Sotirios (sometimes Soterios) was born in Arta, Greece on July 17, 1929. After graduating from high school in Arta, he graduated from the Theological School of the University of Athens in 1951. He then served as an army officer for two and a half years, and then as a preacher and catechist for two years in the middle and high school. On April 20, 2004, the Ecumenical Patriarchate decided to elevate the Church of Korea to a Metropolitanate and on June 20, 2004, Metropolitan Sotirios was enthroned as the first Metropolitan of the Orthodox Church of Korea at St. Nicholas Cathedral in Seoul.