THE LATE
ARCHBISHOP GEORGE OF SYRACUSE

ARCHBISHOP OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX PARISHES IN WESTERN EUROPE

BIOGRAPHY :

The late Archbishop George of Syracuse (in the world George Tarassoff ) (1893-1981) was born in Voronezh in Russia, settled in Belgium in 1919, where he worked from 1921 to 1934 in the capacity of an engineer-chemist, in various enterprises. In 1928 - after he married -he was ordained deacon by Metropolitan Evlogii. He wanted to serve the Church in this state for all the rest of his life. Nevertheless, on February 3, 1930, unforseen circumstances lead Deacon Georges to receive the priesthood, through obeidence to his bishop. He was named the dean of the parishes for students in Ghent and Leuven, parishes which had found themselves without a priest from day to day. After the death of his wife he was tonsured monk. In 1940, he was named dean of the Saint Panteleimon Parish in Brussels, which did not stop him from also serving other parishes in Belgium. Among his parishioners, he developed an exceptional zeal and became a living image of pastoral love. In 1953 a general assembly appointed him as a candidate to become a bishop, after which the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople elected him "Bishop of Syracuse" and auxiliary for Benelux and Federal Germany to His Eminence Metropolitan Vladimir, Exarch for the Russian orthodox parishes in Western Europe, with residence in his former parish in Brussels. On October 4, 1953, he was consecrated a bishop in Paris by Metropolitan Vladimir, the successor of Metropolitan Evlogii. Archbishop George celebrated the Liturgy in numerous languages, including Dutch. After the death of Metropolitan Vladimir (in 1959), he became his successor and was elevated to the rank of titular Archbishop of Syracuse. For more than 20 years, he found himself at the head of the Archdiocese of Russian Orthodox parishes in Western Europe, within the jurisdictionon the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constanantinople and having its seat in Paris.