Public Statements of Interest

Biography of His Grace, Bishop Savas of Troas

His Grace Bishop Savas (Zembillas) of Troas is a native of Gary, Indiana, the second of six children of Steve and Stamatia Zembillas, of Kalymnian and Cypriot ancestry. A graduate of Colby College, Waterville, Maine (1979, BA in philosophy and English literature), and Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology (1985, MDiv, with highest honors), the future Bishop Savas pursued doctoral studies from 1987 to 1994 at Pembroke College, Oxford University, England, under the supervision Bishop Kallistos (Ware) of Diokleia. He was ordained to the Diaconate (1992) and Priesthood (1995) by Metropolitan Iakovos of Chicago at Sts. Constantine and Helen Cathedral, Merrillville, Indiana. In the course of his first assignment (1995-97) as Proistamenos of the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church in Kalamazoo, Michigan, he was elevated to the rank of Archimandrite by Metropolitan Maximos of Pittsburgh. In September 1997, Archbishop Spyridon assigned then-Archimandrite Savas to St. Demetrios Church in Merrick, Long Island. In December 1999, the newly-enthroned Archbishop Demetrios of America, under whom Archimandrite Savas had studied at Holy Cross Seminary, appointed him Chancellor of the Archdiocese. Two years later, on December 11, 2001, he was elected an Auxiliary Bishop by the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, and given the title “Bishop of Troas.” On February 2, 2002, the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple, at the Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Manhattan, he was elevated to the Holy Episcopacy by Archbishop Demetrios of America, Archbishop Iakovos of North and South America, Metropolitan Iakovos of Chicago, Bishop Kallistos of Diokleia, and a number of other hierarchs. Bishop Savas continues to serve as Chancellor of the Archdiocese of America.