Our Clergy
His Eminence, Metropolitan Joseph
He was born on December 6th, 1942 in the village Slavovitsa, Pazardzhikand given the name Joseph Ivan Blagoev Bosakov. In the autumn of 1956 was accepted as a student at the Sofia Seminary, from which he graduated in 1961. From 1966-1970 he was a student at the St. Kliment Ohridski Seminary in Sofia, Bulgaria.
On December 4th, 1970, in St Trojan monastery he was tonsured a monk with the name Joseph of Lovech by Metropolitan Maxim (the future Patriarch Maxim) under the spiritual guidance of the then abbot, Archimandrite Gelasiy (now Bishop Iorkski) . He was ordained a Deacon by Bishop Maxim December, 27 1970, and then a priest and was then appointed co-adjutor bishop of Lovchanski.
After Patriarch Maxim was elected by the Holy Synod in July 1971, His Beatitude was made was vicar of the Sofia bishopric. From December, 10th 1971, vicar Biship Joseph taught at the Moscow Theological Academy. Then, on July 21st, 1973, with the blessing of the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church of the Moscow, he has ordained Archimandrite by the Russian Patriarch Pimen.
After his return to Bulgaria, he again took up his duties as coadjutor bishop of Sofia, which function he served until December 1980 in the Patriarchal Cathedral of St. Alexander Nevski, given the title "Velichki" and appointed second vicar bishop of Sofia. He was briefly abbot of the Monastery of St. Troy and on June 1st, 1982 he was made the first vicar bishop of the Metropolitanate of Sofia, where he remained until the end of March, 1983.
On April 1st, 1983 Bishop Joseph was appointed to manage the Diocese Akron and the USA, and April 17th, 1986 he was elected Bishop of Akron. By decision of the Holy Synod of December 18th, 1989 the diocese of New York and Akron were re-merged and made into the Bulgarian Diocese of the USA, Canada, and Australia. By decision of the Fifth Church Laity Council held in Sophia on December 17th, 2001, he was given the title Metropolitan of America, Canada and Australia.
V.Rev.Fr. Basil Rusen
Born in 1952, Father Basil is a grandson of immigrants from Czechoslovakia who came here at the turn of the 20th century, founded a small church, and gifted their Orthodox faith to their children, and those loving parents in turn gifted the faith to their own children.
Father and Popadia Patty have five children, six grandchildren, and five god-children. They met and were married at a small OCA mission in Cincinnati (now Christ the Savior/Holy Spirit) where then Reader Basil directed the choir.
A graduate of the University of Cincinnati, Father was ordained to the Holy Deaconate in 1998 by His Eminence Metropolitan Joseph of the Bulgarian Orthodox Diocese of the USA, Canada and Australia. After this, he attended Saint Stephen's House of Studies, and in 2005 was ordained to the Holy Priesthood by His Eminence Metropolitan Joseph, who assigned Father Basil to the mission of Saint Herman of Alaska in Hudson, Oho.
Fr. Deacon Basil Wallace
Fr. Deacon Basil was born on April 29th, 1955 in Ft. Sill, OK as Jay Wallace. Later that year his family moved to Ohio, where he grew up in Portage Lakes, OH. Fr. Dcn Basil was baptized at Hope Lutheran Church in Portage Lakes as an infant. His family then attended Lockwood United Methodist Church until 1968.
In 1983 he married Deaconessa Diane at St. Thomas Orthodox Church in Fairlawn, OH. Their first daughter Gina was born in 1985. Their second Daughter Jaqui born in 1988. In 1990, Fr. Dcn. Basil accepted Orthodoxy and was brought into the Church.
He was ordained to the Deaconate in 1997 by Metropolitan Joseph, given the name Basil, and attached to Saint Thomas Eastern Orthodox Church in Fairlawn. He was transferred to Saint Herman's Eastern Orthodox Church in 2007.
