Ieronymos was elected to the helm of the Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Greece by the Holy Synod in the second round of voting, with 45 votes out of a total of 74 Metropolitans present.
Posted on 02/07/2008 6:07:54 AM PST by NYer
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Senior clergy elected Metropolitan Bishop Ieronymos of Thebes as the new leader of Greece's powerful Orthodox Church on Thursday to succeed the late Archbishop Christodoulos, the church announced.
Church bells rang out and the lights outside Athens Cathedral, where 74 bishops had gathered for the vote, came on to announce the election of a successor to the popular Christodoulos, who died of cancer last month.
Ieronymos, 70, won 45 votes after two rounds in an election that began Thursday morning. Four bishops of the 78-member Holy Synod, the church's governing body, were absent, the church said in announcing the results.
"I accept this high office and honor to uphold the holy traditions of the Greek Orthodox Church," Ieronymos said in accepting the post.
He was one of the main contenders for the church leadership in the previous election in 1998, when Christodoulos eventually triumphed over him after three rounds of voting. He is considered a reformer like his predecessor and a capable administrator, but has been much more low-key than the outspoken and often combative Christodoulos.
Christodoulos frequently criticized government decisions — a break in church tradition — and accused political liberals of attempting to erode Greece's religious heritage.
"The successors are called upon to build on the archbishop's positive work and avoid the pointless friction," the top-selling daily Ta Nea commented.
Although there were no official candidacies, four top bishops had expressed interest in succeeding Christodoulos, who was credited with building historic ties with the Vatican and reinvigorating the Greek church during his 10-year leadership.
The second top contender for the church's leadership had been the 68-year-old Bishop Efstathios of Sparta, another senior figure of the church's vast administration. The other two were Bishop Ignatios of Dimitriada, the youngest at 52, and Bishop Anthimos of Thessaloniki, the eldest at 74.
The succession was closely watched in Greece, where Orthodox Christianity is recognized as the "prevailing religion" in the constitution and is the faith of some 97 percent of the country's native-born population.
Tens of thousands of people visited Athens Cathedral when Christodoulos' body lay in state for three days before his funeral on Jan. 31.
This is a good choice though I think I’d have preferred +Efstathios. +Ieronymos will be fine.
Orthodox ping
I voted for you. What happened? Maybe the new machines didn’t get your name right. I can’t understand it though. You ran a good write-in campaign!!
“I voted for you. What happened? Maybe the new machines didn’t get your name right. I can’t understand it though. You ran a good write-in campaign!!”
Thank-you for your kind support. The partisans of +Ieronymos however claimed that I was supported by foreign Protestant interests and, well, that’s all it took! You know politics! :)
May God grant him many years.
“You know politics!”
Maybe we Baptists are distant cousins and learned the fine art of church politics from the EO polis?
“Maybe we Baptists are distant cousins and learned the fine art of church politics from the EO polis?”
No, I don’t think so. Baptists are generally very nice people with sunny dispositions, or so it has been my experience at “The Beach”. They are straight forward folk. Now its possible you people learned politics from EOs, but its likely they were Serbs, or perhaps even Finns... probably Finns. Greeks, etc. are far to “Byzantine” and we are not at all sunny or straight forward! :)
“and we are not at all sunny or straight forward”
Ever been to the annual budget meeting at a Baptist Church? Baptists at the beach are not sunny; they are “basting”.
Not even at "The Beach", bd?
“Not even at “The Beach”, bd?”
We were at Ocean Park last summer and the attendees at the Tabernacle looked like a bunch of beached whales. If it wasn’t for the waitresses sunning, I think they would have condemned and closed the beach as a crime against natural beauty.
It is nice to be able to go back and bring grandchildren to the place of our chilhood just like my grandparents did for me.
“If it wasn’t for the waitresses sunning, I think they would have condemned and closed the beach as a crime against natural beauty.”
Ah, now up at the Point, it was all Greek gods and goddesses! Honest!
“It is nice to be able to go back and bring grandchildren to the place of our chilhood just like my grandparents did for me.”
I don’t doubt that for a minute, bd and I envy you those grandchildren! :)
Shoot, that's the truth!
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