View source for Philaret (Ioannides) of Syros

His Eminence, '''Philaret (Ioannides)''' also '''Philaretos''', was the first ruling [[Bishop]] of Chicago under the [[jurisdiction]] of the [[Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America]] of the [[Church of Constantinople|Ecumenical Patriarchate]] that now is the [[Metropolis of Chicago]]. He served from 1923 until he was appointed Metropolitan of Syros in Greece.
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==Life==
The early years of Bp. Philaret's life are not known. Before 1921, Fr. Philaret was the [[priest]] at [[Holy Trinity Church (San Francisco, California)|Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church]] in San Francisco. In June 1921, parishioners from Holy Trinity, who were supporters of the Greek prime minister Eleftherios Venizelos, established the Church of St. Sophia in San Francisco. At the request of the leaders of the St. Sophia community, Fr. Philaret  was appointed the first priest at St. Sophia and also served as the president of the first board of trustees.

On [[June 1]], 1923, Fr. Philaret was [[consecration of a bishop|consecrated]] the first Bishop of Chicago. Also, before the election of Fr. [[Kallistos (Papageorgapoulos) of San Francisco|Kallistos (Papageorgapoulos)]] as the first Greek bishop of San Francisco in 1927, Bp. Philaret served concurrently as “[[locum tenens]]” for the Bishop of San Francisco from June 1, 1923 until [[August 7]], 1927. During the time that Bp. Philaret served in Chicago he received a Doctor of Divinity degree at Episcopal Seminary of Nashotah in Wisconsin.

On November 6, 1930, Bp. Philaret was elected to be Metropolitan of Syros on the Greek island in the Cyclades southeast of Athens, and departed Chicago after a farewell dinner in November 1930.

Metropolitan Philaret retired on November 11, 1960. He fell asleep in the Lord on June 8, 1961.

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{{succession|
before=&mdash;|
title=Bishop of Chicago|
years=1923-1930|
after=?}}
{{succession|
before=?|
title=Metropolitan of Syros|
years=1930-1960|
after=?}}
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==Sources==
*[http://www.annunciation.org/about/cathedral-history/historical-archives/fr-philaretos-johannides-φιλάρετος-ιοαννίδης/  Fr. Philaretos Johannides]
*[http://www.sanfranciscogreeks.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=19&Itemid=27  A Short History of Our Community]
*[http://www.annunciation.org/le200811.html  Annunciation Cathedral Herald]
*[http://www.archive.org/stream/5422062_5/5422062_5_djvu.txt  Translations Chicago Greek language newspapers - early 1930s]

[[Category: Bishops]]
[[Category: Bishops of Chicago]]
[[Category:20th-century bishops]]