Today, Wednesday, October 8, 2025, the Holy and Sacred Synod of the Patriarchate of Alexandria convened for the third day under the chairmanship of His Beatitude Pope and Patriarch Theodoros II and decreed the canonizations of New Saints of the Orthodox Church of Africa.
The ancient Patriarchate of Alexandria, with its two-thousand-year presence on the African continent, has revealed and continues to reveal great figures of Saints, who laid the foundations of life in Christ and shaped the glorious future of the Orthodox Faith in Africa.
His Beatitude Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa, Theodoros II, together with the Venerable Hierarchs of the Throne of Saint Mark, canonized two Saints;
Saint Sylvester, Patriarch of Alexandria (+1590), and
Venerable and God-bearing Father Chrysostomos Papasarantopoulos (+1972), the enlightener and pioneering missionary of Africa.
Reactions on canonization of Father Chrysostomos Papasarantopoulos, new Saint of Africa; the Brotherhood of Orthodox External Mission
With feelings of ineffable joy, the Brotherhood of Orthodox External Mission welcomes the official recognition of the sanctity of Archimandrite Chrysostomos Papasarantopoulos, the pioneer of Orthodox Mission on the African continent.
This decision is received with great enthusiasm by the Church of Greece, where he was born and served as a clergyman — in the local Churches of Messinia, Edessa, Thessaloniki, Kalamaria, and Athens. It is likewise received with gladness by the African people, whom he so deeply loved and among whom his precious and holy relics now repose.
Saint Chrysostomos, despite his frail health and advanced age, did not hesitate in 1960 to leave his homeland and set forth for Africa, in obedience to the final and great commandment of our Lord. With complete self-denial, he planted the seed of Holy Orthodoxy in Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, and the Congo, leaving an indelible mark upon the spiritual rebirth of those peoples.
He was the inspirer and spiritual founder of our Brotherhood, which supported him through word and deed throughout his more than twelve-year apostolic ministry in Africa. The first president, Pantelis Bagias, and the great benefactor, Panagiotis Papadimitrakopoulos, were his close collaborators in this sacred vision. The Saint’s letters to the then Administrative Council of the Brotherhood vividly record the course of his missionary labors, the challenges and needs encountered, and his exhortations for the continuation and strengthening of the sacred work.
We express our profound gratitude to the Second Throne Church of the Evangelist Mark, the Patriarchate of Alexandria, His Beatitude Patriarch Theodoros II, and all the members of the Holy Synod for this historic decision, which honors the Church and her missionary spirit.
We fervently pray that the official recognition of the sanctity of Saint Chrysostomos may rekindle the flame of missionary zeal in the hearts of the faithful and inspire new laborers in the vineyard of the Lord — especially in the blessed yet tried field of the African continent.
Saints of God, Sylvester Pope of Alexandria and Chrysostomos, missionary of Africa, intercede for us!
