Cardiff, Wales, UK | In the course of a busy and eventful week accompanying Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew on his Patriarchal Visit to the United Kingdom, the Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate on Monday, June 23, 2025 hosted a luncheon in Cardiff, Wales, in honor of the Very Rev. Grand Ecclesiarch Aetios, Director of the Private Patriarchal Office, and devoted assistant to the Ecumenical Patriarch.
The occasion for the luncheon was the fact that Father Aetios received word, in the presence of His All-Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch; His Eminence Metropolitan Emmanuel, Geron of Chalcedon; His Eminence Archbishop Nikitas of Thyateira and Great Britain; His Eminence Metropolitan Iakovos of Mexico; hierarchs and clergy of the Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain; and professors and Archons of the United Kingdom, that he had successfully defended his doctoral dissertation with the highest distinction “without any corrections” and was granted a Ph.D. in Canon Law from Cardiff University’s School of Law & Politics. Archimandrite Aetios’ doctoral thesis is entitled: “The Creation of a System of Orthodox Canon Law: The Case of the Pedalion (1800).”
The Very Rev. Grand Ecclesiarch Aetios (Dimitrios Nikiforos) is a brilliant assistant to the Ecumenical Patriarch having attained his academic degrees with distinction. He has an M.Div. degree in Canon Law from St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary (Valedictorian, Summa Cum Laude); an LL.M. (Master of Laws) degree in Legal Theory from New York University School of Law (Fulbright Scholar); an M.Phil. in Public Law & Political Science with a major in Constitutional Law from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, School of Law; and an LL.B. (Bachelor of Laws) degree, also from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, School of Law (Class Rank 2/97).
After the Grand Ecclesiarch’s successful defense of his doctoral dissertation, Archons from the United States, including Dr. Anthony J. Limberakis, National Commander of the Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, and National Vice Commander Hon. B. Theodore Bozonelis, as well as Archons from the United Kingdom, joined the assembled hierarchs and clergy in congratulating Archimandrite Aetios at the luncheon in his honor.
