On Sunday, 7 June, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I introduced his new Exarch in Lithuania, Bishop Panaretos, to the faithful during a service in Vilnius.
This was reported by Ortodoksas.lt.
In his sermon, the Ecumenical Patriarch noted that Bishop Panaretos is assuming a difficult and significant ministry, tirelessly caring for the needs of Orthodox Christians and providing them with spiritual nourishment.
Patriarch Bartholomew said that the newly appointed Exarch had devoted many years, quietly, diligently, and fruitfully, to pastoral ministry in Constantinople among Slavic-speaking Christians, building deep and enduring relationships. According to the Patriarch, this experience will prove valuable in serving refugees from Ukraine who have found shelter in Lithuania.
“They hope to see the face of a true spiritual father, not that of a distant administrator. They seek a servant of the Most High who would bend over their suffering, listen to their silent and accumulated pain, and speak a healing word of comfort in the language of their forebears, the language best understood by the soul. The Ecumenical Patriarchate extends to them a loving embrace with the breadth dictated by its centuries-old tradition. The Church entrusts its Exarch to these suffering people so that, with great wisdom and patience, he may shepherd the flock entrusted to his care,” Patriarch Bartholomew noted.
According to him, Panaretos’s humble ministry in Lithuania is not a display for appearances. He consciously rejects any form of worldly self-promotion or pursuit of power. His sacred purpose is to heal wounded souls quietly.
Addressing Patriarch Bartholomew, Bishop Panaretos stressed that his presence is powerful testimony for Lithuania’s Orthodox faithful that the Mother Church has not forgotten her children.
“The faithful of this country, Lithuanians, Greeks, Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, and others, feel today that they are not alone. They feel that they have a spiritual home. They have a Mother Church. They have a Father and Patriarch. This is because the Ecumenical Patriarchate comes not to divide but to unite. It comes not to destroy individual people and nations but to bring them into the communion of the Holy Spirit. It comes to heal through ministry and pastoral care,” the Exarch emphasized.
As LF previously reported, on 26 May 2026, during a session of the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Constantinople (Istanbul), Archimandrite Panaretos Psaravtis was elected the new Bishop of Tamassos and Exarch of the Ecumenical Patriarch in Lithuania.
Panaretos Psaravtis is a priest and monk born in Chania, Crete. He serves in a parish in Constantinople where Slavic and Turkish Christian communities are active.
He was tonsured a monk in 2002 and ordained to the priesthood in 2003. Father Panaretos began his ministry in the Metropolis of Rethymno and Avlopotamos of the Church of Crete. In 2014, he was invited to serve in Constantinople.
In recognition of his distinguished service, he was elevated to the rank of Archimandrite in 2010 and was granted the title of Great Preacher (Megas Ierokyrix) in 2016.
