Hieromonk Gavriil elected new abbot of Zograf Monastery

The Zograf Monastery on Mount Athos has a new abbot. Hieromonk Gavriil has been elected as the new abbot of the monastery, reported the website of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. "On Lazarus Saturday, the Zograf Monastery on Mount Athos held elections to appoint a new abbot following the recent passing of Archimandrite Ambrose. The election was conducted in accordance with the monastery’s internal regulations and the Organic Charter of Mount Athos. Hieromonk Gavriil was elected as the new abbot", the monastery's office announced.

Father Gavriil, whose secular name is Georgi Karatotev, was born on December 11, 1973, in Sofia. He first arrived at the Zograf Monastery on December 20, 1997, and was tonsured a monk one year later, on December 20, 1998. He was ordained as a hieromonk on October 24, 2003. Since the beginning of 2003, he has served almost continuously as the monastery’s first epitropos.