Metropolitan Iosif of Western and Southern Europe marks name day
His Eminence Metropolitan Iosif of Western and Southern Europe celebrates his name day on Friday, when the Orthodox Church commemorates St. Joseph of Arimathea.
The Holy and Righteous Joseph of Arimathea is commemorated by the Orthodox Church on 31 July. A secret disciple of Jesus Christ, he joined Nicodemus in taking down the Lord’s body from the Cross, wrapping it in a clean linen shroud, and placing it in a new tomb.
Biography Metropolitan Iosif was born on 19 February 1966 in Vișeu de Jos, Maramureș County.
He graduated from Gheorghe Șincai High School in Baia Mare and the Andrei Șaguna Faculty of Theology in Sibiu. Between 1994 and 1998, he pursued doctoral studies at the St Sergius Orthodox Theological Institute in Paris.
He was ordained a deacon on 19 October 1993 and a celibate priest on 26 October of the same year, serving at the chapel of the Faculty of Theology in Alba Iulia.
He subsequently served as spiritual father and teaching assistant at the Faculty of Theology in Alba Iulia and taught Church History and Patrology at the local theological seminary.
On 17 April 1994, he was tonsured a monk and received the name Iosif (Joseph). Between 1994 and 1998,…
