Andrew Petkov ( bg, Митрополит Андрей; secular name Stoyan Nikolov Petkov; bg, Стоян Николов Петков; 31 December 1886 – 9 August 1972) was the diocesan prelate of the

Bulgarian Eastern Orthodox Diocese of the USA, Canada and Australia The Bulgarian Eastern Orthodox Diocese of the USA, Canada, and Australia ( bg, Българска източноправославна епархия в САЩ, Канада и Австралия) is one of fifteen dioceses of the Church of Bulgari ...

with the title of "Metropolitan of New York" during the years 1947 to 1972. Born Stoyan Petkov, on 31 December 1886 in Vrachesh village,

Botevgrad municipality Botevgrad ( bg, Ботевград ) is a town in western Bulgaria. It is located in Sofia Province and is close to Pravets. Botevgrad lies 47 km from Sofia. History and name The village was called Samundzhievo (Самунджиево) until ...

, Petkov took his comprehensive education in

Targovishte Targovishte ( bg, Търговище, also transliterated ''Tǎrgovište'', , tr, Eski Cuma) is a city in Bulgaria, the administrative and economic capital of Targovishte Province. It is situated at the northern foot of the low mountain of Pr ...

. In 1903 he entered the

Sofia Seminary The Sofia Seminary of St John of Rila ( bg, Софийска духовна семинария „Св. Йоан Рилски“, ''Sofiyska duhovna seminariya „Sv. Yoan Rilski“''), located in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, is the main semi ...

where he graduated in 1909 and continued his education in Moscow Eastern Orthodox Academy during the period 1911-1916. Meantime he is a private during the

Balkan War The Balkan Wars refers to a series of two conflicts that took place in the Balkan States in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan States of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and defea ...

(1912–1913) and medical orderly in the Russian army (1914–1915). After graduating in the

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

Academy he has worked as a teacher in

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

for two years (1916–1918). Petkov came back to

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

after bursting out of the

Bolshevik revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolsheviks, Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. Again in his motherland he consecutively worked as: a secretary and inspector with the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...

(1919–1921); a teacher in

(1921–1926); a head of culture department with the

Holy Synod In several of the autocephalous Eastern Orthodox churches and Eastern Catholic Churches, the patriarch or head bishop is elected by a group of bishops called the Holy Synod. For instance, the Holy Synod is a ruling body of the Georgian Orthodox C ...

of the

Bulgarian Orthodox Church The Bulgarian Orthodox Church ( bg, Българска православна църква, translit=Balgarska pravoslavna tsarkva), legally the Patriarchate of Bulgaria ( bg, Българска патриаршия, links=no, translit=Balgarsk ...

(1926–1929). In 1928 Stoyan Petkov took "Andrey" ("Andrew") as his name in religion. After being

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...

hierodeacon A hierodeacon (Greek: Ἱεροδιάκονος, ''Ierodiákonos''; Slavonic: ''Ierodiakón''), sometimes translated "deacon-monk", in Eastern Orthodox Christianity is a monk who has been ordained a deacon (or deacon who has been tonsured monk). Th ...

and later

archimandrite The title archimandrite ( gr, ἀρχιμανδρίτης, archimandritēs), used in Eastern Christianity, originally referred to a superior abbot (''hegumenos'', gr, ἡγούμενος, present participle of the verb meaning "to lead") who ...

, on 20 April 1929 he became a

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

with the title Velichki and appointed as

vicar A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pref ...

as "Simeon,

Metropolitan Metropolitan may refer to: * Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories * Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England * Metropolitan county, a typ ...

of Varna and Preslav". In 1937 the

sent Petkov to take control of the Bulgarian Eparchy of USA, Canada and Australia with his seat in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, USA. He died in 1972 and was buried in the

St. John of Rila Church, Targovishte St. John of Rila Church ( bg, Църква Св. Иван Рилски / Tsarkva Sveti Ivan Rilski) is an Eastern Orthodox church building in Targovishte, Bulgaria. It is named after the Bulgarian Saint John of Rila (876 – c. 946) who was the ...

that was reconstructed with his donation during the 70s.

References

Varna Mitropolia
САЩ, Канада и Австралийска епархия

External links

* ttp://www.bg-patriarshia.bg/ Official website of the Bulgarian Patriarchate
Official website of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church
{{DEFAULTSORT:Andrey, Metropolitan Of New York 1886 births 1972 deaths Bishops of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church Eastern Orthodox bishops in the United States People from Targovishte Bulgarian expatriates in the United States Bulgarian expatriate bishops Bishops in Bulgaria

See also

References

External links