Because of his long exposure to the Middle East, Bishop Feofan has acquired the reputation within the Russian Orthodox Church as perhaps its leading specialist on dealing with Islamic countries.

That may help to explain why he was named to his current bishopric in May 2003, only six months after he had been elevated to the position of bishop of Magadan.

A 1976 graduate of the Moscow Spiritual Academy, Feofan, 57, has served in progressively more responsible positions within the Patriarchate's Department of Foreign Relations and as a representative of the Patriarchate to church bodies in the Middle East.

From 1977 to 1982, he worked at the Russian Spiritual Mission in Jerusalem.

From 1989 to 1993, he served as the Moscow Patriarchate's representative to the Orthodox Patriarch at Alexandria.

From 1999 to 2002, he filled a similar role at the Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch.

In the intervening periods, he worked at the Moscow Patriarchate's Department of Foreign Relations, most recently from 1993 to 1999 as the deputy chief of that department.

While in all these posts, Feofan cemented his close ties with Metropolitan Kirill, the longtime head of that department, a churchman reputed to have the closest of ties to Russian security agencies, and the current odds-on favorite to succeed Aleksii as the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church.