His Eminence Metropolitan Elia, now bishop of the Diocese of Oulu of the Orthodox Church of Finland and formerly known as Priest Matti Veli Juhani Wallgren, graduated from St. Vladimir’s Seminary with a Master of Divinity degree in 2003. Father Matti was ordained to the priesthood in 2003, in Jyvaskyla, Finland. He served as second priest for two and a half years in central Finland, and for eight and a half years as Dean of the Cathedral in Vaasa, western Finland.
Father Matti was tonsured and elevated to the rank of archimandrite on December 16–17, 2014, in the Valamo Monastery of Transfiguration and given his new monastic name, Elia. Archimandrite Elia was ordained to the episcopacy and enthroned on January 11, 2015, at the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Oulu, by the hand of His Eminence Leo (Makkonen), archbishop of Karelia and All Finland and primate of the Church of Finland, along with the entire Synod of Bishops of the Finnish Church: Metropolitan Ambrosius of Helsinki, Metropolitan Panteleimon, and Bishop Arsenius of Joensuu. The new metropolitan is the first alumnus of St. Vladimir's to serve as head of a European diocese.
Following Metropolitan Elia’s consecration and installation, Fr. Chad invited the newly ordained hierarch back to his alma mater as the main speaker for Commencement ceremonies in May 2015. While in Finland, Fr. Chad also met with several other St. Vladimir’s alumni.
Ecumenical Patriarchate for the Archdiocese of the Russian Orthodox Churches in Western Europe. Many of Fr. Theodor’s friends and family as well as St. Vladimir’s alumni living in France attended the ordination service. Father Theodor now becomes one of several priests who are serving the small but growing Orthodox Christian community in Norway.
“Whenever I’m in a setting such as these two recent events, I am awestruck by the respect St. Vladimir’s Seminary enjoys in the international Orthodox community,” reflected Fr. Chad. “It reminds me of the great responsibility that we all have to preserve and promote those qualities that have given St. Vladimir’s such high standing.”
Read about Metropolitan Elia's election and view the photo gallery by Pentti Potkonen
