Roman (Raduan)

His Grace, Bishop Roman (secular name Raid Radwan; October 17, 1960, Haifa – February 2, 2024) was a bishop of the ROCOR-A with the title Bishop of Haifa.

Biography

He was born on October 17, 1960, in the city of Haifa to an Orthodox Christian family. He was the great-grandson of IPPO activist Alexander Georgievich Kezma. Baptized in childhood, he developed a serious interest in Orthodoxy at the age of 19. He learned about his family's history from his grandmother Olga. He completed primary and secondary education in Haifa and enrolled in the Department of Philosophy and History at University of Haifa.

In 1980, at the invitation of Bishop Laurus (Škurla), he entered the Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary in Jordanville. After excelling in his first year, he was awarded a commemorative book, The Reign of Emperor Nicholas II by S.S. Oldenburg, with a personal inscription. By intensively studying during a summer stay in Jordanville, he managed to complete a four-year seminary course in three years. He sang in the church choir and fulfilled various obediences, such as cleaning the church and assisting in the kitchen.

In 1983, he returned to Israel and met with Patriarch Diodoros of Jerusalem, who ordained him as a deacon on October 25, 1984 and as a priest on April 7, 1985, during the Feast of the Annunciation at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. He was then assigned to serve in the Arabic parish in Nazareth. He was married.

In the 1990s, following a wave of immigration from the former USSR, many Orthodox Christians arrived in Israel. With the blessing of Patriarch Diodoros and Metropolitan Kyriakos of Nazareth and All Galilee, Father Roman began caring for the Russian-speaking flock. He initially held services in Church Slavonic at St. George's Church in Nazareth and later established parishes in Tiberias, Safed, Capernaum, Kiryat Shmona, Karmiel, Haifa, and Ma'alot-Tarshiha.

In the early 2000s, as rector of the Orthodox church in Shefa-'Amr, he began restoring the Church of St. Nicholas in Migdal HaEmek. Built in 1896 with funding from Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, the church had been abandoned for nearly half a century.

In 2004, the church was consecrated by Metropolitan Kyriakos (Georgopetris) of Nazareth, and regular services began. During this period, he also served on the Ecclesiastical Court of the Nazareth Metropolis.

On June 7, 2014, in Odessa, he was "consecrated as Bishop of Haifa" by Metropolitan Agafangel (Pashkovsky), George (Kravchenko), and Nikon (Iost).

Death

Bp Roman reposed February 2, 2024 in a hospital as a result of extensive heart attack. The funberal took place on February 4, 2024 and the funeral service was done twice: first, the clergy of the Jerusalem Patriarchate, at the request of the relatives of the deceased, and then the clerics of the ROCA (A), since the head of the latter, Metr Agafangel (Pashkovsky), said: "Everyone who will participate in such 'singing' consciously put themselves outside our Church". On August 2, 2024, a tombstone was erected on his grave at a Christian cemetery in Haifa.