Metropolitan Gregory (in the world, George Ivanov Uzunov , Bulgarian. Georgi Ivanov Uzunov ; August 6, 1906 , Gabarevo village - December 7, 2000 , Lovech ) - Bishop of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church , Metropolitan Lovchansky .
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Biography
Born on August 6, 1906 in the village of Gabarevo, Kazanlaksky outskirts in the family of a craftsman. His father was a mason, and a pious mother, who played a large role in the religious growth of his son, was a weaver.
George received primary education in his native village.
In 1922 he was given to the Plovdiv Theological Seminary , which he successfully graduated in 1928.
After working for a year at the diocesan candle factory in the city of Stara Zagora , on August 18, 1929 he was tonsured a monk with the name Gregory at the Church of the Entry into the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Stara Zagora and was ordained a priest the next day.
In 1929 he entered the theological faculty of Sofia State University , after which in 1933 he was appointed a teacher in a four-year pastoral school in the Cherepish Monastery .
There, on February 15, 1934, the rector of the school, Bishop of Bregalnitsky Panaret, he was ordained as hieromonk and appointed rector of the school church.
During the academic year 1934-1935, Hieromonk Grigory taught at the Sofia Theological Seminary .
In the fall of 1935 he was transferred to the Plovdiv Seminary as a teacher, and soon became a teacher, librarian and rector of the seminary church.
On November 5, 1939 he was appointed protosingel of the Starozagorsky Metropolis in which he remained in office with short interruptions until April 1, 1952.
On July 26, 1941, by the decision of the Holy Synod, he was elevated to the rank of archimandrite by Metropolitan Clement of Starozagorsky.
From April 1, 1952 until the end of 1962 - protosingel to the Diocese of Vrachany .
From January 1, 1963 to April 1, 1965, he headed the cultural and educational department and the social welfare department of the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church.
From April 1, 1965 to October 2, 1968, hegumen of the stavropegic Troyan Monastery .
April 11, 1965 in the Patriarchal Cathedral in the name of St. Alexander Nevsky was ordained bishop of Krupniški .
By the decision of the Holy Synod, Bishop Gregory on October 2, 1968, took up the post of rector of the Bulgarian church compound in Moscow , with dignity representing the Bulgarian Church until the end of January 1972.
With the election of Metropolitan Maxim Lovchansky to the patriarchal throne, the question arose of the replacement of the Lovchansky chair. On January 30, 1972, at the diocesan elections in Lovech, Bishop Gregory was elected new metropolitan, and on February 13 of that year, in the synodal church in the name of St. Tsar Boris in Sofia, he was unanimously decided by the Holy Synod to be ordained Metropolitan of Lovchansky.
He died on December 7, 2000 in Lovech. Buried in the courtyard of Holy Trinity Cathedral in Lovech.
Literature
- Ignatiev A. Metropolitan Lovchansky Gregory [curriculum vitae] // Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate. M., 1972. No. 5. P. 58-59.
- GREGORY // Orthodox Encyclopedia . - M .: Church Scientific Center "Orthodox Encyclopedia" , 2006. - T. XII. - S. 583. - 752 p. - 39,000 copies. - ISBN 5-89572-017-X .
Links
- Grigory (Uzunov) // Open Orthodox Encyclopedia "Tree"
- BIOGRAPHY on Negovo, Eminence Branicki Bishop GRIGORY