We are thrilled to announce that Bishop Isaias is to join Metropolitan Kallistos as Patron of the charity Pan Orthodox Concern For Animals. Below is a brief bio which will be translated into other languages due to the efforts of our friends Luda, Anka and our latest volunteer Ingrid.
Isaiah (Kykkotis) of Tamassos
His Eminence, the Most Reverend Isaias (Kykkotis) of Tamassos and Orinis is the Metropolitan of the Diocese of Tamassos and Orinis of the Church of Cyprus.
Metr. Isaias was born in 1971 in Strovolos, Cyprus of parents who had been displaced from their home during the 1974 Turkeys invasion in Cyprus. He attended and graduated from the Acropolis Lyceum. After his graduation he served in the army of Cyprus before enrolling in the Seminary of Apostle Barnabas in 1990 and, at the same time, joined the Kykkos Monastery as a novice.
In 1992, Isaias began his theological studies at the Moscow Theological Academy in Russia at the direction of Abbot Nikiforos of Kykkos Monastery, and graduated with Honors in 1997. He continued studies at the Moscow Theological Academy , completing his post-graduate work with a paper, “The Life and Works of St. Neophtos the Confined”. He then continued his post graduate education at the Theological Faculty of the Aristotle University of Thessalonica, completing a three year program in Ecclesiastical Archaeology. Isaias then returned to Russia as a nominee for Doctor of Theology at the Moscow Theological Academy and Seminary . After acceptance of his dissertation, “The History and the Theological Content of the kolivades dispute ( spiritual Renaissance 19th century ) in Ayion Oros” he was granted, in 2003, the degree of Doctor of Theology by the Council of the Moscow Academy. In 2016 he completed a new master degree in church history at the theological faculty of Nicosia university in Cyprus!
In 1993, on a break from the seminary in Russia, Isaias was ordained a deacon. In 2000, he was ordained priest and elevated to the dignity of archimandrite by Archbishop Chrysostomos I.
Archim. Isaias was active as a representative of the Monastery of Kykkos. He participated in many theological, cultural, and humanitarian conferences in Cyprus and abroad as a member of the “World forum of Religions and Cultures.” He also participated in programs in the United States of America on the role of the Church in a modern multicultural society. Serving under Bishop Nikiforos, Isaias founded and supervised, for Kykkos Monastery, the Department of Direct Granting of Humanitarian Help and Spiritual Support of the disabled. This involved visiting and organizing help programs in countries that were affected by wars, hunger, or disasters. Archim. Isaias also served with the blessing of Abp. Chrysostomos I as confessor of non-Cyprian Orthodox prisoners in the Central Prisons.
After election by the clergy and people on June 9, 2007, Archim. Isaias was consecrated and enthroned Metropolitan of Tamassos and Orinis on June 11, 2007.
During his service us a bishop he founded the first Orthodox Christian environment and animal protection department of the Cyprus church in his diocese.
Μητροπολίτης
ἡ Α.Π. ὁ Μητροπολίτης Ταμασοῦ καὶ Ὀρεινῆς
κ. Ἠσαΐας
Ὁ Πανιερώτατος Μητροπολίτης Ταμασοῦ καὶ Ὀρεινῆς κ. Ἠσαΐας ἐγεννήθη εἰς τὸν Στρόβολον τὸ 1971, ἀπὸ ἐκτοπισθέντας γονεῖς. Μετὰ τὸ πέρας τῆς φοιτήσεώς του εἰς τὸ Λύκειον Ἀκροπόλεως, κατατάσσεται εἰς τὴν Ἐθνικὴν Φρουρὰν καί, ἀκολούθως, τὸ 1990 ἐγγράφεται εἰς τὴν Ἱερατικὴν Σχολὴν τῆς Ἐκκλησίας Κύπρου «Ἀπόστολος Βαρνάβας». Τὸν ἴδιον χρόνον ἐντάσσεται ὡς δόκιμος μοναχὸς εἰς τὴν Ἱερὰν Μονὴν Κύκκου, ὅπου ὑπηρετεῖ εἰς διάφορα διακονήματα. Τὸ 1992 ὁ τότε Ἡγούμενος τῆς Ἱερᾶς Μονῆς Κύκκου καὶ νῦν Μητροπολίτης Κύκκου καὶ Τηλλυρίας κ. Νικηφόρος τὸν στέλλει εἰς τὴν Ρωσίαν διὰ θεολογικὰς σπουδάς. Τὸ 1993 χειροτονεῖται διάκονος εἰς τὴν Ἱερὰν Μονὴν Κύκκου καὶ τὸ 1997 ἀποπερατώνει τὰς σπουδάς του εἰς τὴν Θεολογικὴν Σχολὴν Μόσχας. Τὸ ἴδιον ἔτος συνεχίζει καὶ τὸ 1998 ὁλοκληρώνει μεταπτυχιακὸν κύκλον σπουδῶν εἰς τὴν Μόσχαν, μὲ θέμα: «Ὁ βίος καὶ τὰ ἔργα τοῦ Ἁγίου Νεοφύτου τοῦ Ἐγκλείστου». Ἀκολούθως μεταβαίνει καὶ φοιτᾶ εἰς τὴν Θεολογικὴν Σχολὴν τοῦ Ἀριστοτελείου Πανεπιστημίου Θεσσαλονίκης, ὅπου παρακολουθεῖ μὲ ἐπιτυχίαν διὰ δύο ἔτη δεύτερον κύκλον μεταπτυχιακῶν σπουδῶν εἰς τὴν Ἐκκλησιαστικὴν Ἀρχαιολογίαν. Τὸ ἔτος 2000 χειροτονεῖται Πρεσβύτερος καὶ προχειρίζεται εἰς Ἀρχιμανδρίτην ὑπὸ τοῦ τότε Ἀρχιεπισκόπου Κύπρου Χρυσοστόμου Α΄. Ἐν συνεχείᾳ ἐγγράφεται εἰς τὴν Θεολογικὴν Ἀκαδημίαν Μόσχας ὡς ὑποψήφιος διδάκτωρ Θεολογίας καὶ ἐκπονεῖ διδακτορικὴν διατριβὴν μὲ θέμα: «Ἡ ἱστορία καὶ τὸ θεολογικὸν περιεχόμενον τῆς Κολλυβαδικῆς ἔριδος εἰς τὸ Ἅγιον Ὅρος». Μετὰ ἀπὸ ἐπιτυχῆ ὑποστήριξιν τῆς διατριβῆς του, τὸ 2003 ἀνακηρύσσεται Διδάκτωρ Θεολογίας ἀπὸ τὸ Ἐπιστημονικὸν Συμβούλιον τῆς Θεολογικῆς Ἀκαδημίας Μόσχας. Τὸ 2015 ὁλοκληρώνει μεταπτυχιακὸν κύκλον σπουδῶν εἰς τὸ Πανεπιστήμιον Νεάπολις Πάφου καὶ ἐκπονεῖ διατριβὴν ὑπὸ τὸν τίτλον «Ἡ ἱστορία τῆς Ἱερᾶς Μητροπόλεως Ταμασοῦ καὶ Ὀρεινῆς μέσα ἀπὸ τὶς πηγές».
Ὡς μέλος τῆς Ἀδελφότητος τῆς Ἱερᾶς Μονῆς Κύκκου, μὲ τὴν καθοδήγησιν τοῦ Ἡγουμένου αὐτῆς, προΐσταται τοῦ Τμήματος Ἀμέσου Παροχῆς Ἀνθρωπιστικῆς Βοηθείας καὶ Πνευματικῆς Στηρίξεως εἰς ἀναξιοπαθοῦντας ἐκ μέρους τῆς Ἱερᾶς Μονῆς Κύκκου. Τῇ εὐλογίᾳ τοῦ Μακαριωτάτου Ἀρχιεπισκόπου πρώην Κύπρου Χρυσοστόμου Α΄, ὑπηρετεῖ ἐπὶ ἀρκετὸν διάστημα ὡς πνευματικὸς τῶν ἀλλοδαπῶν ὀρθοδόξων εἰς τὰς Κεντρικὰς Φυλακὰς Κύπρου. Ὑπηρετεῖ, ὡσαύτως, ὡς Ἐκτελεστικὸς Πρόεδρος τοῦ Γραφείου Εὐρωπαϊκῶν χρηματοδοτήσεων τῆς Ἱερᾶς Συνόδου τῆς Ἐκκλησίας τῆς Κύπρου.
Τὴν 9ην Ἰουνίου 2007, ἐκλέγεται παμψηφεὶ ὑπὸ τῆς Κληρικολαϊκῆς Συνελεύσεως ὡς Μητροπολίτης Ταμασοῦ καὶ Ὀρεινῆς καὶ τὴν 11ην Ἰουνίου τοῦ ἰδίου ἔτους χειροτονεῖται καὶ ἐνθρονίζεται ὡς Μητροπολίτης Ταμασοῦ καὶ Ὀρεινῆς.