Hilarion Kapral

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Hilarion
Philaret (Voznesensky)
Personal details
Born
Igor Alexeyevich Kapral

(1948-01-06)6 January 1948
Spirit River, Alberta, Canada
Died16 May 2022(2022-05-16) (aged 74)
New York City, U.S.

Metropolitan Hilarion (born Igor Alexeyevich Kapral,

Holy Synod of the Moscow Patriarchate
.

On 17 May 2007, upon the signing of the

Moscow Patriarchate
.

Biography

Early years

The youngest child of Alexei and Euphrosynia Kapral, Ukrainian immigrants, Igor Kapral was born on 6 January 1948 in Spirit River, Alberta, Canada. He spoke Ukrainian at home and English at school. He spent a childhood he described as having been "pleasant ... absolutely free of any harmful influences", walking two and a half miles to school each day.[1] (Later, Kapral transferred to a school in Blueberry Creek, but he returned to finish high school.)

Patriarch Kirill
in Moscow, 30 September 2010

From his youth, Kapral felt drawn to the Church and loved to read books and periodicals on religion and morals. From a young age, around 6 or 7, he knew that he wanted to become a priest. He attended Holy Trinity Church in Spirit River, a congregation of the ROCOR composed of ethnic Ukrainians. Services were held monthly or bi-monthly, and often Archbishop Panteleimon (Rudyk) would celebrate these services. Igor revered Archbishop Panteleimon, who told the boy, "someday you will be a priest".[1]

Seminary, priesthood

In 1966, Kapral found a spiritual guide: Right Reverend

Sava (Saračević), Bishop of Edmonton, a Serb who greatly revered John of Shanghai and San Francisco. In 1967, Kapral entered Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary in Jordanville, New York. While there, he learned the Russian language, sang on the kliros, and served in the altar, learning the order of divine services. From his second year at seminary, Kapral was tasked with typesetting "Orthodox Life" in English, under the editorship of archimandrite Constantine Zaitsev
; Igor soon succeeded him as editor. After some time, hieromonk Ignatius (Trepatschko), who was in charge of printing the journal, asked Kapral to typeset it in Russian as well.

Upon graduation from the seminary in 1972, Kapral entered the

Bishop Laurus of Manhattan ordained him a hieromonk. Hilarion served as a hieromonk at the monastery, continuing his work at the printing press. He was often sent to parishes, replacing absent priests, often traveling to Cleveland and Pennsylvania
.

Bishop

Metropolitan Hilarion ordaining a presbyter by cheirotonia, 2010.

On 10 December 1984, Hilarion was consecrated a bishop by Metropolitan of New York

Diocese of Australia and New Zealand (which was experiencing problems at that stage) and raised to the rank of archbishop.[2]

In December 2003, the Council of Bishops of the ROCOR awarded him the honour of wearing a diamond cross on his klobuk.[3]

In May 2006, the Council of Bishops of the ROCOR appointed him Chief Deputy of the President of the Synod of Bishops with residence in New York.[4]

First-Hierarch of the ROCOR

On 12 May 2008, Archbishop Hilarion was elected and elevated as the new First-hierarch of the ROCOR, having received 9 votes out of 11.[5] On 14 May of that year, he was approved by the Holy Synod of the Moscow Patriarchate to the post of the primate[6] and elevated to the rank of metropolitan. On 18 May, he was enthroned in New York City.[7][8] On 10 December 2008, he was appointed a member of the Preparatory Commission for the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church.[9]

On the first day of the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Hilarion, an ethnic Ukrainian who spoke Ukrainian at home as a child,[1]
issued an "Epistle to the Clergy and Flock ... on Great Lent and on the Events on the Holy Ukrainian Land" commencing:

As we approach Great Lent, this salvific time of profound prayer and self-correction, and in connection with the events in the Ukrainian land, I turn to all with a heartfelt plea: to refrain from excessive watching television, following newspapers and the internet, to close our hearts to the passions ignited by mass media, while doubling our fervent prayers for peace throughout the world, for overcoming enmity and discord, for help for the suffering, for the repose of those who have departed into the eternal life and the consolation of their friends and relatives, so that we all first and foremost remain humane and Orthodox Christians in these difficult times.[10]

Death

On 16 May 2022, Metropolitan Hilarion died in a New York City hospital, following a lengthy period of ill health.[11] He was 74. He is buried in the monastic brotherhood cemetery behind Holy Trinity Cathedral in Jordanville, NY.

References

  1. ^ a b c "The Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia - Official Website". synod.com. 28 November 2018.
  2. ^ "Bishops of the Australian and New Zealand Diocese | Australian and New Zealand Diocese (ROCOR)". Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  3. ^ "Сообщение для прессы об Архиерейском Соборе Русской Православной Церкви заграницей". synod.com. 17 December 2003. Archived from the original on 9 February 2004.
  4. ^ "The Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia Concludes". www.synod.com. The Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia - Official Website. 19 May 2006.
  5. ^ Глава Русской зарубежной церкви торжественно возведён в сан RIA Novosti 18 May 2008
  6. ^ "The Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia - Official Website". www.synod.com.
  7. ^ Богослужения настолования Первоиерарха Русской Зарубежной Церкви в Нью-Йорке начались с возведения владыки Илариона в сан митрополита На официальном сайте МП 18 мая 2008 г.
  8. ^ В Нью-Йорке вступил в должность новый первоиерарх РПЦЗ Интерфакс.ru 18 мая 2008 г.
  9. ^ "ЖУРНАЛЫ заседания Священного Синода Русской Православной Церкви от 10 декабря 2008 года / Официальные документы / Патриархия.ru". Патриархия.ru.
  10. Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia
    . Retrieved 19 May 2022.
  11. ^ "The Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia - Official Website". www.synod.com. Retrieved 17 May 2022.

Sources

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