John Karastamatis

Father John Karastamatis was the first parish priest of the Prophet Elias Greek Orthodox Church in Santa Cruz, California, and one of its founders. He was murdered in 1985. Some venerate him as a hieromartyr, but he is not canonized and his veneration is disputed.

He was born on 8 August 1937 in the village of Apoikia on the island of Andros, Greece, and at twenty went to America, where he started a family. He was ordained a priest and, according to a Greek source, worked for ten years in Alaska. In 1981 he came to the Prophet Elias church in Santa Cruz, which he completed and consecrated. A fiery preacher, he ministered to the unemployed, the homeless and drug addicts of the city, and the door of his house was open day and night. He received threats because of his sermons.

He was killed on 19 May 1985 by a couple with a history of mental illness, according to the Blackwell Dictionary of Eastern Christianity. His venerators credit him with many healings since his death. The Greek synaxarion at saint.gr commemorates him on 19 May as a hieromartyr.