April 24, 2013
Jerusalem: Hieromonk Roman (Krassovsky) Confirmed as Chief of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission of the Russian Church Abroad and Elevated to the Rank of Archimandrite

On Saturday, April 20, the feast of the Laudation of the Most Holy Theotokos, His Eminence Mark, Archbishop of Berlin, Germany, and Great Britain, elevated Hieromonk Roman (Krassovsky; former cleric of Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville, NY) to the rank of abbot during the Divine Liturgy in Holy Ascension Convent on the Mount of Olives. The Synod of Bishops confirmed Fr. Roman as the Head of the Russian Church Abroad’s Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem.

On Sunday, April 21, the Fifth Sunday of Great Lent, Archbishop Mark officiated at the Divine Liturgy at St Mary Magdalene Convent in Gethsemane; he was joined by Abbot Roman and Archimandrite Isidor (Minaev), Head of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission of the Moscow Patriarchate, as well as other mission clergy and visiting clerics. During the Little Entrance, His Eminence elevated Fr. Roman to the rank of archimandrite. Also praying in church were Abbess Elizabeth, rectress of the Gethsemane Convent, and Abbess Moisseia, rectress of Holy Ascension Convent and member of the Russian Orthodox Church’s Inter-Council Presence.

Archbishop Mark congratulated Fr. Roman on the occasion of his elevation to the rank of archimandrite, and presented him with the abbot’s staff. "You must take care," said Archbishop Mark, "that your flock does not stray one step away from Christ, from the straight and narrow path that the Lord has indicated and that the Holy Fathers have showed us. A great duty is being laid on your shoulders, the Synod of Bishops has entrusted you with this obedience, the Synod of Bishops elevated you from Acting Head to Head of the Mission. We rejoice for our flock, for our monastics and pilgrims, that in your person they will have a wise leader who will guide their steps, thoughts, and feelings, and will protect them from false teaching and beliefs.

"I also wish to thank Fr. Isidor for having accepted Fr. Roman as his brother from the moment he arrived, and I ask him to continue to help him, so that in all that we do there may be unity, and that our two Missions may cooperate with each other.”

In turn, Fr. Isidor congratulated Fr. Roman on his elevation to the rank of archimandrite and presented him a silver cross.

In his address, Fr. Isidor noted that "the existence of two Missions in the Holy Land does not demonstrate division, as it might seem, but speaks of the overall size, both spatial and spiritual, of Russia, the Russian Church, and the Russian Diaspora. The fact that the Holy Land has not one, but two, Mission Heads speaks to the fact that this is a great and large Church and this is a great and large Mission; it does not speak to a division in conflict, because we conduct joint divine services, we commune of one Chalice, and we help each other."

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