 Upon the death of Archimandrite Irénée (Louis-Charles) Winnaert, he was placed in charge of the newly formed Western Orthodox Church established by Metropolitan Sergius, the Patriarchal "locum tenens" of Moscow.The Holy Synod of the Church of Russia conferred upon him the title Doctor of Divinity in 1952.In 1966, he was tonsured by Saint John Maximovitch, given the monastic name of Jean-Nectaire, consecrated bishop (with the assistance Theophilus (Ionescu) of Sèvres), and installed as the first Bishop of Saint-Denis in the modern era, making him the bishop of the Western Rite diocese now known as the Orthodox Church of France.