Metropolitan Anastasy Metkin is retiring. Metropolitan Anastassy: “No Kuraevs can destroy the Church of Christ! Teacher in theological schools

Born on August 27, 1944 in the village of Stolbovo, Kimry district, Kalinin region. After graduating from school, he served as a subdeacon in the Assumption Church in the village. Shchelkova.

In 1963 he graduated from a construction school and worked at a machine-building plant in Kimry.

Since 1967 he served as a psalm-reader in churches.

On September 5, 1976, he was tonsured a monk and elevated to the rank of abbot. In the same year, he was appointed rector of the St. Nicholas Cathedral in Kazan and secretary of the Kazan diocesan administration.

In 1985 he was elevated to the rank of archimandrite.

In 1975 he graduated from the Moscow Theological Seminary in absentia, and in 1983 from the Moscow Theological Academy.

By the decision of the Holy Synod of July 13, 2015 () he was appointed His Eminence of Simbirsk and Novospassky, head.

1975 - Moscow Theological Seminary (in absentia).

1983 - Moscow Theological Academy.

(Metkin Alexander Mikhailovich; born 08/27/1944, village of Stolbovo, Kimry district, Kalinin region), Metropolitan. Simbirsk. From the family of the chairman of a collective farm, he graduated from school in the city of Kimry, with a con. 50s served as subdeacon in the Assumption Church. Shchelkova, was preparing to enter the DS. The city administration demanded that A. Metkin renounce the Church; after his refusal, the Assumption Church was closed, the priest was deregistered “for attracting minors to a religious cult.” After graduating from construction school in 1963, A. Metkin worked at a machine-building plant in Kimry.

On the advice of his confessor, he moved to the Kazan diocese to avoid possible persecution for his religion. convictions, since 1967 he served as a psalm-reader in the churches of the Kazan diocese. May 6, 1968 Archbishop. Mikhail (Voskresensky) of Kazan ordained a deacon, February 7. 1972 - became a priest. 5 Sep. 1976 Bishop of Kazan Panteleimon (Mitryukovsky) tonsured a monk and named him in honor of St. Anastasia of Kiev-Pechersk. In the same year, A. was appointed rector of the St. Nicholas Cathedral of Kazan and secretary of the Kazan diocesan administration. In 1985 he was elevated to the rank of archimandrite. During the years of Soviet power, A. retained many Orthodox Churches. shrines, including those handed over to him by the hieroschim. Seraphim (Koshurin) of the relics of St. Gabriel (Zyryanova). In 1975 he graduated from the MDS in absentia, in 1983 from the MDA. In 1988 he was a member of the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church. According to the report of Bishop, who retired due to health reasons. Panteleimon by decree of His Holiness Patriarch Pimen and St. Synod of November 30 1988 A. was appointed Bishop of Kazan and Mari. 10 Dec In 1988, the naming took place in the Epiphany Patriarchal Cathedral, and on December 11, the episcopal consecration took place. After the division of the Kazan diocese into Kazan and Mari on July 11, 1993, A. was given the title “Kazan and Tatarstan”. 25 Feb 1996 He was elevated to the rank of archbishop.

In difficult conditions of church and state. relations that developed after the sovereignty of Tatarstan was proclaimed, A. defended a strong church position. In Jan. In 1994, a letter from A. to His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II was published, in which it was reported about the refusal of the state. officials of Tatarstan to return to Orthodoxy. temples and shrines to believers, caused by the supposed “confrontation of Muslims.” Published Dec. 1994, an open letter to the leadership of the Republic of Tatarstan, signed by A. and the clergy of the diocese, after listing conflict situations in the relationship between the Russian Orthodox Church and the state in Tatarstan, the activities of the Council for Religious Affairs existing in Tatarstan, which actually supported the former, were also criticized. rector of the church with. Smoldiyarov, Laishevsky district, priest. Alexander (Mironov; in the schism - “Archbishop of Kazan and Mari”), who deviated from the schismatic Russian Orthodox Free Church and was defrocked by the decree of A., approved on March 15, 1995 by His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II.

Thanks to A., it was possible to establish a constructive dialogue with local authorities, localize the Smoldiyarov split, and begin the process of transferring Orthodoxy. temples and shrines, construction of new churches. In 1986, there were 15 churches and not a single monastery operating on the territory of the Tatar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic; by the beginning. In 2001, in the Kazan diocese (without the Mari diocese, which had become independent), there were 154 active parishes and 7 mon-rays. In 1996, a branch of the Moscow Orthodox St. Tikhon's Theological Institute was established in Naberezhnye Chelny, in 1997 the Kazan DU was created, in 1998 it was transformed into a DS, the rector of which is A. In October. In 1995, when the 440th anniversary of the Kazan diocese was celebrated, for the first time in the post-war period, a historical and theological conference was held with the participation of professors from theological academies and secular universities. Since 1993, the diocesan gas has been published. “Good News” (since 1995 “Kazan EV”). Since 1996, the program “Orthodox Kazan” has been broadcast on the Efir TV channel, and the program “The Path” has been broadcast on the Tatarstan State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company. In 1995, St. was restored. Guria Kazan Brotherhood. With A.’s blessing, the first Kryashen (see Kryashen) community of Kazan was opened in 1989, and the Chuvash community in 1997. On A.’s initiative, a diocesan Commission for the Canonization of Saints was created, and as a result of its activities, materials were prepared for the glorification of many ascetics of piety and new martyrs of Kazan. Since 1998, A. has been the head of the Kazan representative office of the Orthodox Encyclopedia, by decree of Patriarch Alexy II of November 11. 1998 Inducted into the Church Scientific Council for the publication of the Orthodox Encyclopedia.

By the decision of the Holy Synod of March 15, 2012, A. was approved as rector (hieroarchimandrite) of the Bogoroditsky Monastery in Kazan and the Raifa Bogoroditsky Monastery (village of Raifa, Zelenodolsk region, Republic of Tatarstan).

On June 6, 2012, he was appointed head of the newly formed Tatarstan Metropolis and temporary administrator of the Chistopol diocese.

On July 8, 2012, he was elevated to the rank of metropolitan. He was awarded the Order of Equal Apostles. book Vladimir 3rd degree, blgv. book Daniil of Moscow, 2nd degree (1994), Order of St. Sergius of Radonezh, 2nd degree, Order of St. Seraphim of Sarov, 2nd degree, Order of St. Alexia (2008), state Order of the Badge of Honor (2000).

On March 19, 2014, he was relieved of his post as rector of the Kazan Theological Seminary, according to the petition, due to the increased workload of affairs in managing the Tatarstan Metropolis.

Lit.: Naming and consecration of Archimandrite. Anastasia (Metkina) as bishop. Kazan and Mari // ZhMP. 1989. No. 5. P. 8-10; Letter from A. to His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II // Good news. 1994. No. 1(11). S. 3; Life dedicated to God: Conversation with Bishop. Kazan and Tatarstan Bishop Anastasius // Ibid. 1994. No. 7 (17). S. 2; Open letter from the visiting meeting of clergy of the Kazan diocese to the leadership of the Republic of Tatarstan // Ibid. 1995. No. 2 (19). S. 4.

A. V. Zhuravsky

The center of church life of the Moscow Patriarchate these days moved to Ulyanovsk. Together with Metropolitan Anastasy (Metkin), who was transferred there “on a demotion” from Kazan. Anastasy is the central character of the “blue scandal” promoted by Protodeacon Andrei Kuraev at the end of 2013 - beginning of 2014.

On the day of Anastasius’s arrival in Ulyanovsk, July 20, he was met by two priests and about 50 laity, chanting “Anaxios!” (“Unworthy!”). The protest, dressed in a strictly canonical form, and even in Greek, was immediately dubbed “Maidan” by Anastasius’s supporters in order to frighten the civil authorities, who also met the odious hierarch ambiguously. Patriarch Kirill condemned the “rebellion of the mob” and strengthened his intention to establish Anastasia in the Simbirsk metropolitanate at any cost...

What are we shouting against?

Unknown to the general public, the Greek word “Anaxios” is now the lifelong title of the new Metropolitan of Simbirsk and Novospassky Anastasius (Metkin), head of the Simbirsk Metropolis of the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (ROC MP), covering the territory of the Ulyanovsk region. Anastasia appointed the Holy Synod to Ulyanovsk at its meeting on July 13 this year. in St. Petersburg. Before that, since 1988, Anastassy sat permanently at the Kazan department - much richer and more equipped than Simbirsk. Without a doubt, his demotion was the result of a “blue scandal” with a strong criminal connotation, which broke out in the Kazan diocese, spread to the “sister dioceses” (primarily Tver), affected Patriarch Kirill (Gundyaev) himself and threatened to expand further . The scandal resulted in dozens of newspaper publications, none of which have been refuted. And in this case, in the ecclesiastical law of the Orthodox Church there is a special canon, which actually declares a bishop guilty and unworthy of the rank of bishop, who within a year has not been justified in the accusations of a similar nature brought against him.

This canon is the 90th rule of the Council of Carthage (419). Since it will play a key role in our case, let’s read it carefully: “When there is a denunciation against those in the clergy and some accusations are announced, then ... if they want, as they should, to defend their case and take care of evidence of their innocence, let them do this within year in which they must be out of communication. If within a year they neglect to clean up their work, then after that no word will be accepted from them.” Let us translate into modern language: if the accused cleric does not prove his innocence of “certain charges” within a year, then after that no arguments in his defense will be accepted, that is, he is officially considered guilty. Accusations against Anastasy have been brought forward for a long time, but their peak occurred at the beginning of last year. This means, according to the current law of the Russian Orthodox Church MP, the Metropolitan is now officially considered guilty of sexual cohabitation with persons of the same sex, including minors, covering up sexual violence by the leadership of the Kazan Seminary in relation to its students, as well as groundless repression against victims. We will leave minor accusations (for example, of the forced eviction of his predecessor in the department of Archbishop Panteleimon from Kazan) outside the brackets.

It is clear that in a secular state, sexual orientation is a private matter for the citizen; criminal liability for sodomy remained a thing of the Soviet past. The “social concept” of the Russian Orthodox Church MP also recognizes the presence of such an orientation in some people, but allows them to participate in church communion only if they do not put this orientation into practice, that is, they do not enter into intimate relationships with persons of the same sex. This approach is based on the straightforward condemnation of homosexuality in the Holy Scriptures - both the Old and New Testaments. Accordingly, clergymen, especially bishops, who fall into sodomy are subject to severe punishment. There are dozens of church canons on this topic.

However, in the case of Anastasius, the people’s anger was caused not so much by his orientation as such (this is more than enough among the higher clergy), but by the involvement of seminary students in sexual activities - persons in a obviously dependent position, and even with the use of blackmail. Unlike homosexuality in itself, such actions are qualified by the Russian Criminal Code as a crime (Article 133), and law enforcement agencies in Kazan received relevant statements, which were even investigated. But Anastasius’s hardware capabilities always made it possible to “settle” these cases, and the complainants, if they were seminarians, were expelled from the educational institution.

Protodeacon Andrei Kuraev, a person who until recently was especially close to the patriarch, published many tragic stories of seminarians and other church youth who were subjected to sexual violence. The actions of unpunished false shepherds literally ruined the lives of many of them and crippled their psyches. To complete the picture, here is a fragment of one of the complaints of a student of the Kazan Seminary (under rector Anastasia): “October 11, 2012. On this day, after the seminar dinner, the Vice-Rector for Educational Work, Abbot Kirill (Ilyukhin), called me on my cell phone and invited me to meet him for a joint holiday. Since Father Kirill is the vice-rector, I obeyed him.<...>Then we arrived at the territory of some temple (I don’t remember, it was dark) to the friends of Father Kirill, where by this time they had heated the bathhouse and covered it... In the steam room, Father Kirill grabbed me by the genitals and explained that it was an accident. Father Kirill gave me alcohol.<...>Around 7:00 am I woke up in pain. Father Kirill used sexual acts against me. I ran out of the house wearing only my pants... Similar things happened in our seminary not only to me.”

Hegumen Kirill (Ilyukhin), a long-term “associate” of Metropolitan Anastassy, ​​was dismissed from his post and from the Kazan diocese only after a series of scandals in the press and after he was found guilty by a commission of the Educational Committee of the Moscow Patriarchate. Now he is happily asceticizing in the Tver diocese, which is headed by his colleague Anastasia in orientation.

The Simbirsk Orthodox, who rebelled against the appointment of an odious metropolitan, are now being criticized from two sides. Officialdom - because they show disobedience to the Patriarch and the Synod, organize a “Maidan” (and this all smells of administrative, and even criminal - due to provincial zeal - matters). The liberal public - because they are homophobic and deny their new ruler the right to have a different sexual orientation. Well, everything is clear with the officialdom, but liberal opponents are somewhat distorting. Still, the pathos of the Simbirsk protest lies in the rejection of: a) criminal offenses covered up by the church leadership; b) ignoring the requirements of the canons and cynically demonstrating their permissiveness. Among the “blue lobby” of the Russian Orthodox Church MP there are “quiet” and “violent” - many people know about the “quiet” ones, but try not to pay attention to them (they say, “personal life”, “he himself will answer before God”), but the “violent ones” “With their demonstrative and criminal behavior they simply provoke civil protest. And this protest has nothing to do with “homophobia.”

Spiritual "Maidan"

But let’s return to “revolutionary” Simbirsk and try to restore the chronology of the uprising against Anastasius - according to the stories of the informal leader of this uprising, the keymaster of the old city cathedral, Archpriest John Kosykh (in the local press he was already dubbed a “schismatic”, although he never left the Russian Orthodox Church MP).

Immediately after the decision of the Synod, on July 13, many priests of the Simbirsk Metropolis expressed dissatisfaction and even a readiness to protest. However, when the Appeal of the clergy and laity of the metropolis to its former head, Metropolitan Feofan (Ashurkov), appeared, only two priests, activists of the Diocesan youth club and some laity decided to sign it. On the afternoon of July 16, the Moscow Patriarchate learned about this Appeal - and calls poured in from there to Ulyanovsk. Patriarch Kirill himself spoke with the local dean, who in an extremely harsh form demanded to identify the “instigators” of the Appeal, assured that no one would remove Anastasia, and set an ultimatum: “If the conflict is not resolved by tomorrow, all the priests who signed the piece of paper will go banned for the rest of my life." Note that the Appeal is completely loyal in nature, quotes the 90th rule of the Council of Carthage and asks for answers to several questions arising from it. The authors of the Appeal are not at all sure that Anastasius is really guilty - they do not understand why he himself, according to this rule, seems to admit himself guilty and at the same time continues to serve.

On July 17, during a religious procession through the city center dedicated to the Day of the Royal Martyrs, Archpriest John Kosykh and priest Georgy Roshchupkin addressed the people with a sermon, explaining why Anastasia should not be received. This sermon became a “point of no return” for them. Any attempts by the two fathers to make contact with local church leadership on July 18 and 19 were unsuccessful.

Finally, on the afternoon of July 20, the main character of our story drove into Ulyanovsk in a luxury SUV. An hour before the All-Night Vigil, dissatisfied lay people began to gather at the entrance to the Ascension Cathedral, and brightly dressed Cossacks with whips and sabers, as well as unknown people in camouflage uniforms, immediately appeared to protect the new metropolitan from his new flock. The position of the Cossacks was especially piquant - lovers of chasing gays and haters of “Geyropa”, this time they willingly served the main character of the Kazan “gay scandal”. When Anastasius appeared, the crowd, joined by two priests, began chanting the liturgical exclamation “Anaxios!” This word is a reminder of the glorious times of democracy in the Christian Church of the first centuries. After all, then the priests and bishops were chosen from among themselves by the community itself (this order is preserved in the church canons, but the patriarch and the Synod do not want to implement it).

To ordain a new bishop, bishops from neighboring cities came to the city where he was to serve, and they asked the local people: “Axios?” (“Worthy?”) And the people, as a rule, shouted in response: “Axios!” If for some reason there was at least one exclamation of “Anaxios!” (“Unworthy!”), the ordination was immediately suspended (postponed) and a judicial-canonical analysis began: what charges did the shouting “Anaxios” have against the candidate.

In the era of state Orthodoxy (including in Soviet times), this dialogue turned into a formality: if the civil authorities have already approved the candidate, who among the common people will dare to object after his ordination, and if they do, who will listen to him? In modern churches, during ordination, “Axios” is also sung, but it is sung melodiously, in the altar and on the choir, and the people are silent, not quite understanding at all what it is and why it is being sung. But the Simbirsk Orthodox people did not remain silent: they returned “Axios - Anaxios” to its ancient original meaning. And Metropolitan Anastassy - in a completely canonical way - now received a new title, very unpleasant for him: Anaxios. That’s what Orthodox Christians already call him on social networks.

Anastasius-Anaxios fussily ran past the screaming people, fenced off by the Cossacks, hiding behind the icon of the Mother of God. Perhaps he expected stones or, at the very least, eggs to be thrown at him. But people acted in a civilized manner - strictly according to the canons and laws. The Cossacks tried to prevent the Orthodox from entering the church so that Anaxios could perform his first service there in solitude at the new pulpit. But people entered the temple and repeated their “Anaxios!” for several more minutes. Cossack women and people in camouflage, without taking off their hats, fussed around the Orthodox Christians, trying, but not daring to use force. In the end, one venerable archpriest used force, hitting an Orthodox laywoman in the face (a photo of the blow spread across the Internet with the caption “The Blue Empire Strikes Back.” By the way, the vestments of the clergy on that day, just in time, were blue). A few minutes later, people peacefully left the temple.

The frightened Anastasius-Anaxios, stuttering, delivered his first sermon in the new place, assessing what had happened. From this sermon it becomes clear that they wanted to kill him, no more and no less, but the Mother of God did not allow it, but he is still ready and dreams of dying at the throne in the altar. The protesting lay people are all “Maidan”, they are paid for, they will definitely go to hell after death, and on earth they will suffer severe punishment from the repressive machine. The most vile “enemy of the Church” is Kuraev, whose very existence causes the Metropolitan to “regret” (here is a clear hint that it was Kuraev who organized the State Department’s payment for the Ulyanovsk “Maidan”, and only because of the work of the “fifth column” in the FSB Kuraev before has not yet been arrested as a spy and saboteur). It is clear, after all, that the protodeacon’s revelations hit Anastasia not in the eyebrow, but in the eye. Finally, comparing his dissatisfied flock with a herd of pigs, the new ruler wished for them to be “thrown into the abyss of hell.” Well, Lenin’s homeland has been waiting for such a good shepherd for a long time.

Another detail of Anastasius’s first sermon is noteworthy. According to him, the spiritual educator of the future metropolitan was the world-famous elder from the Pskov-Pechora Monastery, Fr. John (Krestyankin), whom Putin visited in 2000. Anastasius made it clear that the elder was accused of sins similar to those of the metropolitan, for which he spent 7 years in a Soviet prison. According to the official biography, Fr. John was condemned under Art. 58.10 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR - “anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda.”

It is curious that, in fact, Anastasius does not refute the accusations brought against him, just as he did not refute them during the year provided for by the 60th rule of the Council of Carthage. Here is a fragment of his sermon on July 21: “Yes, I am a sinful person, maybe I am unworthy by the standards of those people who are now at the head of this Maidan, but it is not for them to judge. The Lord is my judge, my leader, and if He brought me here, then at the throne I can suffer martyrdom at the hands of such people.” It turns out that, in general, Anastasius does not reject the accusations that are brought against him, he only considers the protesting people an incompetent judicial authority, and is preparing to give an answer only to God. That is, according to the teachings of Anastasius, the methods of church democracy and canons cannot displace him, no matter what he has done.

And one last detail. In the conditions of the current Russian “symphony of authorities”, a new bishop arriving at the department, especially the metropolis, or the regional center, must be greeted by the local governor. By the way, seeing Anastasy off from Kazan, the head of Tatarstan awarded him the highest order of the republic. The governor of the Ulyanovsk region, Sergei Morozov, who came from an officer environment with a certain code of honor, considered it best to avoid a meeting with Anastasy, sending his deputy to it, and even dressed in a decidedly informal manner. For his part, Anastasy avoids any contact with the press, which has accumulated many questions for him. The secretary (with the corresponding reputation) brought from Kazan, Filaret Kuzmin, the former 19-year-old vice-rector of the Kazan Seminary, nicknamed Kuzya, has to clumsily take the rap. Clearly not believing his words, Filaret endlessly repeats to journalists: “Maidan... A crowd of professional protesters brought here... for a fee... are trying to physically and practically destroy the Metropolitan.”

Obviously, the story of the protest of Ulyanovsk clergy and laity against patriarchal lawlessness is just beginning. A lot of things are intertwined in this story: fatigue from the constant humiliation and deprivation of the right to vote of ordinary clergy and laity, and rejection of the ostentatious, completely un-Christian luxury and lifestyle of the higher clergy, and sincere fear that the main religious organization of Russia is rapidly degenerating, compromising the very concepts "Christianity" and "Orthodoxy". The hopelessness of the moral state of Russian society is also the result of those phenomena in church life that are discussed in this article. More and more people are leaving church not enlightened, but disappointed. And the human heart continues to thirst for truth, which is obscured by all the new scandals in the Russian Orthodox Church MP...

The problem of the “blue lobby” is systemic for the Moscow Patriarchate. Old generation clergy still often use the term from the 1960s and 70s. “Nicodemus’s sin” - named after Metropolitan Nikodim (Rotov), ​​the spiritual father and organizer of the current patriarch’s rapid career. The chicks of “Nikodimov’s nest” are two dozen of the most influential bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church MP, who became bishops 40-50 years ago, while still very young. After the Kazan diocese, urgent reorganization is required by the Tver Metropolis, where the topic of homosexual violence behind the church fence is also actively discussed in the press. There are a few more hot spots, and these are likely topics for future posts.

Metropolitan Anastassy lived a bright and eventful life, continuously serving God and the Orthodox Church for more than a quarter of a century. Despite a number of scandals and incidents that shook his position among the clergy and Orthodox laity, we must not forget about the large number of good deeds that he performed to strengthen the Christian faith and the church during his life.

Biography

The future Metropolitan Anastasy of Kazan was born on August 27, 1944. Since his parents were extremely pious people, the boy's fate was predetermined from birth.

Immediately after graduating from school, he makes his first attempt to enroll in the Moscow Theological Seminary, but does not enter and instead decides to get an education at a construction school.

Despite this, he did not give up his dream and combined his main work at the factory with service in the Assumption Church with the rank of sexton.

In 1967, he came to Kazan, where the then Archbishop of Kazan and Mari Mikhail appointed him to the post of psalm-reader at the St. Nicholas Cathedral. Seeing that the young man works tirelessly, the archbishop helps him advance up the career ladder and in 1968 ordains him to the rank of deacon, and a few years later, in 1972, ordains him as a presbyter.

As he intended in his youth, he enters the Moscow Theological Seminary and graduates without difficulty.

Start of active promotion

In September 1976, under the leadership of Bishop Panteleimon of Kazan and Mari, he was tonsured a monk and given the name Anastasy, receiving the rank of hegumen.

In the same year, he was appointed to the same St. Nicholas Cathedral, where he served as psalm-reader, secretary of the diocesan administration.

In 1983, Anastassy completed his studies, after which he was promoted to the rank of archimandrite.
From June 6 to June 9, 1988, Anastasius was an active participant in the Memorial Council, which was held in connection with the 1000th anniversary of the baptism of Rus'.

Bishopric

At the end of 1988, at a meeting of the Holy Synod, a decree was issued, from which it follows that he was appointed Bishop of Kazan and Mari, to replace Bishop Panteleimon, who retired at his own request, the same one who had previously been the main associate of Anastasius’ promotion.

In 1990, Anastassy took part in and after three years, due to the fact that some territories were allocated from the Kazan diocese, he began to be called the Bishop of Kazan and Tatarstan.

However, he did not stay long in this rank and already on February 25, 1996 he became an archbishop, and a year after that he also took the post of rector of the Kazan Theological School. Surprisingly, exactly one year later the school received the status of a seminary, and the metropolitan’s influence continued to grow.

The Holy Synod, which monitored the achievements of the newly elected rector, decided on July 16, 2005 to include him in the group developing a document concerning strengthening the position of the Orthodox Church.

In the spring of 2012, in connection with another decision of the Holy Synod, he received the position of holy archimandrite in several monasteries.

In 2012, Anastassy became the head of the newly formed Tatarstan Metropolitanate and temporarily assumed the responsibilities of the administrator of the Chistopol diocese.

Despite his far from small rank, the pinnacle of his Orthodox career was his elevation to the rank of metropolitan on July 18, 2012. Despite the fact that after the scandal that erupted within the walls of the seminary subordinate to him, the first rumors appeared among believers that Metropolitan Anastasy of Kazan was retiring, they were not confirmed, because already on July 13, 2015 he was appointed to the post of Metropolitan of Simbirsk and Novospassky and, Accordingly, he becomes the head of the Simbirsk Metropolitanate.

The beginning of failure

Public attention to Metropolitan Anastasy began from the moment when the first scandal erupted. It all started with a series of arson attacks on Orthodox churches in Tatarstan. Although they were suspected of being a group of radical Islamists, the perpetrators were never identified.

Orthodox people were stunned that Metropolitan Anastasy of Kazan and Tatarstan was not taking any decisive action to identify the perpetrators. Even despite the actions to identify the arsonists, which were nevertheless carried out by Metropolitan Anastassy, ​​the Kazan diocese still decided to make cautious criticism of him.
And against the backdrop of these events, a new, even louder scandal broke out in the Tatarstan Metropolitanate. This time he directly touched upon internal problems in the leadership of the metropolis itself.

The scandal that broke out

The scandal, which affected both the Orthodox laity and the clergy, erupted in 2013, when several students of the seminary filed a complaint about the depraved actions of Abbot Kirill Iyukhin, who held the post of vice-rector for educational work under Anastasia. A special commission was urgently sent to Kazan from Moscow to check how the situation really stood. Arriving at the seminary, the inspectors were faced with the fact that there were many more victims, and most of the students were aware of the peculiar procedures adopted within its walls, who remained silent for fear of being expelled in the last years of study.

After a series of scandalous publications that swept through the press and the decision made by the commission, Abbot Kirill Ilyukhin was removed from his post and dismissed from his post as press secretary. At the same time, Metropolitan Anastasy of Kazan was removed from the post of rector of the seminary. The Metropolitan considered it proper to have a conversation with the students, complaining that they had wrongly slandered the abbot. However, the full extent of the scandal broke out only after it received massive publicity due to the fact that a recording of this speech was published on a blog

The fate of the seminarians

In turn, the fate of the seminarians who decided to openly sign a complaint against Abbot Ilyukhin was predetermined. For example, Roman Stepanov was expelled from the seminary, who initiated the writing of a complaint to Moscow and who had not completed his studies quite a bit.

Despite such a serious accusation, Ilyukhin himself practically did not suffer from it. Now he serves as an adviser to the local bishop, Metropolitan Victor.

However, we should pay tribute to the local law enforcement agencies who began checking into the crimes committed. Oddly enough, the suspect was no longer in Tver; he hastily left for Kazakhstan and even decided to take Kazakh citizenship.

Transfer to Ulyanovsk

Despite the good deeds that Metropolitan Anastassy of Kazan accomplished, the scandal significantly spoiled his impeccable reputation. Despite his transfer (with demotion) to Ulyanovsk, for his services to people and the church during the farewell from Kazan, the head of Tatarstan awarded him the highest order of the republic.

However, the series of failures for the Metropolitan did not stop there. Already on July 20, when Metropolitan Anastassy of Kazan (Simbirsk) arrived in Ulyanovsk, he was met by two priests surrounded by laity, chanting: “Anaxios!” (“Unworthy!”) Supporters of Anastasius’s innocence immediately announced that the meeting was organized by enemies of the Metropolitan. At the same time, even Patriarch Kirill condemned such a manifestation of discontent.

Despite the fact that the meeting was held very decently, one incident strengthened the hostility of people towards the metropolitan. Having entered the temple, they repeated their “Anaxios!” for several more minutes. Unable to calm them down with words, one venerable archpriest hit an Orthodox laywoman in the face. This was the last straw for the protesters, who left the church within a few minutes, never to return to it again as long as Metropolitan Anastassy of Kazan (Simbirsk) holds this post. After these events, the Metropolitan delivered his sermon in a practically empty church, which could not but affect his already shaky reputation.

Good deeds

Despite the scandals in which Metropolitan Anastasy of Kazan was then still involved, reviews of his Orthodox deeds will remain in the memory of believers for a long time. His church activities in Kazan lasted for about 25 years, during which he managed to do many good deeds.

Under him, the revival of many monasteries began, including the Raifa monastery, where the Kazan miraculous icon of the Mother of God is now kept. In addition, it was Metropolitan Anastassy of Kazan (Simbirsk) who was the founder of the theological seminary, which cannot be ignored.

Conclusion

It is noteworthy that the First Church, which was then returned by Metropolitan Anastasius of Kazan and Tatarstan - the Cathedral of Peter and Paul - celebrates its throne day on July 12, and it was on this holiday that the news of the metropolitan’s resignation fell.

Today he is already 71 years old, and rumors have begun to actively spread among Orthodox believers that Metropolitan Anastassy of Kazan, tired of the bustle of the world, is retiring, but this is not entirely true. The head cannot leave his post until he finds a worthy successor who will continue to strengthen the position of the Orthodox Church in Russia.

The new Metropolitan of Simbirsk and Novospassky, Anastasia, was greeted by his new flock in Ulyanovsk in a far from Christian manner. The notorious gay scandal of 2013, which broke out in Kazan, came back to haunt the new ruler today, but in our city. When the clergyman was heading to the Ascension Cathedral to hold the first service on Ulyanovsk soil, the believers, led by two local priests who did not want to accept the decision of the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, began shouting “anaxios” to the new metropolitan, which translated from Greek means “unworthy.”

The beginnings of a scandal

Exactly a week ago it became known that Metropolitan Feofan, who arrived in Ulyanovsk literally in May last year, was leaving our city and moving to Kazan to become Metropolitan of Kazan and Tatarstan there. In turn, the head of the Kazan diocese, Bishop Anastasy, had to move to Ulyanovsk to take Feofan’s place. This was the decision of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church.

However, among the Ulyanovsk clergy there were those who (I would like to believe) with good intentions allowed themselves to disagree with the opinion of the leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church and Patriarch Kirill. They turned out to be local Archpriest John Kosykh and Priest Georgy Roshchupkin, who took that very scandal extremely painfully.

A story from the past

Let us remember that at that time Bishop Anastasy was the rector of the theological seminary. In November, representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church suddenly came to check it out; they received information from the seminarians that the vice-rector for educational work of the seminary, and also the press secretary of Bishop Anastasia, Abbot Kirill, allegedly molested the boys. The famous deacon Andrei Kuraev added fuel to the fire by publishing a transcript of the “chastisement” that Anastasy gave to the students for “denunciation.”

This story ended with our new bishop leaving the post of rector of the seminary, but he did not cease to be an archpastor. And the leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church did not oppose this.

What today?

Although this story is in the past, the residue remains. And apparently, most of this sediment ended up in the souls of two Ulyanovsk priests, who found supporters in the ranks of believers. Their main arguments boil down to the fact that Anastasy, after the sensational scandal, “has not whitewashed.” According to the laws of the Orthodox Church, he had to prove his non-involvement in the sin of Sodom.

They decided to defend their opinion in a very extravagant way. Today, they literally did not want to let the new Metropolitan of Simbirsk and Novospassky, Anastasy, into the Ascension Cathedral, so that he would not be able to serve his first service here.

According to several eyewitnesses, a fairly large crowd chanted the Greek word “anaxio,” which was offensive to the clergyman, which translates as “unworthy,” and prevented the elder from entering the temple. The Metropolitan, in turn, was surrounded by other priests and Cossacks, who did not allow the aggressive flock to come close to him. At the same time, the bishop himself carried an icon in his hands, which was supposed to protect him. Eyewitnesses claim that a fight was literally miraculously avoided.

Fortunately, the frightening situation ended well. Anastasy finally got to the temple, and his first service did take place. After her, he took the floor. According to eyewitnesses, she touched the hearts of those who still stayed to the end. However, it is not yet clear how the relationship between the archpastor and his flock will develop in the future.

Valery Vasnetsov

Video from Youyube (user Marina Korotina) and Vkontakte (user Irishka Brekhova)