About the Bishop

Biography of Bishop JUSTIN

Bishop Justin (Jeremić) was born on June 22, 1982 in Ruma to father Miloš and mother Olga. He finished elementary school in his hometown, and then, with the blessing of the Bishop of Srem, Mr. Vasilija, enrolls in the Theological Seminary of St. Arsenius of Sremac in Sremski Karlovci.

Diligence for theology and love for worship, but also for the monastic life and exploits, determined the further life path of the young theologian, and therefore Bishop Vasilije decided to make him a monk at the end of the fifth grade, in March 2002, according to the rank of small shima in Fruškogorsk Velika Remeta monastery. Soon after, on the feast of the Annunciation, the monk Justin was ordained to the rank of hierodeacon in the Krušedol monastery. After the seminary, which he finished as the best student in his generation, he entered the Moscow Theological Academy on the recommendation of the competent bishop. Before leaving for Moscow, in October 2002, he was ordained a hieromonk in the Velika Remeta monastery.

During his studies, he developed a special love and knowledge in the field of Liturgy, so during the fourth year of his studies he was appointed as a teacher of liturgical practice in the Intercession Temple of the Academy, through which he taught the newly ordained priest-students Typography and the proper perfection of the otherwise very demanding services of the Russian Orthodox Church. In 2006, he graduated from the Spiritual Academy, having defended his thesis on “Hesychasm in Serbian monasticism in the 13th and 14th centuries”. During his studies, as the best foreign student, he was awarded a special scholarship from the Fund of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexei the First.

After returning from Moscow in 2006, he joined the confraternity of the abandoned monastery of Stari Hopov on Fruška Gora. Despite the difficulties, his youth and inexperience, together with his brothers he manages to restore that sanctuary, which was abandoned both materially and spiritually from the Second World War until their arrival.

With the blessing of Bishop Vasilij of Srem and the Holy Synod of Bishops, in 2008 he was sent to postgraduate studies at the Faculty of Theology in Athens, where he stayed until 2013, when, with the blessing of the Bishop of Western Europe Lucca, he moved to Paris. He served as parish priest in Lyon and Dijon, as well as in the parish of Saint Sava in Paris. On Epiphany in 2015, he was awarded the rank of proto-angel, and on October 30, 2016, he was elevated to the rank of archimandrite.

He actively translates liturgical texts from Russian and Greek, some of which he published in the magazines Istina, Vidoslov and Srpski Sion. He wrote the Service to the Holy Reverend Martyr Rafael Šišatovacki. He speaks Russian, Greek and French.

At the regular spring session of the Holy Assembly of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church held in Belgrade from April 24 to May 29, 2021, he was elected Vicar Bishop of Hvostan. At the regular session of the Holy Assembly of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church held in Sremski Karlovci and Belgrade from May 15 to 21, 2022, he was elected as the Bishop of Western Europe.

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