View source for Ezekiel (Tsoukalas) of Pisidia

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His Eminence the Most Reverend '''Ezekiel (Tsoukalas) of Pisidia''' was the first Archbishop of Australia of the [[Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia]] under the [[jurisdiction]] of the [[Church of Constantinople]] from 1959 to 1974.  

==Life==
Born Ezekiel Tsoukalas in 1913, Ezekiel was appointed Assistant Director of the [[Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology (Brookline, Massachusetts)|Theological School of the Holy Cross]] in Brookline, Massachusetts in 1943. He was elevated to the position of Director in 1949.

His hierarchal career began with his assignment in 1950 as an assistant [[bishop]] of the [[Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America]] with the title of Bishop of Nazianzos, serving the district of Boston from 1950 to 1959.[http://www.boston.goarch.org/about_us/past_bishops.html]  In February 1959, Bp. Ezekiel (Tsoukalas) was elected the fourth [[Metropolitan]] of Australia and New Zealand, succeeding Metr. Theophylactos (Papathanasopoulos) who had been killed in a car crash in 1958. Metr. Ezekiel arrived in Australia on [[April 27]], 1959.  

On [[September 1]], 1959, Metr. Ezekiel was elevated to [[archbishop]] when the Metropolis of Australia and New Zealand was raised to an [[archdiocese]]. Metr. Ezekiel served in Australia during a period of rapid expansion as the migration of Greek people from war-torn Europe created the need for new church related facilities. In January 1970, the [[Holy Synod]] of the Ecumenical Patriarchate created the Metropolis of New Zealand separate from the Archdiocese of Australia, making Abp. Ezekiel Archbishop of Australia. 

In August 1974, Abp. Ezekiel was assigned by the Ecumenical Patriarchate to the [[see]] of Pisidia in Asia Minor where he remained until 1987. He died in Athens in July 1987.

{{start box}}
{{succession|
before=?|
title= Bishop of Nazianzos (Titular)<br>Boston|
years=1950-1959|
after=Theodoritos (Polyzogopoulos)}}
{{succession|
before=[[Theophylactos (Papathanasopoulos) of Australia and New Zealand|Theophylactos (Papathanasopoulos)]]|
title=Metropolitan of Australia and New Zealand (Greek)|
years=1959|
after=&mdash;}}
{{succession|
before=&mdash;|
title=Archbishop of Australia and New Zealand (Greek)|
years=1959-1970|
after=&mdash;}}
{{succession|
before=&mdash;|
title=Archbishop of Australia (Greek)|
years=1970-1974|
after=[[Stylianos (Harkianakis) of Australia|Stylianos (Harkianakis)]]}}
{{succession|
before=?|
title=Metropolitan of Pisidia|
years=1974-1987|
after=[[Methodios (Fouyias) of Pisidia|Methodios (Fouyias)]]}}
{{end box}}

==Sources==
*[[Wikipedia: Ezekiel_Tsoukalas]]
*[http://www.greekorthodox.org.au/general/aboutus/history History of the Church in Australia]

[[Category:Bishops]]
[[Category:Bishops of Pisidia]]
[[Category:20th-century bishops]]
[[Category:Orthodoxy in Australia]]
[[Category:Orthodoxy in New Zealand]]