elected
Archbishop of Australia and Exarch of Oceania. He arrived in Sydney on 15 April and was enthroned on 26 April (Saturday of Lazarus). In this role, he engaged in many dialogues between Orthodoxy and other Christian groups, most prominently as co-chairman of the theological dialogue with the
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
, but also as co-chairman of the dialogue with the Anglican churches.
Harkianakis taught Orthodox theology and spirituality at
Sydney University from 1975. In 1986 he became the inaugural dean of St Andrew's Theological College where he also served as Lecturer in Systematic Theology.
Harkianakis was the plaintiff in a defamation suit against journalist Theo Skalkos and a contempt case for articles published by Skalkos which were said to amount to public vilification to deter Harkianakis from continuing to bring defamation suits.
Harkianakis died following a lengthy illness in
Sydney on 25 March 2019, on the
Holy Day of the Annunciation of the Theotokos.
Awards
In 1973, Harkianakis was awarded the International Award Gottfried von Herder. A noted poet with an extensive bibliography, he was given the Award for Poetry from the
Academy of Athens in 1980. In 1985 he received an honorary doctorate from
Lublin University
Lublin is List of cities and towns in Poland, the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the center of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin i ...
, Poland. One of his poems, "After Ephialtes", was set to music by
Costas Tsicaderis
Costas Tsicaderis (6 January 1945 – 23 December 2004) was a Greek-Australian singer-songwriter.
Biography
Costas Tsicaderis was born in Katerini in the north of Greece in 1945, and his family migrated to Australia in 1954, when Costas was ...
.
References
Bibliography
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Harkianakis, Stylianos
1935 births
2019 deaths
Greek emigrants to Australia
People from Rethymno
20th-century Eastern Orthodox bishops
21st-century Eastern Orthodox bishops
Eastern Orthodox archbishops in Australia
Religious leaders from Crete
Theological School of Halki alumni
20th-century Eastern Orthodox archbishops
Herder Prize recipients
Greek expatriate bishops
University of Bonn alumni
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens faculty
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki faculty
20th-century Greek poets
21st-century Greek poets