His Grace Nectarie of Brittany was ordained as an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Western Europe at the Romanian Orthodox Cathedral in Paris on Saturday. Metropolitan Iosif urged the new bishop to carry out his ministry, being inspired by Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross.
“We are in the days of the Cross, and this will be the ‘shadow and light’ that will guide you in all your episcopal ministry,” Metropolitan Iosif told his new assistant bishop during the ceremony on Sept. 16.
“This cross of episcopacy, willingly or unwillingly, must be carried with me,” stressed Metropolitan Iosif, who spoke about obedience and explained that it is not accomplished as an exercise of control but for the perfect communion that must exist in the Church.
“You have to put your life more and more for Christ and His Church and think less and less of yourself,” Metropolitan Iosif told his assistant bishop Nectarie of Brittany.
“By becoming a bishop, you go beyond your monastic condition. You become wholly and in everything, little by little, a crucified man like Christ, according to the measure of your will which you submit to Christ and his Church.”
The events began on Friday evening when Archimandrite Nectarie Petre was officially nominated and proclaimed a bishop.
The episcopal ordination took place on Saturday, during the Divine Liturgy, where ten Romanian hierarchs concelebrated and prayed for the new bishop.
At the end of the service, Assistant Bishop Timotei of Prahova, Patriarch Daniel’s delegate, read out the Patriarchal Confirmation Act
Metropolitan Iosif handed the episcopal insignia to his newly ordained assistant bishop.
The new assistant bishop to the Archdiocese of Western Europe expressed his gratitude to those who formed him and those who confirmed him in this dignity. His Grace Bishop Nectarie assured of full responsibility in his ministry.
“I know that this call to serve Christ the Saviour as a hierarch is an enlightened and blessed way of the Cross that I walk from this moment on with all responsibility.”
“I hope, as always in the ministry in which I am starting now, the difficulties, the burdens and the temptations that will come I may overcome with the help of the Heavenly Archpastor and reach again and again the light of the Resurrection so that I can also be a herald of hope, of faith and joy in Christ to our faithful,” Bp Nectarie of Brittany noted.
The Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese of Western Europe has under its jurisdiction seven countries, including France, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom of Great Britain, Ireland and Iceland.
The new assistant bishop, aged 43, was elected to the episcopal ministry on July 4, 2023. Previously, from January 2020, he served as vicar of the same archdiocese.
The Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese of Western Europe has had an additional assistant bishop since 2005, in the person of His Grace Marc of Neamț.
Photography courtesy of the Metropolis of Western and Southern Europe
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