Fr Rares Onofrei was admitted to St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary in Yonkers, New York, in 2007, and graduated with a Master of Divinity degree in May, 2010. On March 29, 2009 he was ordained to the Holy Diaconate at St. Dumitru Romanian Orthodox Church in New York City through the laying on of the hands of the Most Reverend Dr. NATHANIEL, Archbishop of Detroit and the Romanian Orthodox Episcopate of America, and on October 11th of the same year he was ordained to the Holy Priesthood at Falling Asleep of the Ever-Virgin Mary Cathedral, Cleveland, Ohio, again by His Eminence Archbishop NATHANIEL. Upon graduation he was assigned to Saint Anne Orthodox Church in Pomona, California, and from December 2012 was appointed parish priest to the Holy Archangels Michael and Gabriel Romanian Orthodox Church in Sacramento.

Fr Rares Onofrei also holds a bachelor of medicine degree from Shanxi University of TCM, Taiyuan, China.