Theocletus I (Minopoulos) of Athens
His Eminence the Most Reverend Theocletus I (Minopoulos) of Athens was the Metropolitan of Athens of the Church of Greece for two periods, from 1902 to 1917 and from 1920 to 1922.
Life
Theocletus was born in Tripolis, Arcadia, Greece in October 1848. He was elected Archbishop of Monemvasia and Sparta in December 1892. Theocletus I (Minopoulos) became Metropolitan of Athens on November 17, 1902.
In 1903, he convened a local council in Greece to consider two issues presented in a 1902 Council of Constantinople over relations with the so-called Old Catholics following their separation from Rome over the issue of papal infallibility announced at the Vatican Council and the question of reaching an agreement in regards whether or not to revise the Julian calendar or accept the Gregorian calendar. These questions were then considered in a 1904 Council of Constantinople at which Universal Orthodoxy was in favor of communion with the Old Catholics so long as the they condemn all the Franco-Latin heresies and return to the fold of the Orthodox Church, and that Universal Orthodoxy condemned any attempt to revise the Julian calendar or accept the Gregorian and declared that all local Orthodox Churches adhere to the patristic Orthodox Paschalion and Menologion.
A monarchist is his politics, Theocletus I became metropolitan in a period of Greece's wars with Ottoman Turkey and jockeying between supporting the Allies or the Central Powers in the period before World War I. A supporter of King Constantine I of Greece, Theocletus became embroiled in the struggle between King Constantine, who desired to remain neutral, and the Greek prime minister Elefterios Venizelos, who supported joining the Allies. In opposing Venizelos, Metr. Theocletus went so far as to excommunicate him at a ceremony in Athens on December 25, 1916. As a result, when Constantine was forced from the throne in 1917, Metr. Theocletus came under attack from the Venizelos supporters and was uncanonically deposed on October 11, 1917, "for having instigated the anathema against Eleutherius Venizelos". In his place another Cretan, Meletius Metaxakis, a known supporter of Venizelos, was enthroned as Metropolitan of Athens in March 13, 1918.
In a plebiscite held in 1920, the citizens of Greece voted for the return of King Constantine. With his return Metr. Meletius was ousted on November 29 and former Metr. Theocletus I was reinstated as Metropolitan of Athens on same day and served until December 30, 1922 when he was deposed again by the revolutionary Greek government after the disaster in Asia Minor. On December 31, 1923 the see was raised to the dignity of an Archbishop.
While he was Metropolitan of Athens, Patr, Gregory V of Constantinople was glorified a saint. Theocletus died on December 19, 1931.
| Theocletus I (Minopoulos) of Athens | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by: ? |
Archbishop of Monemvasia and Sparta 1892-1902 |
Succeeded by: ? |
| Preceded by: Procopius II (Oikonomidis) |
Metropolitan of Athens 1902-1917 |
Succeeded by: Meletius III (Metaxakis) |
| Preceded by: Meletius III (Metaxakis) |
Metropolitan of Athens 1920-1922 |
Succeeded by: Chrysostomos I (Papadopoulos) |
