View source for Constantine (Papastephanou) of Baghdad

His Eminence Archbishop '''Constantine (Papastephanou) of Baghdad''' is the ruling hierarch of the Roum Orthodox Archdiocese of Baghdad, Kuwait and Dependencies of the [[Church of Antioch]]. 

==Life==
Constantine was born in 1924 in Damascus, Syria where he was educated in schools and churches of strong Christian faith. Entering an ecclesiastical career, Constantine studied in Greece before he was [[ordination|ordained]] in 1951 by Patriarch of Antioch, [[Alexander III (Tahan) of Antioch|Alexander III (Tahan)]]. 

He served as a [[priest]] in Damascus and its vicinity for eighteen years. During the latter part of the 1950s he was the director of the Balamand Clerical School. In 1964, Fr. Constantine was appointed by Patr. Theodosius (Abourjaily) VI of Antioch to lead St. Georges Monastery. In 1967, he was given additional responsibility as general steward for the Archdiocese of Hama. In 1984, Metr. Constantine was named to the Synodal Commission by the Holy Synod, charged with administering the [[St. John of Damascus Institute of Theology (Tripoli, Lebanon)|St. John of Damascus Institute of Theology]]. In 1986, Metr. Constantine became the administrator of the Institute itself.

On [[October 7]], 1969, Constantine was elected Bishop of Baghdad, Kuwait and the Arabian Peninsula by the [[Synod]] of Bishops of the Antioch patriarchate. On [[October 17]], he was [[consecration of a bishop|consecrated]] [[bishop]] at the [[Monastery]] of St. Elias in Dhor Al Shwair in Lebanon. After his installation, Bp. Constantine set out to visit and organize his [[archdiocese]].

On [[October 23]], 1969, Metr. Constantine arrived in Baghdad to conduct his first [[Divine Liturgy|liturgy]] at the Cathedral of St. Andrew the Apostle. On [[November 20]], he visited the Kuwait [[parish]], celebrating the liturgy on the next day in temporary facilities in the National Evangelical Church.

During the following years. Metr. Constantine established a number of Orthodox parishes within the Arabian Gulf area, first in 1980 in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Then in 1998, he established a parish in Oman, followed in 2000 with one in Bahrain.

In 2010, Metr. Constantine was hospitalized in London, Great Britain.

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{{succession|
before=&mdash;|
title=Metropolitan of Baghdad|
years=1969-Present|
after=&mdash;}}
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==Sources==
*[http://www.gulforthodoxchurch.org/E/Bishop.htm  Milestones in the Life of His Grace Archbishop Constantine]
*[http://www.gulforthodoxchurch.org/E/GOC_E.htm  Roum Orthodox Archdiocese of Baghdad, Kuwait and Dependencies]
*[http://www.antiochian.org/node/17410 Archbishop of Baghdad, Kuwait, and Dependencies Recovers in London Hospital]
*[http://www.balamand.edu.lb/theology/Introduction.htm History of St. John of Damascus Institute of Theology]

[[Category: Bishops]]
[[Category:20th-21st-century bishops]]
[[Category: Bishops of Baghdad]]