Metropolitan Anastasius lived a bright and eventful life, for more than a quarter of a century continuously being in the service of God and the Orthodox Church. Despite a number of scandals and incidents that shook his position among the clergy and the Orthodox laity, one should not forget about the large number of good deeds that he did to strengthen the Christian faith and the church throughout his life.
Biography
The future Metropolitan Anastasiy of Kazan was born on August 27, 1944. Since his parents were extremely devout people, the fate of the boy was predetermined from birth.
Immediately after leaving school, he makes his first attempt to enter the Moscow Theological Seminary, but does not enter and instead decides to get an education at a construction school.
Despite this, he did not give up his dream and combined the main work at the factory with the service in the Assumption Church in the rank of sexton.
In 1967, he came to Kazan, where the then Archbishop of Kazan and Mari, Mikhail, appointed him to the post of psalm-maker in the St. Nicholas Cathedral. Seeing that the young man is working tirelessly, the archbishop promotes his advancement in the career ladder and, in 1968, applies him to the rank of deacon, and a few years later, in 1972, ordains him as a presbyter.
As he was going in his youth, he enters the Moscow Theological Seminary and easily finishes it.
Start active promotion
In September 1976, under the leadership of the bishop of Kazan and Mari Panteleimon, he received monastic tonsure and was named after Anastasius, having received the rank of hegumen.
In the same year he was appointed to the same St. Nicholas Cathedral, where he served as a psalmist, secretary of the diocesan administration.
In 1983, Anastasius completed his studies at the Moscow Theological Academy, after which he was promoted to the rank of archimandrite.
From June 6 to June 9, 1988, Anastasius was an active participant in the Council of Honors, held in connection with the 1000th anniversary of the baptism of Russia.
Bishopric
At the end of 1988, a decree was issued at the meeting of the Holy Synod, from which it follows that he is appointed bishop of Kazan and Mari, instead of bishop Panteleimon, who had retired at his own request, the same one who had previously been the main associate of Anastasius's promotion.
In 1990, Anastasius took part in the Local Council, and three years later, due to the fact that some territories were allocated from the Kazan diocese, he became known as the bishop of Kazan and Tatarstan.
However, he did not stay long in this rank, and on February 25, 1996 he became archbishop, taking the post of rector of the Kazan Theological School a year later. Surprisingly, exactly one year later the school receives the status of a seminary, and the influence of the metropolitan continues to grow.
The Holy Synod, which followed the achievements of the newly elected rector, on July 16, 2005 decided to include him in the group that is developing a document regarding the strengthening of the position of the Orthodox Church.
In the spring of 2012, in connection with the next decision of the Holy Synod, he received the position of Holy Archimandrite in several monasteries.
In 2012, Anastasiy becomes the head of the newly formed Tatarstan Metropolis and temporarily assumes the duties of the manager of the Chistopol Eparchy.
Despite the far from small dignity, the peak of his Orthodox career was the elevation to the rank of Metropolitan on July 18, 2012. Despite the fact that after the scandal that erupted in the walls of the seminary subordinate to him, the first rumors appeared among believers that Metropolitan Anastasiy of Kazan was retiring, they were not confirmed, because on July 13, 2015 he was appointed to the post of Metropolitan of Simbirsky and Novospassky and, accordingly, he becomes the head of the Simbirsk Metropolis.
Start of failure
Public attention to Metropolitan Anastasia appeared from the moment the first scandal erupted. It all started with the fact that a series of arsons of Orthodox churches took place in Tatarstan. Despite the suspicion of a group of radical Islamists, the perpetrators were never found.
Orthodox people were stunned that Metropolitan Anastasiy of Kazan and Tatarstan was not taking any decisive action to identify the perpetrators. Even despite the actions to identify the arsonists, which Metropolitan Anastasius nevertheless carried out, the Kazan diocese nevertheless decided to make cautious criticism of him.
And against the background of these events in the Tatarstan Metropolis a new even more high-profile scandal erupted. This time, he directly touched on internal problems in the leadership of the metropolis itself.
Scandal erupted
The scandal that struck both the Orthodox laity and the clergy broke out in 2013, when several seminary students filed a complaint about abusive actions of Abbot Kirill Iyukhin, who holds the post of vice-rector for educational work under Anastasia. A special commission was urgently sent to Kazan from Moscow in order to verify how the situation really is. Arriving at the seminary, inspectors were faced with the fact that there were much more victims, and about the peculiar rules adopted within its walls, the majority of students who were silent because of fear of being expelled in the last years of education were aware.
After a series of scandalous publications that swept through the press, and the decision made by the commission, Abbot Kirill Ilyukhin was removed from his post and dismissed from his post as press secretary. At the same time, Metropolitan Anastasiy of Kazan was removed from the post of rector of the seminary. The metropolitan considered it proper to have a conversation with the students, complaining that they had slandered the abbot in vain. However, the full scandal erupted only after it received wide publicity due to the fact that a record of this speech was published on the blog of protodeacon Andrei Kuraev.
The fate of the seminarians
In turn, the fate of the seminarians who decided to openly sign a complaint against Abbot Ilyukhin was a foregone conclusion. For example, from the seminary, Roman Stepanov was expelled, who initiated the writing of a complaint to Moscow and underestimated quite a bit.
Despite such a serious accusation, Ilyukhin himself was practically not injured from him. Now he serves in the Tver diocese, being an adviser to the local bishop, Metropolitan Victor.
However, tribute should be given to the local law enforcement agencies that began the verification of the crimes committed. Oddly enough, there was no longer a suspect in Tver, he hastily left for Kazakhstan and even decided to take Kazakhstan citizenship.
Transfer to Ulyanovsk
Despite the good deeds that Metropolitan Anastasiy of Kazan did, the scandal substantially ruined his impeccable reputation. Despite his transfer (with reduction) to Ulyanovsk, the head of Tatarstan awarded him the highest order of the republic for services to people and the church during the seeing-off from Kazan.
However, the metropolitan’s series of failures did not stop there. Already on July 20, when Metropolitan Anastasiy of Kazan (Simbirsky) arrived in Ulyanovsk, he was met by two priests surrounded by the laity, chanting: “Anaxios!” (“Unworthy!”) Supporters of Anastasia's innocence immediately announced that the rally was organized by the enemies of the metropolitan. At the same time, even Patriarch Kirill condemned such a manifestation of discontent.
Despite the fact that the rally was very decent, one incident strengthened the hostile attitude of people towards the metropolitan. Entering the temple, they repeated their “Anaxios!” For several more minutes. Unable to calm them down with words, one venerable archpriest hit the Orthodox woman in the face. This was the last straw for the protesters who left the church a few minutes later so as not to return to it again, while Metropolitan Anastasiy of Kazan (Simbirsky) would hold this post. After these events, the metropolitan delivered his sermon almost in an empty church, which could not but affect his already shaky reputation.
Good deeds
Despite the scandals in which Metropolitan Anastasiy of Kazan was still involved, reviews of his Orthodox affairs will remain in the memory of believers for a long time. His church activities in Kazan lasted for about 25 years, during which time he managed to do many good deeds.
Under him, the revival of many monasteries began, including the Raifa monastery, where the Kazan miraculous icon of the Mother of God is now stored. In addition, it was Metropolitan Anastasiy of Kazan (Simbirsky) who was the founder of the brass seminary, which cannot be ignored.
Conclusion
It is noteworthy that the First Church, which was then returned by the Metropolitan Anastasius of Kazan and Tatarstan - the Cathedral of Peter and Paul - celebrates the patronal day on July 12, and it was on this holiday that the news of the resignation of the metropolitan came.
Today, he is already 71 years old, and rumors have begun to circulate among Orthodox believers that Metropolitan Anastasiy of Kazan, tired of worldly vanity, is retiring, but this is not entirely true. The head of the Simbirsk diocese cannot leave his post until he finds a worthy successor who continues to strengthen the position of the Orthodox Church in Russia.