Lyman, Donetsk Province, November 3, 2021
Photo: donetsk.church.ua His Eminence Alipy, Schema-Archbishop of Krasny Liman, vicar of the Gorlovka Diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, reposed in the Lord yesterday at the age off 76, following a long battle with disease.
He served as a hierarch of the Orthodox Church for the last 20 years of his life, reports the Information-Education Department of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
In his condolences, His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry of Kiev and All Ukraine praised Abp. Alipy as a man whose “entire life was devoted to the service of the Church of Christ.”
Vladyka Alipy was also known for “his unwavering devotion to the monastic path and pastoral vocation, as well as his deep, sincere faith… At the same time, due to his inherent humility, he didn’t seek to reveal the many spiritual gifts that the Lord had endowed him with,” His Beatitude said.
“We were bound by many years of sincere spiritual friendship,” the Ukrainian primate concluded.
May his memory be eternal!
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Vladyka Alipy was born on June 21, 1945, in the Kharkov Province. His childhood years were filled with severe post-war trials.
He studied at the Moscow Theological Seminary from 1966 to 1970, during which time he took monastic vows at the Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra. He was ordained a hierodeacon in 1968, and a hieromonk in 1970. He then studied at the Moscow Theological Academy, graduating with a PhD in 1974.
From 1977 to 1985, he served in churches in Donetsk, and from 1985 to 1989 in Voronezh. He returned to Donetsk in 1991 and was elevated to the rank of archimandrite.
On October 6, 1991, he was consecrated Bishop of Donetsk. On January 22, 1992, he refused to sign the Ukrainian Church appeal for autocephaly, for which he was removed from the administration of the Donetsk Diocese by Philaret Denisenko, then the Metropolitan of Kiev.
On July 29, 1994, he was appointed Bishop of Gorlovka and Slavyansk. On June 11, 1997, he retired due to illness and accepted the Great Schema.
He was appointed vicar of the Gorlovka Diocese on September 16, 2014, and on October 4 that year, he was elevated to the rank of archbishop.
During his Church ministry, he rebuilt a large number of churches and monasteries, including the Holy Dormition-Svyatogorsk Lavra, and the Holy Protection Convent in Krasny Lyman, which he took care of until the end of his life.
But the main thing in Abp. Alipy’s life was always the desire to preserve the purity of the Orthodox faith and care for the salvation of the souls of his large flock. He was a spiritual father not only for the laity, but also for his priests and monastics.
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