The Zograf Monastery on Mount Athos has elected a new abbot

On April 12, 2025, on Lazarus Saturday, elections for a new abbot took place at the Zograf Monastery on Mount Athos. According to the voting results, the honorable position was given to Hieromonk Gavriil (Karatotev). This is reported by the Global Orthodox website.

The elections were held in accordance with the strict monastic rules, with 31 monks participating, all of whom had the right to vote. It is important to note that only hieromonks who had been in the monastery for at least six years were allowed to participate in the elections. According to the established rules, a candidate needed at least 16 votes to gain the support of the brotherhood.

The results of the election were sent to the Holy Community of Mount Athos for further approval. After the Ecumenical Patriarchate approves the candidate, an official enthronement ceremony will take place. Representatives from other monasteries, including the Great Lavra, Vatopedi, and others, will traditionally participate in this process.

The new abbot, Hieromonk Gavriil (Karatotev), is well known among the Zograf Monastery brotherhood. He was born on December 11, 1973, in Sofia, and arrived at Mount Athos in 1997. A year later, he took monastic vows, and in 2003, he was ordained as a hieromonk.

The election of a new abbot became necessary after the passing of the previous abbot, Archimandrite Ambrosiy, in early 2025.

Earlier, it was reported that the monks of Mount Athos issued a public statement strongly condemning the actions of the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine, which was conducting the “examination” of the relics of the venerable saints at the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. “Unfortunately, these actions by the Ukrainian authorities regarding the relics of the Venerable Pechersk Saints remind us of the ‘works and days’ of the Soviet atheist government,” the Athonite monks emphasized.