John (Roshchin) of Naro-Fominsk

Hieromonk John (secular name Georgy Yevgenyevich Roshchin, Russian: Георгий Евгеньевич Рощин; 22 october 1974) is priest of the Russian Orthodox Church and elected bishop of Naro-Fominsk, Administrator of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA.

A graduate from the Moscow Theological Seminary and Moscow Theological Academy.

In 1996-1997, worked as an employee of the MP Publishing Council. In 1997, he joined the staff of the MP Synodal Department for External Church Relations.

In December 1998, he was a member of the MP delegation at the Eighth Assembly of the WCC (Harare, Zimbabwe) and he became a member of the WCC Central Committee.

In 2000-2002, he studied at the Faculty of Philosophy at the Catholic University of America (Washington, DC).

From 2003 to 2009, as a member of the Secretariate on Church and Society of the Synodal Department for External Church Relations, he was in charge of inter-religious communication, including interaction with the Interreligious Council of Russia and the SNG Interreligious Council, and international interfaith organizations, was a member of the Commission of the Conference of European Churches "Islam in Europe", participated in the preparation and conduct of the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Meetings of the joint Russian-Iranian commission "Islam-Christianity".

On 27 July 2009, the MP Holy Synod appointed him Deputy Chairman of the MP Synodal Department for the Coordination of Church and Society.

In 2009, with the blessing of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and all the Rus, he was a member of the Council for the Study of Religious Materials to identify extremist materials in the RF Ministry of Justice. He was the official MP representative in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union of Belarus and Russia, a member of the Commission on organising state support and the development of original Cossack culture, a member of the Public Council under the Federal Drug Control Service, and a member of the Public Council under Rosreestr.

From 2010 to 2013, he was the Executive Secretary of the SNG Interreligious Council.

On 4 October 2012, the Holy Synod appointed him representative of the World Russian People’s Council at the UN and assigned him to St Nicholas Cathedral in New York City.

On 11 March 2014, with the blessing of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and all the Rus, the Superior of the Trinity - Sergius Lavra, Archbishop Theognost (Guzikov) of Sergiev Posad, tonsured him a monk with the name John in honour of St John (Maksimovich) of Shanghai and San Francisco.

A MP Holy Synod decision on 25 July 2014 (Journal Number 66) selected him as Administrator of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA, and vicar bishop of the Diocese of Moscow with the title “Naro-Fominsk”.

Sources

• ruschurchusa.org/ru/news/951