Therefore, after a period of solid catechesis which aided detox from misconceptions taught in the West, the newly illumined was fully immersed into the sacraments of Holy Orthodoxy via the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad (ROCOR) receiving the monastic tonsure on the 1st of December 2008AD according to the traditions of the Byzantine East.

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In those formative years dedicated to study and service, the young Hieromonk Raffaele was then ordained to the Diaconate on the 10th of January in 2011AD by the reposed Metropolitan of blessed memory Hilarion Kapral – assigning him to the Church of the All Holy Trinity in Collingwood which was a thriving parish for Western Christians.

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This appointment was short lived when the Hierodeacon was re-assigned in 2012AD to a conservative parish in the south eastern suburbs. That particular community was not so embracive of Western Christians however polite. It is in this timeframe that the Hierodeacon is asked by spokespersons from various Greek families to serve them in the northeast.

Hence, in 2013AD Hierodeacon Raffaele accepted the invitation to serve various families within the Greek and Macedonian communities who resisted certain ecclesial and calendar changes. Therefore, he was ordained to the priesthood on the 6th of October within that year by Metropolitan Photios of Marathon who was a monk from the Monastery of Esphigmenou.

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The newly ordained Hieropresbyter was assigned to serve in the CBD which was a great outreach to the community despite contrary forces within. On the 29th of May in 2016AD Father Raffaele was then assigned to a conservative parish and elevated to the rank of Archimandrite by Metropolitan Euthymius of Thessalonica for service to a much fragmented community.

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On the 3rd of September 2017AD Archimandrite Raffaele (previously elected to the Office of Apostles) was consecrated to the episcopacy in Rome by the Procurator of the Autonomous Orthodox Church of Western Europe and Canada: Metropolitan Basilio Grillo Micheli – assisted by co-consecrator Archbishop Theophilactus of Romania. Thus, on 25th of March in 2021AD Archbishop Raffaele was elevated to the rank of Metropolitan.

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After the repose of Metropolitan Basilio of Blessed Memory on the 19th of December 2021AD Metropolitan Raffaele and Metropolitan Volodymir of St. Julius strengthened ties; restoring the Church to her rightful place by cultivating the fruits of the harvest via separating the wheat from the chaff.

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Metropolitan Raffaele serves as Vice President of the Holy Synod, Vicar General, Archbishop of Laus Pompeia, Melbourne, New Zealand, and is Exarch of the British Isles residing in Australia. 

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Synodal Certification

Appointed Vicar General of our Mother Church