Athens, March 31, 2025
Photo: orthodoxwitness.org At its session earlier this month, the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece unanimously accepted the proposal to canonize a beloved 20th-century married saint.
The request to canonize Papa-Demetrios Gagastathis was submitted by Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Trikki, Gardiki, and Pyli. Having been accepted by the Greek Synod, it was passed on to Patriarch Bartholomew for consideration by the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, reports the Mystagogy Resource Center.
Papa-Demetrios is especially known to English-speaking Orthodox audiences through the book, Papa-Dimitri: The Man of God, published by Orthodox Kypseli publications in 1997.
The Synodal announcement states:
It was decided to inscribe in the hagiological registry of the Church the priest Demetrios Gagastathis, a man universally acknowledged by the fullness of Christians for his holiness and Orthodox life.
January 29, the day of his repose, was designated as his day of commemoration.
Papa-Demetrios, as the people affectionately called him, was a priest of prayer, humility and unceasing ministry.
The fame of his holiness remains alive, and a multitude of believers continue to resort to his prayers.
The Sacred Metropolis of Trikki, Gardiki and Pyli, with prayer and reverence, awaits the decision of the Mother Church, through His All-Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch, for the official inscription of the blessed priest among the saints.
Papa-Demetrios, who reposed in 1975, was eulogized by the great Elder Aimilianos of Simonopetra Monastery on Mt. Athos, who said that this simple married priest “walked among us but his ‘association was in the heavens.’”
According to the Elder, Papa-Demetrios had the gifts of unceasing prayer and tears.
“His life flowed naturally, in simplicity and ingenuousness of heart; at the same time, though, it was a continuous journey, an ascent towards God, a constant experience of God’s revelation. Papa-Demetrios lived in a world of miracles; his life can credibly be explained only as a continuous intervention of Divine grace,” wrote Elder Aimilianos.
Read the entire eulogy here, and read more about his life here.
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