Theocletus I

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Theocletus I was a Greek clergyman who served twice as Archbishop of Athens (1902 - 1917 and 1920 - 1922).

Theocletus was born in Tripolis, Arcadia, in October of 1848. His surname in the world was Minopoulos.

In December 1892, he was elected Archbishop of Monemvasia and Sparta. On November 4, 1902, he was ordained Archbishop of Athens and all Greece. As Archbishop, he involved himself in the political upheaval of the time, siding with the monarchy against Eleftherios Venizelos. He went as far as excommunicating Venizelos in a ceremony at Aris Field in Athens on December 25 (December 12 OS), 1916.

For this reason, after Venizelos came to power in 1917, Theocletus was removed from his post by a special ecclesiastical court and replaced by Meletius - a venizelist.

In November 1920, when the royalist Popular Party came to power, Meletius was removed by a simple government order and Theocletus was restored.

He was once again ousted on December 30, 1922, by the revolutionary government, after the Asia Minor disaster.

During his rule as Archbishop of Athens, Patriarch Gregory V of Constantinople was canonised a saint.

Theocletus died on December 19, 1931.