Announcement from the Holy Eparchial Synod of the Archdiocese of Australia

It is announced, with profound sorrow, to the pious plenitude of the Holy Archdiocese of Australia that on Tuesday, 17 September 2024, the Late Bishop Pavlos of Christianoupolis, fell asleep in the Lord.

Upon hearing this sad news, the Holy Eparchial Synod of the Archdiocese of Australia convened in an extraordinary meeting, under the Presidency of His Eminence Archbishop Makarios of Australia, which determined the following arrangements for the Funeral Service of the Late Hierarch as follows:

1. The Funeral Service will take place at the Church of Saint George the Great Martyr and Trophy-bearer in Adelaide, on Monday, 23 September 2024, 11:00am.
2. Prior to the Funeral Service, a Divine Liturgy for the repose of the soul of the late Hierarch will take place and will be presided over by His Grace Bishop Silouan of Adelaide.
3. The Holy Eparchial Synod of the Archdiocese of Australia will make an official announcement regarding to passing of the Late Hierarch.
4. Their Graces, Bishop Silouan of Adelaide and Bishop Evmenios of Chora will stand in Honour of the Late Hierarch during the funeral service on behalf of the Church.
5. His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew will be represented by His Eminence Archbishop Makarios of Australia.
6. The Funeral Service will be presided over by His Eminence Archbishop Makarios of Australia, who will then also deliver the Eulogy.
7. The interment will take place at Centennial Park Cemetery, Pasadena, Adelaide.

From the General Secretariat

Bishop Pavlos of Christianoupolis

The late Bishop Pavlos (Apostolos Laios) was born in Arta on 30 June 1938. He studied theology at the esteemed Theological School of Halki, from which he graduated in 1962.

Initially serving as the Hierarchical Vicar General of the Holy Metropolis of Demetrias until 1970, he then emigrated to Australia, where he joined the clergy of the Holy Archdiocese of Australia as the Parish Priest of the Holy Trinity Church in Richmond, Melbourne.

He was elected as Bishop of the once prominent Diocese of Christianoupolis, serving as an assistant bishop to Archbishop Stylianos of Australia. He was ordained on 11 March 1984, on the Sunday of Orthodoxy, at the Cathedral of the Annunciation of Our Lady in Sydney. In 1994, he seceded from the canonical Church, leading to his defrocking by the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

However, on 12 June 2019, the Holy and Sacred Synod announced that “having accepted the repentance and apology of the former Bishop Pavlos of Christianoupolis, in Australia, the imposed defrocking is lifted, thereby restoring him to the episcopal rank with the same title through the advocacy of His Eminence Archbishop Makarios of Australia.”

Since then, the late Bishop Pavlos resided in Adelaide as a retired Hierarch, fully reconciled with the Holy Archdiocese of Australia. After several months of illness, and after having communed of the Sacred Mysteries, he passed away in the Lord on 17 September 2024.