The well-known and influential priest, theologian, and professor Fr. George Metallinos reposed in the Lord today at the age of 79, reports the Orthodoxia News Agency.
Fr. George was a prolific writer, with more than 40 Greeks published in Greek. In the English-speaking world he is known for his book I Confess One Baptism.
Elias Makos, one of Fr. George’s many students, writes of him that he was “a simple and thoughtful teacher, yet at the same time dignified, serious and inspiring, with unquestionable education.”
He had a wisdom, Makos writes, “that was not expressed flamboyantly, but with the simplicity and purity that one encounters in enlightened people who know how to truly love.”
Fr. George was born on the island of Corfu in northwest Greece in 1940. There, he completed his secondary education before attending the University of Athens. He graduated from the University of Athens, having obtained a degree in Theology in 1962, and then another in Classical Literature in 1967 after he had completed military service from 1963 to 1965.
After receiving his degree in 1967, George became Research Assistant at the Department of Patrology at the university. In 1969, he took up residence in Western Germany and began post-graduate studies.
During this time he attended schools in Bonn and Cologne and also conducted studies and archival research in England. In 1971, he was ordained into the clergy and received a Doctor of Theology degree from the University of Athens and a Doctor of Philosophy – History degree from the University of Cologne.
In 1984, Dr. Metallinos became a Professor at the School of Theology of the University of Athens, where he taught History of Spirituality during the Post-Byzantine Period, History and Theology of Worship, and Byzantine History. In 2004, he was appointed Dean of the School of Theology, a position in which he served until 2007 when he became professor emeritus.
Photo courtesy of Orthochristian.com
