Bishop Tikhon of South Canaan, Fr. Brum to represent OCA at Enthronement of Pope Benedict XVI
His Beatitude, Metropolitan Herman and the Orthodox Church in America will be represented at the enthronement of the newly elected Pope Benedict XVI by His Grace, Bishop Tikhon of South Canaan, Auxiliary to the Metropolitan, and the Very Rev. David Brum, the Metropolitan’s secretary.
The enthronement will take place on Sunday, April 24, at Saint Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City, where Pope Benedict’s predecessor, Pope John Paul II, was buried nearly two weeks ago. Metropolitan Herman and the OCA were represented at his funeral by His Grace, Bishop Seraphim of Ottawa and Canada and the Rev. Alexander Rentel.
Metropolitan Herman sent a congratulatory letter to Pope Benedict upon learning of his election.
“Your ever-memorable predecessor, His Holiness Pope John Paul II, was greatly respected by many Orthodox Christians throughout the world,” the letter reads in part. “It is my sincere hope and prayer that Your Holiness will be inspired by his example and will continue to work for the realization of our Lord’s high-priestly prayer, ‘That all may be one’ (John 17:21).
Pope Benedict, the former Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, was elected on Tuesday, April 19, 2005, as the 265th head of the Roman Catholic Church. He is the first German to be elected to the papacy in over 1000 years.