Augoustinos Kantiotes

Metropolitan Augoustinos Kantiotes of Florina (, 20 April 1907 – 28 August 2010 ) was a bishop of the Greek Orthodox Church. He was born in Paros in village of Piso Livadi.

Kantiotes was a defender of traditional Greek Orthodox beliefs and Greek nationalism. He was a writer of spiritual literature and is credited for the spiritual renewal of Greece and the establishment of traditional Orthodox theology. He also preached countless sermons that have been recorded and distributed worldwide. For many years, he was at the forefront of the anti-ecumenism movement since he believed that ecumenism contradicted the basic principles of Greek Orthodoxy. Kantiotes is known for his conservative activism and ideals; for example, in 1952, he led a 1500-strong group that protested the "Miss Greece" pageant, denouncing what he saw to be an "exhibition of naked bodies", a "scandal" and an "orgy". Despite support from the Holy Synod of the Greek Church, he was unsuccessful in his campaign to ban beauty pageants; in fact, the 1952 pageant was attended by many, including former prime minister Konstantinos Tsaldaris, who was a prominent conservative politician, and the Athens Police Chief at the time. Bishop Augoustinos also denounced the implicit neo-paganism he saw in the use of the Olympic flame. Augoustinos, who published over 80 books in Greek, of which over 25 have appeared in English, and other languages, was known as a classic writer in the English-speaking world of Orthodox Christianity.

In 1958, Greek theologian and University of Athens professor Panagiotis Trembalas testified to the Archdiocese of Athens that Augoustinos was mentally ill. In 1960, Metropolitan of Chios Panteleimon also testified that Augoustinos was mentally disturbed. During the same period, Augoustinos also organized protests in Florina to prevent the acclaimed filmmaker Theo Angelopoulos (who was critical of the dictatorship) from filming in Florina his newest movie, The Suspended Step of the Stork.

Kantiotes died on 28 August 2010 of renal failure while in a hospital in Florina for a stroke.