On Sunday, one year was marked since the enthronement of His Grace Bishop Nectarie as the first Romanian Orthodox bishop of Ireland and Iceland. The date also coincides with the hierarch’s birthday.
He was born on January 11, 1980, in Vălenii de Munte, Prahova County, to his parents, Ion and Anișoara Petre. At his baptism, he was given the name Nicolae.
He pursued theological studies at the bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral levels at the Saint-Serge Orthodox Theological Institute in Paris, France.
In 1996, he entered the monastic community of Crasna Monastery in Romania, where in 2000, he was tonsured a monk and received the name Nectarie.
Between 2010 and 2017, he served as abbot of the monastery, overseeing extensive renovation and modernisation works.
He defended his doctoral thesis in 2012. Written under the supervision of Professor Nicolas Ozoline, the thesis was entitled Le sacrement de la pénitence – l’histoire du rite en Roumanie et sa théologie dans l’Église Orthodoxe (“The Sacrament of Confession – the History of the Development of the Rite in Romanian Lands and Its Theology in the Orthodox Church”).
From October 2017, he served in the Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese of Western Europe, first as exarch of the archdiocese’s monasteries and later, from 2020 to 2023, as eparchial vicar.
On March 18, 2018, he was elevated to the rank of archimandrite by His Eminence Metropolitan Iosif of Western and Southern Europe.
On July 4, 2023, the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church elected him assistant bishop of the Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese of Western Europe. His episcopal ordination took place in September at the Romanian Orthodox Cathedral in Paris.
On October 25, 2024, the Holy Synod elected His Grace Bishop Nectarie as bishop of the newly established Diocese of Ireland and Iceland.
He was enthroned on January 11, 2025, at Saint Columba’s Church of the Dublin II Parish.
At present, the hierarch is focusing on the expansion and consolidation of the communities within the new diocese.
Photo: Basilica.ro
