Biographical Note
The V. Rev. Dr. Theodoros Meimaris, Grand Protosyncellus of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, was born in Heraklion, Crete on 1 March 1979. He was inducted into the monastic order on 18 April 2003 and received his diaconal ordination on 19 April 2003, at the historic Monastery of the Virgin Mary “Agkarathou” of the Archdiocese of Crete, by H.E. Metropolitan Andreas of Arkalochori, Kastelli, and Viannos. Since August 2005, he has served within the Ecumenical Patriarch’s Patriarchal Court, firstly as a Patriarchal Deacon, then as Deacon-in-Line (2006), as Tertiary Deacon (2011), and as Secondary Deacon (2014). On 21 October 2017, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew elevated him to the Grand Archdeaconate of the Holy and Great Church of Christ, and on 21 March 2021, Sunday of Orthodoxy, he ordained him a presbyter and elevated him to Grand Protosyncellus of the Holy and Great Church of Christ, and Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Constantinople.
He has participated and continues to participate as a member and secretary-member of Synodical Commissions of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, in inter-Orthodox and inter-Christian missions and meetings, while he also served as Orthodox Secretary of the Joint Commission of the Theological Dialogue between the Orthodox Church and the Lutheran World Federation (2006-2017), and in the Forum of the Orthodox Churches in Europe and the Roman Catholic Church’s Bishops’ Conferences of Europe (2010-2017). He represents the Ecumenical Patriarch at the Greek Community’s Educational Council in Istanbul.
He is a graduate of the Higher Ecclesiastical Academy of Crete (1996 – 1999), the Department of Theology of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki’s Theological Faculty (2000 – 2003), and has a Master’s of Ecumenical Studies from the Ecumenical Institute of Bossey of the World Council of Churches (WCC), in collaboration with the Autonomous Protestant Theological Faculty of the University of Geneva (2004 – 2005). In 2011, he received his doctorate from the Department of Theology of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki’s Theological Faculty in the field of Ecclesiastical History.
He has written the following monographs: 1. National Identification and Demands In the Hellenic State: The Autobiography of Nikandros Zannoubius and His Era (1828-1888), 2. The Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church and the Ecumenical Movement, 3. The Election and Recognition of Meletios Metaxakis as Patriarch of Alexandria (1925 - 1927), and, 4. The Reorganization of the Alexandrian Throne Under Meletios Metaxakis (1926 - 1935), as well as articles of historical, inter-Christian, and ecumenical interest in Greek and other languages, which have been published in various scientific journals.
In June 2021, he was elected Professor at the Patriarchal Higher Ecclesiastical Academy of Crete, on the subject of ‘History of Newer and Contemporary Hellenism.’