The General Secretary of the World Council of Churches, the Rev Dr Samuel Kobia, has sent a congratulatory message to the newly elected head of the Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Greece.

Archbishop Hieronymos II was elected Archbishop of Athens and All Greece last Thursday, following the death of Archbishop Christodoulos on 28 January.

He won 45 out of 74 votes from the Church's Holy Synod.

"We trust that, under your enlightened leadership, the Church of Greece will continue participating actively in the life and witness of the entire Orthodox family, as well as in the ecumenical movement, sharing generously theological, spiritual, human and material resources with sisters and brothers in Christ," wrote Kobia in his letter on Friday.

Archbishop Hieronymos, the former Metropolitan of Thebes and Livadia, is a popular bishop who is widely regarded as a more moderate leader than his predecessor.

The two clashed in 2000 when Hieronymos refused to support the Church in its fierce campaign to oppose plans by the then Socialist government to remove a reference to religion from EU-approved IDs.

The Greek Orthodox Church is one of the founding members of the World Council of Churches.

Dr Kobia added, "We trust that, under your enlightened leadership, the Church of Greece will continue participating actively in the life and witness of the entire Orthodox family, as well as in the ecumenical movement, sharing generously theological, spiritual, human and material resources with sisters and brothers in Christ.

"We look forward to continuing, under your leadership and with your support, a close cooperation with the Church of Greece in serving the cause of Christian unity, in responding to the manifold human needs of our times, in dealing with the challenges addressed to the churches by the contemporary world."