Bishop Anthony (secular name Ivan Ivanovich Masendich, or Ivan Ivanovych Masendych, ; 20 April 1961 – 8 July 2001) was a bishop of the

Russian Orthodox Church The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...

, the bishop of Barnaul and Altai. Before 1994 he also participated in revival of the

Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church The Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC; (UAPTs)) was one of the three major Eastern Orthodox churches in Ukraine in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, together with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC-KP) ...

(UAOC).

Biography

He was born in Carpathian village of

Plavie Plavie (, ) is a village (''selo'') in Stryi Raion, Lviv Oblast, in western Ukraine. The village is located in the Ukrainian Carpathians, within the limits of the Eastern Beskids (Skole Beskids) in southern Lviv Oblast. It belongs to Koziova rura ...

which is in

Lviv Oblast Lviv Oblast (, ), also referred to as Lvivshchyna (, ), is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast in western Ukraine. The capital city, capital of the oblast is the city of Lviv. The current population is History Name The region is named ...

, Ukraine. His primary and secondary education he received in a regular school and a medical vocation school in

Ivano-Frankivsk Ivano-Frankivsk (, ), formerly Stanyslaviv, Stanislav and Stanisławów, is a city in western Ukraine. It serves as the administrative centre of Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast as well as Ivano-Frankivsk Raion within the oblast. Ivano-Frankivsk also host ...

. In 1980 Masendych was drafted to military service which he carried out at the construction of the

Baikal–Amur Mainline The Baikal–Amur Mainline (, , , ) is a broad-gauge railway line in Russia. Traversing Eastern Siberia and the Russian Far East, the -long BAM runs about 610 to 770 km (380 to 480 miles) north of and parallel to the Trans-Siberian Railway. ...

. After demobilization Masendych worked in Vladimir eparchy administration. In 1982 he accepted his monastic tonsure from Archimandrite Alexius (Kutepov) receiving his monastic name Antoniy and soon elevated to a rank of

hierodeacon A hierodeacon (Greek: Ἱεροδιάκονος, ''Ierodiákonos''; Slavonic: ''Ierodiakón''), sometimes translated "deacon-monk", in Eastern Orthodox Christianity and all other Churches that follow Byzantine Rite is a monk who has been ordained a ...

. In 1983 to 1985 Masendych studied at the Moscow Theological Seminary which existed within

Moscow Theological Academy Moscow Theological Academy () is a higher educational institution of the Russian Orthodox Church, training clergy, teachers, scholars, and officials. The Academy traces its origin to the Slavic Greek Latin Academy, which was founded in 1685 by th ...

. On 25 February 1984 Masendych was consecrated by BishopSerapion (Fadeyev) of Vladimir and Suzdal, as a

hieromonk A hieromonk,; Church Slavonic, Slavonic: ''Иеромонахъ''; ; ; ; ; Albanian language, Albanian: ''Hieromurg'' also called a priestmonk, is a person who is both monk and Priest#Roman Catholic and Orthodox, priest in the Eastern Christianity ...

. In 1985 hieromonk Anthony was invited by Archbishop Gedeon (Dokukin) of Novosibirsk and Barnaul, to become a

parson A parson is an ordained Christian person responsible for a small area, typically a parish. The term was formerly often used for some Anglican clergy and, more rarely, for ordained ministers in some other churches. It is no longer a formal term d ...

of church of Demetrius of Thessaloniki in a town of

Aleysk Aleysk () is a town in Altai Krai, Russia, located on the Aley River ( Ob's tributary), southwest of Barnaul. Population: 32,000 (1968). Administrative and municipal status Within the framework of administrative divisions, Aleysk serves a ...

. In 1986 hieromonk Antoniy became hegumen. In 1989 he the

Achinsk Achinsk () is a city in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia, located on the right bank of the Chulym River near its intersection with the Trans-Siberian Railway, west of Krasnoyarsk. It has a population of 109,155 as of the 2010 Census. History Achins ...

temple and enrolled to the

. In 1990 along with Metropolitan Gedeon (Dokukin), Antoniy moved to the Diocese of Stavropol and Baku where he became a dean over the Christian Orthodox parishes of

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

and a parson of the Baku Nativity of Mary church in rank of

archimandrite The title archimandrite (; ), used in Eastern Christianity, originally referred to a superior abbot ('' hegumenos'', , present participle of the verb meaning "to lead") whom a bishop appointed to supervise several "ordinary" abbots and monaste ...

. Soon the same year Archimandrite Anthony was dismissed from the staff.

Ukrainian church

In 1990 he was invited by former bishop-emeritus

John (Bodnarchuk) Metropolitan John ( or Іоанн, secular name Vasyl Mykolayovych Bodnarchuk, , ; 12 April 1927 – 9 November 1994) was an Eastern Orthodox Church, Orthodox hierarch born in the Ternopil area of Western Ukraine, which at that time was a territo ...

who recently was defrocked from the

by leading the revival movement of the

to serve in parishes of the reviving church. On 16 September 1990 Archimandrite Anthony was ordained as Bishop of Rivne and Zhytomyr (

) by Metropolitan John (Bodnarchuk) and bishops

Volodymyr (Romaniuk) Volodymyr (secular name Vasyl Omelianovych Romaniuk, ; 9 December 1923 – 14 July 1995) was a Ukrainian Eastern Orthodox priest and human rights activist who was Patriarch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate from its founding ...

and Daniel (Kovalchuk).Antoniy (Masendych), former "Metropolitan of Pereyaslav
. www.anti-raskol.ru On 1 December 1990 Bishop Anthony was appointed by Patriarch

Mstyslav (Skrypnyk) Patriarch Mstyslav, secular name Stepan Ivanovych Skrypnyk (10 April 1898 – 11 June 1993), was a History of Christianity in Ukraine, Ukrainian Orthodox Church hierarch. He was a nephew of Symon Petliura. Biography Born in Poltava (Rus ...

as a head of Patriarchal office. In July 1991 he was appointed as a chairman of the Church department of foreign relations receiving a title of Archbishop of Kyiv. On 25 January 1992 Archbishop Antoniy was appointed Metropolitan of Pereyaslav and Sicheslav. Following consultations with government officials, in June 1992 Metropolitan Anthony finally agreed to unification with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church which was in crisis due to unsanctioned assembly of bishops and election of new primate from outside of the church.

Bishops he onsecrated

* Peter (Petrus) * Sophronius (Vlasov) * Roman (Popenko) * Michael (Dutkevych)

References

External links

Antoniy (Masendych)
// drevo-info.ru
Antoniy (Masendych), former "Metropolitan of Pereyaslav
. www.anti-raskol.ru
Repentance of "Metropolitan" Antoniy (Masendych)
. www.anti-raskol.ru

// www.srcc.msu.su {{DEFAULTSORT:Masendych, Antoniy 1961 births 2001 deaths Clergy from Lviv Oblast 20th-century Eastern Orthodox bishops Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Bishops of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church