Resignation and appointment of archbishop of Athens and apostolic administrator ad nutum Sanctae Sedis of Rhodos, Greece

The Holy Father has accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the archdiocese of Athens and the office of apostolic administrator ad nutum Sanctae Sedis of Rhodos, Greece, presented by Archbishop Sevastianos Rossolatos.

The Holy Father has appointed the Reverend Fr. Theodoros Kontidis, S.J., parish priest of Saint Andrew the Apostle in Patras, as archbishop of Athens and apostolic administrator ad nutum Sanctae Sedis of Rhodos, Greece.

Curriculum vitae

Archbishop Theodoros Kontidis was born in Thessaloniki on 11 March 1956. After his secondary education in Athens, he moved to Rome, to the Pontifical Greek College of Saint Athanasius, attending courses in philosophy at the Pontifical Gregorian University. He then moved to Louvain to study theology and in 1983 entered the Society of Jesus. After his novitiate, he obtained a licentiate in theology at the Centre Sèvres in Paris.

He was ordained a priest on 9 October 1988, after which he served parish vicar and parish priest of the Sacred Heart parish in Athens.

After his religious vows in 1995, he served as coordinator of youth ministry, superior of his religious community in Athens, editor of a magazine and director of a house for spiritual exercises.

Since 2021 he has been pastor of Saint Andrew the Apostle in Patras. In addition to modern Greek, he speaks Italian, French and English.