Metropolitan Irineu of Oltenia celebrates 35 years of bishoprictranslated

His Holiness Father Irineu, Metropolitan of Oltenia, celebrates his 35th anniversary on Tuesday of his ordination as a bishop.

His Eminence was born on November 16, 1957, in the town of Perișani, Vâlcea county, receiving the baptismal name of Ion. He attended the Theological Seminary in Craiova, then the University Degree Theological Institute in Bucharest, where he obtained a degree in Theology.

He continued his theological training in France, taking courses at the "Saint Serge" Institute in Paris, where he received his doctorate in Dogmatic Theology in 1990, magna cum laude. He previously studied French language and literature at Grenoble and later Biblical Archeology at the Institute of Tantur, Jerusalem.

Priestly activity In 1991, he was elected by the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church Vicar Bishop of the Diocese of Râmnicu, with the title of Slătineanul, being ordained bishop on October 6 of the same year.

In the following years, he carried out an extensive teaching activity at the Faculties of Orthodox Theology in Craiova and Sibiu, teaching subjects such as History of Byzantine Culture and Civilization, Dogmatic Theology and Moral Theology.

In 2005, he also obtained the title of…