Chrysostomos II (Hadjistavrou) of Athens

His Beatitude Chrysostomos II (Hadjistavrou) of Athens was the Archbishop of Athens and All Greece and primate of the Church of Greece from 1962 to 1967.

Life

Patriarch Chrysostomos was born in 1878 in Asia Minor. After he completed his gymnasium education, he entered the Theological School of Halki, graduating 1902. He then joined the faculty of the University of Lausanne in Lausanne, Switzerland. At the university he was able to establish a relationship with the various heterodox people.

After return to Greece, Chrysostomos was ordained a deacon as he entered the Holy Orders. In 1910, he was consecrated bishop as vicar to the Metropolitan of Smyrna. In 1913, appointed Metropolitan of Philadelphia. During his tenure at Philadelphia, Metr. Chrysostomos engaged in activities involving national liberation that resulted in his being sentenced to death by the Sultan's Viceroy Rahmi Bey. However, through the intervention of some influential people he escaped execution. Subsequently, Metr. Chrysostomos was transferred and named Metropolitan of Ephesus.

In 1922, Metr. Chrysostomos moved to Greece following the exchange of people that took place after the Second Greco-Turkish War. In Greece, he was appointed the metropolitan of a new metropolis, a position he retained until he was elected Archbishop of Athens. In 1961, Metr. Chrysostomos presided at the Pan-Orthodox Meeting of Rhodes that was a preparatory meeting to an Orthodox wide synod .

Metr. Chrysostomos was elected Archbishop of Athens on February 14, 1962. Following the military coup in April 1967, Abp. Chrysostomos was pressured by the new military government to step down. On May 11, 1967, Abp. Chrysostomos was forced to retire as the ruling hierarch of Greece. In June 1968, he reposed.

Succession box: Chrysostomos II (Hadjistavrou) of Athens
Preceded by: Iakovos III (Vavanatsos)	Archbishop of Athens 1962-1967	Succeeded by: Hieronymus (Kotsonis)

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Source

• Athens Archbishop