The highest link in the hierarchy of the Orthodox Church is the episcopate. One of his most influential representatives in Russian Orthodoxy - Metropolitan Juvenal Krutitsky and Kolomensky - will be the subject of this article.
Birth, education
The future hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church was born on September 22, 1935 in Yaroslavl. Vladimir Poyarkov - and this is precisely the name that Metropolitan Juvenal Krutitsky and Kolomensky had in the world - came from a family of employees. From the age of eleven, he began to attend church, serving at the altar in the Cathedral of Yaroslavl. After graduating from high school, he passed the entrance exams to the Leningrad Theological Seminary, which he subsequently graduated in first class. Then he continued his studies at the Leningrad Theological Academy.
Monasticism and ordination
In 1959, Vladimir Poyarkov decided to get a haircut as a monk. The ceremony is conducted by Nicodemus (Rotov), at that time still archimandrite and future Metropolitan of Leningrad and one of the most prominent hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church in the 20th century. It was he who named him Juvenal in honor of the saint of the same name, during the life of the former patriarch of Jerusalem. In less than a month, the monk Juvenal is ordained a hierodeacon, and two months later - in a hieromonk.
Serving as a priest
As a priest, the future Metropolitan Yuvenaly Krutitsky and Kolomna, whose photo is located below, takes part in various delegations from the Russian Orthodox Church in Europe, including the World Council of Churches. He works in the Department for External Church Relations, and from 1961-1962 he taught at the Seminary the New Testament. Then a number of appointments to foreign parishes are replaced, and in 1964, by the decision of the Holy Synod, Archimandrite Juvenal was determined to become a bishop.
Bishop consecration and ministry prior to appointment to the Krutitskaya and Kolomenskoye departments
Metropolitan Yuvenaly Krutitsky and Kolomna was ordained bishop on December 26 in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. The rank of consecration was headed by the same Nicodemus (Rotov), who at that time had already occupied the Leningrad department and became the metropolitan. As a place of service to Bishop Juvenal, the Zaraisk pulpit was determined. His ministry there, however, was short-lived. As when he was a priest, he mainly fed foreign communities. Japanese deanery, and then parishes in the USA - this is where Metropolitan Juvenal of Krutitsky and Kolomna served and conducted business in the 1960-1970s. His biography is associated with events such as the birth of the Autocephalous American Orthodox Church and the Autonomous Orthodox Church of Japan.
In 1971, Patriarch Pimen elevated Juvenal to the rank of archbishop for his efforts to organize the local council of the Russian Orthodox Church. And a year later he was elevated to the rank of Metropolitan. Since then, he has been a permanent member of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church MP and chairman of the Department for External Church Relations. In 1977 he was appointed Metropolitan of Krutitsky and Kolomensky.
Service in the Krutitsky and Kolomna diocese
He leaves the post of chairman of the above department in 1981 at his own request. Since then, he has been in different years a member of many state, public and church societies and commissions. For example, he served as vice president in the Society of the USA - USSR and in the Friendship Society of the USSR - Germany, and was a member of many other similar structures.
Today, occupying the previous department, Metropolitan Juvenal is the managing director of the Moscow diocese. In addition, he presides over the meetings of the Synod Commission for the Canonization of Saints. Since 1993, his duties also include co-chairing in the organizing committee, which is engaged in the preparation and conduct of the Days of Slavic writing and culture.
For his service to the church, Metropolitan Juvenal of Krutitsky and Kolomna was awarded many church and secular awards. Among other things, he is the owner of the orders of St. Sergius of Radonezh, Seraphim of Sarov, Equal to the Apostles Prince Vladimir and Daniel of Moscow. In addition, he was awarded various awards from ten other local Orthodox churches, as well as the government of the Russian Federation.
Church reputation
One of the most influential and oldest hierarchs of the patriarchate - Metropolitan Juvenal Krutitsky and Kolomna is so famous today. Reviews about him from different church circles vary. Extreme conservatives do not like him as a Nikodimovets and for his loyalty to the activities of the deceased priest Alexander Me and priest George Kochetkov. On the other hand, he himself does not enjoy the fame of a liberal or a reformer, being a church functionary and administrator with very traditional views. Maintaining church-ideological neutrality, Metropolitan Juvenal escaped scandal and is known as a hierarch devoted to the church, a talented manager and archpastor.