Victor (Svyatin) of Krasnodar and Kuban

His Eminence, Metropolitan Victor (Svyatin) of Krasnodar and Kuban was the twentieth and last chief of the Russian Mission in China. He was part of the mission from 1922 for thirty three years. After the break in relations between China and the Soviet Union, in 1956 he returned to the Soviet Union where he was appointed Archbishop of Krasnodar and Kuban.

Life

Leonid Viktorovich Svyatin was born on August 2, 1893, at the Karagana Station in the Upper Urals region of the Orenburg Province of the Russian Empire. His father was a deacon. Leonid began his theological education in the Orenburg Seminary, graduating in 1915. From Orenburg, he entered Kazan Theological Academy. In his second year of studies at Kazan he was mobilized and sent to the Tbilisi Military School, in Georgia. With the start of the Bolshevik revolution, he left the military school and returned home. Again mobilized he became an official on the staff of General Belova of the White army. As the army disintegrated from lack of material support and suffering a typhus epidemic, Leonid joined some survivors and entered China in 1919.

In Beijing he joined the Russian Mission where he entered the monastery on the center's grounds. On June 30, 1921, Leonid was tonsured a monk with the name Victor at the Holy Dormition Monastery of the Beijing mission. On July 3, 1921, Victor was ordained a hierodeacon, followed by ordination as a hieromonk on July 7. In August 1921, he entered the Oriental Faculty of the Far East Institute in Vladivostok. On August 10, 1922, Fr. Victor was assigned to the Holy Protection of the Theotokos Church in Tiajin (Tientsin), China.

On November 3, 1929, Fr. Victor was elevated to the dignity of archimandrite by Metr. Innocent of the Beijing mission. On November 6, 1932, Fr. Victor was consecrated Bishop of Shanghai by Abp. Simon of the Beijing mission. Upon Abp. Simon’s repose in 1933, Bishop Victor was appointed in his place as Bishop of Beijing and China. In September 1938, Bp. Victor was raised to the dignity of Archbishop.

In 1945, after the end of World War II, Abp. Victor restored relations with the Moscow Patriarchate. On August 17, 1950, he was named the Patriarchal Exarch of the Eastern Exarchate of the Moscow Patriarchate. With the establishment of a communist government in China, the Beijing mission and the Moscow Patriarchate began to consolidate the various eparchies and groups in northern China. Also, under pressures from the communist Chinese authorities, the expatriate Russian people living in China began to leave the country. Thus, the exarchate lost most of its congregation and funding in China. The Chinese governmental authorities were interested in forming the various Russian church entities into an autonomous Chinese Church. Bp. Victor, in coordination with the Moscow Patriarchate, endeavored to accomplish setting up the autonomous church.

By May 1956, all the church property had been transferred to the Chinese and Soviet embassy authorities. All Russian clergy had also emigrated, leaving the church in China to the Chinese clergy. As the last senior Russian clergyman, on May 26, 1956, he left China for the Soviet Union where he was appointed Archbishop of Krasnodar and Kuban. On May 20, 1961, Abp. Victor was raised to the rank of Metropolitan.

He was awarded the St. Vladimir medal of the first rank in May 1963. After a short illness, Metr. Victor reposed on September 18, 1966.

Succession box: Victor (Svyatin) of Krasnodar and Kuban
Preceded by: —	Bishop of Shanghai 1932-1933	Succeeded by: John (Maximovitch)
Preceded by: Archbishop Simon (Vinogradov)	Archbishop of Beijing and China 1933-1950	Succeeded by: ?
Preceded by: ?	Exarch of the Eastern Exarchate of the Moscow Patriarchate 1950-1956	Succeeded by: —
Preceded by: ?	Archbishop of Krasnodar and Kuban 1956-1966	Succeeded by: ?

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Sources

• Victor Svyatin
• Last Chief of the Russian Spiritual Mission in China - Archbishop Victor

External link

• The Chinese Orthodox Church on the Path to Autonomy