Ioachim

BIOGRAPHICAL DATA

• He was born on 29 March 1954, son of Neculai and Anica Giosanu, in Stănița, Neamț County. At his baptism he received the name Ilie.

EDUCATION AND PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

• 1961-1969 – attends primary and secondary school in the native village Stănița;
• 1970-1971 – enters the monastic life at Sihăstria Monastery in Neamț County;
• 1970-1975 – attends the Orthodox Theological Seminary “Veniamin Costachi” at Neamț Monastery
• 1975-1976 – he fulfils his military service in Plenița, Dolj County;
• 1976-1980 – studies at the Theological Institute of University Level in Bucharest, graduating with a bachelor’s thesis entitled: Sabatul la cultele neoprotestante şi poziţia ortodoxă (The Sabbath in Neo-Protestant Denominations and the Orthodox Position), under the supervision of Deac. Prof. Dr. Petre David, associate professor within the Department of Missionary Guidance and Ecumenism;
• 1980 – is enters monastic life at Bistrița Monastery, Neamț County, having Father Archimandrite Ioanichie Bălan, his uncle, as godfather;
• 1980-1985 – participates in the restoration activities at the Bistrița Monastery Complex, together with Abbot Ciprian Zaharia;
• 1 March 1981 – is ordained hierodeacon, and in 1982 he is raised to the rank of archdeacon by His Eminence Teoctist Arăpașu, Metropolitan of Moldavia and Suceava;
• 1985 – he is transferred to the Diocesan Centre in Jassy, where he fulfils several ministries:
  • first archdeacon of the Metropolitan Cathedral of Jassy and secretary of His Beatitude Patriarch Teoctist (at that time Metropolitan of Moldavia and Suceava);
  • contributor to the journal Mitropolia Moldovei și Sucevei (Metropolis of Moldavia and Suceava);
    • metropolitan steward;
• 1990 – is appointed secretary of the new Metropolitan of Moldova, His Eminence Daniel Ciobotea;
• 30 December 1990 – is ordained a hieromonk by His Eminence Daniel, Metropolitan of Moldavia and Bucovina, at the Văratec Monastery, for the Metropolitan Cathedral in Jassy;
• 1 January 1991 – is raised to the rank of protosyncellus in the chapel of the Metropolitan Residence in Jassy;
• 1991-1994 – attends doctoral studies at the Saint Serge Institute in Paris (France), under the guidance of Professors Boris Bobrinskoy and Olivier Clément;
• 1991-1992 – attends French language courses at the Sorbonne University, where he obtains the official French speaker’s certificate;
• 26 October 1994 – defends his doctoral thesis in French with the title: La déification de l’homme d’après la pensée du Père Dumitru Stăniloae (The Deification of Human Being in the Thinking of Father Dumitru Stăniloae);
• 21 June 1998 – is raised to the rank of archimandrite by His Eminence Daniel, Metropolitan of Moldavia and Bucovina, at Bucium Monastery, Jassy County;
• 1998 – is unanimously elected by the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church as Assistant-Bishop of the Diocese of Roman, with the title of Bacău (Băcăuanul);
• 1 May 2000 – is ordained bishop, fulfilling the ministry of Assistant-Bishop of Diocese of Roman;
• 13 September 2009 – is raised to the rank of Assistant Bishop, along with the elevation of the Diocese of Roman to the rank of Archdiocese with the title: Archdiocese of Roman and Bacău;
• 16 December 2014 – is elected by the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church as Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Roman and Bacău;
• 4 January 2015 – he is enthroned as Archbishop by His Eminence Teofan, Metropolitan of Moldavia and Bucovina, in the Saint Parascheva Archiepiscopal Cathedral in Roman;
• Since 2000 – is member of the Theological, Liturgical and Educational Commission of the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church.