In Memoriam: Metropolitan Kallistos (Ware) of Diokleia
On Wednesday, August 24, 2022, His Eminence Metropolitan Kallistos (Ware) of Diokleia, world-renowned Orthodox scholar and a hierarch in the Archdiocese of Thyateira (Great Britain) of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, fell asleep in the Lord at the age of 87 after battling a grave illness.
Metropolitan Kallistos was born as Timothy Ware in England in 1934 and raised as an Anglican. After discovering Orthodox Christianity, he was received into the Church in 1958. He was educated at Oxford University. In 1963, he published his best-known book, “The Orthodox Church”, which continues, with many updates and revisions, to be a must-read, especially among seekers of the true faith. A companion volume, “The Orthodox Way”, was published by Saint Vladimir’s Seminary Press in 1979. He was ordained to the priesthood and tonsured a monk with the name Kallistos in 1966. That year, he also began a 35-year teaching career in Orthodox Studies at Oxford University. His translations of The Festal Menaion and The Lenten Triodion, done together with Mother Mary, continue to be widely used many decades later. In 1982, he was consecrated a bishop and elevated to the rank of metropolitan in 2007. Metropolitan Kallistos was an inspired homilist and revered spiritual father and, also, a prolific author and gifted speaker in academic circles
Over the decades of his academic career and ministry, Metropolitan Kallistos traveled to America numerous times to participate in scholarly conferences, to lecture at seminaries - most frequently Saint Vladimir’s - and to speak at parishes. Decades ago, he forged professional relations and even friendships with Orthodox scholars from America including Fathers John Meyendorff and Alexander Schmemann and he shared and supported their vision for the mission of the Orthodox Church in America. Several generations of American Orthodox scholars completed their doctoral studies at Oxford University under the mentorship of Metropolitan Kallistos. Of all his numerous presentations to the Orthodox community in America, perhaps the most memorable took place in 1999, when the then Bishop Kallistos, as an honored guest at the 12th All-American Council in Pittsburgh, delivered a riveting address on the Council theme “On Behalf of All and for All” to an audience of 1500 people that included council participants, local Orthodox faithful and guests. In recognition of his achievements in both academia and church ministry, Metropolitan Kallistos was awarded an honorary doctorate by Saint Vladimir’s Seminary in 2011.
With the repose of Metropolitan Kallistos, the Orthodox Church in America mourns a cherished friend and teacher in the Lord’s vineyard.
May Metropolitan Kallistos’ memory be eternal!