Metropolitan John (secular name Georgy Yevgenyevich Roshchin, ; 22 October 1974, Moscow) is a retired Metropolitan of the Russian Orthodox Church. During 2014-2018 he served as the US-based titular bishop , vicar of the Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia. Metropolitan John is also the former administrator of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA. Biography Early life In 1991, he graduated from Secondary School №4 in Moscow with depth study of English Language. In 1991-1993, he studied at the Faculty of Law of the Sholokhov Moscow State University for Humanities with a specialization. During the same period, he served as an altar boy of the Church of the Life-Giving Trinity on Sparrow Hills. During 1993-1994, he held obediences at the Pskov-Caves Monastery. From 1994-1997, he studied at the Moscow Theological Seminary. During the seminary training he served guide of the Church archaeological cabinet at the Moscow Theological Academy and Seminary. In 1996-1997, he worked as a staff member of the Publishing Council of the Russian Orthodox Church specializing in drafting liturgical guidelines. In 1997, he was appointed the Secretariat for Inter-Christian Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Synodal Department for External Church Affairs. In December 1998, he was a member of the Moscow Patriarchate's delegation at the Eighth Assembly of the World Council of Churches (Harare, Zimbabwe) and was elected to the WCC Central Committee. During 1999-2000, he studied at Saint Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary in Crestwood, New York. In 2000-2002, he studied at the Faculty of Philosophy at the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. From 2003 to 2009, as a member of the Secretariate on Church and Society of the Synodal Department for External Church Relations, he was in charge of inter-religious communication, including interaction with the Interreligious Council of Russia and the SNG Interreligious Council, and international interfaith organizations, was a member of the Commission of the Conference of European Churches "Islam in Europe", participated in the preparation and conduct of the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Meetings of the joint Russian-Iranian commission "Islam-Christianity". Ordination On August 28, 2007, Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad (the present Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia) ordained him a Deacon; on September 23, Kirill ordained him a priest. On 27 July 2009, the Holy Synod appointed him Deputy Chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate Synodal Department for the Coordination of Church and Society. In 2009, with the blessing of Patriarch Kirill of