Eminent bishop and Eastern Orthodox theologian Metropolitan Kallistos of Diokleia has passed away.
The Secretary General of the Anglican Communion, Dr Josiah Idowu-Fearon, has paid tribute to the Co-Chair of the International Anglican-Orthodox Theological Dialogue, Metropolitan Kallistos of Diokleia, who died in the early hours of this morning (Wednesday).
He was a prominent theologian and hierarch in the Eastern Orthodox church today. Bishop Kallistos received an honorary degree at the Lawrence University of Wisconsin in the United States and Cluj-Napoca University in Romania.
The Archbishop of Canterbury presented Ware with the Lambeth Cross for Ecumenism in 2017 “for his remarkable contribution to Anglican-Orthodox theological discourse.”
Writing to the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew today, Dr Josiah Idowu-Fearon said: “it is with great sorrow that I heard today of the death of His Eminence Metropolitan Kallistos of Diokleia. I want to assure you of my prayers and those of many in the Anglican Communion, for the repose of his soul and giving thanks to God for His Eminence’s ministry as a bishop, theologian and teacher.
With faith in Christ and hope in the resurrection, we share news of the falling asleep in the Lord of His Eminence, Metropolitan Kallistos (Ware). The renowned theologian was an SVS Press author, and honored friend of the Seminary. May his memory be eternal! pic.twitter.com/0V3sK74cEp
— SVS Press (@SVSPress) August 24, 2022
Who Was Bishop Kallistos?
Kallistos was one of the most well-known Eastern Orthodox theologians. From 1966 to 2001, he served as a Spalding Lecturer in Eastern Orthodox Studies at the University of Oxford. He served in that capacity for 35 years until retiring.
In 1963 his classic work “The Orthodox Church” was published; in 1964 “Eustratios Argenti: A Study of the Greek Church under Turkish Rule” appeared, and in 1965, the year in which he was ordained deacon, he completed a doctoral thesis for Oxford University on the Ascetical Writings of St Mark the Monk.
As a deacon he served both in Patmos and on the staff of Archbishop Athenagoras II of Thyateira and Great Britain. In 1966 he was appointed Spalding Lecturer in Eastern Christian Studies at the University of Oxford.
He was ordained to the priesthood and tonsured as a monk, taking the name Kallistos. He was tasked over and above his academic work with establishing a Greek Orthodox Parish in Oxford. At the time the Russian Orthodox Parish of the Annunciation was worshipping in St Gregory’s House and offered hospitality to the newly formed Greek Orthodox Parish of the Holy Trinity, before the two parishes together oversaw the building of the church which now stands on Oxford’s Canterbury Road, and which was shared in equal partnership by both communities.
Writing on the parish website, the current priest, Father Ian Graham, says: “Many of us still remember Father Kallistos from this time, and how the rigours of his academic work were combined with his parish duties. His teaching in sermons and talks, his love shown in Confession and pastoral care and above all his prayer with and for his people will be abiding memories.
“We rejoiced when he was elected and consecrated Bishop of Diokleia in 1982 – the first Englishman to be consecrated as a Bishop in the Orthodox Church since the schism of the 11th century – and although this meant that increasingly we had to share him with a wider world we continued to benefit from his love and care.”
He was given a fellowship at Oxford’s Pembroke College in 1970. He was ordained to the episcopate in 1982 and given the title Bishop of Diokleia (in Phrygia) in the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain.
Ware continued to serve in the Greek Orthodox parish in Oxford and lecture at the University of Oxford after being consecrated.
On March 30, 2007, the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate promoted Ware to the level of metropolitan and the Diocese of Diokleia in Phrygia to that of a titular metropolitan diocese.
Ware has continued to publish and lecture about Orthodox Christianity since he retired in 2001. He was also the chairman of the Friends of Orthodoxy on Iona (Scotland), the Friends of Mount Athos, and the board of directors of the Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies in Cambridge.
Bishop and Eastern Orthodox Church theologian Kallistos Ware was from England. He had served as the titular bishop of Diokleia in Phrygia since 1982, and the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople upgraded his position to a titular metropolitan bishopric in 2007.
Bishop Kallistos Death Cause – What Happened To Him?
The Holy Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain, “sadly announces the falling asleep of His Excellency Metropolitan Kallistos of Diokleia on Wednesday 24th August 2022. He was 87. According to the Orthodox Times, Ware reportedly had a critical condition earlier this month.
Metropolitan Kallistos Ware, Metropolitan of Diokleia and hierarch of the Ecumenical Throne, has fallen asleep in the Lord today, August 24th (1934-2022) as reported by the Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain.
Ware was a well-known lecturer and novelist. He wrote or edited more than a dozen books, many pieces for a variety of journals, essays for books on various topics, and prefaces, forewords, and introductions for numerous more publications.
A noted scholar, lecturer and author, and devout and faithful clergyman, a beloved spiritual father, His Excellency served Christ and His Church for many years. His words, spoken and written, made Orthodoxy known to the entire world, especially to his native land.
He is credited for having contributed to translating and disseminating important liturgical and ascetic works for the Orthodox faith. He produced the Lenten Triodion and Festal Menaion with Mother Mary and the Philokalia (four volumes of five released as of 2018) with G. E. H. Palmer and Philip Sherrard.
Abba, The Tradition of Orthodoxy in the West, Festschrift for Bishop Kallistos (Ware) of Diokleia, edited by John Behr, Andrew Louth, and Dimitri Conomos, was released by St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press in 2003.
The clergy are asked to offer the appropriate memorial services and the faithful are asked to pray that God will receive his soul in His Kingdom and number him among the just.
When funeral arrangements are finalised, they will be made known to the public.
Bishop Kallistos Age- How Old Was He?
as stated above, Kallistos was was born on September 11, 1934. He died at tha age of 87. He was raised by Anglicans and was schooled at Westminster School in London after being born in Bath, Somerset, England.
He received a King’s Scholarship and attended Magdalen College in Oxford, where he received a double first in both classics and theology. At 24, he converted to Orthodoxy on April 14, 1958.
In an autobiographical work titled “My Journey to the Orthodox Church,” he discussed his initial encounters with Orthodoxy and the rising appeal of the Orthodox Church.
He spent six months as a layman in Canada’s Russian Orthodox Church Abroad monastery. Ware, fluent in modern Greek, entered the Monastery of Saint John the Theologian in Patmos, Greece, to become an Orthodox monk.
He frequently visited other important Orthodox centers, including Jerusalem and Mount Athos. He was given the monastic title “Kallistos” and was tonsured as a priest in the Ecumenical Patriarchate in 1966.