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[[Image:Gabriel Bunge.jpg|right|thumb|Swiss theologian Hieromonk Gabriel Bunge.]]
Hieromonk '''Gabriel Bunge''' (1940- ) is a renowned Swiss theologian and Patristics scholar who was formerly a Roman Catholic [[Hieromonk]] of the Order of Saint Benedict (O.S.B.) that was welcomed into the Orthodox Christian faith on [[August 27]], 2010.
==Life==
Born in 1940 in Cologne, in 1962 he entered the Roman Catholic Benedictine monastery [[w:Chevetogne Abbey|Chevetogne Abbey]], in Belgium, and was [[ordination|ordained ]] in 1972. Since 1980 he has been living the [[Hermit|eremitical]] life in the Swiss mountains.
As a Patristics scholar he has contributed numerous articles and books to spiritual and monastic journals, particularly on [[Evagrius Ponticus]], providing translations of several of Evagrius’ works, including the ''Letters''.
On August 27, 2010 (according to the [[Julian Calendar]]), Fr. Gabriel [[conversion|converted ]] to Orthodoxy in the presence of Department for External Church Relations (DECR ) chairman Metropolitan [[Hilarion (Alfeyev) of Volokolamsk]] and Metropolitan [[Kallistos (Ware) of Diokleia]] during an [[All-Night Vigil ]] at the Church of the ”Joy of All Who Sorrow” Icon, on Bolshaya Ordynka Street, in Moscow.
The DECR chairman cordially greeted hieromonk Gabriel, who has lived a solitary life for over thirty years, saying:
:''“Your have been a Catholic, but an Orthodox deep in your heart. Today, before the All-Night Vigil, you have become an Orthodox, thus naturally completing a long spiritual way.”''
While congratulating Fr . Gabriel on this move, Metropolitan Metr. Hilarion presented him with an [[icon ]] of the [[Theotokos|Mother of God ]] called “Joy of All the Afflicted”, to which the church in which Fr . Gabriel joined the Orthodox Church is dedicated.
Fr. Gabriel continues to lead a hermit’s life in a small [[skete]] in Switzerland, never uses the Internet, and the only means of communication with him is the telephone.