Damaskinos Papandreou (Geneva)

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Damaskinos (Papandreou) (* as Basil Papandreou on February 23, 1936 in Kato Chryssovitsa , Aetolia , Greece ; † November 5, 2011 in Geneva ) was an Orthodox Archbishop and Metropolitan in Geneva.

Life

After attending the Theological College of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Chalki (1955–1959), he was ordained a deacon in 1959 . From 1959 to 1965 he studied church history, comparative religious studies and religious philosophy at the German universities of Bonn and Marburg with a grant from the Ecumenical Patriarchate. In 1966 he was with the work "The creation and organization of the Armenian Church to the IV. Ecumenical Council" on the Athens University doctorate . After his ordination in 1961, he was made an archimandrite . In the 1960s he worked as a pastor for the Greek guest workers in Bonn . He also founded the first three Greek elementary schools in Germany. After a management position from 1963 to 1964 at the secondary school for Greek social workers in Michaelshofen in Rodenkirchen near Cologne, he was head of the new Orthodox monks' center in Taizé from 1965 to 1969 .

In 1969 he became director of the Orthodox Center of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople in Chambésy near Geneva and at the same time secretary for the preparation of the Holy and Great Council of the Byzantine Orthodox Churches . He was ordained bishop on December 6, 1970 and received the title of Metropolitan of Tranoupolis. He built the Orthodox Center in Chambésy into an interreligious meeting center of international standing. The “Center for Advanced Studies in Orthodox Theology”, founded in 1996, works closely with the theological faculties of the Universities of Geneva and Friborg. He was a member of the Faith and Order Commission and visiting professor at the Bossey Ecumenical Institute .

On October 2, 1982, the Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate named him “ Metropolitan of Switzerland and Exarch of Europe ”.

Damaskinos was an ecumenical figure, a member of numerous commissions and academic academies, and co-editor of Documents of Growing Consistency (Volumes 1-3). He was deeply connected to Pope John Paul II and friends with Pope Benedict XVI. ("Brother and Friend").

honors and awards

  • Honorary doctorates from the universities of Bucharest (1981), Belgrade (1982), Thessaloniki (1985), Bonn (1986), Bern (Christian Catholic Faculty, 1987), Prešov (1987), Athens (1990), Moscow (1992), Minsk (1995) , Manila (1998), Sofia (1999), Geneva (1999)
  • Admission to the "Académie Internationale de Sciences Religieuses" (AISR) (1974)
  • Honorary member of the "Pro Oriente" foundation (1984)
  • Admission to the "Société européenne de culture" (1987)
  • Admission as a corresponding member of the Academy of Athens (1991)
  • Abbot Emmanuel Heufelder Prize of Niederaltaich Abbey (1992)

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Papandreou, Damaskinos
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Papandreou, Dimitrios; Παπανδρέου, Δαμασκηνός (Greek)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Orthodox Archbishop and Metropolitan in Geneva
DATE OF BIRTH February 23, 1936
PLACE OF BIRTH Kato Chryssovitsa , Aetolia , Greece
DATE OF DEATH November 5, 2011
Place of death Geneva , Switzerland