The editorial team of the missionary portal Kinonia, a project of the Missionary Department of the Archdiocese of Belgrade and Karlovci, conducted an interview with Archdeacon Dimitrios Fokianos, the personal archdeacon of His Beatitude Hieronymos II, Archbishop of Athens and All Greece. The interview was carried out by Kinonia’s regular contributor, Dr. Gordana Blagojević.
- Father Dimitrios, this is a good opportunity to introduce yourself to our readers. Could you tell us about your life story—beginning with birth to the moment you received the ministry that you now carry out so diligently and with so much love?
First of all, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude for the opportunity to speak in this interview about my humble service to the Church and to His Beatitude, Archbishop Hieronymos II of Athens and All Greece.
You have described beautifully my life as a journey. I come from Paros, a particularly beautiful island in the Aegean Sea, distinguished by its rich culture and history; in a sense, travelling has become my second nature. I was born in 1988 in Athens. My father, Fr. Spyridon, served in the central church of Athens—St. Demetrios Church in Ambelokipi. My mother surrounded my brothers, sisters, and me with love, care, and affection. From childhood, I felt drawn to the love of Christ and to the spiritual light of the Church.
I completed my primary education at the Rizarios Ecclesiastical School, studied Byzantine church music, and served as a chanter. I graduated from the Faculty of Theology in Athens, where I recently obtained a master’s degree. In 2016, I was ordained a deacon after marrying my exceptional beloved wife, Theognosia, with whom I have two children. I first served as a deacon in the Cathedral of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos in Athens, and for the past year and a half, I have served as the archdeacon to His Beatitude, Archbishop Hieronymos II of Athens and All Greece.
- You serve as the archdeacon of His Beatitude, Archbishop Hieronymos II of Athens and All Greece—a ministry that carries both great honour and great responsibility. Apart from liturgical service, what duties have been entrusted to you?
Indeed, my ministry alongside His Beatitude is a great honour, but also a great responsibility. It is an honour because His Beatitude is a primate who worthily adorns the apostolic throne of the Church of Athens—founded, as we know, by the Apostle Paul himself. He is a man of deep faith, evangelical love, patience, meekness, and divinely inspired wisdom and discernment.
At the same time, this ministry entails a serious responsibility, for it is not easy to serve the head of the Church, especially one such as this Archbishop, who is a model of apostolic simplicity and whose ecclesial, social, spiritual, and humanitarian workload is immense. I constantly pray that God grants me strength to serve Him faithfully and with discernment. His Beatitude is a hierarch of great significance for the path followed by the Church of Greece—for the unity and conciliarity of its hierarchy, and for inspiring the people in works of faith and love.
- Thanks to live broadcasts from the Annunciation Cathedral in Athens, we in Serbia are also able to follow Sunday and festal services on YouTube. How would you describe the liturgical community that gathers in that cathedral, and what liturgical features would you particularly highlight?
I believe it is a true blessing from God that the Divine Liturgy is broadcast on national television, and specifically from the Cathedral in Athens, which has been historically connected with the modern Greek state from its very foundation to the present day. In this church, for instance, countless episcopal ordinations, archiepiscopal enthronements, royal weddings, baptisms, and funerals have taken place.
Nevertheless, the Cathedral, in essence, has no parishioners in the usual sense, since the central area of Athens around it has changed over time and now consists mainly of public buildings and shops. The faithful who come to the services in the Cathedral are those who love its liturgical order and gather from various parts of Athens to participate in the worship.
- Particular attention is devoted to the proper celebration of the divine services, the chanting of hymns, and the preaching of the Word of God. You serve at the holy services with great love—that is evident. What message would you convey to young theologians preparing themselves for the lofty ministry of the priesthood?
You have emphasized beautifully the essence of priestly service within the Divine Liturgy. Love, godly fear, reverence for the Divine Liturgy and for the Lord Jesus Christ, Who is invisibly present in the liturgical assembly—these are the foundations upon which the priest’s ministry is built, both towards God and towards one’s neighbour, who is the image of God. His Beatitude often reminds us of this truth, seeking to rekindle within us the priestly vocation and to make our ministry truly authentic.
To young theologians I would say: do not be afraid to receive the grace of the priesthood and to serve the Church, having the Holy Fathers as role models.That is the most exalted and most important fulfillment of their theological studies.
- The late Archbishop Christodoulos of Athens was a great lover of liturgical beauty. What memories do you have of this eminent hierarch?
During the archiepiscopate of the ever-memorable Christodoulos, I was still very young, so I have no personal experiences to recount. Nevertheless, I remember with reverence that he loved the divine services and church order deeply. He was always joyful, kind, and a man of profound love for the Church and for all people.
- Have you ever visited Serbia?
Unfortunately, I have not yet had the opportunity to visit Serbia. However, I have read much about her culture and history, about the struggles of our Serbian brethren for the ideals of freedom and justice, and I sincerely hope that I will soon have the great honour and joy of visiting your country.
- How do you perceive the spiritual bond between the Greek and Serbian peoples?
I believe that the spiritual bond between the Serbian and Greek peoples is very strong. We live in the Balkans, sharing the same ideals, goals, dreams, and aspirations. Both nations suffered under the Ottoman yoke and endured the loss of freedom, yet the struggles for liberation made us stronger and more mature.
Still, the deepest spiritual bond between us is our common Holy Orthodox faith, woven into the fabric of our historical and spiritual journey. For example, it is of immense importance that we are nourished by the same Gospel, the same Baptism, and the same Eucharist, and that we venerate the same Saints of our shared faith. It is particularly moving that in Greece we hold great reverence for the holy Serbian Saint Sava; for the Serbian Saint Helen—Ipomoni, the mother of the last Byzantine Emperor, Constantine XI Palaiologos Dragases; for Saint Justin of Ćelije, whose writings and sanctity are deeply admired; for Saint Nikolai Velimirović; and for many others.
- We sincerely thank you for the honour and joy you have given us through this interview for the Kinonia portal, which operates within the Missionary Department of the Archdiocese of Belgrade and Karlovci, with the blessing of His Holiness, the Serbian Patriarch Porfirije. We believe you have had an opportunity to visit our portal (kinonija.rs) and would love to hear your impressions of its work.
I sincerely consider it both an honour and a joy to have given this interview for the Kinonia website. I have visited it several times and have gained the impression that it represents an important missionary initiative—one that speaks of the eternal truths of the Gospel in a contemporary and appealing way, in the same spirit in which the Orthodox Church has lived them through the prophets, the apostles, and the holy fathers throughout history.
It is of particular value that your website operates with the blessing of His Holiness, the Serbian Patriarch Porfirije—a truly ascetic and enlightened primate, who knows the Greek language, loves Greece, and loves our Church.
- Father Dimitrios, what is your message to the readers of the Kinonia portal?
The message I would like to offer to the readers of the Kinonia website is this: live each day with gratitude and thankfulness to God—for both the joyful and the difficult moments of life. Nurture the Gospel virtues of faith, love, and hope. Walk the path of cooperation, understanding, and forgiveness—for only then does our life acquire its true meaning.
I wholeheartedly thank you for this opportunity to communicate, and I wish you and your dear readers to remain in constant communion and relationship with the God of love, Who has revealed Himself to us in the Lord Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit, so that every act of communication and every human relationship may be genuine—firmly grounded on the rock of our faith, in the Lord of glory and the King of all.
Интервју са атинским архиђаконом Димитријем Фокијаносом: Љубав према богослужењу је наш темељ