Moscow, January 26, 2024
Photo: wikimedia.org His Eminence Archbishop Anatoly (Kuznetsov), the oldest bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church, reposed in the Lord today at the age of 93.
The bishop, who was in retirement, will be buried in the historical necropolis of the Moscow Theological Academy at the Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra, reports patriarchia.ru.
He served the Church as a hierarch for more than 51 years. He is the second hierarch of the Russian Church to repose this week. His Grace Bishop Irinarch of Ramenskoye reposed on Wednesday. The Bulgarian Orthodox Church also lost two hierarchs this month.
May Abp. Anthony’s memory be eternal!
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Abp. Anthony was born on May 28, 1930, in the city of Irkutsk.
In 1947, he began serving as psalmist in the churches of the Irkutsk Diocese, and in 1949 he became a subdeacon.
In 1949-1956, he studied at the Moscow Theological Seminary. He was ordained as a deacon during his time there, on October 31, 1954, and as a priest on July 1, 1956.
In 1960, he graduated from the Moscow Theological Academy with a PhD in theology.
On October 11, 1960, he was tonsured a monk, in 1963 he was elevated to the rank of igumen, and in 1968 to the rank of archimandrite.
Beginning in 1960, he taught Scripture at the Moscow Theological Seminary, and starting in 1967—at the Academy. He was a member of the Bible Commission of the Publishing Department of the Moscow Patriarchate.
On September 1972, he was consecrated Bishop of Vilnius and Lithuania. In September 1974, he became the Bishop of Zvenigorod, representative of the Patriarch of Moscow to the Patriarch of Antioch.
In September 1979, he became the Bishop of Ufa, and on July 20, 1990, he was appointed Bishop of Kerch, vicar of the Diocese of Sourozh.
On February 25, 1993, he was elevated to the rank of archbishop.
On December 27, 2001, he was appointed to pastorally care for the stavropegial parish in Manchester. On May 4, 2017, he was retired for health reasons.
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