Metropolitan Athenagoras of Bizye, a hierarch of the Ecumenical Throne, fell asleep in the Lord at the age of 84.
The Ecumenical Patriarchate announced his passing.
The funeral service will be held at the Church of St. John the Baptist in Illinois, USA, on July 7th at 1:00 PM.
Archbishop Elpidophoros of America will represent the Ecumenical Patriarchate, and Metropolitan Nathanael of Chicago will celebrate the funeral divine liturgy.
Announcement of the Ecumenical Patriarchate
It is announced with great sorrow that the ever-memorable Metropolitan of Bizye, Athenagoras, fell asleep in the Lord today, Tuesday, July 1, 2025.
The details of the funeral rites for the ever-memorable hierarch are as follows:
a) The funeral service will be chanted at the Church of St. John the Baptist in Des Plaines, Illinois, on July 7, 2025, at 1:00 p.m.
b) Earlier that day, a funeral divine liturgy for the repose of the blessed hierarch’s soul will be celebrated by the local shepherd, His Eminence, Metropolitan Nathanael of Chicago.
c. Archbishop Elpidophoros of America will represent the Ecumenical Patriarch and the Mother Church of Constantinople by
The interment will take place at Elmwood Cemetery.
Biography of the Late Metropolitan Athenagoras of Bizye
Born George Anastasides in Chicago in 1941, he graduated from the Theological School at the University of Athens in 1965. He received a postgraduate degree from the University of Michigan in 1973. He was ordained a deacon in 1965 and a priest in 1967.
He was ordained Auxiliary Bishop of the Holy Archdiocese of America on August 22, 1982, bearing the titular title of Bishop of Dorylaion. In addition to serving parishes in the United States and Canada, he served as chancellor of the Diocese of Chicago. In 1974, he reorganized the Archdiocese’s youth ministry.
He held various key positions, including general secretary of the office for metropolitans and bishops of canonical Orthodox jurisdictions in America, director of inter-Orthodox relations for the archdiocese, supervisor of its parish departments, and supervisor of St. Basil Academy. He represented the archdiocese and the archbishop on numerous missions.
In April 1996, at the direction of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, he traveled to Hong Kong and successfully established the newly created Metropolis. During the patriarchal visit to Hong Kong in November 1996, he delivered the state-approved constitution of the new metropolis to the Ecumenical Patriarch.
On December 2, 1996, he was unanimously elected the first Metropolitan of the newly established Metropolis of Panama – now the Metropolis of Mexico – and was enthroned on January 25, 1997.
In January 2024, after voluntarily resigning from his pastoral leadership role in the Metropolis of Mexico, he was unanimously elected by the Holy and Sacred Synod to be the Metropolitan of the long-vacant Metropolis of Bizye.
Translated by Ioanna Georgakopoulou
