Archbishop Nikon (Liolin)

Archbishop Nikon (Liolin) (1945-2019)

Early life of Nicholas Liolin

On 9 October, 1945, Nicholas Liolin was born in New York City, New York, to Evan J and Helena P Liolin. Evan and Helena had 4 other sons : Arthur, John, Billy and James. Al the sons were raised and nurtured in the Orthodox Christian Faith, and they were active in the Albanian Archdiocese of the Orthodox Church in America.

His father had served as lay chairman and founder in 1947 of the Diocesan Theological Student Fund. For many years, his mother served as choir director at the family’s home parish of Saint Nicholas, Jamaica Estates, New York. His brother John served on the parish council of Saint George Church, Trumbull, Connecticut ; his brother Billy gave his life serving in the armed forces during the Korean War ; his youngest brother, James, served as lay chairman of the Jamaica Estates, New York, parish of Saint Nicholas and as a member of the Archdiocesan Council’s Student Fund committee. His elder brother, Father Arthur, served for very many years as Chancellor of the Albanian Archdiocese, headquartered at Boston, Massachusetts.

Nicholas pursued his elementary and secondary studies in New York City, where he developed an abiding interest in the biological sciences and in the theatre arts. He secured leading roles in several high school productions.

Higher education

Nicholas Liolin was tonsured to be a reader by Metropolitan Theophan (Noli). He continued his studies at Saint Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary, Crestwood, New York ; at Iona College, New Rochelle, New York ; at Concordia College, Bronxville, New York ; and at the New School for Social Research and Political Science, New York City.

Student Nicholas Liolin at Saint Vladimir's

Marriage, 1967

In 1967, Nicholas married Sarah Arthur, his childhood sweetheart.

Diaconal ordination, 1969

Nicholas Liolin was ordained to the Holy Diaconate by Bishop Stephen (Lasko) on 5 July, 1969.

Presbyteral ordination, 1969

Deacon Nicholas Liolin was ordained to the Holy Priesthood by Bishop Stephen (Lasko) on 6 July, 1969.

Pastoral service

After the ordinations, Presbytera Sarah, the wife of Priest Nicholas Liolin, served as choir director in order to help her husband in his pastoral duties.

First homily of Priest Nicholas Liolin

The first assignment of priest Nicholas was to serve in Saint Nicholas Orthodox Church in Southbridge, Massachusetts from 1969 until 1982.

Then he served in Saint Thomas Church in Farmington Hills, Michigan from 1982 until 2002.

During his 33 years of pastoral service, Father Nicholas was well-known for his pastoral acumen and broad-based ministerial sensitivity and experience.

In addition to his pastoral service, Father Nicholas served as president of the Greater Detroit Council of Orthodox Churches, and as chaplain for the Wayne State University Orthodox Christian Fellowship.

He served as the dean of the Great Lakes Deanery of the Albanian Archdiocese.

He administered a health and hospitalisation insurance plan for area clergy. He appeared on numerous live television and radio programmes, which broadcasted to the faithful and those interested in the Orthodox Christian Faith.

He was a project co-ordinator for “The Voice of Orthodoxy”, established by New England’s Russian Orthodox Layman’s League, and he served as editor of “The Vine”, the newspaper of the Albanian Archdiocese.

Bereavement, widowhood, 2000

On 25 July, 2000, his wife Sarah, who had suffered from cancer, reposed in Father Nicholas’s arms. Metropolitan Theodosius (Lazor) presided at her funeral.

Monastic tonsure, 2002

Prior to his episcopal ordination, Father Nicholas spent time at Saint Tikhon’s Seminary and Monastery, South Canaan, Pennsylvania, where he continued his studies.

There, he was tonsured to be a monk, and he was given the name Nikon.

He was elevated to the dignity of archimandrite.

Episcopal ordination, 2002

On 25 May, 2002, Archimandrite Nikon was ordained to the Holy Episcopate by Metropolitan Theodosius (Lazor) and the Holy Synod of Bishops of the OCA, in conjunction with the annual pilgrimage to Saint Tikhon's Monastery at South Canaan, Pennsylvania.

Episcopal service

Bishop Nikon (Liolin) was assigned to serve as the Bishop of Baltimore and Vicar-Bishop to Metropolitan Theodosius (Lazor).

On 10 October, 2003, Bishop Nikon was nominated to be the Bishop of Boston at the Albanian Archdiocesan Assembly.

On 22 October, 2003, the Holy Synod of Bishops of the OCA elected Bishop Nikon to be the Bishop of Boston and the Albanian Archdiocese. He was also assigned to serve as the administrator of the Diocese of New England.

In 2005, when the Archdiocese of Canada’s Albanian Mission of Saint Astius in Toronto, Ontario, was having difficulties because of the loss of the founding priest, Bishop Nikon worked together with the Canadian archbishop in order to keep the mission intact. Neither the Albanian nor the Canadian archdiocese had the resources to meet the need. However, both bishops agreed to the offer of Bishop Ilia (Katre) to care for the community personally.

In October, 2005, Bishop Nikon was elected to be the ruling bishop of the Diocese of New England.

On 16-17 December, 2005, at Holy Trinity Cathedral in Boston, Bishop Nikon was installed by Metropolitan Herman (Swaiko) to be the Bishop of Boston, Bishop of New England and of the Albanian Archdiocese.

In addition to his archpastoral leadership of his own dioceses, he served as locum tenens of the Diocese of the South from February, 2011, until March, 2015.

On 9 May, 2012, Bishop Nikon was elevated to the dignity of archbishop.

In June, 2012, Archbishop Nikon (Liolin) participated with Archbishop Anastasios (Ianolatos) of Albania in the celebration of the 20th Anniversary of the re-establishment of the Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Albania. On Sunday, 24 June, 2012, on the Feast of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist, he participated in the opening of the recently-completed Resurrection of Christ Cathedral in Tirana.

Celebration of the 20th Anniversary of the restoration of autocephaly, 2012

At about this time, Archbishop Nikon began to suffer from cancer, and he received many treatments for it. Despite the situation, he continued to care for his spiritual flock as usual, although sometimes with difficulty.

In 2014, there was a controversy between the Albanian Archdiocese and the Church of Albania with regard to a proposed public, peaceful demonstration regarding the situation of the Church of Albania. As a consequence, there was a joint meeting of representatives in January, 2014 (including Archbishop Nikon), in order to discuss the matter.

In 2018, the journal "The Wheel" (the source of 2 photos earlier in this article) interviewed Archbishop Nikon. He was asked : “The Schmemann experiment is dead” gets repeated more and more frequently. What are your thoughts on this ? Vladyka responded :

 This is the first time I have heard that phrase.  Father Schmemann presented what Christ commanded us to 
 do, and that is go and make disciples. Father Schmemann would travel to wherever there were Orthodox 
 Christians, tirelessly teaching, preaching, and advising us as we worked to build up the Church in North 
 America.

Vladyka added :

 Receiving converts into the Church, whether they were formerly non-believers or Christians from different
 traditions, is part of the DNA of Orthodoxy.  As we welcome our brothers and sisters who seek the 
 fullness of the Faith, it is only natural for some friction to occur, in the same way that a family goes 
 through an adjustment period when they adopt a new son or daughter. This adjustment requires love, 
 patience, and humility as the new family members learn to live with one another, not as 'a biological 
 family with some extra adopted kids', but as new family, united in the love of Jesus Christ. As we know, 
 the process of evangelizing the Native Americans in Alaska did not always go smoothly. Yet we also know 
 that the Orthodox Church was ultimately richer as those communities developed their own distinctive
 Native American Orthodox Christian Spirituality. Similarly, the reception of people from different 
 Christian communities in our time may not always be a smooth process, yet we trust that by God’s Grace, 
 the Orthodox Church will be richer for that work that God does through those who are called—and whom God 
 calls us to welcome—to the fullness of the Faith in our time.

In 2019, Archbishop Nikon became very ill, and many prayers were said on his behalf.

Repose, 2019

On Sunday, 1 September, 2019, Archbishop Nikon (Liolin) fell asleep in the Lord in Boston.

The Trisagion of Repose for Archbishop Nikon (Liolin) was served at Saint George's Albanian Orthodox Cathedral in South Boston, Massachusetts on Wednesday, 4 September, at 7:00 p.m.

On Thursday, 5 September, the Funeral Service for the Burial of a Hierarch was served at Holy Trinity Orthodox Cathedral in Boston at 6:30 p.m.

On Friday, 6 September, 2019, the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy for the Departed, was led by Metropolitan Tikhon (Mollard), at 9:30 a.m., with the Trisagion for the Departed immediately following. Metropolitan Tikhon was assisted by Archbishop Nathaniel (Popp) of Detroit and the Romanian Episcopate ; Archbishop Benjamin (Peterson) of San Francisco and the Diocese of the West ; Archbishop Michael (Dahulich) of New York, New York and New Jersey ; Archbishop Alexander (Golitzin) of Dallas, the South and the Bulgarian Diocese ; Bishop Paul (Gassios) of Chicago and the Diocese of the Midwest ; and Bishop John (Abdalah) of Worcester and New England (representing Archbishop Joseph (Al-Zehlaoui) of the Antiochian Archdiocese of North America), and many clergy.

Afterwards, the body of Archbishop Nikon (Liolin) was transported to Southfield, Michigan, where his body was interred next to that of his wife in the Holy Sepulchre Cemetery.

Interment at Southfield, Detroit, led by Archbishop Nathaniel (Popp)

— Bishop of Baltimore 2002-2003.

— Vicar-Bishop of the Archdiocese of Washington 2002-2003.

— Bishop of Boston and the Albanian Archdiocese 2003-2012. Preceded by : Bishop Mark (Forsberg).

— Bishop of Boston and New England 2005-2012. Preceded by : Bishop Job (Osacky).

— Archbishop of Boston and the Albanian Archdiocese 2012-2019. Succeeded by : ___.

— Archbishop of Boston and New England 2012-2019. Succeeded by : ___.

Reflections

Archbishop Nikon (Liolin) was predeceased by his wife Presbytera Sarah, and also by his 2 brothers John and Billy.

When she heard the news of the repose of Archbishop Nikon, a parishioner at the Holy Trinity parish in Willimantic, Connecticut, commented :

 I am sorry to hear that Archbishop Nikon passed.  He was a very spiritual person and his preaching was 
 profound and inspiring.  May his memory be eternal.

The President of the Holy Trinity Parish Council added :

 He was not only our spiritual leader but a warm and genuine man.  I will always remember how he treated 
 our children, especially the young altar servers [...] he always made them feel special and appreciated. 
 I will miss his visits.

One of his episcopal brethren in the Holy Synod of Bishops of The Orthodox Church in America expressed gratitude for the example of Archbishop Nikon, especially during meetings. He commented that it was perhaps in part because of his life as a married parish pastor that he understood that he neither had all the answers, nor did he have to have all the answers, nor did he always have to have the last word. He tended to have a practical viewpoint and a peaceful influence.