On June 23 The Very Rev. Grand Ecclesiarch Aetios (Nikiforos), an alumnus of St. Vladimir’s Seminary (SVOTS) and the Director of the Private Office of the Ecumenical Patriarch, passed his viva examination and successfully defended his doctoral dissertation at Cardiff University in Wales.
Fr. Aetios submitted his dissertation, “The Creation of a System of Orthodox Canon Law: The Case of the Pedalion (1800),” within the school of Law and Politics at Cardiff. The examiners accepted his dissertation without the need for corrections, which is extremely rare and a sign of the excellent quality of the thesis.
The Seminary’s Assistant Professor of Canon Law The Very Rev. Dr. Alexander Rentel served as external reviewer and traveled to Cardiff for the doctoral defense. The internal reviewer was Professor Russell Sandberg of the School of Law and Politics at Cardiff University. Fr. Aetios wrote his dissertation under the direction of Prof. Normon Doe, the Director of the Centre for Law and Religion at the same university.
Fr. Aetios and His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew at a luncheon June 23, 2025, held in Cardiff by the Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, in honor of Fr. Aetios. (Photo: Archons.org)
Trained as an attorney, Fr. Aetios was initially drawn to SVOTS due to its strength in canon law and historical disciplines. He graduated from the Seminary summa cum laude with a Master of Divinity (M.Div.) degree in 2018. He was also selected as the class valedictorian. Hailing from Greece, he called Sts. Constantine & Helen Greek Orthodox Cathedral, Brooklyn, NY, home during his time at St. Vladimir’s Seminary.
In November 2019 Fr. Aetios was ordained to the Holy Priesthood in Istanbul, Turkey, and was made Grand Ecclesiarch of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
Top Photo (from left): Fr. Alexander Rentel, Dr. Richard Caddell (convener of the viva), Fr. Aetios, His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, Prof. Norman Doe, and Prof. Russell Sandberg.
