John Zizioulas was born on January 10, 1931, in the village of Katafygio near Kozani (Καταφύγι Βελβεντού Κοζάνης). There were four children in the family of Demetrios and Marianthi: George, Katherine, Niki, and John.

Once, reminiscing, he said that as a boy, he slept next to the sheep and that he often slept with his head resting on a lamb. “I was nine years old when the war started, and there were Germans in my village in Katafygio. They would come to our house, and my mother would offer them “ouzo” because we were afraid they might harm my older brother. Then the resistance movement started, but for us children, it was not a war; it was like a game.”

John D. Zizioulas received his secondary education at the Valtadorio Gymnasium of Kozani, from which he graduated in 1949 with the grade “excellent.” He had a strong attachment to the services of the Church. He remembers that once they had him read the Apostle and that was a big event for him.