Argolida: In the Parish of Kiveri, at the Holy Church of the Dormition of the Mother of God, the Matins service and the Divine Liturgy were celebrated on Monday, August 10, 2026.
At the end of the Divine Liturgy, a memorial service was held for the repose of the soul of the blessed Parish Priest and founder of the Holy Church of the Dormition of the Mother of God, Protopresbyter Georgios Davelos, on the occasion of the completion of twenty years since his passing.
The Divine Liturgy was presided over by the Most Reverend Archimandrite and Preacher of the Holy Metropolis of Argolis, Fr. Chrysostomos Papoules, and concelebrated by Rev. Protopresbyter Georgios Tsioulos, Parish Priest of the Holy Church of the Annunciation of the Mother of God in Lyon, France, and the Parish Priest, Rev. Protopresbyter Petros Athanasopoulos. Rev. Presbyter Vasileios Dellis also attended as a co-praying participant.
In his sermon, the Preacher Fr. Chrysostomos emphasized, among other things, the love and patience that characterized the blessed Fr. Georgios, as well as his dedication. At the end, the Parish Priest Fr. Petros referred to the pastoral work of Fr. Georgios and the reconstruction of the Holy Church, emphasizing that he was undoubtedly the primary worker and the soul behind the struggle for its construction and completion.
Short Biography of Protopresbyter Georgios Davelos
The blessed Fr. Georgios Davelos served as the Parish Priest of the Parish of Timios Prodromos in Kiveri from June 9, 1985, to August 10, 2006. He was a native of Kiveri. A graduate of the Theological School of the University of Athens, he went to distant Australia, where he was ordained Deacon and Priest by the Archbishop of Australia, Ezekiel. He married Maria Tsiourou, also from Kiveri, and they had three children: Eleni, Theodoros, and Athanasios. Upon returning to Greece, he served for 13 years as the Parish Priest of the Parish of the Dormition of the Mother of God in Argolikos.
After the resignation of the Parish Priest of Kiveri in 1985—after fifty full years of Fr. Athanasios Bouzios (+1995)—he came to Kiveri, where he served until the day of his passing. He moved the Parish Cemetery to another location, built the Cemetery Church of the Holy Theodori, and raised from the foundations the Holy Church of the Dormition of the Mother of God in Kiveri, which he also completed. He passed away on August 10, 2006, at the age of 64.
The journey of Fr. Georgios in the Parish of Kiveri - Excerpt from the speech of Fr. Petros Athanasopoulos at the inauguration of the Spiritual Center of the Kiveri Parish "PRIEST GEORGIOS DAVELOS."
Kiveri, Sunday, June 9, 1985
Sunday of All Saints, afternoon. His installation in Kiveri and assumption of duties in the presence of the blessed Metropolitan of Argolis, Kyrios Chrysostomos II (Deligiannopoulos).
On the eve of the feast of Timios Prodromos, August 28, 1989, he was ordained Protopresbyter by the also blessed Metropolitan of Argolis, Kyrios Iakovos II, during the feast of our patron, Timios Prodromos.
He immediately began regular Divine Liturgies on the memories of the Saints and the forty-day fast of Christmas; even when ill, he maintained the custom of the first lighting on the eve of Theophany throughout the entire village.
He undertook a preaching ministry with beautiful, substantial, and understandable speech, not only in our parish but also at the feasts of Holy Churches throughout the Metropolis. He started Catechetical Schools and a Holy Scripture study circle in Kiveri, and as the Hierarchical Commissioner of the Achladokampou Region of Argos, he undertook study circles and Catechetical Schools in the neighboring villages of Mylos and Skafidaki until his first heart problems.
At the same time, he rested and received hundreds of Christians in the Mystery of Holy Confession, guiding them spiritually.
He was already caring for his parishioners and had begun thinking about where a Holy Church would be built, in which all worshippers would fit, and where they would not be tired standing but could sit.
Many scattered thoughts, various locations, proposals, and movements, with careful consideration, eventually leading to the site where we are tonight, where a Church consecrated in 1890, dedicated to the Lady Mother of God, previously existed.
He took drastic measures with great decisiveness because, around the perimeter of the existing church—the site where we are located—was the village cemetery. He showed patience, strength, and courage to convince the villagers to begin the burials (the most important and difficult task in my opinion) so that the cemetery could be moved. This was his first major action!
1992
He collaborated with local factors; they found a site for the Cemetery and he prepared it for the construction of a Cemetery Church. Whoever died first and was buried in the new Cemetery would have the name of the Saint they bore dedicated to the Church as well. Thus, for history's sake, the first was Theodoros Doutsos, and the Church was dedicated to the Holy Theodori, Taras, and Strategylates. He carried out the necessary actions and co-signed the Cemetery Regulation, transforming it into a Municipal Cemetery.
July 2, 1995
While only a few monuments remained in the current site, actions had already begun, and the site was ready for the foundation stone, a day celebrated as the Deposition of the Robe of our Panagia.
Reflections, personal labor, coordination of dozens of professionals, travels throughout Greece and abroad to find funds and items to be placed in the Holy Church. He tried to go to the source, to have knowledge himself, and not to take things second or third-hand. His supporters were the people of Kiveri who loved him, as well as the Kiverians abroad. He had the special gift of managing to persuade his interlocutor to help with the work he was performing. However, constant fatigue resulted in the worsening of his health problems concerning his heart.
August 15, 2000
A day of great joy. The Opening of the Holy Church of our Panagia. Almost everything is in its place. Inside the Church now, because it should be noted that while there was no Church, in 1996 it functioned in the hall—here where we are tonight—and for the second year in 1997, and every year of the Panagia (August 15) on top of the Church as it was during the construction works.
October 21, 2001
The great feast. His heart was racing. The inauguration of the Holy Church of the Dormition of the Mother of God in Kiveri.
"Today, my child, I am flying in the sky; it is very difficult, all of this is for the name of God and the Panagia," were his words to the journalist after the conclusion of the first Divine Liturgy of the inauguration.
I have nothing to say; I leave his own pen to transport us, choosing two or three paragraphs from the Minutes he wrote that day in the book of the Church:
"The many preparations are finished. The anxiety, bound with fatigue and joy, reaches its peak. Is it truly a fact that is happening, or am I seeing a dream with open eyes at midday? The hour approaches 6 in the evening, and the sound of the many bells hanging from your lofty bell tower unsettles the mind and reminds you of the great event... moments historical and unrepeatable. The dream comes true and the imagination takes flesh. Have we, the insignificant and trivial, reached the point of writing this history? No, our Panagia takes the lead and She gives us courage. She wanted her Church and helped the people in her own way, and it happened. Nothing from us without Her consent... the Church dressed in its festive attire and transmitted this joy to the entire congregation, a joy that began on the evening of October 20, 2001, and its end, unseen and unknown, you write only in the eternal book of the Heavenly Kingdom."