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{{orthodoxyinaustralia}}
The V. Rev. Dr. '''Themistocles Adamopoulo''', born in Alexandria and raised in Melbourne, is an [[archimandrite]] in Freetown, [[Sierra Leone]], within the [[Church of Alexandria|Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa]]. His work is in mission and charity, using education as a means of bringing people out of poverty.
==Biography==
After this, due to the lack of Orthodox seminaries at the time, he took up studies at a Catholic theological school. He was advised by Archbishop [[Stylianos (Harkianakis) of Australia|Stylianos]], the then-new Greek Orthodox Archbishop of [[Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia|Australia]], to study at Corpus Christi College, Melbourne. He then went on to study at [[Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology (Brookline, Massachusetts)|Holy Cross]], Massachusetts, beginning a Masters of Theological Studies and concurrently studying at Harvard Divinity School. After this, he undertook a Master of Theology at Princeton Divinity School, and completed a Ph.D. at Brown University with his thesis entitled ''Endurance, Greek and Early Christian: The Moral Transformation of the Greek Idea of Endurance, From the Homeric Battlefield to the Apostle Paul'', explaining how endurance changed from the Greek philosophical concept of something that one could do on their own, to St Paul's transformation into endurance being something a gift of God in Christ.
Fr Themistocles, by this time a tonsured [[tonsure]]d [[monk ]] usually called 'Br Themi', returned to Australia and, in 1986, was one of the founding lecturers at [[St. Andrew's Greek Orthodox Theological College (Sydney, Australia)|St Andrew's Greek Orthodox Theological College]], Sydney, Australia; he was also teaching at Macquarie University and University of Sydney.
===Kenya===
After considerable time lecturing, Fr Themi began to wish to personally act out his theology, and due to his being born in Africa he decided to return there in 2000, utilising his academic ability at the ''[[Orthodox Patriarchal Ecclesiastical School of Makarios III|Orthodox Patriarchal Ecclesiastical School]] "Archbishop Macarius III"'' in Nairobi, Kenya.
[[ordination|Ordained ]] and elevated in Kenya to the rank of Archimandrite, he conducted liturgies and preached in various parishes [[parish]]es in Kenya, but his primary focus is on teaching people in Kenya to earn a living on their own. With the blessing of Archbishop [[Makarios (Tillyrides) of Kenya|Makarios]], Fr Themistocles established the Saint Clement of Alexandria Philanthropic Education Centre. Through the centre, he set up a school for unemployed women to learn tailoring and dressmaking in November 2001, then a computer school for unemployed youth in 2002; in September of that year, he then set up a pre-school and primary school for children in slum areas, giving them free education, food and clothing.
In January 2003, the Teachers' College was established. This grew into the ''Saint Clement of Alexandria Orthodox College of Africa'', currently consisting of an education department and a business/information technology department, teaching for minimal cost to break the cycle of depression. Future plans include a nursing and pharmacy school; furthermore, serious negotiations are underway with the University of Thessalonica towards the creation of a Paediatric Medical School within the College. Fr Themistocles envisaged an Orthodox University of Africa.
===Sierra Leone===
In January 2008, with the blessing of His Beatitude Patriarch [[Theodoros II (Choreftakis) of Alexandria|Theodoros of Alexandria]] and sponsored by the international charity 'Paradise Kids 4 Africa' (PK4A), Fr Themi moved from Kenya to Sierra Leone, where he involved himself in similar activities that he had initiated in Kenya. He built premises for the smallAs of 2009, pan-African missionary team that came with himthere are 9 building projects in progress, including a chapel dedicated to missionary residence and 3 places of worship (including the Cathedral of St [[Eleutherios|Eleftherios]]), and in February 2008, he began a program designed to give food to as well as providing many feeding programs for the hungry. In March, negotiations Negotiations with the government in March 2008 led to Fr Themi having responsibility for two schools, with a total of 3500 students and 90 staff; and in May, grants were received from two Greek missionary societies, the [[Orthodox Missionary Fraternity]] and the [[Missionary Alliance of St. Cosmas the Aetolian]] - one grant to build infrastructure for one of the schools, and the other to begin construction of a Teachers' College. Work began on the Teachers' College before the end of that month, and construction has begun on housing for those who wish to be involved in mission workthe disabled and victims of the war.
==Qualifications==
*Master of Theology (Princeton Divinity School)
*Doctor of Philosophy (Brown University - dissertation on the idea of endurance from Homeric times to the writings of the [[Apostle Paul]])
*Doctor of Education (Monash University)
==Tertiary lecturing==
==External links==
*[http://www.orthodox.asn.au St. Clement of Alexandria Philanthropic Educational Projects in Kenya] website
*'''Source''': [http://pk4aslwww.voxpk4a.com/ Rev Themi's PK4A's Sierra Leone BlogParadise Kids 4 Africa]website, where donations are possible.
[[Category:Orthodoxy in Australia]]
[[Category:Priests]]
