Saint Kallinikos Metropolitan of Edessa, Pella and Almopia (1919-1984) was a Greek theologian and bishop of the Church of Greece. He was Metropolitan of Edessa, Pella and Almopia from 1967 to 1984. He was proclaimed a saint of the Orthodox Church by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople in 2020.
Life
Dimitrios Poulos was born in Sitaralona, Aitoloakarnania in 1919. He studied theology at the Theological School of Athens. He was ordained Deacon and Presbyter in 1957 by his brother Metropolitan Konstantinos of Didymoteichos. He served as Secretary of the Metropolis of Aetolia and Akarnania, preacher and First Chancellor of the Metropolis. On 25 June 1967 he was consecrated Bishop of Edessa, Pella and Almopia. Previously, on June 22, 1967, the Holy Synod, by its decision, annexed to the Metropolis of Edessa and the Province of Almopia, which it detached from the Metropolis of Florina. The ordination took place in the Holy Church of St. Dionysius Areopagitou of Athens.
In 1973 Archbishop Ieronymos Kotsonis resigned. In 1974, Metropolitan Seraphim of Ioannina (12-01-1974) was elected Archbishop by the canonical Holy Synod (“Presbytera” Hierarchy) of the Church of Greece. The canonical Holy Synod on March 28, 1974, “taking into consideration the need for peace in the Church and in the spirit of extreme ecclesiastical economy and leniency” accepted the proposal of Archbishop Seraphim of Athens and decided, to consider as canonical, in economy, the election of 20 provincial prelates (out of the total of 29 elected during the “hieronymic” period), including Kallinikos of Edessa. Kallinikos thus continued his pastorate as a member of the canonical and legitimate Hierarchy of the Church of Greece (presided over by Archbishop Seraphim). On the contrary, his brother, Konstantinos Poulos of Didymoteichos, although he had a canonical election in every respect [1957 – during the archbishopric of Theoklitos Panagiotopoulou], in July 1974 was declared – along with 11 others – deposed from his throne because he sided with the opposing dictatorial “hieronymic” metropolitans and took actions with them that were intended to disrupt the unity of the Church.
Metropolitan Kallinikos took care of the training of the clergy of the Metropolis by organizing theological conferences and priestly meetings. He constantly toured all the parishes and cultivated preaching and confession. He highlighted the local saints, neo-martyr Chrysi and martyr Vassa of Edessa. On his initiative, a boarding school for young people studying and a nursing home for the elderly were established. He also restored the Archangel Michael Monastery of Aridaia.
He died in Athens on 7 August 1984 and was buried in the Municipal Cemetery of Edessa at his request, as he wanted to be close to the people.
The Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate decided (23-6-2020) the canonization of Metropolitan Kallinikos of Edessa and Pella. His memory is celebrated on 8 August
St. Kallinikos of Edessa and the young people
As the Great High Priest, Jesus Christ, whose imitator was St. Kallinikos, said: “Let the children go and do not hinder them from coming to me, for of such is the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 19:14), so did our Saint even from the time he was a lay preacher.
Dimitrios Poulos, Mitsos, as everyone called him from his childhood, showed great interest in the catechism, the care and spiritual progress of the youth.
During the years that he worked as Secretary in the Metropolis of Aetolia and Acarnania, from 1942-1946, and later when he served his military service from 1946-1949, his first and main concern was the catechism of young people, students, soldiers and their encouragement in their struggle, as well as the support of families with young children. He knew from his mother how difficult it was to raise children and he sympathized with women who were raising babies
As a lay preacher he made sure that the word of God reached even the most remote village and was the main founder of the Radio of Messolonghi, whose range exceeded the boundaries of the city and the Metropolis.
With his ordination as a priest his work continued. He took care, serving at the side of his Master, the blessed Metropolitan Ierotheos, for the establishment of Sunday School, visits to the Primary Schools, the organization of liturgies for students. In fact, he was particularly concerned about these divine services because he believed that what is imprinted in the memory and heart of man in childhood never fades away.
When the Saint became Metropolitan of Edessa, Pella and Almopia, not only did he not rest on his previous successful activities, but he continued and intensified his efforts for the support of young people and their spiritual edification. He saw to the establishment and operation of the Arenas Boarding School, to the accommodation in boarding schools of girls attending secondary school and high school in Edessa, to the establishment of a boarding house for young girls, and to the establishment of a camp to train children in the community brotherly spirit.
As a Metropolitan, the Saint was very supportive of seminarians and students in general and, remembering his own difficulties, he always helped the poorest to cope. Remembering also his own childhood years alongside his priestly grandfather, he saw to it that children were properly indoctrinated and that their faith was founded in their immature age, when the word of God finds fertile innocent ground.
His concern throughout his ecclesiastical ministry was also the admonition, also by his personal example, to confession. This is the “remedy for sickness” he said, knowing that the purgative bath of penance is personal rebaptism. For the students, he even made sure that spiritual priests with discernment and knowledge visited the schools, so that the children and young people could become familiar with confession, while later the Holy Churches organized meetings with spiritual priests outside the school, in the evening hours, so that the sacrament could be administered more correctly and priestly.
He also gave special support to young priests. He sought to equip them with knowledge, to extend their studies, to educate them and to support them in their work. He did not ordain priests and abandon them to their fate. He was at their side, organizing for them tutorial courses, hagiographical study meetings, as well as conferences and workshops.
St. Kallinikos not only loved children, he was himself of rare childishness. He was “simple as a child, but always shy and restrained”, as the Bishop of Nafpaktos and Agios Vlasios Ierotheos Vlachos, spiritual child of Kallinikos and author of three books about the Saint.
His gentleness, his paternal presence, his understanding towards families and their problems, his simplicity, his support for the suffering and the bereaved, his social sensitivity, but also his readiness, made the Saint not only beloved, but also an effective Hierarch, who left an important work that was recognized by the flock and his successors and whose memory remains alive in his Metropolis.
May we have his blessing and in his intercession before the Lord Jesus Christ.
saints’ lives
