The election took place during a session of ROCOR’s Archbishop Council in New York.
Archbishop Hilarion became acting Chairman of ROCOR’s Synod after the death of ROCOR’s top hierarch Metropolitan Laurus of East America and New York and was seen as his likeliest successor.

Under the new order, his candidacy requires the approval of Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexy II.

Archbishop Hilarion (Igor Kapral) was born on January 6, 1948, in Canada.

In 1972, he graduated from the Holy Trinity Seminary in Jordanville.

On December 1974, he was tonsured as a Ryassofor monk with the name of Hilarion. In December 1975, he was ordained to the deaconate. In 1976, he became a hierodeacon. The following year he graduated from Syracuse University with a master’s degree in Slavic Studies and Russian Literature and was ordained to priesthood.

In December 1984, at the age of 36, Father Hilarion was appointed bishop of Manhattan. In June 1996, he was transferred to the diocese of Australia and New Zealand and raised to the rank of archbishop.

In 2006, he was elected first deputy chairman of ROCOR’s Synod.

UPDATE: From the Scotsman

May 12, Interfax –
The Russian Church has once again reassured that it thinks impossible for the Orthodox believers to conduct services together with members of other Christian confessions.

“We would like once again to confirm our intention to refrain from participating in communal prayers with unorthodox believers,” said a member of the secretary for interchristian relations of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations Priest Alexander Vasyutin to Interfax-Religion.

According to the priest, this issue becomes important again in the process of organization of the 13th General Assembly of the Conference of European Churches which is scheduled to be held in July, 2009 in Lyon, France.

Fr. Alexander, who is also a member of the organization committee of the Assembly, said that “the standpoint of the Russian Orthodox Church unfortunately finds little understanding with members of other local Orthodox Churches.”

As a case in point, Fr. Alexander told us that at the recent meeting of the committee Metropolitan Emmanuel of France (the Patriarchate of Constantinople) replied answering to the proposal to keep from interconfessional prayers during the Assembly that “the standpoint of the Moscow Patriarchate on this matter reminds him of a husband who has a wife, but does not sleep with her.”

Besides, this Constantinople representative asked a question: “Why do members of the Moscow Patriarchate always refuse to participate in common prayers with unorthodox believers, while Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia conducted the common service with the Catholic clergy in the Notre Dame de Paris during his stay in Paris in October, 2007.”

“There is no need to repeat information distributed by many church and secular media that the Notre Dame de Paris held the Orthodox service where members of the Catholic Church were only present, including the Archbishop of Paris Andre Vingt-Trois. So, any common service or prayer is definitely out of the question,” said Fr. Alexander.

The United Nations sent in three more planes and several trucks loaded with aid, though the junta took over its first two shipments. The government agreed to let a U.S. cargo plane bring in supplies Monday, but foreign disaster experts were still being barred entry.

State-run television continuously ran images of top generals — including the junta leader, Senior Gen. Than Shwe — handing out boxes of aid to survivors at elaborate ceremonies.

One box bore the name of Lt. Gen. Myint Swe, a rising star in the government hierarchy, in bold letters that overshadowed a smaller label reading: “Aid from the Kingdom of Thailand.”

“We have already seen regional commanders putting their names on the side of aid shipments from Asia, saying this was a gift from them and then distributing it in their region,” said Mark Farmaner, director of Burma Campaign UK, which campaigns for human rights and democracy in the country.

“It is not going to areas where it is most in need,” he said in London.

State media say 23,335 people died and 37,019 are missing from Cyclone Nargis, which submerged entire villages in the Irrawaddy delta. International aid organizations say the death toll could climb to more than 100,000 as conditions worsen.

The U.N. estimates that 1.5 million to 2 million people have been severely affected and has voiced concern about the disposal of bodies.

With phone lines down, roads blocked and electricity networks destroyed, it is nearly impossible to reach isolated areas in the delta, complicated by the lack of experienced international aid workers and equipment.

But the junta has refused to grant access to foreign experts, saying it will only accept donations from foreign charities and governments, and then will deliver the aid on its own.

Farmaner said the world needs to move to deliver aid directly to victims in Myanmar, also known as Burma.

“People we are speaking to in Burma say aid must be delivered anyway even if the regime doesn’t give permission,” he said. “We have had a week to convince the regime to behave reasonably, and they are still blocking aid. So the international community needs to wake up and take bolder steps.”

However, aid providers are unlikely to pursue unilateral deliveries like airdrops because of the diplomatic firestorm that it could set off.

So far, relief workers have reached 220,000 cyclone victims, only a small fraction of the number of people affected, the Red Cross said Friday. Three Red Cross aid flights loaded with shelter kits and other emergency supplies landed Friday without incident.

But the government seized two planeloads of high-energy biscuits — enough to feed 95,000 people — sent by the U.N. World Food Program. Despite the seizure, the WFP was sending three more planes Saturday from Dubai, Cambodia and Italy, even though those could be confiscated, too.

“We are working around the clock with the authorities to ensure the kind of access that we need to ensure it goes to people that need it most,” WFP spokesman Marcus Prior said in Bangkok, Thailand.

Richard Horsey, a spokesman for U.N. humanitarian operations, said an international presence is needed in Myanmar to look at the logistics of getting boats, helicopters and trucks into the delta area.

“That’s a critical bottleneck that must be overcome at this point,” he said in Bangkok.
He warned there was a great risk of diarrhea and cholera spreading because of the lack of clean drinking water and sanitation.

“We are running out of time here. This could be a huge problem and this could lead to a second phase which could be as deadly as the cyclone,” he said.

Heavy rain forecast in the next week was certain to exacerbate the misery. Diplomats and aid groups warned the number of dead could eventually exceed 100,000 because of illnesses and said thousands of children may have been orphaned.

Survivors from one of the worst-affected areas, near the town of Bogalay, were among those fighting hunger, illness and wrenching loneliness.

“All my 28 family members have died,” said Thein Myint, a 68-year-old fisherman who wept while describing how the cyclone swept away the rest of his family. “I am the only survivor.”
Officials have said only one out of 10 people who are homeless, injured or threatened by disease and hunger have received some kind of aid since the cyclone hit May 3.

The government’s abilities are limited. It has only a few dozen helicopters, most of which are small and old. It also has about 15 transport planes, primarily small jets unable to carry hundreds of tons of supplies.

“Not only don’t they have the capacity to deliver assistance, they don’t have experience,” said Farmaner, the British aid worker. “It’s already too late for many people. Every day of delays is costing thousands of lives.”