Patriarchate of Constantinople canonizes six Athonite elders

Canonization of six Athonite ascetics in the Patriarchate of Constantinople. Photo: Orthodoxia News Agency

On August 29, the Holy Synod of the Constantinople Patriarchate, chaired by Patriarch Bartholomew, decided to canonize six Athonite ascetics, Orthodoxia News Agency reports.

The new saints include four Athonite elders of Romanian origin – Hieromonk Nifon, Monk Nektarios Protopsaltis, Hieromonk Dionysios of Colciu, and Hieromonk Petroniu. Hieromonk Tikhon the Confessor and Monk Georgios Hadjigeorgis were canonized alongside them.

Following the Synod meeting, a canonization ceremony was held at the Patriarchate. Patriarch Bartholomew and the members of the Synod signed the relevant patriarchal and synodal acts, formally adding the names of the new saints to the Church calendar.

Among those glorified was Elder Dionysios of Colciu, who arrived on Mount Athos in 1926 and became known as a spiritual mentor, as well as Elder Petroniu, who had lived in asceticism on the Holy Mountain since 1978 and for many years headed the Romanian Skete of St John the Forerunner.

As the UOJ previously reported, a dissertation on the primacy of the Patriarch of Constantinople was defended at the Moscow Theological Academy.

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