John Bērziņš (, born Pēteris Bērziņš or Pyotr Leonodovich Berzin, ; born 16 March 1956,

Cooma Cooma is a town in the south of New South Wales, Australia. It is located south of the national capital, Canberra, via the Monaro Highway. It is also on the Snowy Mountains Highway, connecting Bega, New South Wales, Bega with the Riverina. ...

NSW New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a state on the east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria to the south, and South Australia to the west. Its coast borders the Coral and Tasman Seas to the east. T ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

) is

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

Caracas Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...

and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

for the

Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia The Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (), also called Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia or ROCOR, or Russian Orthodox Church Abroad (ROCA), is a semi-autonomous part of the Russian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate). Currently, t ...

(ROCOR) and head of the church's Old-Rite parishes.

Life

Pēteris Bērziņš was born on 16 March 1956 in Cooma, Australia, of Latvian Orthodox refugees, Leonid (1921–1996) and Margarita (b. 1926) Bērziņš, who were forced to leave their homeland during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He grew up in Cooma and graduated with a philological degree from the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...

. He was fluent in

ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

and

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

. In 1982, he entered Holy Trinity Monastery in

Jordanville, New York Jordanville is a hamlet in the town of Warren, Herkimer County, New York, United States. Jordanville is in the northwestern part of Warren, at the intersection of New York State Route 167 and County Route 155. The community was settled b ...

, and enrolled in

Holy Trinity Seminary Holy Trinity Seminary is a Roman Catholic seminary residence in Irving, Texas, United States, in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Dallas, Diocese of Dallas, Texas that is located within the University of Dallas campus, founded in 1964. It is headed ...

. He graduated from the

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

in 1985. On 16 March 1985, he was

tonsure Tonsure () is the practice of cutting or shaving some or all of the hair on the scalp as a sign of religious devotion or humility. The term originates from the Latin word ' (meaning "clipping" or "shearing") and referred to a specific practice in ...

d to the mantle on by Archbishop Laurus (Škurla) of Syracuse and Holy Trinity. and on 12 April 1987 he was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

hierodeacon A hierodeacon (Greek: Ἱεροδιάκονος, ''Ierodiákonos''; Slavonic: ''Ierodiakón''), sometimes translated "deacon-monk", in Eastern Orthodox Christianity and all other Churches that follow Byzantine Rite is a monk who has been ordained a ...

also by Archbishop Laurus. From 1992 to 1997, he served as father-confessor at Gethsemane Convent in the

Holy Land The term "Holy Land" is used to collectively denote areas of the Southern Levant that hold great significance in the Abrahamic religions, primarily because of their association with people and events featured in the Bible. It is traditionall ...

. In 1994, he was awarded the gold

pectoral cross A pectoral cross or pectorale (from the Latin ''pectoralis'', "of the chest") is a Christian cross, cross that is worn on the chest, usually suspended from the neck by a cord or Link chain, chain. In ancient history and the Middle Ages, pector ...

by Archbishop Laurus (Škurla). From 2002 to 2005, he served again as father-confessor at Gethsemane Convent in the Holy Land. On 5 September 2005, during the Celebrations of the 75th Anniversary of Holy Trinity Monastery he was elevated to the rank of

hegumen Hegumen, hegumenos, or igumen (, trans. ), is the title for the head of a monastery in the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches, or an archpriest in the Coptic Orthodox Church, similar to the title of abbot. The head of a convent of ...

by Metropolitan Laurus (Škurla). From 2005 to 2008, he ministered to Ss. Sergius and German of Valaam Community of the Diocese of Chicago and Mid-America. From May 7 to 20, 2008, the Council of Bishops of the ROCOR designated him as candidate for the South America diocese. On May 7/20, 2008, Council of Bishops of the ROCOR decreed to send the curriculum vitae of Hegumen John (Bērziņš ) along with a corresponding appeal to Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia with the request to confirm his candidacy for episcopal consecration. Upon the confirmation of his candidacy by the Holy Synod of the Moscow Patriarchate, to determine the time and place of his consecration.Curriculum Vitae of Hegumen John (ROCOR website)
/ref> After consulting with the members of the Holy Synod of the Moscow Patriarchate, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia confirmed the selection of Hegumen John on June 19. Hegumen John was consecrated Bishop of Caracas on 21 June 2008, at the Old-Rite Church of the Nativity in

Erie, Pennsylvania Erie is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, fifth-most populous city in Pennsylvania and the most populous in Northwestern Pen ...

. Officiating at the consecration were Metropolitan

Hilarion (Kapral) Metropolitan Hilarion (born Igor Alexeyevich Kapral, ; 6 January 1948 – 16 May 2022) was a bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR), Metropolitan of Eastern America and New York, First-Hierarch of the ROCOR since 18 May ...

of New York and Eastern America, Bishop Daniel (Alexandrov) of Erie, and Bishop

Peter (Loukianoff) Archbishop Peter (, secular name Pavel Andreyevich Loukianoff, ; August 9, 1948 – November 8, 2024) was an American bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, serving as archbishop of Chicago and Mid-America. Biography Pavel ...

of Cleveland. On 26 October 2010, he was appointed head of the Old-Rite parishes of the ROCOR. He speaks

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

, Latvian,

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

and

languages, and is studying the Argentine dialect of Spanish.

References

Sources

Bishop John of Caracas: Many Years!

bishop John of Caracas and South America gives an interview to "Neskuchny sad"

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berzins, John 1956 births Living people Australian people of Latvian descent People from Cooma Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia