Fr. Peter Avgeropoulos was born in Port Arthur (Thunder Bay) Ontario to Greek immigrant parents Ioannis & Georgia from Krokylion, Phokida in Central Greece (Roumeli). He is the youngest of five siblings. His service began at the age of 9 as an Altar Server at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in Thunder Bay. He received his primary education in Port Arthur and his secondary and post-secondary education in London Ontario.

He attended the University of Western Ontario, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts, Honors Degree in History in 1983. His post-graduate studies were done in the United States, where he studied at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary in Crestwood New York. He graduated in 1987, receiving a Master of Divinity degree (cum laude), and was the Valedictorian for the Class of ‘87. He also pursued post-graduate studies at the Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Brookline Mass. His life-long dream to serve the Church was realized in 1989, when he was ordained to the Deaconate and to the Holy Priesthood in the Greek Orthodox Church of Canada. He has the distinction of being the first Canadian born Priest serving in the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Canada.

His first assignment was as the founding Pastor of the newly established St. Panteleimon, Anna & Paraskevi Greek Orthodox Church in Markham Ontario from 1989 – 1995.  His second pastorate was at the Dormition of the Virgin Mary Church in Hamilton from 1995-1996. He became the Presiding Priest of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary (Panagia) Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Toronto on September 1st 1996 and is the longest serving Priest of the Cathedral.

With the establishment of the Patriarchal Toronto Orthodox Theological Academy of our Archdiocese in 1998, Fr. Peter was appointed as Professor of Patrology & Early Christian Writings.  He is the longest serving Professor in the Academy, mentoring and teaching generations of Seminarians from the opening of the Academy until the present.

Fr. Peter has been a strong supporter and advocate of inter-Orthodox cooperation and joint initiatives in Toronto.  He has been a member of the Executive of the Pan-Orthodox Clergy Association of Toronto and has organized and hosted the Annual Sunday of Orthodoxy Vespers at Panagia on three occasions.   His Eminence Archbishop Sotirios of Canada appointed Fr. Peter to serve as Secretary to the Annual Meetings of the Canadian Conference of Orthodox Bishops from 2003 to the present. 

During his thirty-year Ministry at Panagia, Fr. Peter has:

• Introduced greater use of English in the services

• Established Marriage Preparation Seminars

• Hosted Annual Lenten and Christmas Youth Retreats

• Led ongoing Adult Religious Education Classes

• Overseen the Cathedral’s reconstruction after the devastating 2000 fire

• Directed major beautification efforts including new furnishings, iconography, and the hand-carved Byzantine-Baroque iconostasis, altar table, bishop’s throne, and icon stands

• He has guided the installation of new Byzantine windows on the main level and continues work toward new stained glass icons of the Annunciation and Dormition on the upper level.

Fr. Peter is married to Presvytera Hara, and they are the proud parents of three sons. In his spare time, Fr. Peter enjoys playing his keyboards; listening to Greek and Byzantine music; and reading the numerous history and theology books in his library.

Ecclesiastical Honors

• June 1994  Economos-Confessor Offikion at St. Panteleimon Church in Markham

• May 1988 Patriarchal Cross awarded by His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I during his historic Apostolic Visit to Canada

• November 2002, elevated to Protopresbyter by His Eminence Archbishop Sotirios in the newly renovated Cathedral

Contributions to the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Canada

• Fr. Peter has a long and distinguished career in serving the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Canada.  

• Youth Director (1989–1995), overseeing the Annual Youth Assemblies

• Member of the Presbyter’s Council and later President of the Archdiocesan Presbyter’s Council (2019–2024)

• Member of the Organizing Committee for the 1998 Apostolic Visit of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I

• Translator of the Patriarch’s English speeches during the Apostolic Visit

• Translator of the Encyclicals of His Eminence Archbishop Sotirios (1998–2018)

• Director of Inter-Church Relations since 1992

• Secretary to the Annual Canadian Orthodox–Catholic Bishops’ Meetings

• Member of the Steering Committee for Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Clergy Meetings in Toronto

• Secretary to the Conference of Orthodox Bishops in Canada since 1997