I was born in Bogota, Colombia, and spent my early childhood in Lomalinda, Meta, Colombia. In 1995, my family relocated permanently to California, due to the civil conflict in Colombia and I finished school in Central California before taking a degree in Linguistic Anthropology with a minor in Biblical Studies at Biola University in La Mirada, California. After briefly working as a tailor in Los Angeles, I moved to London to continue my education at University College London where I gained a Masters degree in Material and Visual Culture and a PhD in Social Anthropology.
In my professional capacity, I conduct research in Anthropology about religion (especially Orthodox Christianity), art, and medicine. I also supervise research students studying various other Christian traditions as well as ethics around medicine and the dead.
I was ordained to the holy deaconate in the Orthodox Church by Metropolitan Silouan of the British Isles and Ireland in December 2021 and serve at the Cathedral of St George in London. His Eminence Silouan asked me to take up this role as the national ecumenical representative in the Spring of 2022. With a formal education in Evangelical Protestant theology and missiology, and a professional interest in the ways different Christian Churches and communities practice their faith and interpret Christian teaching, I look forward to working together with other representatives in Britain and Ireland.
Who is the Antiochian Orthodox Church?
The Antiochian Archdiocese is the canonical jurisdiction of the Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East in the British Isles and Ireland. This Chalcedonian Orthodox Church is based in Damascus, Syria – having moved its base from the ancient city of Antioch, where the disciples of Christ were first called Christians (Acts 11.26), in the 14th Century. Today the Church, founded by St Peter and St Paul, is headed by Patriarch John X of Antioch. The Church of Antioch has pastoral care for Eastern Orthodox Christians in Syria, Lebanon, parts of Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE, Oman, Yemen, Saudi Arabia as well as Archdioceses across Europe, the Americas, and Oceania.
Learn more about the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of the British Isles and Ireland
Photo of Boniface Carroll © Hadi Tannous