NEW YORK, NY –
On October 29, Protopresbyter Fr. Paul C. Palesty met with His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros at the Archdiocese Headquarters to request his blessing to retire. Fr. Paul’s retirement from St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in Flushing, NY, where he served for twenty-seven years, is set to begin on January 1, 2025.
Protopresbyter Fr. Paul C. Palesty was appointed as the 4th pastor of St. Nicholas on September 1, 1997. Fr. Paul was born in Hoboken, New Jersey and grew up in Astoria. For a short period of time, he attended St. Nicholas and was an altar boy under the first pastor, Fr. Volaitis before his family moved to Huntington where he finished his schooling. He graduated in 1973 from Hellenic College with Honors. In 1976 he received a Masters of Divinity with High Honors from the Holy Cross School of Theology. Fr. Paul received a Certificate of Graduate Studies in Christology from the University of Geneva, Switzerland where he served as a representative to the World Council of Churches. In 1978 Fr. Paul married the former Anastasia Topsidelis. Fr. Paul and Presbytera have two children Christos and Maria.
Archbishop Iakovos ordained Fr. Paul to the diaconate in March 1978 at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in New York. Bishop Meletios of Christianoupolis ordained Fr. Paul to the priesthood in May 1978. He was assigned Assistant Pastor of the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in San Jose California and subsequently became the Pastor of St. Nicholas (San Jose) in 1980. In 1987, he was assigned Pastor of the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in Lexington, Mass. While serving the parish of St. Nicholas in Lexington, Fr. Paul was chosen by then Bishop Methodios of Boston to be the Director of Campus Ministries at Tufts University, Harvard University and Boston University. Fr. Paul became the Pastor of St. Demetrios, Merrick, New York in 1990. From 1993-1996 Fr. Paul was the President of the St. John Chrysostom Clergy Association for the Archdiocesan District. Archbishop Iakovos chose Fr. Paul to be the co-chair of the 1996 Clergy Laity Congress which took place in New York City.
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