Seraphim (Mentzelopoulos) of Piraeus
His Eminence Metropolitan Seraphim (Mentzelopoulos) of Piraeus (b.1956 in Athens) is the current metropolitan of the Metropolis of Piraeus, consecrated on January 21, 2001.
Life
Seraphim has studied Economics and Theology and received a license to practise law. He was tonsured a monk at the Holy Monastery of Pentelis and was elevated to deacon and presbyter by Archbishop Seraphim of Athens in 1980.
In December 2000, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, and the Holy Synod, elected him as Bishop and assistant to His Eminence Archbishop Stylianos (Harkianakis) of Australia. He was responsible for the Third Archdiocesan district of South Australia and the Northern Territory serving until 2002.
In 2009 Metropolitan Seraphim was one of six bishops who signed the manifesto A Confession of Faith Against Ecumenism.
In 2010 he asked Queen Elizabeth II to divest pop singer Sir Elton John of his knighthood for uttering blasphemy. The metropolitan sent a letter to Queen Elizabeth II and the British Ambassador to Greece after Elton John said that Christ was a homosexual.[note 1]
In December 2010 he made grossly anti-Semitic remarks in a televised interview. Among the antagonistic opinions he expressed, he stated, "Adolf Hitler was an instrument of world Zionism and was financed from the renowned Rothschild family with the sole purpose of convincing the Jews to leave the shores of Europe and go to Israel to establish the new Empire." He also expressed the belief that Jewish bankers like "Rockefeller, Rothschild and Soros control the international banking system that controls globalization."[note 2] (See also Eastern Orthodoxy and Judaism.)
Seraphim (Mentzelopoulos) of Piraeus | ||
---|---|---|
Preceded by: ? |
Bishop of Christianoupolis 2000-2002 |
Succeeded by: ? |
Preceded by: ? |
Metropolitan of Piraeus 2006-present |
Succeeded by: — |
See also
- Church of the Life-Giving Spring, Athens (Greek) - Served
Notes
- ↑ The letter states, “[Elton John] dared to insult the Incarnate Divine-Human (theandric) Person, the crucified and risen Son of God, attributing to him his personal psychopathological deviation. The Christian community around the world expects that your Majesty will express your judgement on this [utterance] and divest [Elton John] of his honorary title because he has undeservedly insulted the highest figure for Christians throughout the world”. (Voices from Russia. Saturday, 6 March, 2010)
- ↑ "A Greek Bishop's Anti-Semitic Tirade," The Lede, a New York Times blog, December 22, 2010.
Publications
- Letter of Metropolitan Seraphim of Piraeus, November 9, 2007
- Letter of Metropolitan Seraphim to Roman Catholic Bishop of Syros Island, November 9, 2007.
External links
- Biography from the Metropolis of Piraeus webpage (Greek)
- Listing at the Orthodox Research Institute