Syosset, New York, November 13, 2019
Archimandrite Alexis (left), Hieromonk Andrei (right). Photo: oca.org
The Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church in America elected two auxiliary bishops at its regular fall session in Syosset, New York yesterday.
The hierarchs’ session, under the presidency of His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon, began yesterday and will continue until Friday, November 15.
According to the report on the OCA website, the Holy Synod elected Archimandrite Alexis (Trader) as Bishop-elect of Bethesda, auxiliary to the Metropolitan for stavropegial institutions, and Hieromonk Andrei (Hoarște ) as Bishop-elect of Cleveland, auxiliary to His Eminence Archbishop Nathaniel of the Romanian Episcopate.
The stavropegial institutions of the OCA include: Monks and Nuns of New Skete (Cambridge, NY), St. Vladimir’s Theological Seminary and Three Hierarchs Chapel (Crestwood, NY), Holy Myrrhbearer’s Monastery (Otego, NY), St. Sergius of Radonezh Chapel at the OCA chancery (Oyster Bay Cove, NY), and St. Tikhon of Zadonsk Monastery and Seminary (South Canaan, PA).
The Romanian Episcopate includes more than 100 churches, chapels, mission, and monasteries throughout America and Canada.
At this fall session, the hierarchs will also discuss plans for next year’s celebration of the 50th anniversary of the granting of autocephaly to the OCA and the 50th anniversary of the glorification of St. Herman of Alaska.
***
The OCA site provides biographies for the two bishop-elects:
Archimandrite Alexis (Trader) is a Great-schema hieromonk who has returned from Greece to the United States on His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon’s invitation and with the blessing of his abbot, Archimandrite Philotheos, in order to serve the Orthodox Church in America. He was received into the Orthodox faith at the Monastery of Saint Tikhon where he became a monk and lecturer in patristics. After ten years at the monastery, he went to the Monastery of Karakallou on the Holy Mountain in order to deepen his experience of the monastic life. There, he immersed himself in the life of community and was ordained to the holy priesthood. He also wrote In Peace Let us Pray to the Lord, translated several Greek books into English, and edited other books in both Greek and English for publication. For health reasons, he was transferred to a women’s monastery that was also a dependency of Karakallou. There, the local bishop blessed him to be a spiritual father for the community that also served as a parish for many Greeks in the area. At this time, he completed his doctoral dissertation in Greek at the University of Thessaloniki which was later published in Greek and English as Ancient Christian Wisdom and Aaron Beck’s Cognitive Therapy. He has also engaged in further studies in clinical psychology, but his chief work has been pastoral, building up the parish growing around the monastery and offering one-on-one assistance to those in need through the mystery of holy confession and counseling. Since 2019, Archimandrite Alexis has been in residence at the Monastery of Saint Tikhon. During this past year, he has given a talk on the ascetic ethos of Orthodox liturgical art for a music conference at Jewel College, lectures on the Prophet Isaiah at Saint Tikhon’s Orthodox Theological Seminary [STOTS], in Alaska for their continuing education programs, a lecture on beauty in Church architecture at the Orthodox Inter-Seminary Movement’s [OISM] latest gathering at STOTS, and sermons in parishes and at the monastery Church.
Hieromonk Andrei (Hoarște) was born in 1982 into an Orthodox Christian family in Făgăraș, Romania. At the age of 15, he moved with his family to the United States where they established their home in Dearborn Heights, Michigan, becoming members of Sts. Peter & Paul Romanian Orthodox Church. While completing his high school and undergraduate studies, he was active in the life of the parish and Episcopate. In September 2004, with the blessing of His Eminence, Archbishop Nathaniel, he began pursuing theological studies at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Brookline, Massachusetts, graduating in 2008 with a Master of Divinity Degree and working at the same time for the Master of Theology Degree. In October 2010, he commenced doctoral studies at the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome, Italy, earning a Doctorate of Theology Degree in June 2019 in the field of dogmatic/liturgical studies. He was ordained into the Holy Diaconate in September 2012 and then the Holy Priesthood that December by Archbishop Nathaniel, who subsequently appointed him to lead the Episcopate’s Department of Youth & Young Adult Ministry in 2013 and then as Vicar of Canada in 2014 to assist with the administrative and pastoral responsibilities of the Episcopate. At the request of Archbishop Nathaniel and in accordance with the ROEA By-Laws, the Church Congress of the Romanian Orthodox Episcopate of America in Special Electoral Session elected him as a candidate for the office of Auxiliary Bishop on August 31, 2019. On October 13, 2019, he received the monastic tonsure and was given the name Andrei.
