Schools, courts and government offices were closed as Christodoulos was accorded honors typically granted to heads of state, reflecting the power of a church that represents 97 percent of Greece's native-born population.Earlier, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I — the Istanbul-based spiritual leader of the world's 250 million Orthodox Christians — led morning prayers at Athens Cathedral in a service attended by Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis, President Karolos Papoulias and top Orthodox officials.
"The archbishop's death was a great loss for the Orthodox world," Bartholomew said.
Christodoulos died of cancer at his Athens home Monday at age 69.His casket was carried for a mile to Athens' First Cemetery, near the 1,800-year-old temple of Olympian Zeus, accompanied by a guard of honor.
"I loved Christodoulos. He loved kids ands told us jokes. I'll keep going to church," an 11-year-old boy said after the funeral.Flags flew at half-staff across Athens and on the ancient Acropolis. For four days, tens of thousands of Greeks have stood in line for hours to pay their respects to Christodoulos as he lay in state in the Cathedral.
The archbishop headed Greece's powerful church for a decade, reinvigorating the vast institution. He eased centuries of tension with the Vatican but angered liberal critics who viewed him as an attention-seeking reactionary who meddled in the affairs of state.
"What is important is that the church continues to attract young people and continue their open dialogue with other Orthodox Church. Any mistakes that were made were only human," said Giorgos Filias professor of Theology at Athens University.
In 2001, Christodoulos received the late John Paul II — the first pope to visit Greece in nearly 1,300 years — despite vigorous protests from Orthodox zealots. The archbishop followed up in 2006 with a historic visit to the Vatican.
A vocal opponent of issues ranging from homosexuality and globalization to Turkey's efforts to join the European Union, the archbishop was regularly named Greece's most popular public figure.No candidates have been declared for Christodoulos' succession. Contenders are widely expected to include Metropolitan Bishops Anthimos of Thessaloniki and Hieronymos of Thebes, who both lost in 1998, when the church's Holy Synod elected Christodoulos as leader.
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