Joasaph

Who is Joasaph?

Archimandrite Joasaph was Head of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia.

Born Francis R. McLellan Jr. in 1962, he attended the Boston public schools and Roxbury Latin, and graduated from Commonwealth School. He earned his B.Th from Holy Trinity Seminary in Jordanville, New York, where he was English-language valedictorian. He received his M.A. and Ph.D degrees from Brown University in Slavic Language and Literature. He taught Russian at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri and at Princeton University.

At the request of the late Metropolitan Laurus, Joasaph was tonsured at Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville, New York, becoming a priest on December 7, 2008. He was elevated to the rank of archimandrite shortly after being named Head of the Ecclesiastical Mission. As the head of the mission, Fr. Joasaph served at Ascension Convent on the Mount of Olives and Gethsemane Convent.