Metropolitan Anthony (

Secular name A legal name is the name that identifies a person for legal, administrative and other official purposes. A person's legal birth name generally is the name of the person that was given for the purpose of Civil registry, registration of the birth ...

: John Ivanovych Scharba) (b. January 30, 1947) is an American Orthodox hierarch who is the Metropolitan of Ierapolis, and

Primate Primates is an order (biology), order of mammals, which is further divided into the Strepsirrhini, strepsirrhines, which include lemurs, galagos, and Lorisidae, lorisids; and the Haplorhini, haplorhines, which include Tarsiiformes, tarsiers a ...

of the

Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA (UOC of USA) is an Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox body of the Ukrainian diaspora under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in the United States. It consists of two eparchies (dioces ...

(UOC of the USA) since 2012. He is also the primate 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) ...

in the Diaspora since 2015.

Early life and education

Scharba was born John Ivanovych Scharba on January 30, 1947, in

Sharon, Pennsylvania Sharon is a city in western Mercer County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city, located along the banks of the Shenango River on the state border with Ohio, is about northeast of Youngstown, about southeast of Cleveland and about northwe ...

, USA, to Ivan and Dorofei Scharba. On March 23 of the same year, he was baptized in the Ukrainian Church of John the Baptist in his hometown. Scharba received his primary and secondary education in Sharpsville. After he graduated from high school, he enrolled in the

Edinboro University of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Western University, Edinboro (abbreviated as PennWest Edinboro) is a campus of Pennsylvania Western University in Edinboro, Pennsylvania. The campus had an enrollment of 2,259 as of fall 2024. History PennWest Edinboro was foun ...

in order to prepare for a lay career in as an international journalist. Two years later, Scharba entered St. Andrew's College in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

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, Canada. At the same time, he also entered the

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a public research university in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Founded in 1877, it is the first university of Western Canada. Both by total student enrolment and campus area, the University of ...

, where the St. Andrew's Seminary campus is located. He graduated from the UM in 1970 with a bachelor's degree in sociology and then graduated from St. Andrews Seminary in 1971 with a degree in theology. He remained in Winnipeg, accepting an offer to serve as the resident dean of St. Andrew's College.

Ordination

On October 1, 1972, Scharba was ordained a deacon by Bishop Constantine at the St. Vladimir Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral in

Parma, Ohio Parma is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. It is a suburb south of Cleveland. The population was 81,146 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Parma is the List of municipalities in Ohio, seventh-most populous city in Ohio, ...

. Then on November 26, he was ordained a priest at the Church of St. John the Baptist in Sharon. By December, Scharba was sent to the parish of

Ambridge Ambridge may refer to: * Ambridge (''The Archers''), a fictional place in the UK radio programme, ''The Archers'' * Ambridge, Indiana, a former neighborhood, now part of Ambridge Mann, Indiana, US ** Ambridge station, a former railway station in A ...

and was transferred to

Hammond, Indiana Hammond ( ) is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. Located along Lake Michigan, it is part of the Chicago metropolitan area and the only city in Indiana to border Chicago. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the Li ...

, in 1976. While he was at Hammond, Scharba studied at the theological faculty at

Loyola University Chicago Loyola University Chicago (Loyola or LUC) is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1870 by the Society of Jesus, Loyola is one of the largest Catholic Church, ...

and

Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...

. On May 29, 1985, he took monastic vows under the name Anthony in honor of

Anthony the Great Anthony the Great (; ; ; ; – 17 January 356) was a Christian monk from Egypt, revered since his death as a saint. He is distinguished from other saints named Anthony, such as , by various epithets: , , , , , and . For his importance among t ...

and he was elevated to archimandrite. On October 6, he was consecrated as the bishop of New York and was ordained by Metropolitan

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 ...

at St. Andrew Memorial Church in

South Bound Brook, New Jersey South Bound Brook is a borough in Somerset County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 4,863, an increase of 300 (+6.6%) from the 2010 census count of 4,563, which in turn reflec ...

. On March 11-12, 1995, Anthony was elevated to archbishop.

Primate of the UOC-USA

Following the death of the Metropolitan Constatine, on May 21, 2012, Archbishop Anthony was elected locum tenens of the UOC of the USA. On October 6, the Council of Clergy and Laity elected him as their primate. On November 14, the election was approved by Patriarch

Bartholomew I of Constantinople Bartholomew (born Dimitrios Archontonis, 29 February 1940) is the current Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople since 1991. In accordance with his title, he is regarded as the ''primus inter pares'' (first among equals) in the Eastern Orthodox ...

. In addition, Metropolitan Anthony became locum tenens of the UAOC in the Diaspora. The enthronement took place on January 26, 2013, at the Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral of St. Andrew in

Silver Spring, Maryland Silver Spring is a census-designated place (CDP) in southeastern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, near Washington, D.C. Although officially Unincorporated area, unincorporated, it is an edge city with a population of 81,015 at the 2020 ...

At the council of the UAOC in the Diaspora of October 30-November 1, 2015, Metropolitan Anthony was officially elected Metropolitan of the UAOC in the Diaspora.

Notes

References

{{authority control 1947 births Living people People from Sharon, Pennsylvania Primates of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA bishops American people of Ukrainian descent American Christian monks