Bishop Nicholas (in the world Nikola Soraich , Serb. Nikola Sorazhi ; April 9, 1949 , Butte , Montana ) - the Bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia , the former Bishop of Sitka, the Anchorage and Alaskan Orthodox Church in America . Now the abbot of the Parish of All Saints in Las Vegas , a cleric of the Western American Diocese of the ROCOR [1] .
Bishop Nicholas | ||
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March 5, 2002 - May 13, 2008 | ||
Election | November 15, 2001 | |
Intronization | March 5, 2002 | |
Church | Orthodox Church in America | |
Predecessor | Herman (Svayko) (V / u) | |
Successor | Herman (Svayko) (V / u) | |
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April 22, 2001 - November 15, 2001 | ||
Election | March 21, 2001 | |
Church | Orthodox Church in America | |
Predecessor | Department established | |
Successor | Nikon (Layolin) | |
Education | Seminary of Christ the Savior (Johnstown) , Faculty of Theology, University of Belgrade | |
Birth name | Nikola Soraich | |
Original name at birth | Nikola Sorai | |
Birth | ||
Father | Nikola Soraich | |
Mother | Vera Grace Obilovich | |
Deacon's ordination | August 9, 1970 | |
Presbyter consecration | June 4, 1972 | |
Adoption of monasticism | August 8, 1970 | |
Episcopal consecration | April 22, 2001 |
Namesite - December 6/19 (St. Nicholas of Myra ) [2] .
Biography
His father, Nikola Soraich, arrived in the US from Herzegovina and planned that he would only have a few years, earn money and come back. He landed in New York, then went to Chicago , then to Arizona , then to Wyoming, and finally settled in Butte, Montana, where he worked as a miner. There he married Vera Grace Obilovich, who was born in America, but was from Kameno village in Boka Kotorska [3] . There was April 9, 1949, and Nikolai was born. At that time, in Butte, there were about 300 families of Serbian origin [4] .
His parents were active parishioners of the local Orthodox community [5] . December 24 of the same year, he was baptized in the Serbian Trinity Church in Butte [5] .
After graduating from school in 1967, he entered the Orthodox Seminary of Christ the Savior in Johnstown , Pennsylvania. [5]
On August 8, 1970, he was tonsured into the small schema with a name in honor of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker . The next day he was ordained deacon. [5]
After graduating from the seminary with a bachelor of theology degree on June 4, 1972, he was ordained a hieromonk and ordained to the city of Billings , Montana , where he organized the parish of St. Elijah in the Serbian Cathedral of St. Stephen the First-Crowned in Alhambra , California . In 1974, the parish building was consecrated [6] .
Combined his pastoral duties with the work of a police overseer for parole minors in 1972-1976, and head teacher at Billings Central High School from 1976 to 1978. Received qualification as a professional adviser on re-education and rehabilitation [5] .
In 1978-1979 he studied at the Theological Faculty of the University of Belgrade [5] .
Upon returning to the United States in 1979, he was sent to the city of Las Vegas where he organized a Serbian parish in the name of St. Simeon the Mireochivan , whose church was consecrated in October 1983 [5] .
In October 1988 he received a canonical leave and was accepted into the Orthodox Church in America [5] [7] . On November 13 of this year, he performed the first liturgy in the newly-formed Las Vegas English speaking mission of St. Paul. Soon he was elevated to the dignity of the hegumen . The parish was going to various places for several years, until it acquired its own property on Annie Oakley Drive [8] .
Since 1989, he also served the Church in the missionary department of the Diocese of the West of the Orthodox Church in America, soon becoming its head. His work at the national level as a member of the missionary department of the Orthodox Church in America and the inter-jurisdictional Orthodox Christian Missionary Center served to organize many new missions throughout America [5] .
In 1994, the Bishop of San Francisco Tikhon (Fitzgerald) created the Las Vegas missionary blessing headed by hegumen Nikolai, but already in August of this year hegumen Nikolai was moved to the office of diocesan secretary, which he held until 2001 [5] .
On May 13, 1995, during the consecration of the building of the temple in Las Vegas by Metropolitan Theodosius and Bishop Tikhon [8] , he was elevated to the rank of archimandrite .
In 1997 he was the dean of the monasteries of the diocese, and in 1998 he was appointed rector of the monastery of St. John of Shanghai in San Francisco [7] .
In June 1999, he was a member of the 12th All-American Council [9] .
Bishop's
On March 21, 2001, at the spring meeting of the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church in America, Archimandrite Nicholas was elected titular Bishop of Baltimore, Vicar of Metropolitan of All America and Canada to govern the Alaskan Diocese [5] .
On April 22, 2001, after the consecration of the Cathedral of St. Seraphim in Dallas , he was consecrated as a priest at the church and was consecrated by the metropolitan of all America and Canada, Theodosius , Archbishop of Dallas and South Dimitrius (Rouster) , Archbishop of Philadelsky and Pennsylvania, German (Swaiko) , and an archbishop of an inscription of a copy of the replica. Nathanael (Popp) , Bishop of San Francisco and West Tikhon (Fitzgerald) [10] .
In mid-June 2001, Bishop Nicholas was assigned to supervise the life of the Diocese of Alaska after the dismissal and subsequent temporary ban of Bishop Innocent (Gula) , who was promoted to the post of Vicar Bishop of Hagerstown. In the summer of the same year, Bishop Nicholas visited all the main territories of state deacons and took part in the annual regional conferences in each deity [6] .
According to the memoirs of the bishop, “the diocese was in a restless state. There was disorganization, fragmentation and low morale. Seeds of contention were everywhere. I saw people who grew up together, went to seminary, and even married the representatives of each other's families, were in a state of alienation ” [11] . Bishop Nicholas said that he also discovered that Bishop Innocent had appealed to the ROCOR in order to transfer to this jurisdiction. “Bishop Innokentiy promised that half of the parishes will join immediately, and the rest will follow within a year.” [11] According to Bishop Nicholas, when he arrived in Alaska, there were three unsolved problems that need to be resolved: the clergy, St. Germanovskaya Theological Seminary and the financial situation in the diocese: “When I came here, there was literally no money in the bank for the diocese. All were taken and used ”; Many members of the clergy of the clergy were banned (there were 26 priests in the diocese), and the seminary was in disrepair and was threatened with closure [11] .
He made efforts to revitalize the life of Hermanno Theological Seminary in Kodiak , encouraging admission and restoration of permission for the school to operate within the framework of state instructions [6] .
On October 31, 2001, 82 delegates from the Alaskan parishes unanimously voted to appoint Bishop Nicholas to the Alaskan pulpit [12] , which was done at an extraordinary session of the Synod of Bishops of the Church on November 14-15 [6] . March 5, 2002 nastolovan in the Michael-Archangel Cathedral Sitka [13] .
He did a lot of work to deepen the spirituality, expand the mission, revive the Holy Germanic seminary in Kodiak , and strengthen the financial position of the diocese. On November 22, 2001, the Diocese website began to work [14] .
From February 3 to February 19, 2004, with the blessing of Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexy II, Bishop Nicholas was in Russia with a pilgrimage to the shrines of the Russian Orthodox Church. Vladyka Nikolai spent most of this time in the Holy Trinity St. Sergius Lavra [15]
In July 2004, he visited Herzegovina for the first time, where he met with his relatives. Despite the fact that Bishop Nicholas lived almost all his life in the United States, he was fluent in Serbian [3] [4] .
In July 2006, for the second time in his life, he visited the homeland of his father in Lyubin ( Herzegovina )) and in the village of Dubochicha and for the first time visited the Obilovich family, relatives of his mother Vera. Together with Bishop Athanasius (Yevtic), he participated in one event in Trebin , where he spoke about his ministry in Alaska. According to Bishop Nicholas, “Bishop Grigory of Zakhumsko-Hercegovachsky accepted me as a brother. He opened all the doors for me, and allowed me to worship in any temple of his diocese ” [16] .
Conflict and retirement
On March 4, 2008, by the decision of the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church in America, Bishop Nicholas was sent on leave for an indefinite time. Following the meeting, the Secretary of the Holy Synod Archbishop of Ottawa and Canadian Seraphim (Storheim) sent an official letter to Bishop Nicholas, stating that the members of the Holy Synod received a large number of complaints from the Alaskan diocese, clerics and laity. “Without relying on rumors and at the same time taking into account the seriousness” of the accusations, the members of the Holy Synod, at the suggestion of Bishop Nicholas himself, discussed the situation with all the hierarchs of the OCA. All of them were unanimous in favor of the temporary removal of Bishop Nicholas from the administration of the diocese - in accordance with the statutes of the OCA and the Apostolic Rules 74 and 34. The leadership of the diocese will be entrusted to the temporary administrator, who will be appointed by Metropolitan Herman; a special “committee will also be formed that will consider complaints and allegations received” [17] .
Bishop Alaska Nicholas refused to obey the decision of the Holy Synod and said he did not intend to leave the Alaskan diocese. He also appealed to the clergy of Alaska with the requirement to continue to recognize him as a diocesan bishop. In a letter dated March 5 to Metropolitan Herman, Bishop Nicholas stated: “I am not going to take leave and allow the investigation to be carried out by a committee that is not stipulated by the canons and with which my conscience of the Orthodox bishop cannot accept” [18] .
On March 7, Metropolitan Hermann, in a letter to Bishop Nicholas, assured the hierarch that the members of the Holy Synod “are not opponents (Bishop Nicholas), we are brothers; it was in this spirit that you turned to us for help, and we gave our instructions ”; “I think you know very well that complaints about your actions within the diocese are not related to the style of your leadership, negative press reports or anything that can be published on the Internet. Letters of complaint were received from authoritative persons, both clergy and laity. ” “There are no formal charges, and our preliminary investigation ... should not be considered as replacing statutory or canonical procedures, if any,” [17] .
Also on March 7, the OCA Primate sent a message to the clerics and all believers of the Alaskan Diocese, stating that Bishop Nicholas "was on compulsory leave from March 4, 2008, and he was ordered to leave the Diocese during the investigation of received complaints" [17] . By the decree of Metropolitan Herman, the clergy of Alaska were instructed not to commemorate Bishop Nicholas as the ruling bishop: "During divine services, only the name of the Primate of the Orthodox Church in America should be exalted" [18] .
On March 27, 2008, the Holy Synod of the OCA instructed the Archbishop of Detroit Nathanael (Popp) and the Bishop of Philadelphia and East Pennsylvania Tikhon (Mollard) to visit the Alaska Diocese next week to study the current situation, moreover, “accepting the assurances of His Highness the diocese to the diocese to study the current situation, and taking cooperation ”with a commission sent to Alaska, the Synod overturned the earlier decision to suspend Vladyka Nicholas from the administration of the diocese [19] .
On April 17, the meeting of the Holy Synod of the American Orthodox Church, Bishop Nicholas, after hearing the report of Archbishop Nathanael and Bishop Tikhon, and after the meeting of the Holy Synod agreed to go on voluntary leave before the Synod made a final decision on the current situation in the Alaskan Diocese in May 2008. The administration of the diocese prior to the May meeting of the Synod was entrusted to the Primate of the OCA, Metropolitan Herman. The Bishop of San Francisco, Benjamin, will assist in the administration of the Alaska Diocese of His Beatitude. In his message addressed to the clergy and parishioners of the Alaskan Diocese, Metropolitan Herman pointed out that the name of Bishop Nicholas, who was temporarily removed from the management of the diocese, should still be remembered at the divine services until the final resolution of the situation [20] .
On May 13, 2008, by the decision of the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church in America, Bishop Nicholas was sent for staff with the title "Former Bishop of Sitka." Metropolitan Herman (Svayko) became the temporary administrator of the Alaskan Diocese, and Bishop Benjamin (Peterson) of San Francisco became the administrator of the Diocese. The Holy Synod expressed the hope that, despite the “canonical restrictions that are imposed on the administration of the widow’s diocese,” Metropolitan Hermann and Bishop Benjamin will be able to restore the normal situation in the Alaskan Diocese based on the principles of oikonomia [21] .
In January 2009, it was reported that Bishop Nicholas filed a lawsuit against the Orthodox Church in America for, in his opinion, wrongfully removed from the administration of the diocese. In addition, he asked the court to force the OCA to compensate him for “moral damage”. The head of the OCA, Metropolitan Jonah (Puffhausen), sent a letter to Bishop Nicholas inviting him to discuss the current situation and resolve it peacefully. [22] .
In the ROCOR
March 21, 2014 [23] “in response to a letter from the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia on January 13, 2014, and after much prayerful reflection”, the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church in America granted Bishop Nicholas (Soraich) a canonical release to go to the clergy of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad . In accordance with the conditions laid down by the ROCOR, Bishop Nicholas is released as a bishop alone and will not have the right to participate in the meetings of the Synod of Bishops and the Bishops' Council [24] .
On June 24, 2014, the ROCOR Council of Bishops approved the adoption by the Synod of Bishops of Bishop Nicholas (Soraich), the former Bishop of the Alaskan Orthodox Church in America, as a bishop in peace [25] .
Notes
- ↑ Western American Diocese - Parishes
- Mer Former Hierarchs of Orthodox Church in America
- ↑ 1 2 Hot Јањић Аљаска је garden much closer Archival copy from September 24, 2015 on Wayback Machine , INTERNET NOVINE SERBSKE, 17/6/2004
- ↑ 1 2 Eskimi se krste sa tri prsta!
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Biography of Archimandrite Nikolai (Soraich), Bishop-Elect of Baltimore
- 2 1 2 3 4 Syn hops ka elect Orthodox Orthodox - Orthodox Church
- 2 1 2 Holy Synod Electros Archimandrite Nikolai [Soraich] to the Episcopacy - Orthodox Church in America
- ↑ 1 2 Parishes - St. Paul the Apostle Church - Orthodox Church in America
- ↑ http://oca.org/PDF/12thAAC/minutes/plenary1.pdf
- CA OCA - Archived News - Archimandrite NIKOLAI [Soraich] Consecrated to Episcopacy at Dallas Cathedral .
- ↑ 1 2 3 KodiakDailyMirror: Final Story5.7.08
- ↑ Diocese of Alaska to Elect Candidate for Episcopacy - Orthodox Church in America
- Syn Holy Synod cyc Encyclicals to hor to Gra Gra Gra Gra Gra Orthodox Orthodox Orthodox Orthodox Orthodox Orthodox Orthodox Orthodox Orthodox Orthodox
- ↑ Diocese of Alaska launches new web site - Orthodox Church in America
- Николай Bishop Sitkinsky and Alaskan Nikolay visited Russia / Local Churches // portal project Orthodoxy. Ru
- ↑ [Sim] Aljaski Vladika Sorajic Drugi Put Meðu Hercegovackim Srb Ima
- 2 1 2 3 The governor of the Alaska Diocese of the Orthodox Church in America is temporarily suspended from his duties / News / Patriarchy.ru
- ↑ 1 2 The head of the affairs of the Orthodox Church in America warns the Bishop of Alaska about “serious canonical consequences” in case of disobeying the decisions of the Holy Synod / ...
- The Holy Synod of the Bishops of the Orthodox Church in America canceled the decision to remove the Bishop of Alaska Nicholas / News / Patriarchy.ru
- ↑ Bishop Alaska Nicholas (OCA) once again removed from the management of the diocese :: Kievan Rus
- ↑ By the decision of the Holy Synod of the Bishops of the Orthodox Church in America, Bishop Nicholas of Alaska was sent for state / News / Patriarchy.ru
- ↑ Former Alaskan Bishop sues American Metropolis: Πύλη Bogoslov.ru
- ↑ PASTORAL CHANGES Official No. 560 March 2014
- ↑ Holy Synod releases Bishop Nikolai
- ↑ Russian Orthodox Church Abroad - Official Page
Links
- VESTI iz Frankfurta, dnevni list dijaspore za Evropu, Ameriku i Australiju (Serb.)
- Father Archimandrite Nikolai Bishop (English)
- interview
- BISHOP NIKOLA RIGHT ON THE WAY OF BORAVIO TO THE MOTHER OF BROTHERLY IN HERCEGOVINI (Serb.)
- On the day of the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy and Life-giving Cross of the Lord, the Bishop of Sikhta, Anchorage and Alaska celebrated the Divine Liturgy in the church of St. vmts. Catherine , September 27, 2004 (interview)