New Martyr 20th century

New Hieromartyr Chrysostomos of Smyrna

1867-1922

Also known as Chrysostomos Kalafatis

Metropolitan of Smyrna, lynched by the mob during the Smyrna catastrophe of 1922 together with four fellow hierarchs of Asia Minor.

Feast Day

Sunday before the Elevation of the Cross

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Commemorated as

The Holy New Hieromartyr Chrysostomos, Metropolitan of Smyrna

Life

Chrysostomos Kalafatis (1867-1922) was the Greek Orthodox Metropolitan of Smyrna who was killed by a mob during the Turkish reoccupation of the city in September 1922, at the close of the Greco-Turkish War. He is venerated as a new hieromartyr together with four fellow hierarchs of Asia Minor martyred in the same period, and was glorified by the Church of Greece in the early 1990s.

Born in Bithynia and educated at the Theological School of Halki, he rose through the hierarchy of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, serving first as Metropolitan of Drama and then, from 1910, as Metropolitan of Smyrna. A prominent and outspoken figure in the Greek national cause in Asia Minor, he remained with his flock as the Hellenic position collapsed in 1922 and died in the catastrophe that followed.

Timeline 6 moments Read Hide

1867 Birth in Triglia Born on 8 January 1867 in Triglia (Tirilye) in Bithynia, then part of the Ottoman Empire, one of eight children of Nikolaos and Kalliopi Kalafatis.
1884 Studies at Halki Began theological studies at the age of seventeen at the Theological School of Halki; after graduating he served as chancellor and as archdeacon to the Metropolitan of Mytilene.
1902 Metropolitan of Drama Became Metropolitan of Drama, where he encouraged the Greek population to found schools, churches, and athletic centers. In 1907 the Ottoman authorities sought his removal on account of his vocal Greek nationalism.
1910 Metropolitan of Smyrna Elected Metropolitan of Smyrna on 10 May 1910. His tenure was interrupted from August 1914 to May 1919 amid wartime tensions, after which he was reinstated following the Hellenic Army's occupation of the city in 1919.
1922 Martyrdom at Smyrna Following the Turkish army's reoccupation of Smyrna, he was seized by a mob incited by Nureddin Pasha in early September 1922, tortured, and killed in the streets of the city.
1992-1993 Glorification Glorified by the Church of Greece as a saint and martyr, commemorated with the hierarchs of Asia Minor on the Sunday before the Elevation of the Cross.

Contributions & Legacy

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Episcopate and the Asia Minor Question

After graduating from the Theological School of Halki, Chrysostomos served as chancellor and as archdeacon to the Metropolitan of Mytilene before his elevation to the see of Drama in 1902. There he worked to strengthen the Greek community through schools, churches, and other institutions, activity that drew the hostility of the Ottoman authorities, who requested his removal in 1907 over his outspoken nationalism.

Elected Metropolitan of Smyrna in 1910, he became one of the most prominent ecclesiastical figures of Hellenism in Asia Minor. His office was interrupted from 1914 to 1919 during the upheavals of the First World War, and he was reinstated after the Hellenic Army occupied Smyrna in 1919. An ardent supporter of the Greek national cause, he came into conflict with the Greek High Commissioner Aristeidis Stergiadis, who opposed inflammatory nationalist preaching. As Turkish forces advanced in 1922 he gave voice to the looming disaster facing the Greek population of the region.

The Smyrna Catastrophe and Martyrdom

When the Turkish army reoccupied Smyrna at the end of the Greco-Turkish War, Chrysostomos was abducted by a mob incited by Nureddin Pasha in September 1922. Sources place his arrest after he had celebrated the Divine Liturgy. According to eyewitness accounts, he was tortured and mutilated before being killed and left in a backstreet of the city. Wikipedia dates his death to 10 September 1922 (27 August on the Julian calendar).

He is commemorated together with four other hierarchs of Asia Minor who perished in the same period: Ambrosios, Metropolitan of Moschonisia; Gregorios, Metropolitan of Kydonia; Prokopios, Metropolitan of Iconium; and Euthymios Agritelis, Metropolitan of Zela, who had died in 1921 after imprisonment and torture. The feast keeps their memory alongside the clergy and laity massacred during the Asia Minor catastrophe.

Veneration and Glorification

Chrysostomos is venerated as a new hieromartyr and ethnomartyr. He was glorified by the Church of Greece in the early 1990s: a Holy Synod declaration is dated to 4 November 1992, and the canonizing encyclical of the Ecumenical Patriarchate is dated 5 July 1993. The collective commemoration, set on the Sunday before the Elevation of the Honorable and Life-Giving Cross, joins his memory to that of the other hierarchs of Asia Minor.

Notes

Glorified by the Church of Greece (1992). Feast is MOVABLE - the Sunday before the Elevation of the Cross (September) - not a fixed April date. Commemorated with the Hierarchs of Smyrna.

Sources: OrthodoxWiki; J. Sanidopoulos, johnsanidopoulos.com