On Sunday morning, September 28 / October 11, 2020, Monk Athanasios Koutsoupias was ordained a Deacon during the Divine Liturgy at the Basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem.
Monk Athanasios is a graduate of the Patriarchal School of Zion. After his graduation, he received the monastic schema and joined the Hagiotaphite Brotherhood, and has been ministering at the Shrine of the God-receiving Cave in Bethlehem for the last four years.
Monk Athanasios was ordained a Deacon by the Patriarchal Representative in Bethlehem, Archbishop Theophylactos of Jordan, after the decision of the Holy and Sacred Synod and the blessing of Patriarch Theophilos of Jerusalem.
The ordained was encouraged for his ministry by the words of Archbishop Theophylactos, while the Priests, the ministers of the God-receiving Cave and the congregation of the Bethlehem Community honoured him with their presence.
Source: Patriarchate of Jerusalem