His Grace Bishop Irinej of Eastern America

He was born on February 6, 1955, in Cleveland, Ohio, USA, to father Đura and mother Milica (née Svilar). He received his elementary education in Cleveland, Ohio, and from 1973-1975 he studied at the Academy of Arts, also in Cleveland. From 1975-1979 he attended St. Tikhon’s Orthodox Seminary, South Canaan, Pennsylvania. In 1980, he began studies at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, Crestwood, New York, and completed them in 1982. year. He attended the Athens Center in 2000 and 2003, after which he received a diploma in modern Greek language.

After completing his studies at St. Tikhon’s Orthodox Seminary with the academic grade maxima cum laude, and at St. Vladimir’s Seminary, he received the degree of Master of Divinity with special commendation for his master’s thesis Bishop Nikolaj Velimirović: 1921 Mission to America .

He worked in the field of education, teaching at Loyola University in Chicago, as well as at the Faculty of Theology of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Belgrade. For many years he was one of the editors of The Path of Orthodoxy, the official publication of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the USA and Canada.

His Eminence Metropolitan Christopher of Midwest America ordained him to the rank of deacon on January 15, 1994, at the Cathedral Church of the Resurrection of Christ in Chicago, Illinois. He received monastic tonsure on January 18, 1995, at the Monastery of St. Sava in Libertyville, Illinois, and on that occasion received the monastic name Irinej, after St. Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyon. He was ordained to the rank of hieromonk on January 27, 1995, at the Cathedral Church of St. Sava in Parma, Ohio, USA. He was elevated to the dignity of archimandrite on June 18, 2006, by His Grace Bishop Justin of Timok, member of the Holy Synod of Bishops.

The Venerable Hieromonk Irinej, until his election as Bishop of Australia and New Zealand, served as referent of the Holy Synod of Bishops and head of the office of the Committee for Kosovo and Metohija of the Holy Assembly of Bishops, at the Serbian Patriarchate in Belgrade. Among the numerous recognitions he has received, he is also a bearer of the Order of Vuk Karadžić III degree, with which he was decorated by the President of the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro, Svetozar Marović, for special merits in improving the ties of the Serbian state with Serbs in the diaspora, and for merits in advancing Church-state relations.

Among his numerous functions, it is significant to note that Bishop Irinej is co-representative of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches and the Conference of European Churches, he is a member of the Jasenovac Committee of the Holy Synod of Bishops, as well as the Standing Mission Committee of the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church and the Committee for Kosovo and Metohija of the Holy Assembly of Bishops. In addition, he is a member of the Board of Directors of the International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC), the Executive Committee of the US Conference of Religions for Peace (USCRP) at the United Nations, the Congress of Serbian Unity, the Advisory Board of the Njegoš Fund for Serbian Studies at Columbia University, the editorial board of the Society for Preserving the Memory of Nikola Tesla, the Working Group for Environmental Justice of the American National Council of Christian Churches (NCCC), and the Communications Committee of the Board of Directors of St. Vladimir’s Academy, the Serbian-American Center in Belgrade. He is a lifetime honorary member of the Board of Directors of ZOE (a humanitarian organization that offers assistance to Orthodox women with high-risk pregnancies).

Bishop Irinej also served as chief and managing editor of the Information Service of the Serbian Orthodox Church, executive director of the Office for External Affairs of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the United States and Canada, headquartered in Washington. He is co-chair of the Orthodox Advisory Committee of the American National Council of Christian Churches in Washington, member of the Working Group for Environmental Protection of the National Council of Christian Churches (NCCC Eco-Justice), member of the Human Rights Commission in Chicago, and member of the Chicago Mayor’s Advisory Committee on Immigrant and Refugee Issues. He was one of the key participants in the visit of religious leaders from the USA to Yugoslavia in 1999, alongside the Reverend Jesse Jackson and the Reverend Dr. Joan Brown Campbell, as well as a member of official delegations of the Serbian Orthodox Church in visits to the United Nations and the government of the United States in 2005 and 2006. year.

At its regular session in May 2006, the Holy Assembly of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church elected the Venerable Hieromonk Irinej, referent of the Holy Synod of Bishops, as Bishop of the Diocese of Australia and New Zealand. He was consecrated on July 15, 2006, on the feast of the Deposition of the Robe of the Most Holy Theotokos, at the Cathedral Church in Belgrade. The consecration was performed in the name of His Holiness Patriarch Paul of Serbia by His Eminence Archbishop Amfilohije of Cetinje and Metropolitan of Montenegro and the Littoral, with the concelebration of 16 bishops, including His Eminence Metropolitan Nikitas of Hong Kong of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and His Grace Bishop Nikolai of Alaska of the Orthodox Church in America.

He was enthroned as Bishop of Australia and New Zealand of the Serbian Orthodox Church on October 21, 2006, by His Grace Bishop Hrizostom of Bihać-Petrovac, member of the Holy Synod of Bishops, at the Pro-Cathedral Church of St. Sava in Elanora, Sydney.

On May 25, 2016, the Holy Assembly of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church elected by acclamation the Bishop of Australia and New Zealand to the throne of Bishop of Eastern America, following the election of Bishop Mitrofan of Eastern America to the Throne of Bishop of Canada.