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Christopher (Contogeorge) was born in Smyrna, Turkey in 1894. He was educated in Athens and became a [[priest]] at the age of 24. He served as a [[chaplain]] in the Greek Army during World War I. He arrived in the United States in 1926 and apparently served as priest in Lowell, Massachusetts and at St. Nicholas Greek Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
On [[February 10]], 1934, [[Archimandrite]] Christopher was [[consecration of a bishop|consecrated]] Bishop of Philadelphia by Bishop [[Sophronios (Beshara) of Los Angeles]] of the American Orthodox Church at the Church of Ss. Constantine and Helen in the Bronx, New York City. Bp. Sophronios was assisted by [[Metropolitan]] [[Theophan (Noli) of Durres|Theophan (Noli)]], head of the [[Church of Albania|Albanian Autocephalous Orthodox Church]] in exile in the United States.
On [[August 25]],1934, Bp. Christopher and Metr. Theophan (Noli) consecrated Arsenios (Saltas) at the Church of St. John the Baptist in New York City. On [[November 3]], 1935, Bp. Christopher, with Bishop Ambrosius of Aman, Jordan, consecrated [[Nicholas (Kedroff) ]] as Archbishop of North America and the Aleutian Islands at the Russian [[St. Nicholas Cathedral (New York, New York)|Cathedral of St. Nicholas]] in New York City in accordance with instructions from the [[Holy Synod]] of the chismatic [[Living Church of Russia]]. Bishop Arsenios became an [[Exarch|exarch]] of the Church of Alexandria in 1954.
In 1947, Abp. Christopher was named Metropolitan of Pentapolis and the Exarch in America of the [[Church of Alexandria|Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria]] and All Africa. Metr. Christopher reposed on [[August 30]], 1950.
[[Category: Bishops]]
[[Category:20th-century bishops]]
[[Category: Bishops of Philadelphia]]
