Lugansk, October 19, 2020
On Saturday, October 17, His Eminence Metropolitan Ioanniky (Kobzev) of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church reposed in the Lord at the age of 82, reports the Information-Education Department of the Ukrainian Church.
His Eminence led the Lugansk Diocese of the UOC for more than 20 years before retiring in 2012. He battled a serious illness for the last 8 years of his life that kept him largely confined to bed.
His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry of Kiev and All Ukraine, the primate of the UOC, expressed his condolences, saying: “It was with sadness that we received the news of the death of our brother, His Eminence Metropolitan Ioanniky.”
“The deceased traveled a long and thorny path from a young age. His fervent faith and love for God sustained him throughout his life, inspiring him to overcome all the obstacles that lay ahead. He saw a lot and went through a lot when, without fear in the face of the God-fighting power, he linked his life with the Church of Christ, not neglecting any of the obedience that the hierarchy entrusted to him,” His Beatitude continued.
Met. Ioanniky always served the Lord with joy, Met. Onuphry said, despite all the difficulties of soviet times.
His Eminence was a “real example of spiritual fortitude, courage, and endurance for the younger generation of clergy,” and “always represented the image of a loving archpastor and a wise mentor and guardian for the welfare of the rational sheep of Christ’s flock entrusted to his care.”
“May his memory be eternal and blessed!” the Ukrainian primate concluded.
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Met. Ioanniky was born on February 7, 1938 in the Belgorod Province. He studied at the Kiev Seminary, and after its closure, in the Odessa Seminary, from which he graduated in 1962. In 1966, he graduated from the Moscow Theological Academy. While studying at the Academy, he entered the brotherhood of the Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra and took monastic vows on November 16, 1964. He was ordained as a hieromonk on April 7, 1969.
From 1966 to 1971, he served in the Moscow Patriarchate under Patriarchs Alexei I and Pimen. In 1971, he became a teacher at the Odessa Seminary.
In 1986, he was appointed rector of the Holy Protection Cathedral in Izmail and dean of the Izmail Deanery. On December 13, 1988, he was consecrated as Bishop of Slavyansk, vicar of the Odessa-Kherson Diocese.
On February 19, 1990, he became the Bishop of Donetsk and Lugansk, and in September 1991, Bishop of Lugansk and Starobelsk. In 1993, he was elevated to the rank of Archbishop, and in 2001, to the rank of Metropolitan.
On March 31, 2007, he received the title “of Lugansk and Alchevsk” and became a permanent member of the Holy Synod of the UOC.
He headed the Lugansk Diocese for more than 20 years, building hundreds of churches and several monasteries in the region.
On July 20, 2012, he was granted retirement by the Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church for health reasons, being appointed rector of the St. Nicholas-Transfiguration Cathedral in Lugansk.
