The Church of Crete has been plunged into mourning by the death of Damaskinos, Metropolitan of Kydonia and Apokoronas at the age of 67. The late Metropolitan, whose worldly name was Emmanouil Papagiannakis, died after a courageous battle against cancer at a hospital in Attica on 7th April.
Damaskinos graduated from the Theological School of Thessaloniki in 1989 and continued post-graduate studies at the same school in 1990 and 1991. He had been tonsured in 1976 and ordained a Deacon on 5th July 1981, and Presbyter on 31st July 1982. He served as Pastor and Preacher in the Metropolis of Kydonia, where he was ordained as Protosyncellus in 2001. On 7th November 2006 he was unanimously elected Metropolitan of Kydonia and Apokoronas and ordained at the Cathedral of Agios Minas in Heraklion.
Commemorative statements
In a statement shortly after his death the mayor of Apokoronas, Haralambos Koukianakis, described the late Metropolitan as a personal friend and a priest who served the whole community. “He did not just serve the Church,” he said, “he lived it, he breathed it, he transubstantiated it in practice, in words in his embrace. He was not only a bishop, he was a father, he was a friend, he was at our side at every difficult moment.” He was a man who did not keep his distance, he said, he did not speak “from on high”.
Chania MP and deputy Defence minister Sevi Voloudaki said: “He served our Metropolis, leaving his indelible imprint on the Church and the community,” adding: “throughout the long period of his ministry he displayed true ecclesiastical spirit and love for Christ, the Homeland and his fellow men.”
In his statement, Chania MP Alexandros Makrogiannakis said: “The Church of Crete and the local community have lost an exceptional priest, who with his work and his daily presence offered significant support to his flock and to his fellow humans. He supported and expanded the philanthropic and community imprint of the Metropolis of Kydonia and Apokoronas in Chania, along with his important priestly role which he performed with consistency and dependability. With simplicity and modesty, he always stood at the side of those who had need of spiritual and material support, leaving his own strong personal and individual imprint on all of us.”
The funeral
The Metropolitan’s coffin arrived at Souda on the ferry from Piraeus around 9:00 am on Thursday 10th April and was taken in solemn procession to the Metropolitan Church of the Virgin (Chania Cathedral) where it lay state until the funeral on Saturday morning. Hundreds of people filed past the open coffin to pay their respects and the municipality of Chania announced that all its offices would be closed on Saturday as a sign of mourning.
The funeral service took place at the Cathedral on Saturday 12th April at 11.00 am. During the service, Amphilochios, Metropolitan of Kissamos and Selino, who is acting as replacement for the late Damaskinos, led the mourning for the Holy Provincial Synod of the Church of Crete. Archbishop Evgenios of Crete, president of the Holy Provincial Synod, then spoke representing the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartolomeos. Metropolitan Kyrillos of Ierapytni and Sitia delivered the funeral oration on behalf of the Holy Provincial Synod, and Archimandrite Nikiforos Eikosidekas, Protosyncellus of the Metropolis of Kydonia and Apokoronas, spoke on behalf of the Holy Clergy, the Monastic Brotherhoods and the Faithful. Following the wishes of the late Metropolitan there were no further funeral orations.
Following the funeral the coffin was taken to the Monastery of Agia Triada Tzagaroli on Akrotiri, where the late Metropolitan was laid to rest in accordance with his wishes.
(Haniotika Nea, 09-11/04/25)