Diocese of Great Britain & Ireland
The diocese to which Lazarica belongs consists of the UK and Ireland. This diocese was founded in November 2024 and is headquartered in London.
The diocese is consists of two deaneries, which consists of the following parishes:
North Britain & Ireland Deanery
- Parish of Birmingham
- Parish of Leicester
- Parish of Derby
- Parish of Halifax
- Parish of Bradford
- Parish of Ireland
- Missionary parish of St. Nicholas in Telford
South Britain & London Deanery
- Parish of London
- Parish of Oxford
- Parish of Bedford
Lazarica is the centre of the North Britain & Ireland Deanery. The other is the South Britain & London, which is centred in London.
The bishop of this diocese is his Grace, Nektarije. Visit the diocese website for more info.
Bishop Nektarije
Nektarije (born Ratko Samardžić; May 18, 1983, Sarajevo) is a British-Irish bishop and the former Vicar Bishop of Jegar (2022–2024). He was born to Nemanja (†2009) and Nada (née Remić) Samardžić. Nektarije began his elementary education in Sarajevo but completed it in Gothenburg, Sweden, after his family relocated due to the conflicts of the 1990s.
He graduated from the Theological Seminary of St. Peter of Dabrobosna in Foča in 2003 and pursued further studies at the Moscow Spiritual Academy from 2003 to 2006. His postgraduate education included studies at the Faculty of Theology of Kapodistria University (2012–2016) and the Faculty of Theology at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (2016–2019). At Thessaloniki, he defended his thesis, titled “Pastoral Experiments in the Ecclesiology of St. Nectarios of Aegina.”
Nektarije took monastic vows as a small schema monk on June 1, 2007. The following day, he was ordained as a hierodeacon, and on June 16, 2007, he was ordained as a hieromonk. He was elevated to the rank of Archimandrite on July 21, 2013, at the Monastery of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary.