Metropolis of Thessaloniki

The Metropolis of Thessaloniki (Greek: Ιερά Μητρόπολις Θεσσαλονίκης) is a Greek Orthodox metropolitan see based in the city of Thessaloniki in Central Macedonia, Greece. It is part of the so-called "New Lands", belonging to the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople but being administered by the Church of Greece. The see traces its history to its foundation by the Apostle Paul in the 1st century. Since 2023, the incumbent metropolitan is Filotheos Theocharis [el].

Metropolis of Thessaloniki Ιερά Μητρόπολις Θεσσαλονίκης
Saint Gregory Palamas Metropolitan Cathedral
Location
Ecclesiastical province	Thessaloniki
Statistics
Parishes	43
Information
Cathedral	Saint Gregory Palamas Metropolitan Cathedral
Current leadership
Bishop	Filotheos Theocharis [el]
Website
https://www.imth.gr

History

In its early centuries, the see of Thessaloniki became the metropolitan diocese of the Roman province of Macedonia. After the creation of major ecclesiastical jurisdictions, the see of Thessalonica was subordinated to the Patriarch of Rome, rising to become the archbishopric of the Eastern Illyricum.^[1] Roman control—and the use of Latin as a liturgical language—continued until c. 733, when the see was transferred to the jurisdiction of the Patriarch of Constantinople.^[1] Under Constantinople, it was reduced in status to a "simple" metropolitan see, with 5 to 12 suffragan sees, although the metropolitans continued to use the title of "archbishop" as well.^[1]

List of bishops

Name	Name in Greek	Tenure	Notes	Refs
Gaius	Γάιος		Saint
Nicholas I	Νικόλαος Α΄	160	Saint
Artemius	Ἀρτέμιος		Saint
Alexander I	Ἀλέξανδρος Α΄	305–335	Saint
John I	Ἰωάννης Α΄
Aetius	Ἀέτιος	342–347
Irenius	Εἰρήνιος	355
Paulinus	Παυλῖνος
Acholius or Ascholius	Ἀχόλιος, Ἀσχόλιος	379–384	Saint
Anysius	Ἀνύσιος	384–407	Saint; Division of the Roman Empire in 395
Rufus	Ῥοῦφος	407–434	Saint
Anastasius I	Ἀναστάσιος Α΄	434–451	Saint
Auxitheus, Eudoxius	Αὐξίθεος, Εὐδόξιος	451–458	Saint
Andrew	Ἀνδρέας	481–494	Saint
Dorotheus I	Δωρόθεος Α΄	494–520	Saint
Aristides	Ἀριστείδης	520–535
Elias	Ἠλίας	553	Saint, Participant in the Second Council of Constantinople
Thalaleus	Θαλαλεὺς
Theodosius I	Θεοδόσιος Α΄	585
Eusebius	Εὐσέβιος	585–603		^[2]
John II	Ἰωάννης Β΄	603–610	Saint, author of Book I of the Miracles of Saint Demetrius	^[2]
Plotinus	Πλωτῖνος	616
John II	Ἰωάννης Β΄	617–626	Saint
Paul I	Παῦλος Α΄	649
John III	Ἰωάννης Γ΄	680	Participant in the Third Council of Constantinople	^[3]
Sergius	Σέργιος	690	Participant in the Quinisext Council
Constantine I	Κωνσταντῖνος Α΄
Peter	Πέτρος	before 754		^[4]
Anastasius	Ἀναστάσιος	after 754		^[4]
Basil I	Βασίλειος Α΄	772
Theophilus	Θεόφιλος	787	Saint; Participant in the Second Council of Nicaea	^[4]
Thomas	Θωμᾶς		Saint
Joseph I the Studite	Ἰωσὴφ Α΄, ὁ στουδίτης	807–809	Saint; brother of Theodore the Studite
Unknown		809–811
Joseph I the Studite	Ἰωσὴφ Α΄, ὁ στουδίτης	811–821	Saint; brother of Theodore the Studite
Leo the Philosopher	Λέων, ὁ φιλόσοφος	839/840–843
Anthony the Confessor	Ἀντώνιος, ὁ ὁμολογητὴς	843	Saint
Basil II	Βασίλειος Β΄	843–865
Theodore	Θεόδωρος	866–869
Paul II	Παῦλος Β΄	880–882
Gregory I	Γρηγόριος Α΄	882
Methodius	Μεθόδιος	889
John IV the Thessalian	Ἰωάννης Δ΄, ὁ Θεσσαλὸς	892–904		^[3]
Basil III the Confessor	Βασίλειος Γ΄, ὁ ὁμολογητὴς	904–?	Saint
Anatolius	Ἀνατόλιος
Isidore I	Ἰσίδωρος Α΄	1016
Nicetas I	Νικήτας Α΄
Theophanes I	Θεοφάνης Α΄	1031–1038
Prometheus	Προμηθεὺς	1038
Unknown		1063
Theodulus	Θεόδουλος	1086–1107
Constantine II	Κωνσταντῖνος Β΄	1110
Michael I	Μιχαὴλ Α΄	1122
Nicetas II	Νικήτας Β΄	1133		^[2]
Constantine	Κωνσταντῖνος	after 1133		^[2]
Leo	Λέων			^[2]
Romanus	Ρωμανός			^[2]
Basil IV of Ohrid	Βασίλειος Δ΄, ὁ Ἀχρίδος	1145–1168
Eustathius	Εὐστάθιος, ὁ Κατάφλωρος	1175–1197 ή 1198	Saint
Constantine III Mesopotamites	Κωνσταντῖνος Γ΄, ὁ Μεσοποταμίτης	1198–1199
Chrysanthus	Χρύσανθος	1199–1202
Constantine III Mesopotamites	Κωνσταντῖνος Γ΄,ὁ Μεσοποταμίτης	1204–1224	in exile; Thessaloniki under Latin control
Nicetas III	Νικήτας Γ΄
Joseph II	Ἰωσὴφ Β΄	1232–1235
Michael II Palatanos	Μιχαὴλ Β΄, ὁ Παλατάνος	1235
Manuel	Μανουὴλ	1258–1261
Joannicius Kydones	Ἰωαννίκιος, ὁ Κυδώνης	1261
Demetrius	Δημήτριος	1282–1285
Ignatius I	Ἰγνάτιος Α΄	1285–?
James I	Ἰάκωβος Α΄	1299
Jeremy	Ἱερεμίας	1315–1322
Euphemianus	Εὐφημιανὸς	1322
John V Kalekas	Ἰωάννης Ε΄, ὁ Καλέκας	1322–1334	Patriarch of Constantinople
Gregory II	Γρηγόριος Β’	1334
Glabas	Γλαβᾶς	1336–1341
Macarius I	Μακάριος Α΄	1342–1346
Gregory III Palamas	Γρηγόριος Γ΄, ὁ Παλαμᾶς	1347–1359	Saint
Neilos Kabasilas	Νεῖλος, ὁ Καβάσιλας	1360–1361	Saint
Nicholas II Kabasilas	Νικόλαος Β΄, ὁ Καβάσιλας	1361–1363	Saint
Unknown		1363–1371
Dorotheus II	Δωρόθεος Β΄	1371–1379
Isidore II Glabas	Ἰσίδωρος Β΄, ὁ Γλαβᾶς	1379–1393	Saint; Thessaloniki under Ottoman control
Gabriel I	Γαβριὴλ Α΄	1393–1410	Saint; Thessaloniki returns to Byzantine control
Symeon the Mystic	Συμεών, ὁ μυσταγωγός	1410–1429	Saint
Gregory III	Γρηγόριος Γ΄	1430	Thessaloniki finally under Ottoman control
Nephon	Νήφων	1450–1484	Saint, Patriarch of Constantinople
Macarius II	Μακάριος Β΄	1517–1536
Theonas	Θεωνᾶς, ὁ ἀπὸ Ἡγουμένων	1539	Saint
Theophanes II	Θεοφάνης Β΄	1544
Gregory-David	Γρηγόριος–Δαβὶδ
Joasaph I	Ἰωάσαφ Α΄	1560–1578
Metrophanes	Μητροφάνης	1585
Gabriel II	Γαβριὴλ Β΄	1594	Patriarch of Constantinople
Matthew I	Ματθαῖος Α΄	1596
Joasaph II Argyropoulos	Ἰωάσαφ Β΄, ὁ Ἀργυρόπουλος	1596
Sophronius I	Σωφρόνιος Α΄	1606
Zosimas	Ζωσιμᾶς	1607
Parthenius	Παρθένιος	1611
Athanasios I	Ἀθανάσιος Α΄	1622–1634	Saint, Patriarch of Constantinople
Damascenus I	Δαμασκηνὸς Α΄	1634–1636
Callinicus I	Καλλίνικος Α΄	1636–1639
Theocletus	Θεόκλητος	1645–1651
Joachim I	Ἰωακεὶμ Α΄	1651–1666
Dionysius	Διονύσιος	1666–1671	Patriarch of Constantinople
Anastasius II	Ἀναστάσιος Β	1671
Meletius I	Μελέτιος Α΄	1672–1684
Methodius	Μεθόδιος	1687–1696
Ignatius II	Ἰγνάτιος Β΄	1698–1712
James II	Ἰάκωβος Β΄	1712
Ignatius II	Ἰγνάτιος Β΄	1723
Ananias	Ἀνανίας	1728
Joachim II	Ἰωακεὶμ Β΄	1734–1744
Gabriel III	Γαβριὴλ Γ΄	1745–1752
Spyridon	Σπυρίδων	1760–1761
Neophytus I	Νεόφυτος Α΄	1767
Theodosius II	Θεοδόσιος Β΄	1767–1769	Patriarch of Constantinople
Damascenus II	Δαμασκηνὸς Β΄	1769–1780
James III	Ἰάκωβος Γ΄	1780
Gerasimus	Γεράσιμος	1788–1815
Joseph III the Hieromartyr	Ἰωσὴφ Γ΄, ὁ Ἱερομάρτυς	1815–1821	Saint
Matthew II	Ματθαῖος Β΄	1821–1824
Macarius III	Μακάριος Γ΄	1824–1830
Meletius II	Μελέτιος Β΄	1830–1841	Patriarch of Constantinople
Hieronymus	Ἱερώνυμος	1841–1853
Callinicus II	Καλλίνικος Β΄	1853–1861	Patriarch of Alexandria
Neophytus II	Νεόφυτος Β΄	1861–1874
Joachim III	Ἰωακεὶμ Γ΄	1874–1878	Patriarch of Constantinople
Callinicus III Fotiadis	Καλλίνικος Γ΄, ὁ Φωτιάδης	1878–1884
Gregory IV Kallidis	Γρηγόριος Δ΄, ὁ Καλλίδης	1885–1889	Saint
Sophronius II	Σωφρόνιος Β΄	1889–1893
Athanasius II Megaklis	Ἀθανάσιος Β΄, ὁ Μεγακλῆς	1893–1903
Alexander II Rigopoulos	Ἀλέξανδρος Β΄, ὁ Ῥηγόπουλος	1903–1910
Joachim IV Sgouros	Ἰωακεὶμ Δ΄, ὁ Σγουρὸς	1910–1912
Gennadios Alexiadis	Γεννάδιος, ὁ Ἀλεξιάδης	1912–1951	Thessaloniki comes under Greek control
Panteleimon I Papageorgiou	Παντελεήμων Α΄, ὁ Παπαγεωργίου	1951–1968
Leonidas Paraskevopoulos	Λεωνίδας, ὁ Παρασκευόπουλος	1968–1974
Panteleimon II Chrysofakis	Παντελεήμων Β΄, ὁ Χρυσοφάκης	1974–2003
Anthimos Rousas	Ἄνθιμος, ὁ Ῥούσας	2004–2023
Filotheos Theocharis [el]	Φιλόθεος, ὁ Θεοχάρης	2023 -

References

1. Nesbitt & Oikonomides 1991, p. 51.
2. Nesbitt & Oikonomides 1991, p. 79.
3. Nesbitt & Oikonomides 1991, p. 80.
4. Nesbitt & Oikonomides 1991, p. 78.

Sources

• Nesbitt, John; Oikonomides, Nicolas, eds. (1991). Catalogue of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in the Fogg Museum of Art, Volume 1: Italy, North of the Balkans, North of the Black Sea. Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection. ISBN 0-88402-194-7.
• Gouillard, J. (1967). "Le Synodikon de L'orthodoxie: Édition et Commentaire". Travaux et Mémoires 2. pp. 1–316.
• Kiminas, Demetrius (2009). The Ecumenical Patriarchate: A History of Its Metropolitanates with Annotated Hierarch Catalogs. Wildside Press LLC. ISBN 9781434458766.