Monday, January 14, 2019

Hierarch of the Ecumenical Throne Dies in Greece

Word has been received of the passing of a Hierarch of the Ecumenical Throne,His Eminence Metropolitan Pavlos (Ioannou) of Sissanion and Siatista,Greece.He reportedly died of a heart ailment and was about 72.A native of Chalkida,Greece,he graduated from the Theological School of the University of Athens in 1971.He was ordained deacon with the name Pavlos (Paul) in 1973 and priest in 1974.
On 28 February 2006,he was elected to the episcopate by the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece and consecrated Metropolitan of Sissanion and Siatista,a mountainous area in West Makedonia that is within the New Lands of Greece belonging to the Ecumenical Patriarchate,but administered by the Church of Greece for practical reasons,on 4 March 2006.His All-Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew visited the Metropolis in 2012.*
For 25 years,Metropolitan Pavlos served the parish of Mantoudi,rising to the level of episcopal representative in Mantoudi,Limnos and Agia Anna.During this time,he established a stellar reputation as a preacher and pastor.
Eventually,he served on the synodal level of the Church of Greece as Secretary of the Synodical Committee Christian Education of Youth;the Synodical Subcommittee on the Olympic Games;and the Synodical Subcommittee on Artistic Events.*
Metropolitan Pavlos was a longtime producer for the Church of Greece Radio.Widely sought-after as a speaker at parent,youth and priests' conferences throughout Greece and Cyprus,he took a keen interest in cultivating priestly and monastic vocations.He was an author of books and,to the end of his life,articles in the daily and ecclesiastical press.*
Patriarch Bartholomew served a trisagion memorial service,a brief initial service,for Metropolitan Pavlos on 14 January 2019 while visiting Holy Trinity Monastery and Halki Theological School in Turkey.He was assisted by the Patriarchal clerics and monastic brotherhood.

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