His Beatitude Christopher of Prague, given name Radim Pulec (born 29 June 1953) is the Orthodox Metropolitan

Metropolitan bishop

In Christian churches with episcopal polity, the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan, pertains to the diocesan bishop or archbishop of a metropolis; that is, the chief city of a historical Roman province, ecclesiastical province, or regional capital.Before the establishment of...

 of the Czech lands and Slovakia

Czech and Slovak Orthodox Church

The Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia is a self-governing body of the Eastern Orthodox Church that territorially covers the countries of the Czech Republic and Slovakia...

 since 2006 and Archbishop of Prague. He has participated in numerous theological conferences and has represented the Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia in many venues. Fluent in his native language and also Russian, Greek, German and English, he is well known for his academic pursuits in theology and philosophy, having a doctorate in both. During the Communist regime, he reportedly collaborated with the Czechoslovak State Security

STB

STB is an acronym that can mean:* Sacrae Theologiae Baccalaureus – Bachelor of Sacred Theology* Set-top box – a television device that converts signals to viewable images* Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP -- a law firm...

.

Biographical timeline

• 1953: Radim Pulec born in Prague
  Prague
  Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
  
  .
• 1974: Ordained to the diaconate
  Deacon
  Deacon is a ministry in the Christian Church that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions...
  
   and priest
  Priest
  A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
  
  hood.
• 1979: Completed theological studies at the Orthodox Theological Faculty, Presov, Czechoslovakia. Went to Moscow Theological Academy.
• 1984: Completed graduate studies at Moscow Theological Academy.
• 1987: Completed additional theological studies at the Theological Faculty of the University of Athens, Greece.
• 1985: Radim was tonsured at Troitse-Sergiyeva Lavra
  Troitse-Sergiyeva Lavra
  The Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius is the most important Russian monastery and the spiritual centre of the Russian Orthodox Church. The monastery is situated in the town of Sergiyev Posad, about 70 km to the north-east from Moscow by the road leading to Yaroslavl, and currently is home to...
  
  in Sergiyev Posad (then Zagorsk), Russia, and given the name Christopher.
• 1987: Metropolitan Dorotheus, primate of the Church of Czechoslovakia, elevated Hmk Christopher to archimandrite. Archim. Christopher served at Prague's Cathedral of Sts. Cyril and Methodius.
• 1988: Archim. Christopher was consecrated to the episcopacy, over which Metr. Dorotheus presided, and was elected Bishop of Olomouc and Brno.
• 2000: At repose of Metr. Dorotheus, Bp. Christopher was named Archbishop of Prague and of the Czech Lands, and oversaw the Church's Metropolitan Council.
• 2 May 2006: After repose of Metr. Nikolaj, Abp. Christopher was chosen (by lot of two names) to be Metropolitan of the Czech Lands and Slovakia.
• 28 May 2006: Enthronement of Abp. Christopher took place as Metropolitan of the Czech Lands and Slovakia.

External links

• Article at OrthodoxWiki
• OCA press release, May 2, 2006.
• Orthodox Church of Czech Lands and Slovakia elects a new primate (in Russian).
• Portal-Credo.ru article.