His Grace Metropolitan Panteleimon (Chrysofakis) was born in 1925 in Athens. He has studied Theology and he has done postgraduate studies in the Roman-Catholic Institute in Paris and in the University of Sorbonne. He was ordained a deacon in 1950 and a priest in 1951. He was elected and ordained as bishop of Samos and Ikaria in 1965. In 1974 he was transferred in the Metropolis of Thessaloniki. He is the writer of many books. In 1996 the Department of Theology of the University of Thessaloniki awarded him a honorary Doctor's degree.