Ecclesiastical Seminary of Karditsa: flash back of 25 years
“Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the Lord”
(Pslm. 34,11)
The 25nd anniversary of our school is an opportunity for an all-embracing
assessment of its course during all these years and its offering to Church
and the State.
Foundation: The Ecclesiastical Seminary of Karditsa was founded by the
Presidential Edict 330/2-4-1981. During this period, minister of National
Education and Religions was the ever memorable Athanasios Taliadouros and
Metropolitan of Thessaliotis and Phanariophersala, of blessed memory
Kleopas.
Building background: From the very beginning, the school and the boarding
school had been housed in the buildings which were allotted, free of rent,
by the local Metropolis of Thessaliotis and Phanariophersala.
The building facilities of the Ecclesiastical Seminary stand in the area of
Karoplesitica in Karditsa. In the yard of the school there is the holly
church of great martyr Saint Minas, where the every day services of the
Seminary and the practice of the seminarists take place.
During the 25 years of the Seminary’s running, much work on improvement and
modernization of the building installation has been made and proceeds. The
yard space was put into shape and tidied up, the holy church was expanded a
lot and got perfect hence, this day it is complete and satisfies the needs
of educational training and worship.
Festivity: The Ecclesiastical Seminary of Karditsa celebrates at 11
November, the feast day of Saint Minas.
Directors-Teachers: At 1 September 1981, five months after the publication
of the institutional Presidential Edict, the workings of the Ecclesiastical
Seminar of Karditsa started.
The first Director of the school had been the Metropolitan of Thessaliotis
and Phanariophersala Kleopas. After his death (September 1999), the
directorship of the school was undertaken by Demetrios Tetsios, teacher of
religion of Ecclesiastical Education, until his retirement (31-8-2004).
Since this date, the directorship has been undertaken by Christos Kalantzis
philologist of Ecclesiastical Education who is also the writer of this
report.
The first teacher who assumed his duties (1-9-1981) at the Ecclesiastical
Seminary of Karditsa was the ever memorable Nikolaos Galanos, teacher of
Greek language of Ecclesiastical Education who took on heavy
responsibilities because of the opening and establishment of the workings of
the new school.
According to the Book of Acts of the teachers-association, in addition to
ever memorable Nikolaos Galanos, other teachers who have also worked at the
Ecclesiastical Seminary since its foundation up to now, regardless of their
labour relations (as teachers of Ecclesiastical or Secondary Education, as
permanent or detached or allocated teachers or temporary substistutes who
supplied teaching) were the following (the sequence follows the time of
assuming their duties): Evangelos Petsas, E. Apostolopoulos, the ever
memorable Theophanis Physekis, archimandrite Theoklitos Ntzathas (Director
of Rizareios School at this time), Anastasios Valatsos, archimandrite
Gervasios Koutsouras (Director of the Ecclesiastical Seminary of Katerini at
this time) John Gioldasis, Demetrios Tetsios, Aggeliki Mylona, Hlias
Kapelas, Konstantinos Moysoglou, Konstantinos Papantonis, Triantaphyllos
Passias, George Lolis, Maria Soufra, Konstantinos Finalis, Demetrios
Dimakis, Peter Kordas, Emmanuel Ntousakis, Panagiota Koutsouki, Eyaggelia
Papanikolaou, Asimina Sardelli, Zaharias Gontikakis, Nikolaos Ntontos,
George Stamos, Christos Kalantzis, Konstantinos Balaphas, Eyaggelos Gikas,
Nikolaos Pappas, Paraskevas Chatziparaskevas, Nektaria Kouthia, Christos
Banas, Christos Ziogas, Georgia Stoumpanou, Demetra Christopoulou, Polyxeni
Antonopoulou.
School Board: Chairmen of the Scool Board of the Ecclesiastical Seminary of
Karditsa have been, up to now, the three Metropolitans who have shepherded
the Metropolis of Thessaliotis at the last 25 years as well as the
Metropolitan of Stagai and Meteora Seraphem and the Metropolitan of Trikki
and Stagai Alexios, during their vicary in the Metropolis of Thessaliotis,
at the two periods of vacancy of the Metropolitan throne. Members of the
Board have been select citizens of Karditsa.
The School Board of today in the Ecclesiastical Seminary is consisted of :
His Grace the Metropolitan of Thessaliotis and Phanariophersala Kyrillos II
as chairman,
Mrs Vaia Bakalakou, Director of Secondary Education of Prefecture of
Karditsa, as vice chairman,
Mr Achilleas Eythymiou, retired director of High School, as cash keeper,
Mr Christos Baltas, retired teacher, as member and
Mr Vaios Tsouknidas, tradesman, as member.
Students: During this twenty five-year period, many Metropolises of Greece
have entrusted the Ecclesiastical Seminary of Karditsa with the education of
their clergymen or their would-be clergymen: Thessaliotis and
Phanariophersalla, Trikki and Stagai, Stagai and Meteora, Larissa and
Tyrnavos, Demetriada and Almyros, Fthiotis, Karpenisi, Chalkida, Fokida,
Arta, Paramythia Filiatai and Gyromerion, Ioannina, Nikopolis and Preveza,
Grevena, Servia and Kozani, Kydonia and Apokoronou, Kythira, Kerkyra and
Paxoi etc.
Therefore, having completed 25 years of running, our school looks ahead in
fighting spirit so that, in either form, it comes up to the challenges of
our days and continues its course in the interest of Church and the State,
namely in the interest of our people and for the glory of God.
