Difference between revisions of "Timeline of Orthodoxy in Greece"

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*1923 Exchange of Christian and Moslem population between Greece and Turkey; [[w:Treaty of Lausanne|Treaty of Lausanne]] affirmed the international status of the [[Church of Constantinople|Ecumenical Patriarchate]], with Turkey guaranteeing respect and the Patriarchate’s full protection, also granting control of the [[Mount Athos|Holy Mountain]] to Greece; Patriarch ceases to be regarded as head of the Christian Orthodox Millet in Turkey; Patriarch [[Meletius IV (Metaxakis) of Constantinople|Meletios Metaxakis]] promulgates reformed calendar.
 
*1923 Exchange of Christian and Moslem population between Greece and Turkey; [[w:Treaty of Lausanne|Treaty of Lausanne]] affirmed the international status of the [[Church of Constantinople|Ecumenical Patriarchate]], with Turkey guaranteeing respect and the Patriarchate’s full protection, also granting control of the [[Mount Athos|Holy Mountain]] to Greece; Patriarch ceases to be regarded as head of the Christian Orthodox Millet in Turkey; Patriarch [[Meletius IV (Metaxakis) of Constantinople|Meletios Metaxakis]] promulgates reformed calendar.
 
*1924 [[Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia]] founded.
 
*1924 [[Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia]] founded.
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=== Second Hellenic Republic (1924-1935) ===
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*1924 Death of [[Arsenios of Cappadocia]]; Constitution of the [[Mount Athos|Holy Mountain]] agreed; Greek government adopts new calendar.
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*1925 School of Theology established at the ''[http://www.auth.gr/univ/faculties/contents/theosch_en.html Aristotle University of Thessaloniki]''.
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*1925-45 Emigration of less than 30,000 Greeks to the United States, many of whom were "picture brides" for single Greek men.
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*1926 Proposal for [[Mount Athos]] to be turned into a Casino by Dictator Pangalos.
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*1928 The Ecumenical Patriarchate issued a tome by which it ceded to the [[Church of Greece]] on a temporary basis 35 of its metropolitan dioceses in northern Greece to be administered by it.
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*1930 Mustapha Kemal Atatürk officially renamed Constantinople to Istanbul, which comes from the Greek expression "eis tin poli" (to the City)  .
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*1931 [[w:Benaki Museum|Benaki Museum]] opens in Athens, housing Byzantine, Post-Byzantine, and Neo-Hellenic ecclesiastical and national art collections.
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*1932 Death of Papa-[[Nicholas (Planas)]].
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*1933 [[Church of Greece]] bans [[Freemasonry]].
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*1935 [[Old Calendarists|Old Calendar]] schism, when three bishops declared their separation from the official [[Church of Greece]] stating that the calendar change was a schismatic act; Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, transformed [[Hagia Sophia]] into a museum.
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=== Kingdom of Greece Restored (1935-1967) ===
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*1936 [[Apostoliki Diakonia]] of the [[Church of Greece]] founded; General [[w:Ioannis Metaxas|Ioannis Metaxas]], Prime Minister of Greece during the [[w:4th of August Regime|4th of August Regime]] (1936-41), propagated a Third Hellenic Civilization (Ancient Greece and Byzantium being the first two).
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*1938 Death of [[Silouan the Athonite|Silouan of Mt Athos]].
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*1939-49 WWII and subsequent [http://wiki.phantis.com/index.php/Greek_Civil_War Greek civil war] (1942-49), famine and widespread bloodshed.
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*1939 The immigration of the [[w:The immigration of the Antiochian Greeks reaches its peak |Antiochian Greeks]] reaches its peak.
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*1943 [[w:Massacre of Kalavryta|Massacre of Kalavryta]] by German occupation forces, including the monks and monastery of [[w:Agia Lavra|Agia Lavra]]; the Nazi attempt to exterminate the Jews of Athens fails, thanks to the combined efforts of Abp. [[Damaskinos (Papandreou) of Athens]], Greek resistance groups and the Greek people.
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*1945 Abp. [[Damaskinos (Papandreou) of Athens]] serves as regent in an attempt to stabilise Greece.
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*1946-82 Approximately 211,000 Greeks emigrated to the United States.
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*1947 The Dodecanese Islands are liberated but remain under the [[Church of Constantinople|Patriarchate of Constantinople]].
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*1948 Death of [[Savvas the New of Kalymnos]].
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*1950 Uncovering of the relics of St. [[Ephraim of New Makri]].
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*1952 New Monastery of [[Panagia Soumela]] built in the village of Kastania, in Macedonia, Greece, housing the wonderworking icon of [[Panagia Soumela]], becoming a center of religious pilgrimage.
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*1953 The Athonite School was officially re-established in [[Mount Athos]], now named the ''‘Athonite Ecclesiastical Academy’'', it occupies a wing of the Skete of St Andrew in Karyes, and follows the Greek secondary school curriculum combined with ecclesiastical education.
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*1955 In September in Istanbul an organised mob was turned against the ethnic Greek community and the [[Church of Constantinople|Ecumenical Patriarchate]] in an orchestrated pogrom, destroying 73 churches, 1,004 residences, 5,000 small- and medium-sized businesses, two cemeteries, 23 schools and 5 athletic centres; the number of ethnic Greeks who were forced to leave Turkey by 1960 as a result of these events is estimated at around 9,000.
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*1959 Death of Blessed Elder [[Joseph (Spilaiotis)]] the [[Hesychast]].
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*1960 Death of [[Anthimos of Chios]].
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*1963 [[Soter Brotherhood]] is created, as the more traditionalist members broke away from the [[Brotherhood of Theologians Zoe|Zoe Brotherhood]] to form a smaller new brotherhood under the leadership of Prof. [[Panagiotes N. Trembelas]], having a profound influence on the [[Church of Greece]]; Second Pan-Orthodox Conference held in Rhodes; 1000th anniversary celebration of founding of [[Mount Athos]].   
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*1964 [[Panagia Malevi]] icon of the Mother of God begins gushing myrrh; third Pan-Orthodox Conference held in Rhodes; in March Turkey denounced the 1930 bilateral agreement on disputes arising from the exchange of populations and expelled more than 17,000 ethnic Greeks, who were deprived of all access to their real estate, goods and chattels, subsequently followed by the de facto exodus of 40,000 ethnic Greeks of Turkish citizenship.
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*1965 First Metropolitan for Piraeus is elected, His Eminence [[Chrysostomos (Tabladorakis) of Argolidos]]; [[Monastery of Panagia Pantanassa (Kranidiou)]] founded; Pope Paul VI of Rome and Patriarch [[Athenagoras I (Spyrou) of Constantinople]] mutually nullify the [[excommunication]]s of 1054.
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*1966 Death of Righteous Father [[Ieronymos (Apostolides) of Aegina]]; Center for Byzantine Research established at the ''Aristotle University of Thessaloniki''.
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=== Military Dictatorship (1967-1974) ===
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*1968 [[Orthodox Academy of Crete]] (OAC) founded.
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*1970 Death of [[Amphilochios (Makris)]] of Patmos.
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*1971 [[Theological School of Halki|Halki Seminary]], Orthodoxy's most prominent theological school, is closed by Turkish authorities breaching Article 40 of the Lausanne Treaty and Article 24 of the Turkish Constitution which both guarantee religious freedom and education.
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*1972 [[w:Ecclesiastical coup|Ecclesiastical coup in Cyprus]] fails to remove Makarios from the Presidency.
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*1974  Turkish invasion of Cyprus, Turkish forces advance capturing the 37% of the island, 3,000 are killed or missing, 200,000 become refugees; the Monarchy is voted out by a plebiscite vote of 69%.

Revision as of 21:59, February 9, 2009

(This is a large page that blanks out when edited as a full page, please edit one section at a time.)

The History of the Church is a vital part of the Orthodox Christian faith. Orthodox Christians are defined significantly by their continuity with all those who have gone before, those who first received and preached the truth of Jesus Christ to the world, those who helped to formulate the expression and worship of our faith, and those who continue to move forward in the unchanging yet ever-dynamic Holy Tradition of the Orthodox Church.

This is a timeline regarding the presence of Orthodoxy in Greece. The history of Greece traditionally encompasses the study of the Greek people, the areas they ruled historically, as well as the territory now composing the modern state of Greece.

Christianity was first brought to the geographical area corresponding to modern Greece by the Apostle Paul, although the church’s apostolicity also rests upon St. Andrew who preached the gospel in Greece and suffered martyrdom in Patras, Titus, Paul’s companion who preached the gospel in Crete where he became bishop, Philip who, according to the tradition, visited and preached in Athens, Luke the Evangelist who was martyred in Thebes, Lazarus of Bethany, Bishop of Kittium in Cyprus, and John the Theologian who was exiled on the island of Patmos where he received the Revelation recorded in the last book of the New Testament. In addition, the Theotokos is regarded as having visited the Holy Mountain in 49 AD according to tradition. Thus Greece became the first European area to accept the gospel of Christ. Towards the end of the 2nd century the early apostolic bishoprics had developed into metropolitan sees in the most important cities. Such were the sees of Thessaloniki, Corinth, Nicopolis, Philippi and Athens.

By the 4th century almost the entire Balkan peninsula constituted the Exarchate of Illyricum which was under the jurisdiction of the bishop of Rome. Illyricum was assigned to the jurisdiction of the patriarch of Constantinople by the emperor in 732. From then on the Church in Greece remained under Constantinople till the fall of the Byzantine empire to the Turks in 1453. As an integral part of the Ecumenical Patriarchate the church remained under its jurisdiction up to the time when Greece won her freedom from Turkish domination.[1] During the Ottoman occupation up to 6,000 Greek clergymen, ca. 100 Bishops, and 11 Patriarchs knew the Ottoman sword.[2]

The Greek War of Independence of 1821-28, while leading to the liberation of southern Greece from the Turkish yoke, created anomalies in ecclesiastical relations, and in 1850 the Endemousa Synod in Constantinople declared the Church of Greece autocephalous.

In the twentieth century during much of the period of communism, the Church of Greece saw itself as a guardian of Orthodoxy. It cherishes its place as the cradle of the primitive church and the Greek clergy are still present in the historic places of Istanbul and Jerusalem, and Cyprus.[3] The autocephalous Church of Greece is organised into 81 dioceses, however 35 of these are nominally under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople but are administered as part of the Church of Greece (except for the dioceses of Crete, the Dodecanese, and Mount Athos which are under the direct jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Constantinople).

The Archbishop of Athens and All Greece presides over both a standing synod of twelve metropolitans (six from the new territories and six from southern Greece), who participate in the synod in rotation and on an annual basis, and a synod of the hierarchy (in which all ruling metropolitans participate), which meets once a year.

The population of Greece is 11.1 million (UN, 2007), 98% of which are Greek Orthodox (CIA World Factbook).

Apostolic era (33-100)

  • ca. 47-48 Apostle Paul's mission to Cyprus.
  • ca. 49 Paul's mission to Philippi, Thessaloniki and Veria.
  • 49 Paul's mission to Athens.
  • ca. 51-52 Metropolis of Korinthos founded in its Apostolic during Paul's first mission to Corinth; Paul writes his two Epistles to the Thessalonians.
  • ca. 54 Paul writes his First Epistle to the Corinthians.
  • ca. 55 Paul revisits Corinth.
  • ca. 56 Paul revisits Macedonia; he writes his Second Epistle to the Corinthians.
  • ca. 61 Paul shipwrecked in Crete.
  • 62 Crucifixion of Apostle Andrew in Patras.
  • ca. 95 Apocalypse of John written on the island of Patmos.
  • 96 Martyrdom of Dionysius the Areopagite of the Seventy.
  • 100 Death of St. John the Theologian in Ephesus.

Ante-Nicene era (100-325)

Patriarchate of Rome Era (325-732)

Nicene era (325-451)

Early Byzantine era (451-843)

Eastern Roman Empire ca.480, showing the extent of Koine Greek.
The Byzantine Empire during its greatest territorial extent under Justinian. ca.550.
Byzantine Empire by 650; by this year it lost all of its southern provinces except the Exarchate of Carthage.
The Byzantine Empire at the accession of Leo III, ca.717. Striped area is land raided by the Arabs.

Patriarchate of Constantinople Era (732-1850)

  • 732-33 Byzantine Emperor Leo the Isaurian transfers Southern Italy (Sicily and Calabria), Greece, and the Aegean from the jurisdiction of the Pope to that of the Ecumenical Patriarch in response to Pope St. Gregory III of Rome's support of a revolt in Italy against iconoclasm, adding to the Patriarchate about 100 bishoprics; the Iconoclast emperors took away from the Patriarch of Antioch 24 episcopal sees of Byzantine Isauria, on the plea that he was a subject of the Arab caliphs; the jurisdiction of the Patriarch of Constantinople became co-extensive with the limits of the Byzantine Empire.
  • 734 Death of Peter the Athonite, commonly regarded as one of the first hermits of Mount Athos.
  • 739 Emperor Leo III (717-41) publishes his Ecloga , designed to introduce Christian principle into law; Byzantine forces defeat Umayyad invasion of Asia Minor at Battle of Akroinon.
  • 746 Byzantine forces regain Cyprus from the Arabs.
  • 754 Iconoclastic Council held in Constantinople under the authority of Emperor Constantine V Copronymus, condemning icons and declaring itself to be the Seventh Ecumenical Council; Constantine begins dissolution of the monasteries.
  • 787 Seventh Ecumenical Council held in Nicea, condemning iconoclasm and affirming veneration of icons.
  • 789 Death of Philaret the Merciful.
  • 803 Death of Irene of Athens, wife of Byzantine Emperor Leo IV; St. Luke's icon brought to Agiassos on Mytiline.
  • 814 Bulgarians lay siege to Constantinople; conflict erupts between Emperor Leo V and Patr. Nicephorus on the subject of iconoclasm; Leo deposes Nicephorus, Nicephorus excommunicates Leo.
  • 824 Byzantine Crete falls to Arab insurgents fleeing from the Umayyad Emir of Cordoba Al-Hakam I, establishing an emirate on the island until the Byzantine reconquest in 960.
  • 828 Death of Patr. Nicephorus I of Constantinople.
  • ca. 829-842 Icon of the Panagia Portaitissa appears on Mount Athos near Iviron Monastery.
  • 836 Death of Theodore the Studite.
  • 838 Caliph al-Mu'tasim captures and destroys Ammoria in Anatolia.
  • ca. 839 First Rus'-Byzantine War, where the Rus attacked Propontis (probably aiming for Constantinople) before turning east and raiding Paphlagonia.
  • 840 Panagia Proussiotissa icon found near Karpenissi.

Byzantine Imperial era (843-1204)

Byzantine Empire, ca. 867 AD.
The Byzantine Empire under Basil II - ca. 1025.
The Byzantine Empire and its themata in 1045. At this point, the Empire was the most powerful state in the Mediterranean.

Latin Occupation (1204-1456)

The beginning of Frangokratia: the division of the Byzantine Empire after the Fourth Crusade.
Eastern Mediterranean ca. 1263AD.
  • 1265-1310 Arsenite Schism of Constantinople, beginning when Patr. Arsenius Autoreianos excommunicated emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos.
  • 1274 Orthodox attending the Second Council of Lyons, accept supremacy of Rome and filioque clause.
  • 1275 Unionist Patr. of Constantinople John XI Beccus elected to replace Patr. Joseph I Galesiotes, who opposed Council of Lyons.
  • 1275 Persecution of Athonite monks by Emp. Michael VIII and Patr. John XI Beccus; death of 26 martyrs of Zographou monastery on Mount Athos, martyred by the Latins.
  • 1281 Pope Martin IV authorizes a Crusade against the newly re-established Byzantine Empire in Constantinople, excommunicating Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos and the Greeks and renouncing the union of 1274; French and Venetian expeditions set out toward Constantinople but are forced to turn back in the following year due to the Sicilian Vespers.
  • 1283 Accommodation with Rome officially repudiated.
  • 1287 Last record of Western Rite Monastery of Amalfion on Mount Athos.
  • 14th c. "Golden Age" of Thessaloniki in both literature and art, many churches and monasteries built.
  • 1300-1400 The "Chronicle of Morea" (Το χρονικό του Μορέως) narrates events of the establishment of feudalism in mainland Greece, mainly in the Morea/Peloponnese, by the Franks following the Fourth Crusade, covering a period from 1204 to 1292.
  • 1309 Rhodes falls to the Knights of St. John, who establish their headquarters there, renaming themselves the "Knights of Rhodes".
  • 1310 Arsenite Schism of Constantinople is brought to an end by the reconciliation of the Arsenites to the Josephites.
  • 1326 The city of Prusa in Asia Minor falls to the Ottoman Turks after a nine-year siege.
  • 1331 The city of Nicaea, capital of the Empire only 100 years previously, falls to the Ottoman Turks.
  • 1336 Meteora in Greece are established as a center of Orthodox monasticism.
  • 1337 Nicomedia captured by Ottoman Turks.
  • 1338 Gregory Palamas writes Triads in defense of the Holy Hesychasts, defending the Orthodox practice of hesychast spirituality and the use of the Jesus Prayer.
  • 1341-47 Byzantine civil war between John VI Cantacuzenus (1347–54) and John V Palaeologus (1341–91).
  • 1341-51 Three sessions of the Ninth Ecumenical Council held in Constantinople, affirming hesychastic theology of Gregory Palamas and condemning rationalistic philosophy of Barlaam of Calabria.
  • 1354 Ottoman Turks make first settlement in Europe at Gallipoli.
  • 1359 Death of Gregory Palamas.
  • 1360 Death of John Koukouzelis the Hymnographer.
  • 1365 Ottoman Turks made Adrianople their capital.
  • 1382 Founding of the Great Meteora Monastery.
  • 1390 Ottomans take Philadelphia, last significant Byzantine enclave in Anatolia.
  • 1391-98 Ottoman Turks unsuccessfully besiege Constantinople for the first time.
Eastern Mediterranean ca.1450 AD.

Ottoman Turkish Occupation (1456-1821)

Greek War of Independence (1821-1829)

  • 1821 Greek War of Independance begins as Metr. Germanos of Patra declares Greek independence on Day of Annunciation (March 25), also Kyriopascha, at the Monastery of Agia Lavra, Peloponessos; martyrdom of Patr. Gregory V of Constantinople, Abp. Kyprianos of Cyprus, and Abp. Gerasimos of Crete in retaliation; Former Ecumenical Patr. Cyril VI of Constantinople is hanged at the gate of Adrianople's cathedral; Metropolitans Gregorios of Derkon, Dorotheos of Adrianople, Ioannikios of Tyrnavos, and Joseph of Thessaloniki are decapitated on Sultan orders in Constantinople; Metropolitans Chrysanthos of Paphos, Meletios of Kition and Lavrentios of Kyrenia are executed in Nicosia, Cyprus; liberation fighters started calling themselves "Hellenes" (for continuity with their ancient Hellenic heritage), rather than using the generic "Romioi" (Ρωμιοί) (which referred to both their Roman citizenship and religious affiliation to Orthodox Christendom).
  • 1823 Wonderworking Icon of Panagia Evangelistria found on Tinos, led by a vision from Pelagia of Tinos, becoming the most venerated pilgrimage item in Greece, at the Church of Evangelistria; martyrdom of Hieromonk Christos of Ioannina.
  • 1827 Europe recognises the autonomy of Greece.
  • 1828 John Capodistrias first president of Greece and confiscates Athonite metochia; Greek church opened in London (2nd time).
  • 1829 Treaty of Adrianople ends Greek War of Independence, culminating in the creation of the modern Greek state.

First Hellenic Republic (1829-1832)

  • ca. 1829 The purified and formal Katharevousa dialect of Modern Greek is promoted as the official language (to 1976).
  • 1831 The fully sovereign status of Greece was accepted at the London Conference of 1831.
  • 1832 European powers establish Greek protectorate; Otho I enthroned as Greek King.

Kingdom of Greece (1833-1924)

  • 1832-35 "Bavarokratia" closes down 600 monasteries and nationalises monastic land-holdings
  • 1833 The National Assembly at Nauplio declares the Church of Greece as independant from the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople
  • 1834 Suppression of many monasteries in the new Greek kingdom.
  • 1837 School of Theology at the National and Capodistrian University of Athens founded.
  • 1838 Death of New Martyr George of Ioannina.
  • 1839 Theofilos Kairis of Andros condemned and imprisoned for teaching a form of Deism.
  • 1844 Prime Minister Ioannis Kolettis first coined the expression the "Great Idea" (Megali Idea), envisaging the restoration of the Christian Orthodox Byzantine Empire with its capital once again established at Constantinople, becoming the core of Greek foreign policy until the early 20th century; King Otho I accepts constitution.

Autocephalous Era (1850-Present)

The expansion of Greece from 1832 to 1947, showing territories awarded to Greece in 1919 but lost in 1923.
  • 1850 Endemousa Synod in Constantinople presided over by by Patriarch Anthimos IV of Constantinople recognised Autocephaly of the Church of Greece; due to certain conditions issued in the "Tomos" decree, the Greek National Church must maintain special links to the "Mother Church".
  • 1863 George I enthroned as King of Greece.
  • 1864 First Orthodox parish established on American soil in New Orleans, Louisiana, by Greeks.
  • 1866 Greek church takes the diocese of the Ionian Islands from Constantinople; beginning of the Great Cretan Revolution (1866-1869); the holocaust of Arkadi Monastery in Crete.
  • 1871 Body of Patriarch Gregory V returned to Athens and entombed in cathedral.
  • 1877 Death of Arsenios of Paros (August 18).
  • 1878 Council of Athens, convened and presided over by Metropolitan Procopius I of Athens, condemned the Makrakists, obtaining closure of Makakris' "School of the Logos" on the pretext that it taught doctrines opposed to the tenets of the Church, and addressed an encyclical to the whole body of Christians in Greece that was read in the churches, charging Makrakis with attempting to introduce innovations.
  • 1878 Cyprus is ceded to Britain by Ottoman Empire at the Congress of Berlin.
  • 1881 Turks cede Thessali and Arta regions to Greece; Thessaly and part of Epirus added to the Church of Greece.
  • 1882 During the Patriarchate of Joachim III, the Great School of the Nation was housed in a new large building in the area of the Phanar.
  • 1888 Death of Panagis of Lixouri (Cephalonia).
  • 1890-1917 Emigration of 450,000 Greeks to the United States, many as hired labor for the railroads and mines of the American West.
  • 1885 Prominent Greek painter Nicholaos Gysis paints the famous "Secret school" ("κρυφό σχολειό"), refering to the underground schools provided by the Greek Orthodox Church in monasteries and churches during the time of Ottoman rule in Greece (15th-19th c.) for keeping alive Orthodox Christian doctrines and Greek language and literacy.
  • 1901 "Evangelakia" riots in Athens Greece in November, over translations of New Testament into Demotic (Modern) Greek, resulting in fall of both government and Metropolitan of Athens, and withdrawal of publications from circulation.
  • 1904 Ecumenical Patriarchate publishes the "Patriarchal" Text of the Greek New Testament, based on about twenty Byzantine manuscripts, the standard text of the Greek-speaking Orthodox churches today.
  • 1905 Death of Apostolos Makrakis.
  • 1907 Archim. Eusebius Matthopoulos founds Zoe Brotherhood.
  • 1908 Death of Methodia of Kimolos; jurisdiction of Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America and the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia was given to the Church of Greece under an agreement made between the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Holy Synod of Athens (until 1922 in America; until 1924 in Australia).
  • 1912 Epirus, Macedonia and eastern islands, from Northern territories of Greece, are liberated and come under the administration of the Greek Church.
  • 1912-13 First and Second Balkan Wars; liberation of Thessaloniki from the Turks.
  • 1913-14 Greeks anex Crete, Chios and Mytiline, World War I.
  • 1914 According to the Corfu Protocol Northern Epirus is granted autonomy within Albania.
  • 1917 Hierarchy of the Greek Church changed in accordance with political control of the country.
  • 1918-24 Emigration of 70,000 Greeks to the United States.
  • 1919-22 Greco-Turkish War; a million refugees flee to Greece joining half a million Greeks who had fled earlier; Greek Genocide eliminates the Christian population of Trebizond and Anatolia.
  • 1920 Death of Nektarios of Pentapolis (Aegina); Dodecanese Islands ceded to Greece by Italy; publication of Encyclical Letters by Constantinople on Christian unity and on the Ecumenical Movement; Treaty of Sèvres cedes Eastern Thrace and Ionia (Zone of Smyrna) to Greece, but is superceded in 1923 by the Treaty of Lausanne by which these areas were again lost.
  • 1921 Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America formed.
  • 1922 Metropolis of Aitolia and Akarnania founded in its modern form; death of Ethnomartyr Metropolitan Chrysostomos (Kalafatis) of Smyrna, lynched by a Turkish mob incited by Nureddin Pasha on Sunday September 10; Greek troops advancing on Constantinople are routed by Turks; the predominatly Orthodox Christian city of Smyrna is destroyed, ending 1900 years of Christian civilization; Patriarch Meletios IV transferred the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America from the Church of Greece back to the jurisdiction of the Church of Constantinople.
  • 1923 Exchange of Christian and Moslem population between Greece and Turkey; Treaty of Lausanne affirmed the international status of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, with Turkey guaranteeing respect and the Patriarchate’s full protection, also granting control of the Holy Mountain to Greece; Patriarch ceases to be regarded as head of the Christian Orthodox Millet in Turkey; Patriarch Meletios Metaxakis promulgates reformed calendar.
  • 1924 Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia founded.

Second Hellenic Republic (1924-1935)

  • 1924 Death of Arsenios of Cappadocia; Constitution of the Holy Mountain agreed; Greek government adopts new calendar.
  • 1925 School of Theology established at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.
  • 1925-45 Emigration of less than 30,000 Greeks to the United States, many of whom were "picture brides" for single Greek men.
  • 1926 Proposal for Mount Athos to be turned into a Casino by Dictator Pangalos.
  • 1928 The Ecumenical Patriarchate issued a tome by which it ceded to the Church of Greece on a temporary basis 35 of its metropolitan dioceses in northern Greece to be administered by it.
  • 1930 Mustapha Kemal Atatürk officially renamed Constantinople to Istanbul, which comes from the Greek expression "eis tin poli" (to the City) .
  • 1931 Benaki Museum opens in Athens, housing Byzantine, Post-Byzantine, and Neo-Hellenic ecclesiastical and national art collections.
  • 1932 Death of Papa-Nicholas (Planas).
  • 1933 Church of Greece bans Freemasonry.
  • 1935 Old Calendar schism, when three bishops declared their separation from the official Church of Greece stating that the calendar change was a schismatic act; Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, transformed Hagia Sophia into a museum.

Kingdom of Greece Restored (1935-1967)

Military Dictatorship (1967-1974)

  • 1968 Orthodox Academy of Crete (OAC) founded.
  • 1970 Death of Amphilochios (Makris) of Patmos.
  • 1971 Halki Seminary, Orthodoxy's most prominent theological school, is closed by Turkish authorities breaching Article 40 of the Lausanne Treaty and Article 24 of the Turkish Constitution which both guarantee religious freedom and education.
  • 1972 Ecclesiastical coup in Cyprus fails to remove Makarios from the Presidency.
  • 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus, Turkish forces advance capturing the 37% of the island, 3,000 are killed or missing, 200,000 become refugees; the Monarchy is voted out by a plebiscite vote of 69%.
  • World Council of Churches: Church of Greece.
  • Christodoulos (Paraskevaides) of Athens. Address to the Conference organised by the Synodal Committee on European Issues, entitled “Islam: the extent of the problematics”. Holy Monastery of Penteli, Attica, 12/5/2007.
  • The Globe and Mail (Canada's National Newspaper). "Orthodox Church at Crossroads." November 10, 1995. p.A14.
  • Retrieved from "https://orthodoxwiki.org/index.php?title=Timeline_of_Orthodoxy_in_Greece&oldid=80728"