On Monday, April 27, Bishop John Stowe, OFM Conv. and the Very Reverend Justin Patterson blessed and dedicated a section of Calvary Cemetery for use by members of the Orthodox Church.
Fr. Patterson Rector is of Saint Athanasius Orthodox Church in Nicholasville. Also attending from Saint Athanasius were Associate Priest Giorgi Lomsadze and Fr. David Thatcher. Representing Calvary were Kirsten Thorstad, Catholic Diocese of Lexington Chancellor and Director of Cemeteries, and Calvary Cemetery Sexton/Manager Fran Borders.
This collaboration began in May 2024, when Oma M. Lopes, Parish Council Member of Saint Athanasius Orthodox Church, contacted Calvary to see if there was space available for burial of their Church members. Oma and Fr. Patterson toured Calvary in July 2024.
The newly named St. John Chrysostom section is set within Paradise Garden, and has space for 93 traditional casket graves. Bishop Stowe suggested the name of St. John Chrysostom last June. The Saint, who died in 407, is an important early Father of the Church, and is recognized as a Saint in both the Roman Catholic and the Orthodox Churches.