The Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church elected the new assistant bishop to the Archdiocese of Vad, Feleac and Cluj during a meeting held at the patriarchal residence in Bucharest on February 13, 2020.
The episcopal see became vacant after Bishop Vasile of Somes has requested and has been granted a withdrawal due to health issues.
The auxiliary bishop elected by the Holy Synod by secret ballot is Archimandrite Benedict Vesa, the Archdiocese’s secretary and lecturer at the Faculty of Orthodox Theology in Cluj-Napoca.
The new bishop will bear the name Bishop Benedict of Bistrița.
Archimandrite Benedict (Valentin) Vesa was born on February 13, 1984, in Abrud, Alba County.
He studied theology in Alba Iulia, Bossey and Padova.
He has two PhD titles in Orthodox theology and history of religions.
Since 2012 he served as a secretary for the Metropolis of Cluj. In 2014 he started teaching Orthodox Spirituality at the Faculty of Orthodox Theology in Cluj-Napoca.
He entered monasticism on January 17, 2015, at Nicula Monastery and received the name of Saint Benedict.
Source: Basilica.ro
