Born in 1958 on the island of Crete (Greece), Metropolitan EMMANUEL (Adamakis) knows France well. He completed his secondary studies at the Sorbonne, at the Catholic Institute and at the Institute of Orthodox Theology (Saint Sergius Institute). Ordained to the priesthood in 1985, he pursued his doctoral studies at the Holy Cross Institute of Theology in Boston (Massachusets), before assuming the responsibilities of the vicar general of the Diocese of Benelux, then becoming auxiliary bishop of this same diocese in 1996 (SOP 213.15). He also has been the director of the Office of the Orthodox Church under the auspices of the European Union, in Brussels, since its creation, in 1995 (SOP 195.2).

Translated from the French by Daryle Lamoureux