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Pistevo moved page George (Schaefer) of Canberra to George (Schaefer) of Sydney: newly appointed
[[Image:BG2.JPG|right|thumb|His Grace on the ambon of his first cathedral church of St John the Baptist in Mayfield, PA.]]
{{orthodoxyinaustralasia}}
His Grace The , the Right Reverend '''George (Schaefer)''' is [[Bishop]] of CanberraSydney, and ruling bishop of the [[vicar]] bishop Diocese of the Australia and New Zealand (ROCOR)|Diocese of Australia and New Zealand ]] of the [[Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia]].
== Life ==
In 1974, he moved to San Jose, California, and found out about Orthodox Christianity through a Greek man, discovering the Church, the lives of saints, and the true faith. He was baptised that year at the Greek Orthodox Church in Modesto, California, and given the name Makarios in honor of Saint Makarios the Great. He started attending St Nicholas Church, San Jose, before attending the Greek Cathedral in San Francisco and, in May 1975, a Russian church in San Francisco.
In January 1975, Makarios visited Mt Athos, where he decided to become a monk. He later visited the [[Monastery of St . Herman of Alaska Monastery (Platina, California)|St Herman of Alaska Monastery]], Platina, where he met Monks [[Seraphim (Rose)]] and [[Herman (Podmoshensky)]] and was immersed in the monastic life. They suggested he enrol in seminary, which he did, entering [[Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary (Jordanville, New York)|Holy Trinity Seminary]] in September 1975.
===Monastic life===
On Christmas, [[January 7]], 1976, Makarios was made a [[novice]] by Archbishop [[Averky (Taushev) of Syracuse|Averky (Taushev)]], then Dean of Holy Trinity Seminary. As a novice his obediences in the [[monastery]] were cleaning, cooking, working the tractor in the farm and digging graves in the cemetery. After a few years in the monastery he was made a riassophor [[monk]] on Friday of the First Week of Lent, 1979 and [[tonsure]]d to the small schema on Friday of the First Week of Lent, 1980, and given the name Mitrophan in honor of Saint [[Mitrophan of Voronezh]]. He was [[ordination|ordained]] a [[subdeacon]] on Palm Sunday of the same year, before graduating from Holy Trinity Seminary that year.
Fr Mitrophan, with the blessing of [[Laurus (Skurla) of New York|Archbishop Laurus]], moved to [[Mount Athos]] in June of 1981. Initially, he lived in St Elias Skete for several months, a strict skete which was then connected with ROCOR. On the advise of Elder Nicodemos of Karoulia, he then moved to an English-speaking cell (within [[Koutloumousiou Monastery (Athos)|Koutloumousiou Monastery]]) with four other ROCOR monks (including a hieromonk ordained by then-Bp Bishop [[Mark (Arndt) of Berlin|Mark (Arndt)]]), which was one that other monasteries would often send American visitors to them. He became acquainted with St [[Paisios (Eznepidis)|Paisios the Athonite]] while there. He was tonsured to the great schema by [[Hieromonk]] Chrysostomos of Koutloumousiou and given the name George in honor of Saint George the Great-Martyr.
In February, 1986, Fr George returned to [[Holy Trinity Monastery (Jordanville, New York)|Holy Trinity Monastery]] and started working on the Printshop of Saint Job of Pochaev, where he worked until 2008. He assumed editorial duties on Orthodox Life from 1992 to his consecration as bishop in 2008, including writing & translating many articles for ''Orthodox Life'' magazine and translating several sayings of the Optina Elders found in ''Living Without Hypocrisy'' ([[Holy Trinity Monastery (Jordanville, New York)|HTM Press]], 2006). He also began helping at [[Hermitage of the Holy Cross (Wayne, West Virginia)|Hermitage of the Holy Cross]] during this time, serving as confessor and spiritual father.
On Bright Tuesday, 2015, Bp George departed America for Sydney, Australia. He was welcomed on Bright Thursday and inducted as Bishop of Canberra on Bright Friday.
After the repose of Metropolitan [[Hilarion (Kapral) of New York|Hilarion]], Bp George was appointed Acting Ruling Bishop of the Diocese of Australia and New Zealand. Later that year, during the same Council of Bishops that elected Bp [[Nicholas (Olhovsky) of New York|Nicholas of Manhattan]] as First Hierarch, Bp George was appointed ruling bishop of the Diocese of Australia and New Zealand on [[September 21|21 September]] 2022, and given the title "Bishop of Sydney, Australia and New Zealand".[https://synod.com/synod/eng2022/20220923_enbpgeorgeaustralia.html]
{{start box}}
before= ''see created''|
title=Bishop of Canberra<br>([[ROCOR]])|
years=2015-2022|after=—}}{{succession|before= Metr. [[Hilarion (Kapral) of New York|Hilarion]]|title=Bishop of Sydney, Australia and New Zealand<br>([[ROCOR]])|years=2022-present|
after=—}}
{{end box}}
* [http://eadiocese.org/Administration/vicarbishops.en.htm Vicar Bishops]
* [http://synod.com/synod/engdocuments/enart_bpgeorgeinterview.html “Church Life Isn’t Black and White” - an interview of Bp George (Schaefer)]
* [https://synod.com/synod/eng2022/20220923_enbpgeorgeaustralia.html Bishop George of Canberra appointed Ruling Bishop of the Diocese of Australia and New Zealand]
== Links ==