Archbishop Tikhon (Zaitsev) (russian: Тихон (Зайцев), secular name Alexander Viktorovich Zaitsev, russian: Александр Викторович Зайцев; born 13 April 1967), is the archbishop of
Podolsky and the primate of the
diocese of Berlin and Germany of the
Russian Orthodox Church
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, caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia
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; he holds the title of "Archbishop of Berlin and Germany".
Early life
Alexander Zaitsev was born in Moscow in 1967. After graduating from high school, he then attended vocational school and graduated in 1985. From 1985 to 1987, he served in the
Soviet Army
uk, Радянська армія
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.
Religious life
After completing his military services, Zaitsev entered the Moscow Seminary, which he successfully completed in 1991. In the same year he was admitted to the
Moscow Theological Academy
Moscow Theological Academy (russian: Московская духовная академия) is a higher educational institution of the Russian Orthodox Church, training clergy, teachers, scholars, and officials.
The Academy traces its origin to ...
, which he graduated in 1995, defending his inaugural dissertation on the dignity of the candidate of theology in the department "The Venerable Theodore Studites - teacher of the monastic order".
After completing his studies at the Academy, Tikhon continued his work as a teacher in the Moscow seminary, where he taught liturgy, homiletics and
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...
.
On 25 March 1993 he was consecrated a priest by
Patriarch Alexy II, and was shortly after
tonsured a monastic
monk
A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...
by the Archimandrite Benedict (Knjasev), the first Prorector of the Moscow Spiritual Academy and the Seminary. He took the name Tikhon in honor of
St. Tikhon, the previous
Patriarch of all Russia.
On 6 January 1996, he was ordained a
hieromonk
A hieromonk ( el, Ἱερομόναχος, Ieromonachos; ka, მღვდელმონაზონი, tr; Slavonic: ''Ieromonakh'', ro, Ieromonah), also called a priestmonk, is a monk who is also a priest in the Eastern Orthodox Church an ...
by
Eugene (Reshetnikov)
Metropolitan Eugene (russian: Митрополит Евгений, et, Metropoliit Jevgeni secular name Valery Germanovich Reshetnikov, russian: Валерий Германович Решетников; born October 9, 1957) is a bishop of the ...
. On Easter in 1996 Tikhon was awarded a
pectoral cross
A pectoral cross or pectorale (from the Latin ''pectoralis'', "of the chest") is a cross that is worn on the chest, usually suspended from the neck by a cord or chain. In ancient and medieval times pectoral crosses were worn by both clergy and ...
by Patriarch Alexy II. On Easter in 1999, he was elevated to the rank of
hegumen
Hegumen, hegumenos, or igumen ( el, ἡγούμενος, trans. ), is the title for the head of a monastery in the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches, similar to the title of abbot. The head of a convent of nuns is called a hegumenia ...
.
On 24 December 2004 by the decision of the Holy Synod he was appointed a member of the Russian Spiritual Mission in Jerusalem, and on 6 October 2006 he was appointed head of the mission.
On 8 October 2006 at the Assumption Cathedral 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 ...
, Tikhon was elevated 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") wh ...
by Patriarch Alexy II.
As Bishop
On 31 March 2009, by decision of the Holy Synod, Tikhon was elected Bishop of
Podolsky, Vicar to the Patriarch of Moscow and Russia. He was also appointed chairman of the revived Financial and Economic Department of the Moscow Patriarchate with the dismissal of the head of the Russian Theological Mission in Jerusalem.
On 14 April 2009 of the same year, he was appointed rector of the
Church of St. Nicholas in Khamovniki. On 25 April Tikhon was appointed bishop in the Cross Church of All Saints for the Patriarchal and Synodal Residences of the
Danilov Monastery
Danilov Monastery (also ''Svyato-Danilov Monastery'' or ''Holy Danilov Monastery''; Данилов монастырь, Свято-Данилов монастырь in Russian) is a walled monastery on the right bank of the Moskva River in Moscow. ...
in the Russian land.
On April 26 of the same year, at the liturgy in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, the episcopal consecration of Tikhon was performed. The ordination was performed by: Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill, Metropolitan of Washington and New York
Jonah (Paffhausen)
Metropolitan Jonah (born James Paffhausen, Jr.; October 20, 1959) is a retired American Eastern Orthodox bishop who served as the primate of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA) with the title ''The Most Blessed Archbishop of Washington, Metropo ...
, Archbishop
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 ...
, Archbishop of Ottawa and Canada
Seraphim (Storheim), Archbishop
Eugene (Reshetnikov)
Metropolitan Eugene (russian: Митрополит Евгений, et, Metropoliit Jevgeni secular name Valery Germanovich Reshetnikov, russian: Валерий Германович Решетников; born October 9, 1957) is a bishop of the ...
of Vereya, Archbishop of Orekhovo-Zuyevo, Archbishop of Sergiyev Posad, Archbishop of Boryspil, Bishop
Sabbas (Volkov) of Krasnogorsk, Bishop of Bryansk and Sevsk, Bishop of Gatchina, Bishop of Bronnitsy, Bishop
Elisey (Ganaba) of Sourozh, 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. He became the first bishop to be put on the patriarchate of Patriarch Kirill.
On 27 July 2009, by a decision of the Holy Synod, he was included in the Inters Cathedral Assembly of the Russian Orthodox Church.
On 22 March 2011, he was ex officiator included in the newly formed Higher Church Council of the Russian Orthodox Church.
From 2011 to 2015 Tikhon has been the head of the North-Eastern Vicariate (encompass the area of the
North-Eastern Administrative Okrug), officially appointed as the Head of the Vicariate and is included in the Diocesan Council of Moscow only on 31 December of the same year.
On 22 October 2015 Tikhon was appointed bishop of the Vienna-Austrian and Hungarian dioceses. He visited Austria for the first time on 5 November and Hungary on 9 November of that year. On 10 November he met with the Deputy Prime Minister of the Hungary
Zsolt Semjén
Zsolt Semjén (; born 8 August 1962) is a Hungarian politician. Member of Parliament between 1994 and 1998 and from 2002. Since 2003, he has been the chairman of the Christian Democratic People's Party. Minister without portfolio and Deputy Pri ...
, as well as with the Catholic Cardinal of Hungary
Péter Erdő
Péter Erdő ( hu, Erdő Péter, ; born 25 June 1952) is a Hungarian Cardinal of the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church, who has been the Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest and Primate of Hungary since 2003.
He was president of the Council of t ...
.
On 28 December 2017, he was relieved from the administration of the Vienna-Austrian and Hungarian dioceses and was succeeded by
Anthony (Sevryuk)
Metropolitan Anthony (russian: Митрополит Антоний, secular name Anton Yuryevich Sevryuk, russian: Антон Юрьевич Севрюк; born 12 October 1984), is the primate of the Patriarchal Exarchate in Western Europe of the ...
, while Tikhon was appointed bishop of the
Berlin-German diocese with the title “Podolsky” retained, due to the fact that the title of bishop of Berlin and German is already held by Archbishop
Mark (Arndt).
On 9 January 2018, as part of being appointed bishop of Germany, Tikhon was relieved of the administration of the North-Eastern Vicariate of the city of Moscow and the post of rector of the
Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in
Khamovniki.
On 1 February 2018 in the
Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Tikhon was elevated to the rank of archbishop by
Patriarch Kirill of Moscow.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tikhon
1967 births
Living people
Clergy from Moscow
Soviet military personnel
Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church
Russian Orthodox Christians from Russia
Eastern Orthodoxy in Germany
Eastern Orthodoxy in Austria
Eastern Orthodoxy in Hungary
21st-century Eastern Orthodox bishops