In the past he was titular bishop of Bogorodsk, or the title given to the head of the Parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church in Italy.

[1] On 19 October 1990 he was tonsured a monk at the famous Russian Orthodox monastery named Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius, and was ordained a hierodeacon in the same location on 21 November 1990.

On the Eastern Orthodox feast day of Pentecost in 1997, Golovkov was elevated to the rank of Hegumen, or leader of a major monastery, by Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow in the Holy Trinity Cathedral, Jerusalem.

Mark (Golovkov) spoke to the media, saying: "We're ready to receive them all, but for a long time, the Mount of Olives Monastery did not allow Russian priests to enter.

[1] On 26 December 2003 he was chosen by the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church to be bishop of Yegoryevsk [ru] and vicar of the Moscow diocese.

[5] On 31 March 2009 the Holy Synod decided to appoint Mark (Golovkov) secretary of the Moscow Patriarchate for foreign institutions.

[13] Mark (Golovkov) was one of many leaders of Christian denominations to express their opposition of Saudi Islamic scholar and cleric Abdul-Aziz ibn Abdullah Al ash-Sheikh, when the latter declared that all churches in the Arabian Peninsula must be destroyed.