Patriarch of Alexandria to be conferred with an Honorary Doctorate by the School of Medicine of the University of Crete

Pope and Patriarch Theodore II  of Alexandria and All Africa will be conferred with an Honorary Doctorate by the School of Medicine of the University of Crete, in recognition of his multifaceted ecclesiastical, missionary, social, and humanitarian contributions, as well as his international activities and his significant role in promoting dialogue and cooperation among peoples and religious communities.

The award ceremony will take place on Tuesday, 24 November 2026, at 12:00 noon, at the Nikos Petridis Auditorium of the Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics, at the University’s Voutes Campus in Heraklion, Crete.

The conferment of this honorary distinction constitutes a particular honour for the University of Crete, as the distinguished honouree has, for almost forty years, carried out significant and multifaceted missionary work across the African continent, twenty-two of which have been spent serving as the Primate of the Church of Alexandria.

The ceremony holds special significance given the Patriarch’s Cretan origins: he was born in Crete, where he also completed his primary and secondary education. His profound spiritual and emotional ties to his birthplace…