Anthony (Khrapovitsky) of Kiev

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Metropolitan Anthony (Khrapovitsky) of Kiev and Galicia was a hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church and then, after emigrating from Russia, the first First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia.

Metropolitan Anthony was born Alexei Pavlovich Khrapovitsky on March 17, 1803, in Vatagino village of Kresteski district of Novgorod province, Russia. He reposed August 10, 1936, in Sremsky Karlovtsi, Serbia. His parents were members of the Russian nobility. He was educated at St Petersburg, Russia, where he finished the 5th Classical Gymnasia with a gold medal. He owes the beginnings of his religious education to his mother and the influence of Th. M. Dostoyevsky, the reading of Church Fathers and the Lives of Saints as well as interest in the ideas of the slavophile movement. In his young years, he was interested by the work of V. S. Solovyev, whom he later criticized for pro-Roman Catholic leanings. A final important influence was meeting St Nicholas, the enlightener of Japan.

In 1881, despite the opposition of his father, Alexei enrolled in the St Petersburg Theological Academy, where he became friends with M. M. Gribanovsky, the future Bishop of Tauria, who was first of academy students to become a monastic after a 20-year hiatus in tonturings. This friendship strengthened Alexei's desire to serve the Church as a learned monk. In his third year, he worked on his masters dissertation "Psychological data in favour of free will and moral responsibility" with the oversight of A. Ye. Svetilin.

Before graduating, Alexei was totured on 18 May, 1885, with the name of Anthony. That same year, he finished the Academy, and received his diploma. On June 12, he was ordained hierodeacon and on September 29 hieromonk. He then remained at the Academy as part of the teaching staff. In 1886-1887, he was appointed to teach homiletics, liturgics, and canon law at the Kholm Theological Seminary. In 1887-1889, hieromonk Anthony was an instructor at the Academy in the departement of Old Testament studies and, since 1889, served as the Academy's inspector. A result of this work was his 1890 book "An Exegisis of the Book of the Prophet Micah".

In 1888, as a result of reworking his dissertation, Hieromonk Anthony was awarded the degree of Master of Theology. In 1888 and 1889, he taught a course on introduction to theological sciences. At around the same time, he became friends with St John of Kronstadt. In 1890, he was appointed as rector of the St Petersburg Theological Academy and raised to the rank of archimandrite. In 1891, he was appointed rector of the Moscow Theological Academy. This time marked his blossoming as a theologian, with the publication of his work "The moral idea of the dogma of the Holy Trinity" (report at the festivities marking the 500th anniversary of the repose of St Sergius of Radonezh). In 1893-1894, Archimandrite Anthony became friends with Archimandrite Sergius (Stragorodsky), the future Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia. Archimandrite Anthony persuaded Archimandrite Sergius to publish his masters dissertation, "The Orthodox Teaching on Salvation." He also met L. N. Tolstoy, whom he frequently attempted to bring back into the Church by critiquing his religious and philosophical ideas.

His position on supporting monastic tonture for academy graduates got Archimandrite Anthony into conflic with Metropolitan Sergius (Lyapidevsky) of Moscow. The conflict resulted in Archimandrite Anthony's transfer to the post of rector of the Kazan Theological Academy in 1895.

On September 7, 1897, Archimandrite Anthony was ordained Bishop of Cheboksary, vicar of the Kazan diocese (since March 1, 1899, Bishop of Chistopol', first vicar of the Kazan diocese). On July 14, 1900, he was transferred to Ufa and became Bishop of Ufa and Menzelinsk. Because many residents of the Ufa province were Moslem, Bishop Anthony worked on missionary efforts in his diocese.

On April 22, 1902, Bishop Anthony was appointed to the Volyn and Zhitomir cathedra, the largest diocese of the Russian Church at that time. The new energetic bishop worked to restore canonical order in the diocese, ending simony and bribery, promoting liturgical order and love toward the flock.

In 1907, Bishop Anthony heade a committe examining the Kiev Theological Academy. The committees finding were unpopular with academy staff, lead to Bishop Anthony's publication of "The Truth about the Kiev Theological Academy" and the resignation of its rector, Bishop Platon (Rozhdestvesky), the future head of the American Metropolia. Many believe that this incident lead to the subsequent antagonism among the emigre bishops, which resulted in the split between ROCOR and the OCA.