Dmitri (bishop)

Archbishop Dmitri (2007)

Dmitri (* as Robert Roscoe Royster on November 2, 1923 in Teague , Texas ; † August 28, 2011 in Dallas ) was an American clergyman of the Orthodox Church in America and from 1978 to 2009 archbishop of the "southern diocese" of his church. He also headed the Mexican Exarchate from 1972 to 2008 .

Life

Robert Royster was raised Baptist by his parents, who were supporters of the Southern Baptist Convention , but converted to Orthodoxy in 1941 . He began studying at the University of North Texas , which he dropped out in 1943 to join the Army . He served as Japanese - translator on the staff of General Douglas MacArthur . After leaving the Army, he continued his studies, graduating with a Master of Arts in Spanish and becoming a professor of Spanish literature.

Spiritual career

He was ordained a priest in 1954 and was pastor of St. Seraphim Orthodox Church in Dallas until 1969 . On June 29, 1969 he became Bishop of the Western Diocese (English Diocese of San Francisco and the West ), in 1970 Auxiliary Bishop of Metropolitan Irenaeus in Washington .

In 1978 he became the first bishop of the newly formed Süddiözese ( Engl . Diocese of Dallas and the South ). This includes the fourteen southern US states of Alabama , Arkansas , Florida , Georgia , Kentucky , Louisiana , Mississippi , New Mexico , North Carolina , Oklahoma , South Carolina , Tennessee , Texas and Virginia . In 1993 he was raised to the rank of archbishop. As the Church's longest serving bishop, he was also interim head of the Orthodox Church in America from September 4 to November 12, 2008 . On 31 March 2009 emeritus it due to age of all its offices.

He lived in Dallas, where he died on August 28, 2011.

Fonts

• The Parables , St. Vladimir's Seminary Press. New York City 1996. ISBN 0-88141-067-5 .
• The Miracles of Christ , St. Vladimir's Seminary Press. New York City 1999. ISBN 0-88141-193-0 .
• The Epistle to the Hebrews: A Commentary , St. Vladimir's Seminary Press. New York City 2003. ISBN 0-88141-247-3 .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Archbishop to visit St. Anne Orthodox Church , The Oak Ridger, December 28, 2006.
2. ^ The Repose of His Eminence, Archbishop Dmitri , Orthodox Church in America, August 28, 2011. Retrieved August 28, 2011.

predecessor	Office	successor
New diocese established	Bishop of the Southern Diocese of the Orthodox Church in America 1978–2009	Jonah
Exarchate rebuilt	Exarch of the Mexican Exarchate of the Orthodox Church in America 1972–2008	Alejo