Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia

The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia is the Australian archdiocese of the Greek Orthodox Church, part of the wider communion of Eastern Orthodox Christianity. The archdiocese is a jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. As of 2024, there were over 130 parishes and eight monasteries in the six dioceses of the archdiocese in Australia.

Archbishop and governance
Since May 9, 2019, Bishop Makarios is Archbishop of Australia. He was elected by the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and was enthroned in front of thousands of faithful on 29 June 2019 at the Cathedral of the Annunciation of the Theotokos.

Since February 2024, the Archdiocese of Australia is governed by the Holy Eparchical Synod, at which the incumbent Archbishop of the day presides, and whose members are his active assistant Bishops in their capacity as Regional Bishops.

History
The first churches founded by Greek Orthodox in Australia were Holy Trinity in Surry Hills, Sydney (1898), and Annunciation of the Theotokos in East Melbourne (1900). The first priest to serve the religious needs of the Greek Orthodox population in Sydney and Melbourne was Archimandrite Dorotheos Bakaliaros. In March 1924, the "Metropolis of Australia and New Zealand" was established under the Ecumenical Patriarchate to cover the expanding Greek population, which by 1927 numbered over 10,000 and had established churches in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Port Pirie in South Australia. The first metropolitan of the new province of the Ecumenical Patriarchate was Christoforos Knitis of Serres. In 1929, Metropolitan Christoforos returned to his homeland, Samos. He died on 7 August 1959.

In 1931, Timotheos Evangelinidis was elected as the second Metropolitan of Australia and New Zealand. He arrived in Australia on 28 January 1932 and presided over the church in Australia and New Zealand until 1947 when he was elected Metropolitan of Rhodes. On 22 April of that year, Theophylactos Papathanasopoulos was elected as the third metropolitan. On 2 August 1958, Metropolitan Theophylactos was killed in a car accident. In February 1959 the assistant bishop of the Archdiocese of America, Bishop Ezekiel Tsoukalas of Nazianzos, was elected Metropolitan of Australia. He arrived in Sydney on 27 April 1959.

On 1 September 1959, the Metropolis of Australia and New Zealand was elevated to an archdiocese and Metropolitan Ezekiel to an archbishop. Archbishop Ezekiel's episcopacy coincided with a period of great expansion in the numbers of Greek Orthodox in Australia through immigration, and many of the parishes that the church has today were formed under his guidance. In August 1974, the Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate elevated Archbishop Ezekiel to the titular see of Metropolitan of Pisidia. He died in Athens in July 1987. On 3 February 1975, the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate unanimously elected the Metropolitan of Miletoupolis, Stylianos Harkianakis, a lecturer at the University of Thessaloniki, as the new Archbishop of Australia. Archbishop Stylianos arrived in Sydney on 15 April 1975 and was officially enthroned on Lazarus Saturday, 26 April 1975.

Primates

 * Metropolitan Christoforos of Australia and New Zealand (1924-1929)
 * Metropolitan Timotheos of Australia and New Zealand (1931-1947)
 * Metropolitan Theophylactos of Australia and New Zealand (1947-1958)
 * Metropolitan Ezekiel of Australia and New Zealand (1959), Archbishop Ezekiel of Australia and New Zealand (1959-1970), Archbishop Ezekiel of Australia (1970-1974)
 * Archbishop Stylianos of Australia (1975-2019)
 * Archbishop Makarios of Australia (2019–present)

Current hierarchs
The following clergy are members of the archdiocese's current hierarchy.

Diocese of Melbourne

 * Bishop Kyriakos of Sozopolis, chorbishop of Melbourne

Diocese of Peth

 * Bishop Bishop Elpidios of Kyanea, chorbishop of Perth

Diocese of Adelaide

 * Bishop Silouan of Sinope, chorbishop of Adelaide

Diocese of Brisbane

 * Bishop Bartholomew of Charioupolis, chorbishop of Brisbane

Diocese of Chora

 * Bishop Evmenios of Kerasounta, chorbishop of Chora

St Andrew's Greek Orthodox Theological College
St Andrew's Greek Orthodox Theological College is an Eastern Orthodox Christian seminary located in Redfern, Sydney, New South Wales. The college was established in 1986 by Archbishop Stylianos, who had proposed the establishment of a theological college during the fourth clergy and laity congress in 1981. There was a need for a theological college that would be primarily dedicated to theological study in co-operation with other theological colleges. It would be hoped that a centre of theological reflection and ecumenical dialogue would be created, offering the Orthodox worldview and perspective with scriptural commentaries, the writings of the Greek Fathers, the Orthodox liturgy, iconography and spirituality.

Greek Orthodox monasteries in Australia

 * Holy Monastery of St George (New South Wales)
 * Holy Monastery of Panagia Pantanassa (New South Wales)
 * Holy Monastery of the Holy Cross (New South Wales)
 * Holy Monastery of Panagia Gorgoepikouos (Victoria)
 * Holy Monastery of Axion Estin (Victoria)
 * Holy Monastery of Panagia Kamariani (Victoria)
 * Holy Monastery of St Nektarios (South Australia)
 * Holy Monastery of St John (Western Australia)