+DANIEL

ARCHBISHOP DANIEL [BRUM] was born on November 16, 1954, the eldest of three children born to Orville Antonio and Marjory Brum. He was raised on the family dairy farm and ranch in Riverdale, CA, a rural agricultural community in California’s Central Valley, where he graduated from high school in 1973.

Raised in the Roman Catholic tradition, he enrolled at Saint Patrick’s College Seminary, Mountain View, CA, where, during his freshman year, he first encountered the history of the Orthodox Church and frequently attended services at Saint Nicholas Church, Saratoga, CA. At that time, the parish was under the rectorate of the ever-memorable Mitered Archpriest George Benigsen. Father George graciously welcomed him and encouraged him to explore Orthodox Christianity further, as he did with so many others who would eventually enter the Orthodox Church. As a result of that encouragement and support, he began reading the Church Fathers and tried to integrate what he was learning of Orthodoxy into his regular courses of study. His major contact with Orthodoxy came through attendance at other various Bay Area churches, including Holy Trinity Cathedral in San Francisco.

He received a BA in Humanities, with a concentration in European History and minor emphases on Philosophy and English Literature, from Saint Patrick’s College Seminary in 1977. After this he entered Saint Patrick’s Seminary, Menlo Park, CA, where he continued the study of Church history alongside his theological studies.  In 1981, he received his Master of Divinity degree and was ordained to the priesthood in the Roman Catholic Church.  After ordination, he served in a variety of capacities, including parish ministry and diocesan administrative responsibilities.  Fluent in Portuguese, he was particularly involved in the Portuguese-American community throughout California.  He also served as diocesan Director of Vocations, Diocesan Consultor, and as editor of the Portuguese-language page of the diocesan newspaper.

In 1992, he was asked by his bishop to pursue further studies and, in 1995, he completed the academic work and received an advanced research degree in canon law (JCL) from the Catholic University of America, Washington, DC.  His relationship with Orthodoxy continued as he focused his research within the context of the canons of the Seven Ecumenical Councils, regional councils, and the ancient canonical tradition of the Orthodox Church.  During this time, he more seriously contemplated conversion to Orthodox Christianity. Ultimately, it was his study of canon law that impelled him to respond to the call to embrace the Orthodox Faith.

He petitioned to be received into the Orthodox Church in America in 1997 and was received by His Grace, Bishop Tikhon of San Francisco and the West at the Monastery of Saint John of Shanghai and San Francisco on the Saturday of the Praises of the Theotokos the same year.  He then served briefly at Saint Nicholas Church, Saratoga, CA, before his assignment to Saint Paul the Apostle Church, Las Vegas, NV.  In August 1998, he was transferred to the omophorion of His Eminence, Archbishop Peter and the Diocese of New York and New Jersey and assigned Rector of Saint Gregory Palamas Mission, Flemington, NJ, where he gained a new appreciation for the hard work and special challenges faced by mission priests.  In 2000, he was appointed Secretary to His Beatitude, Metropolitan Theodosius and later served as secretary to His Beatitude, Metropolitan Herman.

In December 2005, he expressed his desire to return to parish ministry and, on July 1, 2006, he was transferred to the Diocese of San Francisco and the West and appointed Rector of Saints Peter and Paul Church, Phoenix, AZ, where he served for the next 16 years, until his election to the See of Chicago.

On October 21, 2014, the Holy Synod elected him as Bishop of Santa Rosa, CA to serve as an auxiliary to His Eminence, Archbishop Benjamin of San Francisco and the West.  He was consecrated to the episcopacy on January 24, 2015, the feast day of Saint Xenia of St. Petersburg.  Bishop Daniel has served on the OCA’s Statute Revision Task Force, Chancellor of the Diocese of the West, Chairman of the Commission on Canons and Statutes, as a member of the Legal Advisory Board, member of the Canonization Commission, Episcopal liaison to the Military Chaplains, and, following the repose of Archbishop Paul (Gassios) on Pascha, April 24, 2022, as locum tenens of the Diocese of Chicago and the Midwest. On July 18, 2022, the eve of the feast of Saint Seraphim of Sarov, Bishop Daniel was elected by the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church in America as Bishop of Chicago and the Diocese of the Midwest. 

On November 11, 2022, the Holy Synod elevated Bishop Daniel unanimously to the dignity of Archbishop.

Among his personal interests and pursuits, Archbishop Daniel includes playing the piano and guitar, Church history, and the study of modern languages.