On August 31, 2024, Archbishop Elpidophoros of America presided over the Divine Liturgy at the Patriarchal Church of St. George, located in the Phanar district of Constantinople.
The Archbishop, with the blessing and support of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, ordained Patriarchal Deacon Kallinikos Chasapis to the priesthood during the service, celebrating alongside Grand Syncellus Iakovos (Krochak), Archimandrite Charalampy Nichev, and Patriarchal Deacon Barnabas Grigoriadis.
A palpable sense of reverence and joy at Fr. Kallinikos’s ordination filled the church; liturgy attendees, Fr. Kallinikos’s guests, and pilgrims to the Ecumenical Patriarchate alike prayed, venerated icons, lit candles, and joined their voices to those of the Patriarchal chanters.
Noting Fr. Kallinikos’s distinguished “enthusiasm, perception, and awareness,” His Eminence encouraged him to bring to his clerical service all that he has “learned and been taught at the Sacred Center of the Orthodoxy, being a student of the most ideal church elder and teacher that a cleric could have in his priesthood path: His All-Holiness our Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.”
Additionally, His Eminence thanked His All-Holiness “for sending his beloved son to America,” stressing that the “light of the Phanar, which consists of the freedom of spirit, the dialogue with any neighbor, the loyalty to the teaching of the fathers of the Church, the testimony of the Orthodox faith, the ecumenical [nature] of the faith, and our Hellenic identity,” is needed and desired by the diaspora of the Mother Church in the United States (read His Eminence’s full message here). Fr. Kallinikos also spoke, recounting his journey to the priesthood with emotion and gratitude.
Following the liturgy, the Ecumenical Patriarch spoke to the worshippers, offering brief remarks and congratulating the new priest. Fr. Kallinikos and his guests then departed for Beyoğlu, where they enjoyed a celebratory lunch graciously provided by Archon George Taniskidis; the Archbishop, Archon Taniskidis, and Archon Phillip Kafarakis each offered congratulations and encouragement. Fr. Kallinikos also expressed appreciation for his guests, who radiated excitement for his future parish, Sts. Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church of Washington, D.C., as well as an almost-familial pride in Fr. Kallinikos and his diaconal service at the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
