Theophanes (Kim) of Kyzyl
Feofan (Kim) of Tyva is the Bishop-elect of Tyva of the Diocese of Tyva Kyzylsk in central Siberia, under the jurisdiction of the Church of Russia. He is the first bishop of Korean ancestry of the Church of Russia.
Life
Alexei Illarionovich Kim was born on January 19, 1976 in the city of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk on Sakhalin Island in the Sea of Okhotsk. He attended school in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, graduating from the Vostochny Lyceum in 1993. Alexei continued his education at the South Sakhalin branch of the Moscow Commercial University, graduating in 1997. After deciding on a religious education, Alexei entered the Smolensk Seminary from which he graduated in 2000. In 2010 and 2011, he continued his studies at the Moscow Theological Academy.
He was, first, a member of the Church of St. Innocent of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk from 1995 where he sang in the choir before serving at the Resurrection Cathedral in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. On August 14, 1997, Alexei was tonsured a monk by Bishop Ionafan of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk and the Kuril Islands with the name Feofan in honor of St. Theophanes the Confessor, Bishop of Nicea. On August 17, 1997, Mnk. Feofan was ordained a hierodeacon by Bishop Ionafan, who then, ordained Dcn. Feofan a hieromonk on August 19.
During 1997 and 1998, Fr. Feofan was a priest at the Resurrection Cathedral in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, while serving as director of the cathedral choir and editor of the diocesan newspaper. In 1998, Fr. Feofan returned to study at the Smolensk Seminary. During this period he was assigned to the Smolensk Cathedral. In 2000, Fr. Feofan was assigned as a priest to the Diocese of Abakan and Kyzyl in central Siberia.
In September 2000, with the blessing of Metropolitan Kyrill (Gundyayev) of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, Fr. Feofan was assigned to serve as pastor to Russian-speaking citizens who were residing in the Republic of Korea. On May 16, 2001, he was awarded a pectoral cross at the request of Metr. Kyrill. On May 6, 2006, Fr. Feofan was named an Honorary Citizen of Seoul.
On June 6, 2006, Fr. Feofan was elevated to the rank of igumen by Metr. Kyrill. In April 2011, he was given, as an awarded, the right to wear a palitza. On October 6, 2011, Fr. Feofan was elected by the Holy Synod of the Church of Russia bishop of the newly established Diocese of Tyva Kyzylsk in central Siberia.
| Theophanes (Kim) of Kyzyl | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by: — |
Bishop of Tyva Kyzylsk 2011-Present |
Succeeded by: — |
