Istanbul, April 24, 2023
Met. Joachim (left), Abp. Artemy (right)
Two Orthodox hierarchs have reposed in the Lord in the past two weeks.
On Holy Friday, April 14, Metropolitan Joachim of Nicomedia reposed in the Lord at the age of 81. He breathed his last in a hospital in the city of Istanbul, reports Romfea.
He served the Church as a hierarch for 40 years.
His funeral was served on Bright Thursday, April 20. The service was presided over by Patriarch Bartholomew with the concelebration of several hierarchs.
And on April 22, Bright Saturday, His Eminence Archbishop Artemy of Grodno of the Belarusian Orthodox Church reposed in the Lord at the age of 70, reports Patriarchia.ru.
He served the Church as a hierarch for 27 years.
May their memories be eternal!
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Met. Joachim was born in Istanbul on March 1, 1942.
He graduated from the Theological School of Halki in 1966. He was ordained to the diaconate on December 18, 1966. He served as the Second Patriarchal Deacon from 1970 to 1973. He was ordained to the priesthood on September 21, 1973, and was consecrated as Auxiliary Bishop of Melitene on September 23.
He was appointed Grand Chancellor of the Ecumenical Patriarchate on March 25, 1974, and served in this capacity for 18 years. On December 10, 1991, he was elected Metropolitan of the Senior See of Chalcedon.
On February 6, 2002, he suffered a stroke in his apartment in Istanbul and was taken to the American Hospital in Istanbul for treatment.
He was elected Metropolitan of Nicomedia on March 21, 2008.
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Abp. Artemy was born on April 25, 1952, in Minsk.
In 1976, after serving in the army, he was accepted as a novice at the Pskov Caves Monastery. That same year, he entered the Leningrad Theological Seminary, and in 1979 he entered the Academy.
On February 21, 1982, he was ordained to the diaconate and later that year began serving in the Church of St. Alexander Nevsky in Minsk. On March 24, 1984, he was ordained to the priesthood. He helped organize the Sunday School at the church and the home for the elderly and disabled.
On January 3, 1996, he was tonsured a monk at the Zhirovitsky-Holy Dormition Monastery, and on January 8, he was elevated to the rank of archimandrite.
On February 4, he was consecrated Bishop of Grodno in the Holy Spirit Cathedral in Minsk.
On July 18, 2012, he was elevated to the rank of archbishop.
On February 21, 2013, he defended his doctoral dissertation on the history of the Grodno Diocese from 1921 to 1938 at the Warsaw Christian Theological Academy.
By decision of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church on June 9, 2021, Abp. Artemy was retired.
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