The Grand Protopresbyter of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, Georgios Tsetsis, fell asleep in the Lord at the age of 90 on the evening of Sunday, June 2, 2024, in Geneva.
Who Was Fr. Georgios Tsetsis?
Born on June 22, 1934, in Pikridio of Constantinople, Georgios Tsetsis was the son of Thomas and Helen (née Prousalis). Hailing from a Levitical family with a lineage of clergy, he was introduced to the ecclesiastical and liturgical environment early on at the Church of his birthplace in Haskioi, a suburb historically known as “Pikridio” during the Byzantine period, located opposite the Golden Horn.
In 1945, at the age of 11, Fr. Georgios was appointed as Canonarch of the Patriarchal Church under the Patriarchate of Benjamin I. Initially serving alongside Archon Protopsaltes Konstantinos Pringos and later with Archon Lampadarios Thrasyvoulos Stanitsas, he became well-versed in the Phanariote “patriarchal style” of chanting.
He received his first music lessons from Thrasyvoulos Stanitsas and, from the autumn of 1949, studied under Konstantinos Pringos at the Holy Theological School of Halki, where he graduated in 1960. During his time at Halki, he served as the right chanter and chorister of the student choir, succeeding the current Metropolitan of Perga, Evangelos Galanis. His dissertation was titled “The Inclusion of the Saints in the Calendar of the Church.”
During the academic year 1958-1959, Fr. Georgios furthered his studies at the Ecumenical Institute of BOSSEY in Geneva. In 1988, he earned a doctorate from the Theological School of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki with a thesis entitled “The Contribution of the Ecumenical Patriarchate to the Establishment of the World Council of Churches,” thereby becoming a Doctor of Theology.
In May 1961, he married Jacqueline Mermoud, with whom he had two children, Thomas (born 1962) and Emily (born 1964).
Photo: Ecumenical Patriarchate
