Ambrose (Cantacuzène) of Geneva

His Grace Bishop Ambrose (Cantacuzene) was bishop of Geneva and Western Europe for the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia until his retirement in 2006.
==Life==
The future Bishop Ambrose, in the world Peter Cantacuzene, was born on September 3, 1947, in Vevey, Switzerland to Prince Peter Georgievich Cantacuzene and Olga Alekseevna, née Orlova. He is a descendant of the Byzantine royal house. He received his education in the classics and then graduated from the law school at Lausanne University. He subsequently worked as a high school teacher of French and basic jurisprudence.
In 1972 he was tonsured a reader in Vevey. In 1974 he participated in the Third All-Diaspora Council.
A spiritual child of Archbishop Anthony (Bartoshevich) of Geneva and Western Europe, he was ordained deacon and then priest in Geneva in 1976. In the spring of 1978 he was appointed rector of the parish in Vevey, Switzerland.
In September 1993 he was tonsured a monk with the name of Ambrose for St Ambrose of Milan. On September 26, 1993 he was consecrated bishop of Vevey, vicar for the Western-European diocese at the Exaltation of the Cross Cathedral in Geneva, Switzerland. The consecration was performed by Metropolitan Vitaly (Ustinov), Archbishop Anthony (Bartoshevich) of Geneva and Western Europe, Archbishop Mark (Arndt) of Berlin and Germany, and Bishop Seraphim (Dulgov) of Lesna. On October 17, 2000 he was appointed Bishop of Geneva and Western Europe by the Council of Bishops of the ROCOR. Between 2003 and 2006 he participated in the Committee for Dialogue with the Moscow Patriarchate; in May 2006, he was a member of the Fourth All-Diaspora Council in San Francisco, California.
On May 19, 2006, the Council of Bishops of the ROCOR accepted Bishop Ambrose's request to be retired. Bishop Michael (Donskoff) was appointed as his successor to the Geneva cathedra, and Bishop Ambrose served as rector of a parish in Vevey, Switzerland. On July 22, 2009, Bp Ambrose reposed in the Lord.
Category:Bishops