His Grace, Makarios, Bishop of Peristera, according to the world, Nicholas Pounartzoglou, was born in 1976 in Serres. Having completed his studies in his homeland, he was tonsured a Monk in 1994 by the then Archimandrite and Abbot of the holy monastic brotherhood of St. James the Brother of the Lord in Peristera, Thessaloniki, and now the Archbishop of Athens, Makarios. He was ordained a Deacon in 1994 by his Eminence Metropolitan of Thessaloniki, Efthymios. He was ordained a priest in 1997 by the then Bishop of Petra, Makarios. At the same time, he studied sacred science at the Theological School of A.P.T. In 2004, he succeeded the Archbishop to the position of abbot of the holy monastery of St. James. In 2014, he was elected and ordained by His Beatitude the Archbishop of Athens and all Greece Makarios and the Holy Synod, Bishop of the Diocese of Peristera.