BOSTON – His Eminence Metropolitan Gerasimos of San Francisco is scheduled to have Mitral Valve Replacement surgery on Tuesday December 6, 2022, as he personally informed via an e-mail announcement to the clergy and the laity of his Metropolis.

He wrote among other things that, “this condition has been monitored for several years, and I made the decision, in consultation with my doctors, that this is the most appropriate time to have this procedure.”

Metropolitan Gerasimos will be absent form his archpastoral duties for about two weeks following the surgery, but he wrote that he plans “to resume communication through email and virtual meetings by the Christmas holiday, and hope to build up to my full schedule by later in January.”

He assures the clergy and the laity of the Metropolis that “there will be no interruptions to the ongoing work of our Metropolis, and I look forward to hearing of our continued progress during my recuperation, and immersing myself in our God-pleasing work.”

He also wrote that, “I know that I am in good hands with my surgeon, but most importantly, I am in God’s hands and that is where I place my trust.”

Metropolitan Gerasimos was born in Kalamata, Greece. Upon completion of his elementary and secondary school education in Greece, he went to Canada to live with his brother for a few years, then immigrated to the United States. In 1970, he enrolled at Hellenic College in Brookline, Massachusetts, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1973, followed by a Master of Divinity in 1976, both degrees conferred with high honors. Upon graduation, he worked with the school’s new president, Dr. Thomas Lelon, and assisted in upgrading the infrastructure of the administrative services of Hellenic College Holy Cross to include the Office of the Registrar, Office of Student Affairs, and Office of Counseling and Guidance.

He was ordained to the diaconate in 1979 and was called to serve as Archdeacon to His Eminence Archbishop Iakovos, a position he held until 1996. Concurrently, he was appointed Dean of Students at Hellenic College/Holy Cross from 1980 until 1984. He returned to the Office of Student Affairs in the early 1990s and remained connected to the school until 1996.

In 1984 he enrolled in the Master’s program in Counseling and School Psychology at Boston College. After receiving his degree in 1986, he entered the doctoral program and received his Doctorate in Counseling and School Psychology in 1993.”

While maintaining his position as Archdeacon and Dean of Students, he was appointed a member of the staff of the Outpatient Clinic of the V.A. Medical Center in Boston, a post he held until 1996. He was elected Bishop of Krateia by the Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in December of 2001 and was appointed by His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios as Chief Secretary of the Holy Eparchial Synod of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.

On February 22, 2005, the Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate elected him to be the new Metropolitan of San Francisco, with his enthronement being held on April 2, 2005.