His Grace Bishop Maximos (Pafilis) of Melitene was born in 1978 in Karditsa, Greece. He studied History at Deree College. He studied Theology in Athens and Thessalonica. He took classes at the School of Theology of Loyola University in New Orleans, LA, where he also served as a priest, and then he received a Diploma in International Relations and Communication from the University of Strasbourg and a Master’s Degree from the same University in Inter-Christian Relations. He also studied at the European Institute of Computer Science and he received a degree in English from the University of Michigan.
He was ordained in 2003 and he served in Greece, France and USA. He served as a preacher of the Holy Metropolis of Thessaliotidos and Fanariofersala. He served at the Holy Metropolis of Atlanta as a Dean of St. Mark’s church in Ocala, FL and of the Holy Trinity Cathedral in New Orleans, LA. He served for 10 years as a secretary of the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece. From 2016 to 2018 he served as Vicar General and a secretary of the Holy Metropolis of France and then as a Chancellor.
He has taken part in various ecclesiastical delegations, committees and representations, he is a member of the International Fellowship Network of the Interfaith Organization KAICIID. He is a member of the Bioethics Committee and the Artificial Intelligence Subcommittee of the Council of European Churches (CEC).
On October 9, 2018, he was unanimously elected Bishop of Melitene by the Holy and Sacred Council of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and he was ordained on November 10 at the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of St. Stephen, Paris, by the Eminent Metropolitans Emmanuel of France, Polycarp of Spain, Amfilochios of Adrianople, Maximos of Switzerland and Bishop Ireneos of Rigiou.
On July 20, 2021, at the request of His Eminence Archbishop Nikitas of Thyateira and Great Britain and the assent of His All Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate approved his appointment to the Holy Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain.
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His Grace Bishop Raphael (Pavouris) of Ilion was born on the island of Lesvos, on the 20th of September 1967. He studied Theology at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, graduating in 1992. Following His undergraduate studies, He moved to Glasgow, Scotland, where He completed His PhD Thesis in the field of Ecclesiastical History.
He was ordained, by His Eminence, the late Archbishop Gregorios of Thyateira and Great Britain, to the Diaconate on the 4th of April 2003 and soon after, to the priesthood, on the 6th April of the same year, at St Luke’s Greek Orthodox Church in Glasgow. On the 30th of September 2004 He was transferred to the Orthodox community of St Andrew the Apostle in Edinburgh, where he continues to serve to this day.
On the 16th of March 2021 He was unanimously elected, by the Holy and Great Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, to the Episcopacy, following the recommendation of His All-Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew. He was granted the title of the once-illustrious Diocese of Ilion, as an Assistant Bishop of His Eminence Archbishop Nikitas of Thyateira and Great Britain.
His Grace’s ordination took place on the 9th of March 2021, at the Church of St Panteleimon and St Paraskevi in Harrow, North-West London.
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His Grace Bishop Iakovos (Originally Savvas Savva) of Claudiopolis was born in Larnaca, Cyprus in 1963. Following graduation from high school, he moved to Athens where he studied Theology at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, graduating in 1986.
His Grace was ordained to the Holy Diaconate on December 16, 1990. On March 8, 1992, he was ordained to the Holy Priesthood and was bestowed the office of Archimandrite by the late Metropolitan Iakovos of Nicaea, Athens, whose Diocese he served for three years (Serving at St Nikolaos Cathedral in Nicaea and the Church of Panagia Vlahernon in Keratsini).
Since 1993, he has served within the Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain. He was in charge, initially, of the Greek Orthodox Church of the Virgin Mary Eleousa in Nottingham and then, of the historical Greek Orthodox Church of St Nicholas in Cardiff, Wales (2000-today).
Archimandrite Iakovos was the president of the Youth movement of the Greek Orthodox communities in the Midlands, from 1997 to 2000 and organised three Youth Festivals in the area between 1997 and 1999. He first served as Vice-President and subsequently, as President of the ‘St Athanasios Clergy Fellowship’ of this Biblical Eparchy of the Ecumenical Throne in the United Kingdom. In this capacity, he has organised the annual clergy conferences of the Archdiocese since 2001.
During his tenure in Great Britain, His Grace Bishop Iakovos of Claudiopolis cultivated both the theological and spiritual life of the aforementioned communities by overseeing the restoration and renovation of both the church buildings and their community centres. His contribution to the preservation of the Orthodox tradition and the revival of the Greek language and Culture in the United Kingdom is highly respected and appreciated.
On February 16, 2021, following the recommendation of His Eminence Archbishop Nikitas of Thyateira and Great Britain, the Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate unanimously elected Archimandrite Iakovos to the Episcopacy, as an Assistant Bishop of His Eminence Archbishop Nikitas.
His Grace’s ordination took place on the 21st of March 2021, at the Cathedral of St Andrew the Apostles in Kentish Town, London.