Mark (Golovkov) of Yegoryevsk
His Eminence Mark (Golovkov), Archbishop of Yegoryevsk and auxiliary to Patriarch Kyrill, is the current head of the Secretariat for Foreign Institutions, as well as being the locum tenens for the Diocese of Vienna, Austria and Hungary.
Biography
Sergei Anatolyevich Golovkov was born on March 31, 1964, in Perm to a church choir member, in a family with three sisters and two brothers. He was raised in an Orthodox Christian household and did well in school.
- 1981: Graduated from high school.
- 1982-84: Compulsory military service, served in the Air Force.
- 1984: Entered Moscow Theological Seminary.
- 1988: Graduated with distinction, then entered Moscow Theological Academy.
- October 19, 1990: Sergei was tonsured at the Academy church of the Protection of the Mother of God, taking the name Mark.
Clerical life
- November 21, 1990: Ordained as hierodeacon.
- January 7, 1991: Ordained hieromonk. He then taught Holy Scripture at the Moscow Theological Seminary.
- 1992: Graduated from the Moscow Theological Academy, defending his thesis, Blessed Diadochos of Photiki and His Theological and Ascetic Views, at the Department of Early Church History.
- August 12, 1992: Though content to stay teaching, Fr. Mark was assigned by the Holy Synod of the Moscow Patriarchate to be a member of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem.
- Dec 1992-Dec 1999: Second-in-charge of the Representation to the Church of Jerusalem. Fr. Mark, because of his proficiency in Hebrew, was in charge of keeping contact with Israeli officials. He also revived large-scale pilgrimages to the Holy Land, preparing itineraries, arranging receptions with the Patriarch and ensuring buses had translators and drivers.
- Pentecost 1997: Patriarch Alexei of Moscow elevated Fr. Mark to the rank of Igumen.
- December 28, 1999: Made deputy chairman of the Department of External Church Relations (DECR), with responsibility for caring for administrative and practical affairs of DECR, including cooperation with state institutions in various countries.
- May 3, 2000: Metropolitan Kyrill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad elevated Igumen Mark to Archimandrite.
Life in the Episcopacy
- January 14, 2004: consecrated bishop at Christ the Saviour Cathedral (nominated on December 26, 2003).
- March 31, 2009: made head of the Secretariat for Foreign Institutions, and locum tenens of the Diocese of Vienna, Austria and Hungary.
- February 1, 2010: elevated to archbishop.
- December 22, 2010: Dean of parishes in the Uspenskoe Deanery in Moscow.
- March 22, 2011: Became member of the Supreme Ecclesiastical Council of the Church of Russia
- April 26, 2011: Deputy Chairman of the Conference of Orthodox Bishops of Austria.
- Currently rector of the Holy Trinity parish in Khoroshyovo, Moscow
- Chief editor of 'Orthodox Pilgrim'
Awards
- Order of Friendship (July 20, 2011). “For his great contributions to the development of spiritual culture, and to the strengthening of friendship amongst peoples”.
- Order of St Sergius of Radonezh, 2nd Class
- Order of St Seraphim of Sarov, 2nd Class (2006)
- The Order of the Holy Sepulchre of the Church of Jerusalem
