Post by Deleted on Oct 15, 2023 21:43:44 GMT
The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church voted to retire Metropolitan Lazar (Shvets) of Crimea, head of the Orthodox Church in Crimea since 1992. The Crimean Metropolis led by Met. Lazar was annexed by the Russian Orthodox Church from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church illegally in 2022.
Metropolitan Lazar is an interesting man. He is Ukrainian and was born in 1939 in what was then Polish territory. He became a novice in 1954 at the Pochaev Lavra in Soviet Ukraine and then moved to a monastery in Soviet Belarus. In 1957 he entered the Minsk Theological Seminary .
In 1971 he was ordained a priest. In 1980, he was consecrated bishop and until 1989 he oversaw the Russian parishes in Latin America. After short stints as Bishop of Ternopil and then Archbishop of Odessa and Kherson he was appointed Metropolitan of Simferopol and Crimea in 1992. In the first 20 years of his time as Metropolitan of Crimea, the number of parishes increased from 30 to 564.
Although Russian nationalists accused him of being pro-Ukrainian, he may well be chiefly remembered for allowing the Russian Orthodox Church to take the Crimean dioceses of the UOC in 2022, an act in violation of Orthodox canons
Metropolitan Lazar is an interesting man. He is Ukrainian and was born in 1939 in what was then Polish territory. He became a novice in 1954 at the Pochaev Lavra in Soviet Ukraine and then moved to a monastery in Soviet Belarus. In 1957 he entered the Minsk Theological Seminary .
In 1971 he was ordained a priest. In 1980, he was consecrated bishop and until 1989 he oversaw the Russian parishes in Latin America. After short stints as Bishop of Ternopil and then Archbishop of Odessa and Kherson he was appointed Metropolitan of Simferopol and Crimea in 1992. In the first 20 years of his time as Metropolitan of Crimea, the number of parishes increased from 30 to 564.
Although Russian nationalists accused him of being pro-Ukrainian, he may well be chiefly remembered for allowing the Russian Orthodox Church to take the Crimean dioceses of the UOC in 2022, an act in violation of Orthodox canons