Dionysios (Hatzivasiliou) of Leontopolis

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His Eminence, the Most Reverend Dionysios (Hatzivasiliou) was the Elder Archbishop of the Leontopolis, part of the Church of Alexandria. His see was in Ismailia, Egypt with jurisdiction over Ismailia, Suez and Zagzik in Egypt.

Life

Ioannis Hatzivasiliou was born in 1929 in Alexandria. He attended and graduated from the Theological School of Halki during the years 1951 to 1955, and continued his post graduate education in Paris and Geneva from 1955 to 1961. He served as the chief secretary of the Patriarchate of Alexandria. In Egypt and Sudan, he served as a teacher in high schools and lyceums as well as at the Higher College of Tourism in Cairo.

He was ordained a deacon on March 26, 1950 by Bishop Athanasios of Mareotis in the Patriarchal Church of St. Savvas in Alexandria, receiving the name Dionysios. On November 28, 1954, he was ordained a priest at the Church of the Holy Trinity in Halki by Metropolitan Iakovos of Iconium. From 1959 to 1968, Father Dionysios served as Chief Secretary of the Patriarchate.

On November 29, 1968, following election and consecration as Bishop of Heliopolis, he served for six years as Patriarchal Vicar in Cairo. In 1974, he was elected Archbishop of Memphis and served there until he was transferred to the Archdiocese of Nubia in 1988. In 1997, he was assigned as Archbishop of the Metropolis of Leontopolis. On October 27, 2004, he was received as a member of the Synod by His Beatitude Theodoros II with the title of Elder Metropolitan.

He was also assigned the direction of the official bulletin of the Patriarchate of Alexandria, “Pantainos”. Metr. Dionysios also served as Patriarchal Vicar General from 2004 to 2010, after which he was named the honorary Patriarchal Vicar General.

In addition to his native Greek, Metr. Dionysios spoke English, French, Russian, and Arabic; and represented the throne at various congresses and theological dialogues.

The Elder Metropolitan Dionysios fell asleep in the Lord on August 30, 2012. His funeral service took place in Athens, Greece on Saturday September 1, 2012 at the Church of St. Athanasius Kypseli, a dependency of the Patriarchate of Alexandria.


Succession box:
Dionysios (Hatzivasiliou) of Leontopolis
Preceded by:
Timotheos of Ganos
Bishop of Heliopolis
1968–1974
Succeeded by:
Theoklitos of Heliopolis
Preceded by:
Nikodimos of Memphis
Archbishop of Memphis
1974–1988
Succeeded by:
Paul of Memphis
Preceded by:
Synesios of Nubia
Archbishop of Khartoum
1988–1997
Succeeded by:
Titus of Khartoum
Preceded by:
Titus of Khartoum
Archbishop of Leontopolis
1997–2012
Succeeded by:
Gabriel of Leontopolis
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Sources