Photios of Korçë

Metropolitan Photios Kalpidis of Korçë (Korytsa), born in Pontus in 1862 or 1865 and killed in 1906, was a hierarch of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, metropolitan of Korçë and Përmet in present-⁠day south-⁠east Albania, then in the Ottoman Empire. He was secretary of the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate, then pastor of a Greek Orthodox diocese troubled by the national disputes of Macedonia, and he took great care of schools. He was killed on 9 September 1906, on the way to a service. The Church of Greece proclaimed him a "national martyr", and the circumstances of his death are seen differently by Greek, Russian and Bulgarian sources.

Youth and training

Photios Kalpidis, called in the world Elias, was born in the village of Çakrak in Pontus, in the vilayet of Giresun, in 1862 (by other sources, 1865). After school in his village and at Giresun he moved to Constantinople and attended the Theological School of Halki, from which he graduated with distinction in 1889, with the thesis "That Our Lord Truly Rose". He had earlier been ordained deacon. From 1890 to 1891 he was director of the Greek school of Giresun. Then he was assistant at the protocol office of the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate (1891 to 1893), under-⁠secretary (1893 to 1897) and chief secretary (1897 to 1902). He was ordained priest on 25 May 1897 by Metropolitan Cyril of Mytilene.

Metropolitan of Korçë

On 16 May 1902 he was elected metropolitan of Korçë and Përmet, with 11 votes, the competitors being Bishop Theoclitus of Krini (one vote) and Pamphilos Melissinos. On 19 May 1902 he was consecrated in the Cathedral of Saint George at the Phanar by Ecumenical Patriarch Joachim III, with several metropolitans. In general Photios showed great interest in developing the flourishing Greek education system among the young people of the region and often made proposals. He also became president of the town's schools committee. In 1903 he was actively involved in all the major educational questions of the schools at Korçë and nearby Përmet. In the school year 1903 to 1904 he proposed that sports activities be part of the curriculum in the local schools. As a result the first sports events of the pupils of Korçë took place on 30 May 1904 in the local Bangas gymnasium (by one Russian source, on 30 May 1903). In the next school year these events drew a large part of the local population and Ottoman officials.

On 7 June 1904 Photios took the initiative to found the music association Apollo and the charitable society "Love thy Neighbour", as part of his educational, cultural and social initiatives at Korçë. Apollo gave concerts and theatrical performances for a time. It was the period of the Macedonian Struggle, of the struggle of all against all in this multi-⁠national Ottoman province. The chief struggle was between supporters of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and of the Bulgarian Exarchate, but in the region the growth of Albanian nationalism was also visible, as was Romanian propaganda among the Vlachs. By the Bulgarian source, at Korçë he began a struggle against Bulgarianism, rising Albanian nationalism and Romanian propaganda among the Vlachs, and opened several Greek schools in the region. In June 1905 he escaped an attempt on his life at Plasa, where, despite warnings, he came in person to change the language of the service from Romanian to Greek. He was met with stones by the population and then excommunicated the leader of the Romanian party, Father Haralambie Balamaci, with his followers, and forbade all Romanianized Vlachs access to the Orthodox church at Korçë. Balamaci began to serve in a house he bought in the town.

The killing

In August 1906 Metropolitan Germanos Karavangelis of Kastoria, a prominent figure in the struggle for Greek Macedonia, decided to make a tour of the Korçë region. An Albanian band decided to kill him or Photios of Korçë. On 9 September 1906, at Bradvica (today Vashtëmi), Metropolitan Photios was killed. According to the Russian and Bulgarian sources, the killers were the Aromanians Tanasi Nasto, who fled to Romania, and Apostol Kochkona. By another version, he was killed by Albanian kachak nationalists led by Bajo Topulli. Antigoni Bellou-⁠Threpsiadi accepts the Albanian version but holds that Photios was killed by mistake, the real target being Metropolitan Germanos. Other sources accepting the Albanian version say the killing was done because Photios opposed the development of Albanian cultural activities, as revenge for the murder of the Albanian priest Kristo Negovani in 1905.

The false rumour spread that Germanos had been killed, and Dimitrios Kalapothakis of the "Macedonian Committee" in Athens put an obituary in his newspaper "Embros". After the mistake was discovered he was forced to resign his leading post in the Macedonian Committee. Although among those arrested on suspicion of the murder were many Albanian nationalists of the time, all were later released by the Ottoman authorities. After the First Balkan War the Korçë region was liberated by the Greek army. In 1914 the Greek authorities arrested Bajram Ligu on suspicion of killing Photios, but he denied any part in it.

His memory

Photios was proclaimed a national martyr by the Church of Greece. Streets named "Photiou Koritsas" (Φωτίου Κορυτσάς) exist in the suburbs of Piraeus and Athens.