Kuremäe, Estonia, May 7, 2018
Cathedral of St. Alexander Nevsky in Tallinn, Estonia. Photo: orthodox.ee The Holy Synod of the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate has chosen candidates for its next primate and announced that the first hierarch will be chosen at its upcoming May 29th session.
The previous Estonian primate, His Eminence Metropolitan Cornelius of Tallinn, reposed on April 19 in his 94th year of life, having served as the primate of the Estonian Church since 1990.
The Synod of the Estonian Church held a meeting on Saturday at Holy Dormition-Puhktitsa Monastery, under the chairmanship of His Grace Bishop Lazar of Narva and Chud, the acting head of the Estonian Church, at which it announced a list of candidates to succeed Met. Cornelius: His Eminence Archbishop Evgeny of Verey, and Bp. Lazar of Narva.
They also chose May 29 as the date for the next session when the primate will be chosen.
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He was tonsured as a monk with the name Evgeny on July 27, 1986, and was ordained as a hierodeacon on August 3 and as a hieromonk on August 28. He was elevated to the rank of igumen on Pascha in 1988 and to that of archimandrite on January 1, 1989, being appointed the deputy rector of the Moscow Theological Seminary and later as inspector. He later served as rector of the Stavropol Theological Seminary, and in 1994 was appointed as the acting Chairman of the Educational Committee of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church.
He was consecrated as the Bishop of Verey on April 16, 1994, and in July 1995 he was appointed the rector of Moscow theological schools. In July 1998 he became the Chairman of the Educational Committee.
He was elevated to the rank of archbishop on February 25, 2000. In 2004 he was awarded the academic title of Professor of the Moscow Theological Academy.
He is a member of the Russian President’s Council for Relations with Religious Organizations, the World Russian People’s Council, the Supreme Church Council of the Russian Orthodox Church, the Synodal Biblical and Theological Commission, the Synodal Commission for Canonizations, and the Coordination Center for the Development of the Theological Sciences in the Russian Orthodox Church. He was a member of the Commission for Dialogue with the Russian Church Abroad from 2005 to 2007.
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He served as the abbot of the Holy Trinity Monastery in Chufarovo from 1993 to 2000, and as abbot of the St. John the Theologian Monastery in Sanaxar since 2000. He also serves as the Chairman of the Sanaxar Diocese’s Department for Charity and Social Service.
He graduated from the Samara Theological Academy in 2001, and from the Moscow Theological Academy in 2005.
He was elevated to the rank of archimandrite on July 20, 2009 in preparation for becoming the bishop of the newly-formed Diocese of Narva, a vicariate of the Tallinn Diocese. He was consecrated to the episcopacy the next day.
He was appointed as the ruling bishop of the Narva Diocese on May 30, 2011.
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