Chrysostomos Papasarantopoulos

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On December 29, 1985, the Metropolis of Messenia erected a bust of Father Chrysostom in his honor. And on December 29, 1987, the Academy of Athens awarded him posthumously the silver medal of honor.

By July 1973 he was succeeded in the missionary echelon of Kananga by his old friend and partner, the Archimandrite Chariton (Pneumatikakis) (1908-1998).

On December 13, 1972, while travelling from Kananga to Lubumbashi he was overcome by profuse nose-bleeding. He returned to Kananga, celebrated the Divine Liturgy on Christmas Day, and died on December 29, 1972.

In 1970 Father Chrysostomos went to live in Congo to begin a new mission there, staying there for two years, that is, for the remainder of his life. Here he met with an even greater response from the Indigenous population, however he was beset by an enormous lack of material assistance and helpers to assist him. One month before his death, he wrote a letter saying:

In 1963 Father Chrysostomos became the spiritual founder of the missionary society "The Friends of Uganda." This Society continues its mission today based in the city of Thessaloniki.

In 1960 Archimandrite Chrysostomos Papasarantopoulos went to Kampala, Uganda, where he worked for ten years before moving to Zaire to begin a new mission there. Through correspondence he also encouraged others to become involved in mission, among them the present Bishop Makarios of Riruta, Kenya. After years of repression by the British colonial regime and the disingenuous propaganda of the Catholic and Protestant missionaries who supported it, the Eastern Orthodox Church was in a perilous state.

He then came to Athens and joined the Petraki Monastery, where his main duty was that of father confessor for people of all ages and walks of life, becoming well respected and loved. In the years of occupation Fr. Chrysostomos went to Edessa where he served as the General Hierarchical Vicar and Protosyngellos. Subsequently, he was transferred to Kozani, Thessaloniki, and Athens, where he received his Secondary School Diploma. Eventually he returned again to the Petraki Monastery, from where he determined to enroll in the University of Athens Theological School. At the age of 55, in 1958, he finally received his theological degree.

During the years 1920-1929 Archimandrite Chrysostomos stayed at the Gardikiou Monastery, in Messenia. On May 4, 1926, he was ordained into the priesthood, and was appointed as the Igumen of that monastery.

Rev. Archimandrite Chrysóstomos Papasarantópoulos (Greek: Χρυσόστομος Παπασαραντόπουλος, 1903–1972) was a pioneering missionary of the Eastern Orthodox Christianity in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, and Congo.

Rev. Archimandrite Chrysostomos Papasarantopoulos was born Christos Papasarantopoulos in 1903 in Vasilitsi, Messenia, Greece to Theodoros Papasarantopoulos and Stavroula Trigourea (afterwards Nun Sebastiani), the seventh child of the family. He was born into a devout Christian home, and from childhood he devoted his life to Christ. At the age of 10 he lost his father, and was forced to leave school in order to work.