e-mail: frzougras@stdemetrios.org

Father Panagiotis was born in Brooklyn, New York and baptized at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Church in Bayridge Brooklyn. He is the son of Dionysios and Vasiliki Zougras. The family relocated and became members of the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in Staten Island. Father served as an altar boy and attended Sunday School at Holy Trinity where Father Spiro Macris and Father Nicholas Anctil shaped his sense of faith.

Father Panagioti attended SUNY Albany where he received a BA Degree in Political Science in 1997. Fathers education continued at the Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology were he received his Master’s Degree in Divinity in 2001. While attending Holy Cross he participated in the Boston Theological Institute Program and attended Harvard University taking courses in Pastoral Counseling. Father was President of his class for three years elected by as the Liaison to His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios at the 35th Biennial Clergy-Laity Conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Father Panagiotis took on his first parish assignment in 2001 as the Youth Director and Pastoral Assistant at St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida under Father Christopher Metropoulos (2001-2004).

2004-2006 Father worked as a public school history teacher at Doral Middle School in Miami, FL. From 2006-2008, Father ventured out to Wall Street as a Mortgage Loan Originator which enabled him to sharpen his finance skills and gain a vast knowledge on how to manage and invest money. These important skills are a huge asset that help Father assist in managing the budget of a parish.

From 2008 to 2011, Father Panagiotis served at St Demetrios Greek Orthodox Cathedral of Astoria as the Youth Director and a Middle and High School History and Economics teacher. Father believes his greatest honor and schooling was a three week venture on the Advance Team for the 2009 Patriarchal Trip to North America. Father served under the guidance of Fr. Alexander Karloutsos and accompanied His All Holiness Bartholomew I, Archbishop of Constantinople New Rome, and Ecumenical Patriarch to various locations including Atlanta, New Orleans, Washington, Baltimore, and New York. Being in the presence His All Holiness “changed my life and further solidified my dream of serving as an Orthodox Priest”.

In February 2011 Father Panagioti married Presbytera Alexa. Shortly afterward Father Panagioti received his first parish assignment as a clergyman at the Cathedral of St. Paul in Hempstead, New York. He was ordained to the Holy Diaconate in November of 2011 by His Grace Bishop Andonios of Phasiane. In January of 2012 he was ordained to the Holy Priesthood by His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios. Father Panagioti served the Cathedral of St. Paul from October of 2011 to September of 2014 and also served as the Spiritual Advisor to the Nassau/Suffolk Inter GOYA.

In September 2014 Father Panagioti was assigned as the Ieratikos Proistamenos of The Metropolitan Cathedral of St John the Theologian. Father was also appointed in 2015 as the Metropolis of New Jersey Youth Commissioner for the Northern New Jersey Greek Orthodox Youth. Fr. Panagioti began a bereavement group in which he has helped many families struggling with death, illness and addiction. This group than branched out to form the C.A.R.E. (Cathedral Addiction Relief Effort) Initiative. This initiative was designed to help Bergen County families who are suffering from the scourge of opioid and drug abuse.

Most recently in February 2019 Fr. Panagioti returned back to the parish in which he started, St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church in Fort Lauderdale Florida. Father Panagiotis and Presbytera Alexa have a son, Dionysios A. Zougras.