Vincent (Vikenty, Vichentie, ; born Viktor Aleksandrovich Morar or Morari or Moraru, on December 4, 1953), is a bishop of the

Russian Orthodox Church The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...

. He serves as

Metropolitan Metropolitan may refer to: Areas and governance (secular and ecclesiastical) * Metropolitan archdiocese, the jurisdiction of a metropolitan archbishop ** Metropolitan bishop or archbishop, leader of an ecclesiastical "mother see" * Metropolitan ar ...

of Tashkent and Uzbekistan and he is a permanent member of the

Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church () serves by Church statute as the supreme administrative governing body of the Russian Orthodox Church in the periods between Bishops' Councils. Members Chairman * Kirill – Patriarch of ...

Life

Victor Moraru was born in

Sculeni Sculeni (, ''Skulen'') is a commune in Ungheni District, Moldova. It is composed of four villages: Blindești, Floreni, Gherman and Sculeni. It is also a border checkpoint to Romania. History The Romanian boyar and heir apparent to the Mold ...

Moldavian SSR The Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic or Moldavian SSR (, mo-Cyrl, Република Советикэ Сочиалистэ Молдовеняскэ), also known as the Moldovan Soviet Socialist Republic, Moldovan SSR, Soviet Moldavia, Sovie ...

. His father was an orthodox priest. He wanted to become a physician, but because of his family's religiosity, he chose to become a priest. In 1981 he was tonsured a

monk A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...

in honour of saint

Vincent of Saragossa Vincent of Saragossa (also known as Vincent Martyr, Vincent of Huesca or Vincent the Deacon), the Protomartyr of Spain, was a deacon of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Zaragoza, Church of Saragossa. He is the patron saint of Lisbon, Algarve, a ...

. In 1982 he graduated from the

Moscow Theological Academy Moscow Theological Academy () is a higher educational institution of the Russian Orthodox Church, training clergy, teachers, scholars, and officials. The Academy traces its origin to the Slavic Greek Latin Academy, which was founded in 1685 by th ...

. On July 20, 1990, the

Holy Synod In several of the autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Churches and Eastern Catholic Churches, the patriarch or head bishop is elected by a group of bishops called the Holy Synod. For instance, the Holy Synod is a ruling body of the Georgian Orthodox ...

of the

elected Vincent Morari as Bishop of Bender (Tighina). The ceremony was held by

Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow Patriarch Alexy II (or Alexius II, ; secular name Aleksei Mikhailovich Ridiger ; 23 February 1929 – 5 December 2008) was the 15th Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus', the primate of the Russian Orthodox Church. Elected Patriarch of Moscow ...

. Wincenty has been involved in the establishment and development of the Teological Seminary at the

Noul Neamț Monastery Noul Neamț Monastery (; ) is an all-male Moldovan Orthodox Church, Moldovan Orthodox monastery located in Chițcani, near Bender, Moldova, Bender and Tiraspol. Geographically located in the historical region of Basarabia, it is today controlled b ...

Chițcani Chițcani ( mo-Cyrl, Кицкань, ; ; ) is a commune in Căușeni District, in south-eastern Moldova. It consists of the village ''Chițcani'' and two small villages (hamlets), ''Merenești'' and ''Zahorna''. Chițcani is situated to the sout ...

, which is currently the largest spiritual and educational center of the Chisinau Metropolis. This period also coincided with the Gagauz independence movement and with the

war in Transnistria The Transnistria War (; ) was an armed conflict that broke out on 2 November 1990 in Dubăsari between pro-Transnistria (Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic, PMR) forces, including the Transnistrian Republican Guard, militia and neo-Cossack unit ...

. He sees the Transnistrian conflict as an incomprehensible war, in which, according to him, they fought "son against father, brother against brother", describing the people who fought on both sides as "our soldiers". Along with

Vladimir Cantarean Vladimir, (born Nicolae Cantarean, 18 August 1952), is a bishop of the Moldovan Orthodox Church under the Moscow Patriarchate. He serves as Metropolitan of Chișinău and All Moldova and thus as first hierarch of the Church of Moldova and as a ...

, he was a strong opponent of the reactivation of the

Metropolis of Bessarabia The Metropolis of Bessarabia (), also referred to as the Bessarabian Orthodox Church, is an Autonomy (Eastern Orthodoxy), autonomous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Metropolitan bishopric of the Romanian Orthodox Church, situated i ...

(under the leadership of

Peter (Păduraru) Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

) within the

Romanian Orthodox Church The Romanian Orthodox Church (ROC; , ), or Romanian Patriarchate, is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox Christian denomination, Christian churches, and one of the nine patriarchates in the East ...

, even persecuting some of its believers. Dmitry Medvedev with archbishop Vikenty

In July 1995, he was appointed by the Holy Synod bishop of

Abakan Abakan ( ; , ) is the capital city of Khakassia, Russia, located in the central part of the Minusinsk Depression, at the confluence of the Yenisei and Abakan Rivers. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 165,214—a slight incre ...

and

Kyzyl Kyzyl ( ) is the capital city of the Republic of Tuva within the Russian Federation. Kyzyl's population is approximately History The city was founded in 1914 as Belotsarsk. It was renamed Hem-Beldir from 1918 to 1926. When the city was the ca ...

. In February 1999 he was raised to the rank of Archbishop and in July that year he was elected Archbishop of

Yekaterinburg Yekaterinburg (, ; ), alternatively Romanization of Russian, romanized as Ekaterinburg and formerly known as Sverdlovsk ( ; 1924–1991), is a city and the administrative centre of Sverdlovsk Oblast and the Ural Federal District, Russia. The ci ...

and Verhotursk. He also became rector of the Ekaterinburg Theological Seminary. The local press in Ekaterinburg repeatedly accused him of a tendency toward "luxury", especially because "in the face of poverty in Russia", he sat in a “Tsarist seat”, to which Archbishop Wincenty replied: “the terrible catastrophe in Russia has happened from this imaginary struggle with poverty - the

revolution In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elements ...

. If we are discussing this, then we should all sit down in misery." On July 27, 2011, by the decision of the

, he was appointed Bishop of Tashkent and Uzbekistan, head of the newly formed

Central Asian Metropolitan District Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center (disambiguation), center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa ...

. In matters concerning the Central Asian Metropolitan District, as well as during liturgical commemoration in dioceses other than those headed by himself, he titled as Metropolitan of Central Asia. In addition, he was entrusted with the temporary management of the newly formed Bishkek and Dushanbe Diocese. Although active in Russia and Central Asia, Wincenty continued to visit Moldova and engage in the life of the local Orthodox Church.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wincenty 1953 births Living people People from Sculeni Moldovan bishops Russian bishops Bishops of the Moldovan Orthodox Church Russian people of Moldovan descent Moldovan expatriates in Uzbekistan Russian expatriates in Uzbekistan Eastern Orthodox Christians from Moldova Eastern Orthodox monks Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Moscow Theological Academy alumni