Our Clergy
Father Yorgo Kasapoglu
Fr. Yorgo Kasapoglu was born in Antioch in 1984. After his family immigrated to Constantinople in 1986, he received his primary and secondary education in the same city. He went to Kilkis, Greece in 1999 for his high school education, and graduated from the Church High School and then the Faculty of Theology of Aristotle University. In the same period, he studied music at the Macedonian state conservatory and successfully earned his singing and performance diploma.
Between 2012 and 2014, he participated in the psychological development seminars at Istanbul University and successfully received his license. Father Yorgo, who completed his master's degree at Aristotle University, is doing his PhD at the same university. After studying at Northeastern University in Boston, USA in 2007, he participated as a speaker at many different universities and organizations as a speaker and wrote articles. He has many articles specifically on Jehovah's Witnesses. He was interested in Ecological problems during his Master's period and on this occasion he collaborated with Newcastle University in England. He speaks Greek, English, Turkish and Arabic.
He served 14 years at the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. Protopresbyteros of the Ecumenical Throne since 2017.
Rev. Deacon W. Demetri Belsito, PhD, MSW, LMSW, MDiv
Rev. Deacon W. Demetri Belsito is an ordained deacon in the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese America assigned to our parish. He graduated from the diaconate program at the Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Brookline, Massachusetts in 2009 and in 2024, graduated from Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology with a Masters of Divinity . Deacon Demetri obtained his master’s degree in Social Work from the University of Connecticut School of Social Work in 1995 and obtained a PhD in 2016, also from the University of Connecticut School of Social Work. He is an LMSW (Licensed Master Social Worker) and is a Social Work Supervisor for the State of Connecticut. He was a substance abuse counselor for six years and has worked in the field of child welfare since 1991. Deacon Demetri teaches at St Joseph’s University in West Hartford and the School of Social Work at the University of Connecticut School of Social Work in Hartford. He is active in pastoral ministry and teaches at Sacred Heart University. Deacon Demetri has taught many classes and conducts silent retreats and Bereavement workshops at Enders Island in Mystic, Connecticut. He also gives talks on Orthodox Spirituality, Contemplative Prayer, Iconography, the Lives of the Saints, Desert Fathers, and the Fathers of The Church.
