23
edits
Changes
→Life: please edit if too wordy
==Life==
He was born in the present-day Turkish-occupied village of Marathovounos in the district of Famagusta, Cyprus, on [[October 28|28 October]] 1928(it is now under Turkish military occupation). He was the ninth and last child of the family of the builder Theocharis and his wife Maria Hadjitofi. At the age of three he was orphaned through his father's death. After completing his primary education at the village school, the eleven-year-old Gregorios became an apprentice as a shoemaker in his brother-in-law's shop, where he worked for the next eight years. On his 13th birthday (28 October 1941) he heard on the only radio of the village that Greece had joined the war by refusing to allow Axis troops to enter its territory. At the age of 20 he decided to attend a secondary school; he enrolled in 1949 at the Higher Commercial School of the town of Lefkoniko which, at that time, had only five classes. He was accepted in the second-year class.
In 1951 he transferred to the Pan-Cyprian Gymnasium, Nicosia, having become a [[monk|rasophore]], and he was later [[ordination|ordained]] [[deacon]] on the Sunday of [[Pentecost]], 1953, at the Church of St. Sawa in Nicosia by the late [[Archbishop]] Makarios the Third.
In 1964 he was appointed Chancellor of the Archdiocese of Thyateira. On [[December 12|12 December]] 1970 he was consecrated ''Bishop of Tropaiou'' by the blessed former Archbishop of Thyateira, Athenagoras Kokkinakis, at the Cathedral of St Sophia. From the first day of his ordainance he undertook to organize and administer the St Mary's Cathedral and the Church of St. Barnabas the Apostle in Wood Green, North London.
On [[April 16|16 April]] 1988 he was unanimously elected by the Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate as ''Archbishop of Thyateira and Great Britain'' and his enthronement took place at the Cathedral of Sophia in West London. His tireless program sees him attending many community events, both in London and around the country. His quiet and reasoned voice upholds both the concerns of the Greek Orthodox community and expresses the Christian message of peace and reconciliation. During the Kosovo conflict, in 1999, between the local Albanians and the Serbian army where NATO forces intervened, he was interviewed on BBC radio. Through his questions, the journalist appeared was keen for Gregorios to side with the (fellow) Orthodox Serbs and criticize NATO. His eminence simply stated that it was time for reconciliation and especially a time "of repentance for all of us".
==External link==
