Bishop Vasily was born Vitaly Permiakov in Riga, Latvia, in 1977 in a family of a Russian and Ukrainian origin. His family was initially non-religious, but the influence of his parents and grandparents helped to cultivate respect for historical and religious traditions. At the age of 14, Vitaly was baptized into the Orthodox Christian Church in the Dormition basement chapel of the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Riga, together with his father and his sister. Subsequent reading and study led him to deepen his engagement with Orthodoxy, and by 1995-96 he was a regular churchgoer in Riga, attending Holy Ascension Latvian Orthodox parish in Riga. In late 1990s, his path was influenced by his acquaintance with the renowned priest, Archimandrite Victor (Mamontov) and his community in the small town of Karsava, Latvia.
Vitaly graduated from the Pushkin Lyceum in Riga in 1995, and studied at the Latvian Academy of Culture, majoring in Russian Culture, graduating in 1999. In late 1999 he entered the USA on a student visa in order to be reunited with his family who lived in Dallas, TX, and to study theology at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary. He began his studies at St. Vladimir’s in 2001, graduating with an M.Div. in 2004 with his thesis on Origen of Alexandria under the direction of Archpriest John Behr. During his seminary years, Vitaly served as the captain of the kitchen cleaning crew and the sacristan. On Commencement Day, May 18, 2002, he was ordained a reader in the Orthodox Church in America by His Beatitude Metropolitan Theodosius.
In 2004, Vitaly was accepted into the Ph.D. program in theology (specializing in liturgical studies) at the University of Notre Dame (Indiana), where he studied under the mentorship of renowned professors Maxwell Johnson, Robin Darling Young, Brian Daley and others. In 2008-09 he was a Junior Fellow in Byzantine Studies at Dumbarton Oaks Research Center and Library (Washington, DC), where he continued working on his dissertation on the Byzantine rite for the consecration of a church, which he defended in 2012. During his years in the doctoral program, he attended St Andrew Greek Orthodox Church in South Bend, IN, where he chanted and served in the altar.
From 2011 to 2020, Vitaly Permiakov served on the faculty of Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary in Jordanville, NY, the seminary of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia. While living in precincts of and in the spiritual environment of Holy Trinity Monastery, he taught courses in liturgical theology, dogmatics, comparative theology, apologetics, and New Testament, served on the Curriculum Committee of the seminary, assisted in preparation, revision and approval of the seminary statute, and the approval of the seminary’s M.Div. program. During this time, he prepared the bilingual (English-Slavonic) edition of the Divine Liturgy of St James; at the same time, he co-edited liturgical books in English for the OCA: Small Book of Needs (2012), Hieratikon, vol. 1 (2014), vol. 2 (2017, 2020).
In the spring of 2020, Dr. Permiakov accepted the position of Assistant Professor of Liturgical Theology at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, his alma mater. He taught courses in the seminary’s liturgical curriculum: liturgics, liturgy of initiation, and a number of advanced graduate seminars. He also served on the editorial board of St Vladimir’s Theological Quarterly. Fr. Vasily is a member of International Orthodox Theological Association and of the Society for Oriental Liturgy, and regularly participates in academic conferences and symposiums, such as Oxford Patristics Conference and others.
Beginning in mid-2021, Dr. Permiakov also served as the ecclesiarch of Three Hierarchs Chapel, overseeing the celebration of services in the seminary chapel. After the retirement of Fr. Chad Hatfield, he also served as the administrator of the chapel from July to December 2024.
In 2021, after much discernment and prayer, and with the blessing of His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon, Dr. Permiakov petitioned to be ordained to the holy diaconate in a celibate status. He was ordained as a subdeacon on the Feast of Annunciation, March 25, 2021, by His Grace Bishop Andrei of Cleveland, and then ordained to the holy diaconate on the Feast of Exaltation of the Cross, September 14, 2021, by the hands of Metropolitan Tikhon. Dn. Vitaly continued to serve as chapel ecclesiarch, and the assigned seminary deacon, and was awarded the right to wear double orarion for his services in May 2023. In addition to his seminary duties, Dn. Vitaly accompanied His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon for the pilgrimage to Alaska in August 2023, and in May-June 2024 he was part of the OCA’s official delegation, led by His Beatitude, that visited Ukraine, Romania, and Constantinople.
Dn. Vitaly was ordained to the holy priesthood on September 14, 2024, also by the hands of Metropolitan Tikhon, and was assigned to Three Hierarchs Chapel. He was awarded the Synodal gold cross at his ordination, in recognition of his work on behalf of the seminary. On January 17, 2025, he was tonsured to the small schema in monasticism at St Tikhon of Zadonsk Monastery (South Canaan, PA) by the Abbot of the monastery, Archimandrite Sergius, and given the name Vasily, after St Basil the Great. On Lazarus Saturday 2025, following the decision of the spring session of the Holy Synod, Bp. Vasily was elevated to the dignity of archimandrite. Bp. Vasily’s students and alumni colleagues frequently note his care and openness in addition to his well-known expertise and he quickly became father confessor to many in the seminary community.
Over the last couple of years, in a discernment process led by His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon, and His Eminence, Archbishop Benjamin, Bp. Vasily was introduced to the Diocese of the West on a number of occasions including the giving of retreats, serving in parishes with His Eminence, and visiting with clergy and faithful. In light of His Eminence’s impending retirement and with his support, His Beatitude blessed the Diocesan Council to begin a process leading to the nomination of the next bishop of San Francisco and the West and the Diocesan Council met with Bp. Vasily in late 2024. In April 2025, the Diocesan Council unanimously voted to encourage that Bp. Vasily be nominated for this high office. Following His Eminence’s retirement, a special nominating assembly was held on July 16, 2025 in Phoenix, Arizona which nominated then Fr. Archimandrite Vasily for the Holy Synod’s consideration for the See of San Francisco and the Diocese of the West. The same evening, the Holy Synod of Bishops meeting under the presidency of His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon, elected Bishop Vasily to become Bishop of San Francisco and the West and his episcopal ordination was on August 16, 2025 at the diocesan cathedral of the Holy Trinity in San Francisco.
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