Early Life and Origins
Bishop Nektarios (secular name Nenad Samardžić) was born on May 18, 1983, in Sarajevo, to his father Nemanja (†2009) and mother Nada (née Remić).
He began elementary school in Sarajevo and completed it in Gothenburg (Kingdom of Sweden), where his family relocated due to the war events of the 1990s.
Theological Education
With the blessing of Bishop Dositej of the British-Scandinavian Diocese, he enrolled in the Theological Seminary of the Holy Three Hierarchs (today known as St. Peter of Dabar-Bosna), which he completed in 2003.
Afterwards, with the blessing of the same hierarch, he continued his studies in Moscow, where he graduated from the Moscow Theological Academy in 2006.
Monastic Life and Priesthood
On June 1, 2007, at the Church of Saints Cyril and Methodius in Malmö, he was tonsured into the small schema and received the monastic name Nektarios, after Saint Nektarios of Aegina the Wonderworker.
У чин јерођакона рукоположен је 2. јуна, а у чин презвитера 16. јуна исте године, у манастиру Покрова Пресвете Богородице у Смедјериду.
As a priest, he served at the Church of Saints Cyril and Methodius in Malmö and for a time worked at the Christian Studies Center "Bilda," where he actively participated in dialogue with other Christian communities in the Kingdom of Sweden.
Abbot of the Monastery of St. George in Olofström
On the feast of Saint Nicholas of Ohrid and Žiča, May 3, 2009, Bishop Dositej appointed Hieromonk Nektarios as the abbot of the newly established Monastery of St. George in Olofström (southeastern Sweden, Blekinge region).
Ту је успешно организовао монашки живот и уредио манастирски комплекс.
On September 10, 2011, during the consecration of the new iconostasis, Bishop Dositej honored him with the rank of Protosyncellusand in 2013 elevated him to the rank of Archimandrite.
Studies in Greece
He completed the Faculty of Theology at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens in 2016, with a thesis on "The Eucharistic Controversy in the Post-Byzantine Period." He continued his postgraduate studies at Aristotle University in Thessaloniki, under the mentorship of Fr. Vasilios Kalliagmanis. His master's thesis, entitled "Pastoral Aspects of the Ecclesiology of Saint Nektarios of Aegina," was successfully defended on April 4, 2019.
In addition to his native Serbian, he is proficient in Swedish, Russian, Greek, and English.
Mount Athos and Service in Sweden
During his eleven-year stay in Greece, he frequently visited Mount Athos, where he spent two years at the Hilandar Monastery, living in the brotherhood and serving in that holy place.
At the invitation of Bishop Dositej, he returned to Sweden and on November 24, 2020, was appointed abbot of the Church of St. Stefan Dečanski in Gothenburg, where, together with the young clergy, he revitalized the spiritual life of the Serbian community.
Service in the Serbian Patriarchate
In October 2021, Archimandrite Nektarios moved to Belgrade, where he became a staff member of the Office for Interchurch Relations of the Holy Synod of Bishops. It was there that he was elected Bishop of Jegra, vicar of the Serbian Patriarch, on May 23, 2022, during the regular session of the Holy Assembly of Bishops in the crypt of the Church of St. Sava in Belgrade.
British-Irish Bishop
At the regular session of the Holy Assembly of Bishops, held from May 14 to 18, 2024, a decision was made to divide the British-Scandinavian Diocese. Two new dioceses were formed:
- Scandinavian Diocese (седиште у Стокхолму)
- British-Irish Diocese (Headquartered in London)
The first hierarch of the British-Irish Diocese was elected as the then vicar of the Serbian Patriarch, His Grace Nektarios, Bishop of Jegra.
The solemn enthronement of His Grace, Bishop Nektarios, to the throne of the Bishop of London and the British-Irish Diocese will be performed by His Holiness, Serbian Patriarch Porfirije, on November 24, 2024, at the Cathedral Church of St. Sava in London.
