His Grace Assistant Bishop Iachint of the Pacific of the Romanian Orthodox Diocese of Australia and New Zealand celebrates the feast day of his patron saint, St Hyacinth, Metropolitan of Wallachia, on Wednesday.
Born on 22 June 1989 in Bucharest to Constantin and Margareta Vardianu, the bishop received the name Ioan Cătălin at Baptism.
In 2004, he began his studies at the Metropolitan Nifon Orthodox Theological Seminary in Bucharest. During this period, he also entered Radu Vodă Monastery in Bucharest as a novice.
In 2008, he enrolled in the Pastoral Theology programme at the Patriarch Justinian Faculty of Orthodox Theology in Bucharest and graduated in 2012, when he also began his master’s studies.
That same year, 2008, he was tonsured a monk at Radu Vodă Monastery. His monastic sponsors were Archimandrite Nectarie Șofelea, the monastery’s abbot, and Archimandrite Policarp Chițulescu, Director of the Holy Synod Library.
He was ordained a hierodeacon on 5 April 2009 and a hieromonk six years later.
Specialisation in law
In 2015, he began doctoral studies at the St Hilarion Felea Faculty of Orthodox Theology in Arad and completed them by defending his thesis, The Administration of Romanian Orthodox Church Property According to Ecclesiastical Regulations and State Legislation from the Fifteenth Century to the Present Day.
That same year, he also enrolled in an undergraduate law degree programme at the University of Bucharest’s Faculty of Law.
In 2018, he was appointed a teacher of Canon Law at the Metropolitan Nifon Orthodox Theological Seminary in Bucharest.
A year later, he became an inspector at the Chancellery of the Holy Synod.
On 2 July 2026, the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church elected him Assistant Bishop of the Romanian Orthodox Diocese of Australia and New Zealand and granted him the title “of the Pacific”.
Two days later, His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel ordained him to the episcopacy at the Patriarchal Cathedral in Bucharest.
During the celebrations surrounding the patronal feast of St Demetrius the New, His Grace Bishop Iachint celebrated the all-night Vigil service in honour of his patron saint at the Patriarchal Cathedral.
