Orthodox Church of America to Have New Bishop

During a session of the Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Church in USA, Hieromonach Matthias (Moriak) was elected bishop of the vacant Episcopal See of Chicago and the Midwest. On November 18, the Bishop-Elect of Chicago and the Midwest was appointed archimandrite by the head of the Orthodox Church in America,  Metropolitan Jonah of USA and Canada, reported Religion.in.ua.

Hieromonach Matthias was first elected out of three delegates of the Council of the Diocese of the Midwest, which was held on October 6, 2010, in the Church of the Virgin Mary in Minneapolis. After the election, he was presented to the Synod for the canonical approval.

Bishop Matthias was born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1949 to a family of emigrants from Galicia. He studied in the Seminary of Christ the Savior in Johnstown and graduated from it in 1972. He further studied in St. Tykhon's Seminary (Pennsylvania). In 1972, he married Peni Jennet. He was ordained a priest on June 18,1972. He served in several parishes of the American Carpathian Ruthenian Orthodox Eparchy (Constantinople Patriarchate). In 1997, he became a widower. From 2004, he served in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Johnstown and simultaneously was a prefect of the Seminary of Christ the Savior. From 2006, he was a clergyman of the Church of St. Gregory of Nyssa in Seaford, N.Y. He has two children and three grandchildren. On October 13, 2003, he became a ryasophore monk on the Mount of Athos. He transferred to the Jurisdiction of the Orthodox Church in USA on  September 1, 2010.