View source for Stephanos (Charalambides) of Tallinn

[[Image:Stefanos of Tallinn.jpg|frame|right|Metropolitan Stephanos of Tallinn and All Estonia]]
His Eminence [[Metropolitan]] '''Stephanos (Charalambides) of Tallinn''' and All Estonia is the [[primate]] of the [[autonomous]] [[Church of Estonia (Ecumenical Patriarchate)|Church of Estonia]].  He has held this position since 1999.

==Life==
The future metropolitan was born Christakis Charalambides on [[April 29]], 1940 in Bukavu, a city in the eastern part of today's Democratic Republic of the Congo. His parents were of Cypriot ancestry. In 1959, after completing his basic education, he entered the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium and began studies for a medical degree. A year later, in 1960, Christakis transferred to the [[St. Sergius Orthodox Theological Institute (Paris, France)|St. Sergius Orthodox Theological Institute]] in Paris, France and began divinity studies concurrently with studies at the University of Paris. He received a Master of Theology from St. Sergius Institute and a degree of [[Reader|lector]] from the Paris University.

On [[January 6]], 1963, Christakis was [[ordination|ordained]] a [[deacon]] after joining the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of France and given the name Stephanos.  On [[November 17]], 1968,  Dn. Stephanos was ordained to the [[priest]]hood. In 1972, Fr. Stephanos was appointed protosyngellios (episcopal vicar) and assigned to the city of Nice covering the southern area of France. On [[March 25]], 1987, Fr. Stephanos was [[consecration of a bishop|consecrated]] to the episcopacy with the [[Titular bishop|titular]] title of Bishop of Nazianus. With his elevation to the episcopacy, Bishop Stephanos added the responsibilities of secretary of the Assembly of Orthodox Bishops of France to his duties, as well as being lector at St. Sergius Institute and professor of patrology at the Roman Catholic seminary in Nice.

In 1996, after Estonia had declared its independence following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Ecumenical Patriarchate established the Estonian Orthodox Church under its[[ jurisdiction]]. Bp. Stephanos was installed as Metropolitan of Tallinn and All Estonia on [[March 21]], 1999, following his election at a General Assembly of the church. 

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==External links==
*[[Wikipedia:Stephanos_of_Tallinn]]
*[http://www.orthodoxresearchinstitute.org/resources/hierarchs/constantinople/estonia/current.htm#stephanos_charalambites_metr_tallinn   His Eminence Stephanos] at the Orthodox Research Institute

[[Category:Bishops]]
[[Category:20th-21st-century bishops]]