Metropolitan John (

secular name A legal name is the name that identifies a person for legal, administrative and other official purposes. A person's legal birth name generally is the name of the person that was given for the purpose of Civil registry, registration of the birth an ...

Georgy Yevgenyevich Roshchin, russian: Георгий Евгеньевич Рощин; 22 October 1974, Moscow) is a retired

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 the

Russian Orthodox Church , native_name_lang = ru , image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg , imagewidth = , alt = , caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia , abbreviation = ROC , type ...

. During 2014-2018 he served as the US-based

titular bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

, vicar of the

Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia The Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus' (russian: Патриарх Московский и всея Руси, translit=Patriarkh Moskovskij i vseja Rusi), also known as the Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia, is the official title of the Bishop of Mo ...

. Metropolitan John is also the former administrator of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA.

Biography

Early life

In 1991, he graduated from Secondary School №4 in Moscow with depth study of

English Language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the is ...

. In 1991-1993, he studied at the Faculty of Law of the Sholokhov Moscow State University for Humanities with a specialization. During the same period, he served as an

altar boy An altar server is a laity, lay assistant to a member of the clergy during a Christian liturgy. An altar server attends to supporting tasks at the altar such as fetching and carrying, ringing the altar bell, helps bring up the gifts, brings up t ...

of the Church of the Life-Giving Trinity on

Sparrow Hills Sparrow Hills (russian: Воробьёвы го́ры, ), formerly known as Lenin Hills (, ) between 1935 and 1999, is a hill on the right bank of the Moskva River and one of the highest points in Moscow, reaching a height of above the river ...

. During 1993-1994, he held obediences at the

Pskov-Caves Monastery Pskov-Pechory Monastery or The Pskovo-Pechersky Dormition Monastery or Pskovo-Pechersky Monastery (russian: Пско́во-Печ́ерский Успе́нский монасты́рь, et, Petseri klooster) is a Russian Orthodox male monaster ...

. From 1994-1997, he studied at the

Moscow Theological Seminary The Slavic Greek Latin Academy (russian: Славяно-греко-латинская академия) was the first higher education establishment in Moscow. History Beginning The academy's establishment may be viewed as a result of the incorpo ...

. During the seminary training he served guide of the Church archaeological cabinet at the Moscow Theological Academy and Seminary. In 1996-1997, he worked as a staff member of the Publishing Council of the Russian Orthodox Church specializing in drafting liturgical guidelines. In 1997, he was appointed the Secretariat for Inter-Christian Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Synodal Department for External Church Affairs. In December 1998, he was a member of the Moscow Patriarchate's delegation at the Eighth Assembly of the

World Council of Churches The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a worldwide Christian inter-church organization founded in 1948 to work for the cause of ecumenism. Its full members today include the Assyrian Church of the East, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, most juri ...

(

Harare Harare (; formerly Salisbury ) is the capital and most populous city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of 940 km2 (371 mi2) and a population of 2.12 million in the 2012 census and an estimated 3.12 million in its metropolitan ...

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

) and was elected to the WCC Central Committee. During 1999-2000, he studied at

Saint Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary (SVOTS) is an Eastern Orthodox seminary in Yonkers, New York. It is chartered under the State University of New York and accredited by the Association of Theological Schools. It is a pan-Eastern Ort ...

Crestwood, New York Crestwood is a neighborhood in Yonkers, New York. Located in northeastern Yonkers, Crestwood is separated by the Bronx River from the village of Tuckahoe. Because the majority of Crestwood is served by the Tuckahoe post office, many residents ide ...

. In 2000-2002, he studied at the Faculty of Philosophy at the

Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Roman Catholic research university in Washington, D.C. It is a pontifical university of the Catholic Church in the United States and the only institution of higher education founded by U.S. ...

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...

. From 2003 to 2009, as a member of the Secretariate on Church and Society of the Synodal Department for External Church Relations, he was in charge of inter-religious communication, including interaction with the Interreligious Council of Russia and the SNG Interreligious Council, and international interfaith organizations, was a member of the Commission of the Conference of European Churches "Islam in Europe", participated in the preparation and conduct of the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Meetings of the joint Russian-Iranian commission "Islam-Christianity".

Ordination

On August 28, 2007,

Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad Kirill or Cyril (russian: link=Russian, Кирилл, chu, , secular name Vladimir Mikhailovich Gundyayev, russian: link=no, Владимир Михайлович Гундяев; born 20 November 1946) is a Russian Orthodox bishop. He became ...

(the present Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia) ordained him a

Deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Churc ...

; on September 23, Kirill ordained him a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

. On 27 July 2009, 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 ...

appointed him Deputy Chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate Synodal Department for the Coordination of Church and Society. In 2009, with the blessing of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and all the Rus, he was a member of the Council for the Study of Religious Materials to identify extremist materials in the

Ministry of Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry. Lists of current ministries of justice Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia) * Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Just ...

. He was the official representative of the Moscow Patriarchate in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union of Belarus and Russia, a member of the Commission on organising state support and the development of original Cossack culture, a member of the Public Council under the Federal Drug Control Service, and a member of the Public Council under Rosreyestr. From 2010 to 2013, he was the executive secretary of the Interreligious Council of the

Commonwealth of Independent States The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a regional intergovernmental organization in Eurasia. It was formed following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. It covers an area of and has an estimated population of 239,796,010. ...

. On April 19, 2011 in the cathedral church of the Descent of the Holy Spirit of the stauropegial

Conception Convent The Conception Convent or Zachatyevsky Monastery (russian: Зачатьевский монастырь) is a Russian Orthodox stauropegic convent on the northern bank of the Moskva River in Khamovniki District of Moscow. The convent was closed by ...

in Moscow, he was elevated to the rank of

archpriest The ecclesiastical title of archpriest or archpresbyter belongs to certain priests with supervisory duties over a number of parishes. The term is most often used in Eastern Orthodoxy and the Eastern Catholic Churches and may be somewhat analogous ...

by the Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia. On 4 October 2012, the Holy Synod appointed him representative of the World Russian People's Council at the UN and assigned him to St Nicholas Cathedral in New York City. On 11 March 2014, with the blessing of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and all Rus', the Superior of the

Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius The Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius (russian: Тро́ице-Се́ргиева ла́вра) is the most important Russian monastery and the spiritual centre of the Russian Orthodox Church. The monastery is situated in the town of Sergiyev Pos ...

, Archbishop Theognost (Guzikov) of

Sergiev Posad Sergiyev Posad ( rus, Се́ргиев Поса́д, p=ˈsʲɛrgʲɪ(j)ɪf pɐˈsat) is a city and the administrative center of Sergiyevo-Posadsky District in Moscow Oblast, Russia. Population: It was previously known as ''Sergiyev Posad'' (unti ...

, tonsured him a monk with the name John in honour of St.

John (Maximovitch) of Shanghai and San Francisco Saint John of Shanghai and San Francisco (russian: Иоанн Шанхайский и Сан Францисский, Ioann Shankhayskiyi i San Frantsiskyi; secular name Mikhail Borisovich Maximovitch, russian: Михаил Борисович Ма ...

. A Holy Synod decision, on 25 July 2014, appointed him as Administrator of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA, and vicar bishop of the Diocese of Moscow with the title of bishop . On July 28, 2014, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, at the Liturgy in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, elevated him to the rank of

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 August 1, 2014, in Church of George the Great Martyr at

Poklonnaya Hill Poklonnaya Gora (russian: Покло́нная гора́, literally "bow-down hill"; metaphorically "Worshipful Submission Hill"') is, at 171.5 meters, one of the highest natural spots in Moscow. Its two summits used to be separated by the Setun ...

during the

Divine Liturgy Divine Liturgy ( grc-gre, Θεία Λειτουργία, Theia Leitourgia) or Holy Liturgy is the Eucharistic service of the Byzantine Rite, developed from the Antiochene Rite of Christian liturgy which is that of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of C ...

the Episcopal Consecration of Archimandrite John (Roshchin) as Bishop of Naro-Fominsk was performed by: Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and all Russia, Metropolitan Juvenaly (Poyarkov) of Krutisty and Kolomna, Metropolitan

Hilarion (Alfeyev) Hilarion (secular name Grigory Valerievich Alfeyev, russian: Григо́рий Вале́риевич Алфе́ев; 24 July 1966) is a bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church and the current metropolitan of Budapest and Hungary. He is also a no ...

of Volokolamsk, Archbishop

Mark (Golovkov) Metropolitan Mark (russian: Митрополит Марк, secular name Sergey Anatolievich Golovkov, russian: Сергей Анатольевич Головков; born 31 March 1964), is a bishop in the Russian Orthodox Church. He holds the tit ...

of Yegorievsk, Bishop

Sergius (Chashin) Metropolitan and Exarch Sergius of Singapore and South-East Asia (russian: Митрополит Сергий, secular name Nikolay Nikolayevich Chashin, russian: Николай Николаевич Чашин; born June 19, 1974, Komsomolsky, Mord ...

of Solnechnogorsk.

Primate of the Patriarchal Exarchate in Western Europe (PEWE)

On 15 October 2018, the

Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church ( rus, Священный синод Русской православной церкви, Svyashchennyy sinod Russkoy pravoslavnoy tserkvi) serves by Church statute as the supreme administrative go ...

appointed him , in charge of the

parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church in Italy The Parishes of the Moscow Patriarchate in the Italian Republic (russian: Приходы Московского патриархата в Итальянской Республике, it, parrocchie del Patriarcato di Mosca in Repubblica Italiana)) ...

. "On 28 December 2018,the

appointed him as the primate of the Western Europe Exarchate, with the title "of

Chersonesus Chersonesus ( grc, Χερσόνησος, Khersónēsos; la, Chersonesus; modern Russian and Ukrainian: Херсоне́с, ''Khersones''; also rendered as ''Chersonese'', ''Chersonesos'', contracted in medieval Greek to Cherson Χερσών; ...

and

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...

", he was also simultaneously appointed as the primate of the diocese of Chersonesus. He temporarily continue to administer the parishes in Italy." "January 3, 2019:

Patriarch Kirill Kirill or Cyril (russian: link=Russian, Кирилл, chu, , secular name Vladimir Mikhailovich Gundyayev, russian: link=no, Владимир Михайлович Гундяев; born 20 November 1946) is a Russian Orthodox bishop. He became ...

elevated him to the dignity of

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 ...

at the Kremlin Dormition Cathedral in Moscow, during the

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_on_28_December_2018.

__Metropolitan_of_Vienna_and_Budapest_

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on 28 December 2018.

Metropolitan of Vienna and Budapest

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