OUR PARISH PRIEST
Father Savas Pizanias is currently our Parish Priest at Saint Savvas of Kalymnos Orthodox Church in Sydney, Australia, also serving the needs of St Basil the Great Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Newcastle, NSW. Fr Savas is married to Presvytera Styliani and they have two beautiful sons Eleftherios & Elias.
He was born in Sydney in 1978, and from the tender age of 3 years old until his ordination to the diaconate he served with great joy as an altar boy, at his local Parish Resurrection of Christ- Kogarah. Having completed his secondary education & his Higher School Certificate in 1996 he gave up his position to study Law to fulfill his childhood dream to become a priest having received an offer to study Theology at St. Andrews Greek Orthodox Theological College, studying there between 1997-1999.
He was ordained to the diaconate on the island of Kalymnos (Ecumenical Patriarchate) by the late & former Metropolitan Nektarios.
In 2005 he completed a four year degree- Bachelor of Secondary Education (Humanities & Social Sciences) and graduated with honors from Sydney University, also being awarded the prestigious award for Academic Excellence & Outstanding Scholastic Achievement as a new member of the Golden Key International Honour Society (Sydney University Charter). Fr Savas then taught at various government and private secondary schools, also establishing together with his business partner their own photographic studio specializing in child and family portraiture, which was what would sustain his family as a wage-less clergyman.
On the 5th of December 2010 (feast of Saint Savvas the Sanctified) by Gods Will, Fr Savas was ordained to the Holy Priesthood in Athens Greece.
Straight after his ordination, his then Synod sent him to St Nektarios Wollongong- (now part of the Greek Archdiocese). Coming to a church which was ready to close its doors, he had raised the congregation to a large vibrant one once again. With his hard efforts and peoples loving support Fr Savas managed to restore the old church-ready to close its doors, to a new-renovated church, new gold guilded icon screens & icons externally in front of church (both paid by Fr Savas), rendered walls in and out, bell towers with blue domes, wall iconography of altar and church ceilings, new ecclesiastical church items, which Fr Savas gathered from peoples loving support, with no help at all from the then church committee. It was during his 4.5 years there that he paved the way, preparing and educating the people that it was paramount to enter dialogue with the canonical church-the Greek Archdiocese, after so many years of this community being in schism. This caused friction between the then committee and Fr Savas & because of this with the blessings of his then Hierarchs, permission was given to depart & establish a new Parish in Sydney-to be named after St Savvas of Kalymnos (this was to be the first church in the world-that is after his already existing church in Kalymnos to be named solely after the Saint worldwide).
With the establishment of St Savvas Church in Sydney in late 2014, Fr Savas & his Community, officially & canonically came under the Omorforion & Jurisdiction of the Clergy of the Patriarchate of Kyiv.
With the blessings of His Beatitude Patriarch Philaret, a delegation was sent to Sydney Australia end of February 2015 headed by His Eminence Chrysostom of Chersonysos & Azov Peninsula - Patriarchal Exarch of Greece, who officially on Sunday of Orthodoxy March 1st 2015 officially through the (Laying of Hands) reading the Presbyter prayers upon Fr Savas, appointing Fr Savas as the General Archdiocese Commissioner for Australia & Oceania of the Exarchate - Kyiv Patriarchate, elevating him to Protopresbyter & Spiritual Confessor.
In November 2016, Fr Savas was also nominated by the local MP, accepted & appointed by the Governor General of Australia as a Justice of the Peace.
On Sunday 12th November 2017 upon the invitation of Fr Savas, a Patriarchal Delegation led by Fr Savas Spiritual Father-the Patriarchal Vicar Metropolitan Epiphanios of Pereyaslav (now the canonical First Hierarch of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine), conducted and consecrated officially our Church & Holy Altar of St Savvas of Kalymnos, a beautiful service and Historic event for our Church. At the end of the service with the blessings of His Beatitude Patriarch Philaret, Fr Savas was awarded the Patriarchal Order & Medal of St Nicholas (the highest order & medal for Clergyman of our Patriarchate), for his devout endless & tireless work, effort and dedication in establishing from scratch our Parish and Church of St Savvas of Kalymnos in such a short period of time.
On the 11/10/2018 with an Official Announcement of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople in the framework of granting Autocephaly to our Ukrainian Church, all Anathemas, Excommunications & Defrockments were uplifted from our Patriarch Philaret and subsequently ALL the clergy under him, restoring HIM and ALL the clergy to their episcopal and priestly rights and with their flock joining them to canonical communion with worldwide orthodoxy, recognised canonically by all, without exception or debate.
On the 15/12/2018 the new head of the church Metropolitan Epiphanios of Pereyaslav (Kyiv Patriarchate) Fr Savas spiritual Father was elected by the united Sobor of bishops assembly.
On the 6th January 2019, Autocephaly and Tomos to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine was officially handed to the Metropolitan of Kyiv and all Ukraine Epiphanios in Constantinople by the Ecumenical Patriarch.
In accordance to the resolutions taken by the Holy Hierarchs of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia in their Bishops Synaxis that took place 28th-29th March 2022 led by our beloved Archbishop Makarios of Australia, Fr Savas & our Parish of St Savvas of Kalymnos & our sister Ukrainian parish of St Basil the Great in Newcastle were admitted & integrated as per the decisions of the Holy Synod of Constantinople into the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia-Ecumenical Patriarchate.
On Feb 28th 2025, Fr Savas graduated from St Andrews Theological College having completed his Post Graduate Studies in Theology, obtaining from the Dean of the College His Eminence Archbishop of Australia his Post Graduate Diploma in Theological Studies.
OUR CHURCH & COMMUNITY
The Church and Community of St Savvas of Kalymnos was officially and legally established at the end of 2014. Initially, services were held at a temporary location in Kogarah Bay, as the community searched for a permanent home—either an existing church to purchase or land to build upon.
By the grace of God and through the intercession of our beloved St Savvas, a great miracle occurred. On 31 August 2016—just 18 months after our founding—we were blessed with the opportunity to purchase an established church on a large parcel of land, including two halls and numerous facilities. This church, originally a Protestant place of worship built in 1890, is a local landmark of Banksia and the broader St George area, located prominently along the main highway.
Despite opposition and challenges aimed at silencing our community and Saints church, the blessings of St Savvas prevailed.
The first blessing of the church and grounds (Agiasmo) took place on Wednesday, 16 November 2016. The first official Divine Liturgy, with the blessings of our Patriarchate, followed on Sunday, 20 November 2016.
St Savvas Orthodox Church celebrates services in Ukrainian, Greek, and English. As an Eastern Orthodox Church, it welcomes all Orthodox faithful. Our parishioners come from diverse backgrounds including Ukrainian, Serbian, Greek, and many others.
We are humbled to be the first church in the world that was dedicated solely to St Savvas the New of Kalymnos, apart from his original church on the island of Kalymnos, where his miraculous relic (full body) is enshrined.
Our parish has also been blessed with several treasured relics and personal items of St Savvas:
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One of his monastic stoles, which exudes a divine fragrance,
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A small wooden typari (prosphoro seal) carved and used by the Saint himself,
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A monastic cap,
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And a hand-painted icon by St Savvas from 1919, signed in Aegina, one year before the repose of his spiritual brother, St Nektarios.
These sacred items are housed in the church and available for veneration by the faithful.
Within the main church is a dedicated chapel in honor of Panagia Hrisoleontissa, the miraculous icon from the historic monastery in Aegina. An exact copy of this icon was gifted to our church by the Abbess of the monastery, the aunt of Fr Savvas and Presvytera Styliani. A side altar within this chapel is also dedicated to St Euphemia.
Panagia Hrisoleontissa held a special place in the hearts of both St Nektarios and St Savvas. Both Saints spent time at her monastery while restoring the Holy Trinity Monastery, and often prayed with tears before her icon. Before St Nektarios departed this life, he made one final pilgrimage to Panagia Hrisoleontissa to pray. Hanging from our icon is an engolpion (episcopal medallion) dedicated by our late Bishop and Exarch, in her honor.
On Sunday, 12 November 2017, a Patriarchal Delegation led by Metropolitan Epiphanios of Pereyaslav (now Primate of the canonical Orthodox Church of Ukraine) consecrated our Church and Holy Altar—a historic and joyous event for our parish and for the Patriarchate in Kyiv, under which we were ecclesiastically aligned.
On 15 December 2018, Metropolitan Epiphanios was elected as the head of the newly unified Orthodox Church of Ukraine.
Then, on 6 January 2019, the Ecumenical Patriarch officially granted Autocephaly and the Tomos to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, presented to Metropolitan Epiphanios in Constantinople.
Finally, on 28–29 March 2022, during the Bishops Synaxis of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia led by His Eminence Archbishop Makarios, our parish of St Savvas of Kalymnos, along with our sister parish of St Basil the Great (Newcastle), was officially admitted into the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia under the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
Donations Welcome
St Savvas needs your Help!
If anyone would like to donate and help in raising funds for our Saints Church & to help assist paying off the loan of our Church please contact us or Fr Savas or you may deposit direct in the following account:
CBA BANK -
The Orthodox Church of "St Savvas of Kalymnos".
BSB NO. 062-589
ACC NO. 1109 5360
