by romfea.news
Archbishop Stylianos has passed away after a long term disease.
Archbishop Stylianos was born in Rethymno, Crete, on December 29, 1935. He studied theology at the Theological School of Chalki, where he graduated in 1958.
He was ordained a deacon in 1957 and a priest in 1958. He studied at postgraduate level Systemic theology and Philosophy of religion in Bonn, Germany, from 1958 to 1966.
Among his professors was Cardinal Joseph Ratsinger, who later became Pope Benedict XVI.
His thesis was based on the idea that Orthodox Church was infallible when its actions were made with assemblies (Ecumenical Councils).
During this period, the idea of infallibility seemed to belong exclusively to the Roman Catholic Church, being totally unfamiliar to the Orthodox one.
In 1965, at the end of his postgraduate studies, he was pronounced professor of Theology at the University of Athens.
In 1966 he was appointed as an Abbot at the Monastery of Vlatades in Thessaloniki. He was a founding member, where he became President of the Patriarchical Institute for the Study of the Church Fathers.
In 1975, Sytlianos Harkianakis was elected as an Archbishop of Australia and an Exarch of Okeania. From this position, he participated in many dialogues among the Orthodox and other Christian groups..
His preeminent position was the one of vice-president of the theological dialogue with the Roman Catholic Church, and of vice-president of the Anglican churches.
He taught theology and spirituality at the University of Sidney from 1975. In 1986, he was announced as the first Dean of the Theological School of St. Andreas where he also had the position of Doctoral Student in Systematic Theology.
In 2014 he was announced as an Emeritus Doctoral Student of the Department of Pedagogy of the University of Crete.