His death came just months after a planned liver transplant was cancelled, when doctors discovered cancer had spread, church officials said. He apparently had refused hospital treatment in the final weeks of his life. "He lost the will to live", deciding to "give up his soul", Bishop Anthimos of Salonika told Greece’s
state television NET.
As his body lies in state in the capital Athens, flags flew at half-mast. The Archbishop was hailed as "an enlightened church leader" by Greece’s Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis. The way he dealt with his illness and imminent death sent "a unique message of courage and dignity," added Greek’s President Karolos Papoulias.
Archbishop Christodoulos was often seen on the world stage, but was no stranger to controversy or outspoken remarks. His public involvement in foreign policy issues chipped away at his popularity, church observers said.
POPE MEETINGS
Meetings with Pope Benedict XVI and Pope John-Paul II also angered some ultra-Orthodox members of his Church. Yet, Greece remained a country which discriminates against those who are not Orthodox, including Catholics and worshippers of other branches of Christianity such as evangelicals, according to his critics
Christodoulos was elected church leader in 1998 and has been credited with reinvigorating an institution that represents 97 percent of Greece’s native born population, according to official estimates. He was one of several leaders of national Orthodox churches across the world. Istanbul-based Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I is the spiritual leader of the world’s estimated 250 million Orthodox Christians.
Christodoulos also helped create church Web sites and radio stations, and frequently issued detailed checklists on how black-clad Orthodox priests should conduct themselves in public, church observers said.
STATE FUNERAL
The government announced he would therefore receive a funeral befitting a head of state, while public services will shut down on the day.
Already on Monday, January 28, several hundred mourners were seen gathering behind a police cordon outside the Metropolitan Cathedral where his body lay inside and his funeral was expected to be held following a three-day wake.
Some were seen holding flowers and weeping quietly. "He kept our faith and tradition strong and alive," pensioner Vaso Kapsalidou, 73 told Reuters news agency. "At a time of instability, the Church was our haven."
