Philaret Voznesensky
Philaret of New York | |
|---|---|
Photograph of Archimandrite Philaret (Voznesensky) serving in Harbin, China | |
| First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia | |
| Born | March 22, 1903 Kursk, Kursk Governorate, Russian Empire |
| Died | November 21, 1985 (aged 82) Manhattan, New York, United States |
| Venerated in | Holy Orthodox Church in North America, Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church, Russian True Orthodox Church |
| Major shrine | Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary, Jordanville, New York |
Metropolitan Philaret (Russian: Митрополит Филарет, secular name Georgy Nikolayevich Voznesensky, Russian: Георгий Николаевич Вознесенский; 22 March 1903 in Kursk, Russia – 21 November 1985 in New York City) was the First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia from 1964 until his death on November 21, 1985.
He was ordained a deacon in 1930 and a priest in 1931. He served in Harbin (1931-1947), Tryokhrechye (1947-1949), then again in Harbin (1949-1962). In 1945-1962 he was a cleric of the Moscow Patriarchate. In 1962, he left China for Australia, joining the ROCOR. On May 26, 1963, he was ordained bishop of Brisbane, vicar of the Diocese of Australia and New Zealand. On May 27, 1964, being a youngest bishop by ordination, he was elected the First Hierarch of the ROCOR. The years when Metropolitan Philaret headed the ROCOR became a period of making important decisions, including the anathematization of Lenin and the persecutors of the Orthodoxy (1970), the canonization of Nicholas II, his family and servants and the New Martyrs (1981) and the condemnation of ecumenism (1983).