Moscow, October 12, 2023
Photo: azbyka.ru
The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church appointed a new rector for the Russian representation church in Sofia at its session yesterday.
There have been many questions surrounding the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in the Bulgarian capital, which has served as a representation of the Russian Church for several decades and which is home to the relics of the Holy Hierarch and Wonderworker St. Seraphim (Sobolev), after its former rector, Archimandrite Vassian (Zmeev), and one other priest and an employee were expelled from the country last month, having been deemed threats to national security by Bulgarian authorities.
The church was closed and there arose questions of who legally owns it and which ecclesiastical authority is responsible for restaffing it.
A few days after the three men were expelled from the country, His Holiness Patriarch Neofit of Bulgaria appointed Bulgarian priests to serve there and informed His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow of this decision by letter. The Bulgarian Holy Synod expressed its full support for the Patriarch’s decision a few days later.
The Russian Patriarch then responded to his Bulgarian counterpart, saying despite the “unfriendly and unfair” actions of Bulgarian state bodies, the fraternal bond remains strong between the two Orthodox Churches. He also informed him that the Russian Synod would soon appoint a new rector for the Church of St. Nicholas, which it did yesterday.
The Holy Synod “expressed categorical protest” to the “gross and discriminatory actions of the Bulgarian authorities” to expel the priest “under a far-fetched pretext” and supported the position of Pat. Kirill as expressed in his letter to Pat. Neofit, reports Patriarchia.ru.
The hierarchs then resolved to appoint Archpriest Vladimir Tyschuk as the new rector of the St. Nicholas Church.
Fr. Vladimir served the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA in various capacities for a decade (1989-1999) and earned a degree from St. Tikhon’s Orthodox Theological Seminary during his time there. Having been ordained to the diaconate and priesthood in America, he was then appointed to serve as the Orthodox Church in America’s representation church in Moscow.
After a little more than two years, he was then sent to serve at the St. Nicholas Cathedral in Vienna, where he remained until yesterday’s appointment.
Fr. Vassian, formerly the rector in Sofia, was appointed yesterday as the new head of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem.
Follow OrthoChristian on Twitter, Vkontakte, Telegram, WhatsApp, MeWe, and Gab!