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'''Archimandrite Stephanos(Pantanassiotis)''' (Pantanassiotis, né Papanastasiou, Pappas) is the current [[abbot]] of [[Monastery of Pantanassa (Mangrove, Australia)|Pantanassa Monastery]] on Mangrove Mountain, New South Wales, Australia.

==Life==[[Archimandrite]] Stephanos' [[baptism]]al name is Papanastasiou, Pappas. During the 1970s, [[Archimandrite]] Stephanos was the Vicar-General of the [[Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia]]; however. As vicar-general, he resigned in order to devote himself further to Archimandrite Stephanos represented the monastic life and [[monasticismArchdiocese]] in Australia, first at Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Earlwood, Sydney, and then at Mangrove Mountain, where he resides from 1995 to the present. Also since 1995, he has been the spiritual father founding of [[Monastery of the Holy Cross (Mangrove, Australia)|Holy Cross Monastery]]. To this day, as a much-loved and sought-after spiritual father, he hears [[confessionSCCOCA]] weekly in Sydney1979.

In 1976, after his role [[enthronement]], [[Archbishop]] Stylianos (Harkianakis), Primate of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia, established the Holy Monastery of the Transfiguration of our Lord at Earlwood, Sydney and appointed Archimandrite Stephanos as vicarits [[abbot]]. In order to devote himself fully to the monastic life and [[monasticism]] in Australia, Fr. Stephanos resigned as Vicar-generalGeneral to lead the [[monastery]] full time. At the monastery he was widely sought out for confession. As the monastery began accepting novices, Archim. Stephanos felt that an intra-city heritage was no longer an ideal situation for a monastery. In the early 1990s, Abbot Stephanos began a [[hermitage]] at a new, but envisioned as temporary, site at Mangrove Mountain in New South Wales. In 1995, the temporary site at Lower Mangrove Creek was complete and the brotherhood moved there from Sydney. The new monastery at Lower Mangrove Creek was placed under the patronage of the Mother of God "Pantanassa". As the transfer of the monastery was progressing, Archimandrite a number of women had approached Fr. Stephanos wishing to pursue the monastic life. While these women were sent to a monastery in Greece, Fr. Stephanos represented accepted that a monastic life for women was needed tin Australia and the four nuns returned to make up the first sisters of the [[ArchdioceseMonastery of the Holy Cross]] . They established residence at St. Arsenios House with Fr Stephanos as their spiritual father. In 2003, Holy Cross Monastery moves to Mangrove Mountain, five kilometers from Pantanassa Monastery, and St. Arsenios becomes the founding Sydney [[metochion]] for Pantanassa Monastery.  The plan for a permanent home for the Pantanassa Monastery was not forgotten by Fr. Stephanos and the brotherhood. On [[May 27]], 2005, Fr. Stephanos received government permission and excavation on the monastic site on top of Mangrove Mountain began. On [[SCCOCAJuly 16]] , 2005, the foundation stone of the main church ('katholikon') was laid by Archbishop Stylianos in advance of the start of construction of the church and first part of the living quarters in February 2006.  On [[December 10]], 2010, Fr. Stephanos participated in 1979the tonsure of Fr. Eusebios, a priest-monk of the monastery, by Fr. Theodore, Abbot of the ancient monastery of Panagia Molivdoskepasti in Konitsa, Greece.