Hierarch
Hierarch Panaretos, Bishop of Paphos
ок. 1710 — 1790
Hierarch Panaretos, Bishop of Paphos — an 18th-century Cypriot prelate who rebuilt churches and monasteries on the island under harsh Ottoman oppression, glorified by the Patriarchate of Constantinople in 1794.
CRITICALLY IMPORTANT CORRECTION: the card's previous data completely mistakenly assigned the saint to the "Byzantine era" (c. 1100) — research found NO such Byzantine "Panaretos of Paphos" in any source. The only documented and venerated Hierarch Panaretos, Bishop of Paphos, is an 18th-century figure; the life dates, date, and content of the biography have been fully replaced with the correct information.
Hierarch Panaretos was born around 1710 in the village of Peristeronopigi on the Mesaoria plain near Famagusta. He took monastic vows at the Monastery of St. Anastasia; in 1764 he became abbot of the Theotokos Palluriotissa Monastery; on January 14, 1767, he was consecrated Bishop of Paphos. Under harsh Ottoman oppression he rebuilt several churches (including at Nikokleia) and the Holy Unmercenaries Monastery in Miliou; after his death, ascetic chains were discovered on his body, attesting to secret asceticism.
He was glorified by the Synod of the Patriarchate of Constantinople in 1794 under Patriarch Gerasimus III.
His feast is kept on May 1 (O.S.); also June 4 (repose, d. 1790) and January 13 (day of episcopal ordination, 1767).