Archbishop Nicolae (Condrea)

Archbishop Nicholae (Condrea) (1967-____)

Nicolae is the Romanian spelling of Nicholas, which may also be spelt Nicolas, Nikolai, Nikolay.

Early life of Nicolae Condrea

On 15 April, 1967, Nicolae Condrea, son of Nicolae and Victoria Condrea, was born in Constanța, Romania.

Nicolae was raised in the bosom of the Romanian Orthodox Church.

He completed his primary and secondary education in Constanța.

Higher education

Following the call that he felt for the priesthood and the monastic life, Nicolae applied for entry, and he was admitted to the Andrei Șaguna Faculty of Theology in Sibiu.

He successfully completed the 4 years of course work. He also successfully defended his thesis for the Licentiate in Theology entitled : “The Eucharistic Theology of Metropolitan John Zizioulas”.

From 1992-1994, he served as a professor of religion in București (Bucharest), to where he had relocated shortly before completing his Licentiate degree.

From 1993 through 1994, after he had passed the admission exams for the doctoral program in the same faculty, he began the doctoral course work under the direction of the Priest and Professor Dr. Ilie Moldovan, in the field of Moral Theology.

In 1994, Nicolae received a scholarship to study in the Faculty of Theology of the Marc Bloch University in Strasbourg (in Alsace, France) where he received a Diploma from the D.E.A. (intensive study) programme.

He continued his doctoral studies at the Marc Bloch University in Strasbourg, where, on 10 November, 2001, he received the Doctor of Theology degree. The title of his thesis was : “Some Problems of Psychology in Evagrios of Pontus”.

While studying in Strasbourg, in order to combine theory with practical experience, and to combine study with priestly service, Nicolae submitted his petition for ordination (under obedience).

Ordinations, 1997

On 9 March, 1997, Nicolae Condrea was ordained to the Holy Diaconate by Metropolitan Serafim (Joantă) of the Diocese of Germany and Central Europe.

On 27 April, 1997, Deacon Nicolae Condrea was ordained to the Holy Priesthood by Metropolitan Serafim (Joantă) of the Diocese of Germany and Central Europe.

Pastoral service

With the blessing of Metropolitan Serafim, Priest Nicolae Condrea founded and then served the Romanian Orthodox parish of the Nativity of Christ in Stüttgart, Germany.

His missionary activity during this period amongst the Romanian Orthodox faithful in the greater Stüttgart area helped him to combine the Lord’s service with service to people.

Monastic tonsure, 2001

After having received the doctoral degree, Father Nicolae then returned to Romania.

On 18 December, 2001, Priest Nicolae Condrea was tonsured to be a monk in the Monastery of Radu Vodã in Bucharest. He was given the name Nicolae.

Pastoral-monastic service

From 2001 until his arrival in North America, Hieromonk Nicolae (Condrea) served as Patriarchal Secretary.

In a Special Electoral Congress of the Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese in America and Canada, held on 9 March, 2002, at the Holy Trinity parish in Troy, Michigan, the clergy and lay delegates gathered there chose and nominated Hieromonk Nicolae (Condrea) to become the bishop of the Romanian Archdiocese.

The Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church confirmed the nomination in its session of 13 March, 2002, and immediately elevated Hieromonk Nicolae (Condrea) to the dignity of archimandrite.

It had also been proposed by the Electoral Congress that the ordination and installation of Archbishop-elect Nicolae would be held in conjunction with the Annual Archdiocesan Congress hosted by the Saint John the Baptist Church in Montréal, Québec.

Episcopal ordination, 2002

On 14 July, 2002, Patriarch Teoctist (Arăpașu) of Romania, together with Metropolitan Theodosius (Lazor) of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA), Metropolitan Sotirios (Athanassoulas) (Metropolitan Archbishop of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Toronto, Constantinopolitan Exarch in Canada), and many other bishops ordained Archimandrite Nicolae (Condrea) to the Holy Episcopate in Saint John the Baptist Church in Montréal, Québec (during the course of the annual archdiocesan assembly which was assembled there).

Saint John the Baptist Temple, Montréal, Québec

Episcopal service

Bishop Nicolae was assigned to serve as the Archbishop of Chicago and the Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese of America.

Archbishop Nicolae (Condrea) participated actively in the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of North and Central America. Because there were parishes in Canada which are a part of the Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese of America and Canada, Archbishop Nicolae, either directly or through his Vicar-Bishop Ioan-Casian (Tunaru), participated in the Canadian Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops as well.

Elevation to metropolitan, 2016

On 26 October, 2016, the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Romanian Orthodox Church approved the creation of the Romanian Orthodox Metropolia of the Americas. The Romanian Orthodox Metropolia of the Americas thus established on that day was composed of 2 dioceses : The Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese of the United States of America, and the Romanian Orthodox Diocese of Canada.

On the same day, Bishop Ioan-Casian (Tunaru) was elected to become the Diocesan Bishop of the Romanian Orthodox Diocese of Canada.

On the same day, it was decided to elevate Bishop Nicolae (Condrea) to the dignity of Romanian Orthodox Metropolitan of the Americas.

The ceremony of elevation to the rank of Metropolitan took place on 30 October, 2016 at the Patriarchal Cathedral (in Bucharest, Romania) following the Divine Liturgy. It was presided over by Patriarch Daniel (Ciobotea), in the presence of the members of the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church.

Enthronement in Chicago, 2017

On 30 April, 2017, Archbishop Nicolae (Condrea) was enthroned as the Metropolitan Archbishop of Chicago and of the Romanian Orthodox Metropolis of the Americas. The enthronement took place during the Divine Liturgy at Saints Constantine and Helen Romanian Orthodox Cathedral in Chicago, and it was presided over by Metropolitan Nifon (Mihăiţă) of Targoviste as the delegate of Patriarch Daniel of Romania. Participating with him were : the Greek Orthodox Metropolitan Iakovos (Garmatis) of Chicago ; Metropolitan Nicholas (Pissare) of Detroit ; Bishop Demetrios (Kantzevelos) of Mokissos ; Romanian Orthodox Archbishop Iosif (Pop) of Western and Southern Europe ; Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia Archbishop Peter (Lukianoff) of Chicago and Mid-America ; Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of North America Bishop Anthony (Michaels) Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of Toledo and the Midwest ; Serbian Orthodox Bishop Longin (Krco) of New Gracanica and Midwest America ; Romanian Orthodox Bishop Ioan-Casian (Tunaru) of the Romanian Orthodox Diocese of Canada.

— Archbishop of Chicago and the Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese of America 2002-2017. Preceded by : Archbishop Victorin (Ursache) as Archbishop of Detroit. See title changed.

— Metropolitan Archbishop of Chicago and the Romanian Orthodox Metropolis of the Americas 2017-____. Preceded by : Metropolis created. Succeeded by : ____.