On the second day of its convening in Alexandria, the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa, under the presidency of Patriarch Theodore II proceeded with the canonization of Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria Sylvester and missionary Chrysostomos Papasarantopoulos.
Pope Sylvester was born on the island of Crete. During his patriarchate from 1565 or 1569 to 1590, the Church of Alexandria flourished.
Chrysostomos Papasarantopoulos (1903–1972) was born in Vasilitsi, Messinia, and was one of the first Orthodox missionaries in Africa. He founded the Orthodox Mission in the Congo. The cities of Kolwezi, Kasenga, Kananga, and Kinshasa all have much to say about the new saint. For ten years prior, he had preached the word of God in Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania, building churches and saving souls. In his old age, despite his frail health, he left the comfort of Athens and set out alone with faith in God to evangelize our indigenous African brothers and sisters. He had no money; he was sustained only by his faith in God and his love for humanity. As the late Metropolitan of Kinshasa Nikiforos wrote, “By his example, he became the Papaflessas of the Mission.”
