Category Archives: Archdiocese of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

10 May 2025: A Historic Celebration in London

After 75 years of presence, the Romanian Orthodox Church in Great Britain and Northern Ireland has been formed into an Archdiocese with its own Archbishop Athanasius/Atanasie (Rusnak). Aged 43, he is a Russian-speaking Moldovan, as we had hoped we would have, by background an engineer. He is highly educated, who studied in France and the USA and speaks five languages fluently (not through Google translate!). Archbishop Atanasie was previously bishop in Italy and has now been transferred here, to our great delight.

Vladica lives at the monastery in Stanbridge near Luton, where we have been many times and spoken to Vladica, in front of the photographs of his, and our, beloved spiritual fathers, Metr Kallistos (Ware) (Eternal Memory!) and dear Fr Raphael (Noica). Vladica calls Fr Raphael his ‘spiritual grandfather’, which is most interesting, as he was my spiritual father. This is logical, because Vladica is exactly a generation younger than myself, but we have the same spiritual and theological heritage.

The Archdiocese is part of the expanding Autonomous Orthodox Metropolia of Western and Southern Europe, with its bishops in France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Ireland, Iceland and now Great Britain. In the last twenty years of intense immigration and missionary conversion of native people, it is now four million strong, and has many monasteries and convents. The Metropolia is led by the dynamic Metropolitan Joseph (Pop), who is respected internationally for his love of the monastic life, his knowledge, experience and pastoral wisdom. Its Synod of Bishops and network of parishes and monasteries is now the centre of hope for a future multinational Local Church of Western Europe.

On Saturday 10 May we celebrated the Divine Liturgy and Vladica’s Enthronement at our new St George’s Cathedral in Enfield in North London. Present were 14 bishops, Romanian, Moldovan and French, some 120 priests from the for now 90 Romanian parishes in this country and abroad. The Cathedral was packed, even though the Enthronement had to be by invitation only, as so many thousands wanted to come. The service was mainly in Romanian, but parts of it were celebrated and sung in English, as all realise that the use of English is essential in order to keep the children in the Church.

Present was Romanian Orthodox Trinitas TV, the Lord Chamberlain, representing King Charles, who so loves Romania and Romanian culture, as well as the Romanian ambassador, Dame Laura, whom we know very well. Old friends from the Serbian, Georgian, Antiochian and Greek Churches and from the canonical Russian Church under Bishop Matthew of Sourozh were present.  They all concelebrated, except for the latter because of the political dispute between the Russian Church with the Greek Church, one of whose bishops concelebrated, but he did take communion with us.

Fortunately, despite its dispute with the Greek Church, the canonical Russian Church is in full communion with the Romanian Church. The Sourozh group recognises the sacraments of other Orthodox, unlike the schismatic Russians, who tried to steal and close our church (when it remained open in faithfulness), actively slandered us and made death threats. Why other Russian Orthodox bishops tolerate such behaviour remains a mystery, though the schismatic and violent ‘Russian’ has had to be restrained by the canonical Russians.

The Romanian and Moldovan Diaspora in this country now numbers over one million and the Church is growing rapidly, with many ordinations of properly qualified and educated, seminary-trained young men to the clergy. More are now training at the largely Romanian-run Theological Institute in Cambridge, including three more candidates from our ever-expanding Colchester parish, as well as in the Romanian Institutes in Paris and Rome. Within a few years, there is no reason to think that the total number of parishes, each of which is already attended by hundreds every Sunday, will not grow to several hundred.

Just in the last few weeks, large churches have been bought in Southampton in southern England and in Dundee, in Scotland and consecrations are going ahead. The Church is young and energetic, as witnessed to by the vibrant Cathedral choir, there are many children, and the average age of clergy and people is about 35. Many, especially women, dressed in national costume for the celebration. Although in Colchester we do about 150 baptisms a year, another parish does 1,000 a year. After the celebration all the priests were awarded a pectoral cross and certificate/gramota in honour of the event.

Afterwards, 300 of us, including ‘the Colchester Diocese’, as we are known(!), attended the reception at a Romanian-owned hotel complex with large grounds, situated in Elstree. We had a very nice dinner at 4,00 pm and were able to talk to several bishops, including the new young Moldovan Bishop Benjamin, and learned many interesting and positive things, especially from Metropolitan Joseph, who is so kind to us.

Vladica related to us events at the consecration of the new Serbian bishop in Paris last year. (I studied at seminary in Paris with the former Bishop, the now departed Bishop Luka in the 1970s. Eternal Memory!). We were very touched by the words of Archbishop Atanasie who said to us: ‘Thank you for everything you do for us’. These words rang in our ears. It is clear that we will be able to continue to help the Romanian Church with liturgical texts in English, as we have already done over the last ten years, as well as with the many Ukrainians and Russians who come to us, refugees in search of a non-political Church.

Having set out at 5.00 on Saturday morning, we returned home at 10.00 in the evening, very tired, but very happy on this historic day. We now look forward to Vladica’s visit to us on All Saints Day, 15 June. The Church moves forward by leaps and bounds, in the mainstream of the Orthodox Life, as we look forward to the future, away from the petty nationalistic and ideological political disputes of others in the past.

 

Our Archdiocese (Roarch) Has a New Website

The website of the Romanian Orthodox Metropolia of Western and Southern Europe of 870 parishes had not  been updated for ten years.

Thanks to the efforts of our dear Archbishop Athanasy, our Archdiocese of Great Britain and Northern Ireland now has its own website, where of course we are also to be found: https://roarch.org.uk/parishes-england/. Listed are 65 parishes and communities in England, served by 45 priests and 13 deacons. There are also 10 priests, 2 deacons and 9 parishes in Scotland and 2 priests and 2 parishes in Wales. 23 men are currently awaiting ordination. Vladica is going to be very busy!

Our Archbishop Athanasius of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

The Most Reverend Athanasius of Bogdania, Vicar Bishop of the Diocese of Italy, was elected on Friday 25 October to the dignity of the Romanian Orthodox Archbishop of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The newly elected Archbishop of Great Britain is 42 years old and has been a bishop of the Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church since May 2018.

He was born on 17 January 1982 in Chisinau in the Republic of Moldova, being the first of the two sons of Eugen and Ala Rusnac and also speaks Russian. He has held Romanian citizenship since 12 October 2010.

He was tonsured monk on 8 December 2008 and then was ordained deacon. On 16 April 2009 he became a priest for the chapel of the Diocesan Centre and the Dormition Monastery in Rome. Between 2009 and 2018 he served at the ‘Dormition of the Virgin Mary’ Chapel next to the Diocesan Centre in Rome.

On 15 February 15 2018, he was elected Vicar Bishop of the Romanian Orthodox Diocese of Italy, with the title of Bogdania , and on 1 May he was consecrated bishop.

Archbishop Athanasius was an engineer. He studied between 2000 and 2005 at INSA Lyon (Institut National des Sciences Appliqués de Lyon – France). He obtained the degree of Engineer with a Master’s degree, his speciality – Telecommunications and Networks. He also followed a specialisation internship in the field of IT (MT Systems – Lyon, France).

Between 2006 and 2010, he attended the ‘Saint-Serge’ Faculty of Orthodox Theology in Paris, as did Fr Andrew Phillips, but that was over 25 years earlier. He obtained his bachelor’s degree in pastoral theology in 2010. Between 2010 and 2012, he attended a Master’s course in Practical Theology (Canon Law), at the Faculty of Theology ‘Andrei Șaguna’ in Sibiu. Master’s thesis – ‘Principles of Canon Theology in the Diaspora, with special reference to Italy’.

The Archdiocese of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, as well as the Diocese of Ireland and Iceland, were established on 29 February 2024. The new dioceses are part of the Romanian Orthodox Metropolia of Western and Southern Europe.

There are over a million Romanians living in Great Britain who currently have 100 parishes, branches and Orthodox missions, as well as three monasteries.

An article from 2020

The life story of the hierarch baptised at the age of eight. From Communism to the Italian diaspora.

The youngest Romanian hierarch, Bishop Atanasie de Bogdania, turned 38 on Friday 17 January 2020. The hierarch gave an interview in which he talks about the story of his life, beyond the already known biography during his almost two years of service as Vicar Bishop of the Diocese of Italy.

Bishop Atanasie de Bogdania was born in Chisinau during the atheist Communist regime and was baptised around the age of eight along with his brother and father. He first became an engineer in Telecommunications and Networks in France, and then a monk in Italy, being a close disciple of Metropolitan Joseph of Western and Southern Europe and of Bishop Silouan of Italy.

His Eminence’s father was a university professor, and his mother worked in a publishing house, things that did not allow them to have visible faith in society. Both the wedding of the parents and the baptism of the children took place after 1990.

‘My father, after Communism fell, with great joy went to the first church he came across, a place of worship that had recently opened because the vast majority of churches had been closed, and asked the priest to marry him. The father, being an experienced minister, asked him: ‘Are you baptised?’, «No!», «But children?», «No children are baptised!».

“In this context, all three of us were baptised: me, my brother, the current deacon Mircea and my father. Shortly after, the parents got married,” recalls the hierarch.

“So, the first encounter with God consciously took place right when I received the Sacrament of Baptism at the age of 8. I remember the gestures that the priest made, the songs from the choir, the emotion of the people who surrounded us, that “How many of you have been baptized in Christ, have also clothed yourselves in Christ”, all of this left a mark on me”.

The Archbishop says that the Most Reverend Metropolitan Joseph and the Most Reverend Bishop Silouan formed him.

“At that time I was young, at 18 I arrived in France and with other colleagues from the INSA Lyon Faculty we went together to monasteries, churches and meetings with young people organised by the parishes. Such great openness, the natural way in which the hierarchs behaved, the way in which they approached people, opened in me this leaning towards Theology”.

This was followed by theological studies and various ministries within the EORI (Romanian Orthodox Episcopate of Italy): Diocesan Secretary, Administrative Counsellor, Exarch of the Monasteries and Diocesan Vicar.

On 15 February 2018, the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church elected him Vicar Bishop of the Diocese of Italy, with the title “of Bogdania”. The consecration took place on 1 May 2018 in Rome.

His Eminence defines his ministry in Italy as a “family” one and relies heavily on the closeness between the clergy and the faithful.

“I try to spend as much time as possible in the territory, that’s why I feel close to the priests, with whom I have a very good relationship. I was godfather to many at their ordination, some I trained with, others I trained and I think we are a real family”.

“This is what I would like in the future: to be a family, together to carry the achievements, but also the hardships. I would like us to be as responsible as we have been until now, that is, to work together for our salvation.”

Although he has been a bishop since 2018, His Eminence has served for ten years in the administration of the Diocese of Italy. “During the ten years of activity, much has been done materially, but the biggest achievement is that our churches are full, people love and seek the Church. That is why our responsibility is very, very big. But in the family everything goes together, both good and bad, to the glory of God”.