Tag: Christianity

Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Archbishop Dennis M. Schnurr, 76, from the pastoral governance of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, and has appointed Auxiliary Bishop Robert G. Casey of Chicago as his successor.

The pope also has accepted the resignation of Bishop R. Walker Nickless, 77, from the pastoral governance of the Diocese of Sioux City, Iowa, and appointed Father John E. Keehner, Jr. pastor of four parishes, to succeed him.

The pope also named Msgr. Richard F. Reidy, vicar general and moderator of the curia of the Diocese of Worcester, Massachusetts, to head the Diocese of Norwich, Connecticut. Bishop-designate Reidy succeeds Bishop Michael R. Cote, who retired Sept. 3, 2024.

The three resignations and appointments were publicized in Washington Feb. 12 by Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States.

Archbishop Schnurr, the 10th archbishop of Cincinnati, is one year past the age at which bishops are required by canon law to submit their resignation to the pope. He has been Cincinnati’s shepherd since December 2009. He was named coadjutor archbishop in 2008 and the following year succeeded Archbishop Daniel E. Pilarczyk when he retired.

Archbishop Casey, 57, has been a Chicago auxiliary since 2018. A native of Illinois, he was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Chicago in 1994.

MORE TO COME

A new report calls for the Russian Federation to be designated a state sponsor of terrorism, finding that Russia is weaponizing Orthodox Christianity as part of a genocidal attack on Ukraine — persecuting Catholics, other Christians and other faith communities in the besieged nation.

Mission Eurasia, a Tennessee-based ministry that trains Christian missionaries and leaders in 13 nations spanning Europe, Asia and Israel, released its findings Feb. 4 in “Faith Under Russian Terror: Analysis of the Religious Situation in Ukraine.”

The 52-page report, available at missioneurasia.org, was produced by Mykhailo Brytsyn, director of Mission Eurasia’s Religious Freedom Initiative, and Maksym Vasin, director of international advocacy and research at the Kyiv-based Institute for Religious Freedom.

The publication is a sequel to the organization’s 2023 release, “Faith Under Fire,” which documented the state of religious freedom in the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine from February 2022 to mid-2023.

That report and Mission Eurasia’s latest release add to an expanding body of evidence documenting the Russian state’s use of detention, torture, imprisonment and execution — as well as bans against specific faiths and seizure of houses of worship — to suppress religious practice in occupied areas of Ukraine, and to force Christians of various denominations to convert to Russian Orthodoxy.

The Mission Eurasia data was drawn from some 50 in-person interviews, conducted from August 2023 to December 2024, with clergy and representatives of all Christian denominations in Ukraine, including Orthodox Christians, Greek and Roman Catholics, and Protestants from various faith traditions, among them Baptist, evangelical, Pentecostal and Mennonite.

The report’s authors said some sources were anonymized to protect their safety and that of fellow believers and family members living under Russian occupation.

The Mission Eurasia report noted that Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, launched Feb. 24, 2022, continued attacks initiated in 2014. Under longtime leader Vladimir Putin, Russia has sought to reabsorb Ukraine — which gained its independence from the former Soviet Union in 1991 — while continuing historical campaigns by Russia under tsarist, communist and post-communist regimes to erase Ukrainian identity and “russify” Ukrainians.

Russia’s systematic attacks on Ukraine — which have routinely targeted civilians and civilian structures, in violation of international humanitarian law — have been declared a genocide in two joint reports by the New Lines Institute and the Raoul Wallenberg Center for Human Rights.

The Mission Eurasia report — consistent with data from several human rights monitoring groups and from Ukraine’s government — said Russian forces have so far damaged or destroyed several hundred religious sites in Ukraine, with the Institute for Religious Freedom citing a total of at least 650.

During June 2023 and September 2024 tours of Ukraine, OSV News visited several churches that had sustained damage from direct attacks by Russian forces.

Mission Eurasia noted that “at least 47 Ukrainian religious leaders have been killed as a result of Russia’s full-scale aggression.”

Others, said the report, have been subjected to imprisonment and torture, including Ukrainian Greek Catholic priests Father Ivan Levitsky and Father Bohdan Geleta, who in November 2022 were seized by Russian forces from their parish, Church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos in Berdyansk. After 18 months in Russian captivity, the priests — having lost significant amounts of weight, and with their heads shaved — were released as part of a June 2024 prisoner exchange.

In a post-release interview with the UGCC’s Zhyve television station, Father Geleta said he and Father Levitsky had been subjected to both psychological and physical torture at the hands of Russian forces.

Fellow UGCC priest Father Oleksandr Bohomaz, forcibly “deported” in December 2022 from the Russian-occupied Ukrainian of Melitopol, was also quoted in the Mission Eurasia report. The priest noted that while ministering under Russian occupation, “Russian security forces … pressured me to disclose the content of confessions. … I made it clear to them that confession is a sacred mystery. But they didn’t care.”

That same month, Russian officials formally banned the UGCC, the Knights of Columbus and Caritas in occupied areas of Ukraine.

The Mission Eurasia report also highlighted Russian abuses of religious freedom for Ukraine’s children.

UNICEF, the United Nations’ relief agency for children, reported in May 2024 that close to 2,000 children had been killed in Ukraine since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, with “the true number … likely much higher.”

The Mission Eurasia report said that following Russia’s July 2024 attack on the Okhmatdyt children’s hospital in Kyiv, political commentator Andrey Perla justified the carnage, telling Russian Orthodox television channel Tsargrad that the missile strike “wasn’t a mistake” since Ukrainians cannot be considered human: “Our (Russian) missiles do not kill humans. Not a single human. Over there (in Ukraine), there are no humans,” Russian commentator stated.

At least 19,546 Ukrainian children have been abducted by Russia, with Russia itself claiming to have taken more than 700,000 Ukrainian children, who are forced to renounce their Ukrainian identity under reeducation and “russification” programs, after which many are drafted into Russian military service.

Russian forces have eliminated or severely limited access to children’s catechetical materials, the report said, and have shut down children’s religious ministries by raiding and destroying houses of worship while repressing ministry leaders.

Under Russian occupation, public schools foster “militaristic ideology infused with elements of Russian chauvinism,” and children “are immersed in an atmosphere of hatred toward non-Orthodox religious minorities and everything Ukrainian,” said the report.

The Mission Eurasia report also examined Ukraine’s initiatives to prevent Russia’s weaponization of Orthodoxy, noting that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church — distinct from the autocephalous Orthodox Church of Ukraine — has “mirrored” Kremlin and Russian Orthodox narratives in Ukraine.

At the same time, the Mission Eurasia report cited “several shortcomings” in Ukraine’s August 2024 law banning the ROC in Ukraine and prohibiting Ukrainian religious organizations affiliated with Russian religious centers. While noting Ukraine’s government has “strong arguments to justify its legitimate aim of intervening in the religious sphere during martial law and amid an existential threat to Ukraine … debates continue regarding adherence to the principle of proportionality” in the law as written.

Based on its findings, Mission Eurasia proposed a number of recommendations, specifically calling for the designation of the Russian Federation as a state sponsor of terrorism and increased international pressure to end its aggression. In addition, Mission Eurasia urged continued documentation of Russia’s war crimes against faith-based leaders and communities, along with humanitarian, psychological and other aid to be coordinated via religious networks throughout Ukraine.

Why do Christians in the East usually celebrate Easter on a different day than those in the West?

Coincidentally, the story dates back to exactly 1,700 years ago, when the world’s first Ecumenical Council, the Council of Nicaea, was held in A.D. 325.

Most famous for rejecting the Arian heresy, and confirming Jesus Christ is God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father — as we repeat at every Sunday Mass — the council also unified the time of Easter.

At the time, some areas followed the Jewish calendar more closely, and the council ordered Churches to follow the Roman calendar.

Time can be a complicated thing, and days, months, and years don’t always match. Easter is supposed to be tied to the Jewish Passover, but given 12 months don’t really match up to one year, the way these things get put together can differ.

Much like the Arian issue, the Council of Nicaea didn’t really get accepted by every Church for a few hundred years. And even though the council established that the date of Easter would be the first Sunday after the full moon following the vernal equinox, the method of measuring these things differed from place to place.

Things got muddled up again when the Gregorian calendar was established in 1582, officially replacing the Julian calendar in Catholic countries. Even though its more accurate way of connecting months to the length of the year had been accepted across the world by the 1900s, the Eastern Orthodox religions still observe the Julian calendar for Easter, which usually takes place after it is celebrated in the Western Churches.

That brings us to 2025, which will see a remarkable coincidence: Both the Eastern and Western will hold Easter on the same day this year — April 20 — a joint celebration that doesn’t happen often.

Pope Francis found an opportunity to bring the topic up in remarks at an ecumenical prayer service marking the end of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity last month.

“I renew my appeal that this coincidence may serve as an appeal to all Christians to take a decisive step forward towards unity around a common date for Easter. The Catholic Church is open to accepting the date that everyone wants: a date of unity,” Francis said Jan. 25.

It wasn’t the first time that the pope has broached the topic. 

In 2022, for example, he told an Assyrian Orthodox patriarch: “Let us have the courage to put an end to this division that at times makes us laugh” with the ridiculous possibility that Christians could ask each other, “When does your Christ rise again?”

For most Christian laity, this topic isn’t really an issue — they celebrate Easter when it is celebrated in their parish church. Even the beginning of Lent isn’t a real issue among most people — even when Easter falls on the same day, the “40 day” preparation begins on a Wednesday in the West, and on a Monday in the East, and nobody panics about the disparity.

But the pope’s remarks are a reminder that the Catholic Church leadership is less committed to the date in the Western churches. In recent times, various popes have suggested just celebrating it on the second or third Sundays of April, and Eastern Catholic Churches often follow the Julian calendar, like their Orthodox counterparts.

Last December, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople said the mutual celebration of Easter in 2025 will be “an amazing convergence.”

“As we have repeatedly highlighted lately, more than a calendrical coincidence, this alignment offers a great opportunity for togetherness, especially since the way of celebrating the date of Easter was one of the issues that the Council of Nicaea resolved,” he said, before urging Francis to accept the Julian calendar for the Catholic celebration.

Practically speaking, the Eastern method also makes sure Easter comes after the Jewish celebration of Passover — again, an issue less fundamental in the West.

However, it can affect things if the West accepts the Julian calendar for Easter. The latest date for Easter in the West is this year, April 25. In the East it is May 8. This means Pentecost could be in late June and push the celebrations of Most Holy Trinity and the feast of Corpus Christi into July, which is the beginning of the secular holiday season in many Western nations that are at least nominally Christian.

Still, you’d be hard pressed to find ordinary faithful clamoring for such a change. Personally, I’ve never lost a moment’s sleep over the thought that my Orthodox friends would be celebrating Easter on a different day, yet when Christians deny the divinity of Christ, I tremble.

Even at Easter’s most sacred site — the city of Jerusalem — celebrating Easter on the same day is more of a “platonic ideal” than a practical one. The truth is, letting Catholics and Orthodox use the Church of the Holy Sepulcher on different days to observe the Church’s most significant celebration makes things easier for all involved.

Even Bartholomew acknowledges a unified celebration wouldn’t solve the differences that divide the East and West. But Church leaders insist it would still be an important step for Christian unity. 

At least until Christmas, which Orthodox Christians celebrate on Jan. 7.

On these days the Greek Orthodox Church is commemorating three holy women: St Emilia, the Mother of St Basil the GreatSt Basil the Great’s mother St Emilia was the daughter of a martyr. On the Greek calendar, she is commemorated on May 30.

“>St. Emilia—the mother of St. Basil the Great—“Universal Teacher”Hierarch Basil the Great is one of the Church’s most remarkable theologians. His influence on the fortunes of the Church spread far beyond the borders of his homeland and is still felt in our days.”>St. Basil the Great; the Righteous Nonna—the mother of St. Gregory the Theologian the Archbishop of ConstantinopleSaint Gregory the Theologian, Archbishop of Constantinople, a great Father and teacher of the Church, was born into a Christian family of eminent lineage in the year 329, at Arianzos.”>St. Gregory the Theologian; and St. Anthusa—the mother of St. John Chrysostom“>St. John Chrysostom. Each of them has set us an example of piety, unshakable faith, true humility, self–sacrifice, and grateful service to the Lord, but most importantly, they all invested these talents in the great men who, many centuries later, still speak to the whole world about the Almighty today. Having raised their children entrusted to them by God, these mothers preserved in their hearts a deep reverence for the Heavenly Father and, through numerous efforts, strengthened by prayer, they multiplied the seeds of love and diligence sown into the young souls. Besides, despite their different destinies, the mothers of the Three Holy Hierarchs are very similar in their amazing faithfulness to the family and deep active prayer—the most powerful motherly prayer, which guides us to the Truth like a beacon. And we modern mothers, who care about the well-being of our children, definitely have a lot to learn from these illustrious women saints who lived in the fourth century.

The one who raised six saints

St. Emilia of Caesarea (Cappadocia) was born in Caesarea between 305 and 315. Her family was quite wealthy and owned vast lands in Asia Minor. In her youth St. Emilia was very beautiful, but she was a devout Christian and was preparing to live in celibacy. Under Emperor Licinius (308–324) her father was martyred, and St. Emilia had to marry a pious lawyer named Basil, which saved the young woman from being abducted for forced marriage—a widespread practice at that time.

Later her husband Basil became a priest. The couple gave large sums of money to charity, helping the poor and receiving pilgrims. St. Emilia raised as many as ten children in her marriage. We know six of them as saints: Basil the Great, Bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia; Gregory, Bishop of Nyssa; Peter, Bishop of Sebaste; the Righteous Naucratius; the Venerable Macrina the Younger; and Blessed Theosebia. Another of her sons, Nicephorus, died as an infant, and there is no information about the other children.

Her eldest daughter Macrina and another daughter Emilia retired to an estate on the banks of the River Iris and founded a convent there. Some of the freed female slaves went with them. They shared everything they needed to live equally and served the Lord humbly, meekly, and with love. The most important thing for them was prayer and Divine contemplation.

    

Before her repose, the sick Emilia was cared for by her youngest son Peter and St. Macrina. When her soul was about to be separated from her body, St. Emilia gave her maternal blessing to all of her children. Then her soul departed to Heaven with these words: “To Thee, O Lord, I am offering the first fruit and the tithe of the fruits of my womb. The first fruit is this firstborn daughter, and the tenth is this last son! In the Old Testament Thou commanded us to offer Thee the first fruit and the tithe of the fruits: may they be a sacrifice pleasing to Thee, and may Thy holiness come down on them!” St. Emilia fell asleep in the Lord at the age of seventy-three.

The one who showed the path to God

St. Nonna of Nazianzus, the mother of St. Gregory the Theologian, was born in the late third century into a Christian family. Her parents were the Christians Philtatus and Gorgonia and her brother was St. Amphilochius, Bishop of Iconium. St. Nonna married a pagan and gave birth to a daughter, Gorgonia, and sons, Gregory and Caesarius, whom she raised as Christians.

    

Her husband Gregory of Arianza, a mayor and wealthy landowner in the Cappadocia region of Asia Minor, practiced fire worship. St. Nonna prayed fervently for him to get to know the Truth. Her son, the future St. Gregory the Theologian, wrote that she “prostrated herself to pray to God day and night, fasting and entreating Him with many tears to grant salvation to her husband.”

And the Lord answered the woman’s prayers. One night her husband had a vision in a dream: He saw himself singing a verse from a psalm of David: I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord (Ps. 121:1). This singing was unprecedented in its wondrousness, and together with the song a desire to serve the Lord suddenly appeared in his soul. Gregory told his wife about the dream that had so excited him. She was overjoyed and assured her husband that this was a good sign. Then Gregory converted to the True God—it was at the First Ecumenical Council in Nicaea. He was ordained priest, and then consecrated Bishop of Nazianzus. His wife, St. Nonna, was made a deaconess.

In 359, St. Nonna’s son Gregory returned to his homeland after studying and was baptized by his father. Two years later he became a priest, and afterwards the Patriarch of Constantinople. He later received from the Church the honorary title of “Theologian,” because he became one of the most insightful and profound spiritual writers. St. Nonna endured the deaths of her youngest son Caesarius and her daughter with humility and submission to the will of God.

Her husband, Bishop Gregory, as a very old man participated in the consecration of St. Basil the Great as Bishop of Caesarea. The holy eldress Nonna fell seriously ill, but through the prayers of her son the Lord prolonged her earthly life.

St. Gregory the Theologian wrote that for some time St. Nonna had eaten absolutely nothing, but at some point she was noticeably getting better. Later he found out that in her dreams his mother saw him, her son, giving her bread to eat by his prayer, and she believed it to be real. St. Nonna would regain strength by this: “When, at daybreak, I visited her early in the morning as usual, I saw her in better condition for the first time. Then I asked her: ‘What sort of night have you had and do you need anything right now?’ She replied volubly without hesitating for a moment: ‘My dear son, you yourself have fed me, and now you are inquiring about my health? You are very kind and compassionate!’ At that time the maids made signs to me not to contradict her, but accept her words indifferently so as not to discourage her by revealing the truth.”

St. Nonna reposed in 374 while praying in the church.

The one who opened the beauty of the Scriptures to her son

St. Anthusa of Antioch, the mother of St. John Chrysostom, was Greek by birth. Her husband Secundus, a very devout Christian, served as an official in Antioch. St. Anthusa was widowed at the age of twenty: Her husband died shortly after the birth of their second child, son John. St. Anthusa never remarried and wholly devoted herself to raising her two children—her son, the future St. John Chrysostom, and his elder sister.

    

St. Anthusa was a well-educated woman for her time. She did not need money, having a considerable fortune. As a test, St. Anthusa endured the death of her very young daughter with humility. She stayed with her son, to whom she devoted all her cares, hopes and love. St. John received the best upbringing of that time. His mother taught him his first lessons in reading and writing. Since her favorite reading was the Holy Scriptures, the first words that St. John read were from the pages of the Bible. This is where his love for reading the Word of God began, and its interpretation became the main task of the future saint’s life.

When St. John grew up, he received an excellent education, started practicing as a lawyer, and his mother hoped that he would soon find a worthy position in society both as an active man and as a Christian. But St. John dreamed of becoming a monk and aspired to join the ranks of monks: he was waiting for his beloved mother’s consent and blessing. When St. Anthusa learned about her son’s intention to become a monk, she was very saddened and told him about all the hardships and fears that had befallen her, which, with God’s help, she had overcome. She persuaded him not to leave his mother’s house so as not to make her an orphan again, but to wait for the moment when the Lord took her to Himself.

St. John obeyed his mother and stayed with her. And after her repose he distributed his inheritance among the poor and retreated into the desert to live with hermits. For his great services, St. John was eventually ordained priest. After that, with great diligence and insight he began to preach the Holy Gospel, for which he received the name “Chrysostom” (“Golden Mouth”). Later he became the Archbishop of Constantinople, compiled the Divine Liturgy that bears his name, wrote several prayers for the rite of Unction, and introduced antiphonal singing during the Vigil. Besides, St. John Chrysostom is the author of a large number of theological writings, sermons, and letters. Enduring his exile and sentence with fortitude and humility, he remained faithful to Christ and the Church till the last minute of his earthly life.

What is one to make of only the second Catholic vice president in U.S. history lashing out at his own bishops in his first week in office? It would seem to bode ill for church-state relations in the near term as the Trump administration rapidly implements its anti-immigrant deportation agenda. Whether it will bode ill for relations between the bishops and Catholic voters, a majority of whom voted for Trump, remains to be seen.

At first blush, the sight of a Catholic politician stating that the bishops are into refugee assistance for the money echoes the anti-Catholic shibboleths of the 19th and early 20th centuries. During the recurring tides of immigration in U.S. history, there was often a hostile reaction from those who saw the immigrants — very often Catholic and poor — as a threat. 

Nativists in the 19th century saw them as a fifth column for the pope. Reacting to the influx of Irish and Germans, many of them Catholic, one such nativist, Samuel Morse, said, “Our institutions … are at the mercy of a body of foreigners, officered by foreigners, and held completely under the control of a foreign power. We may then have reason to say, that we are the dupes of our own hospitality.”

Some politicians feared immigrants’ potential political power and were reluctant to give them citizenship. In the 20th century, a resurgent Ku Klux Klan joined politicians in promoting the anti-immigrant agenda. In the debate leading up to the 1924 law severely restricting immigration from southern Europe and Asia, Sen. Ira Hersey of Maine said that Americans had “thrown open wide our gates and through them have come other alien races, of alien blood, from Asia and southern Europe … with their strange and pagan rites, their babble of tongues.”

In lashing out at the U.S. bishops’ recent statements critical of the Trump administration’s decision to rescind a policy preventing immigration arrests at churches, schools, and hospitals — as well as of its plans to deport millions of undocumented residents — J.D. Vance ascribed it to greed.

In a Jan. 26 interview with CBS news personality Margaret Brennan, Vance, a Catholic convert, said, “As a practicing Catholic, I was actually heartbroken by that statement [by the bishops]. And I think that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops needs to actually look in the mirror a little bit and recognize that when they receive over $100 million to help resettle illegal immigrants, are they worried about humanitarian concerns? Or are they actually worried about their bottom line?”

Such a statement ignores both Catholic teaching and the facts. The U.S. bishops, primarily through its office of Migration and Refugee Services, is “one of 10 national resettlement agencies that receive federal funding and partner with local organizations to assist refugee populations that qualify for federal assistance,” as OSV News reported.

The greater issue concerns the responsibility of Catholics to help the migrant and the foreigner. The Catechism of the Catholic Church talks about the obligation of “prosperous nations … to welcome the foreigner in search of the security and the means of livelihood which he cannot find in his country of origin.”

A Jan. 22 statement by Bishop Mark J. Seitz, chair of the USCCB’s Committee on Migration, captures the dual stance of the Church: Recognizing that every nation has the right to regulate its borders and put just limits on immigration, but also to avoid “policies with consequences that are contrary to the moral law.”

Vance’s assertion that the USCCB has “not been a good partner in common sense immigration enforcement” completely misunderstands what the Church’s role should be. It is not there to be an arm of the government. It is to serve people in need.

The bishops’ position is in many ways unchanged from a Sept. 26, 1919, pastoral letter marking the third plenary council in Baltimore. The bishops called on Americans not to look upon immigrants with distrust, but to extend to them “the hand of charity. Since many of their failings are the consequence of treatment from which they suffered in their homelands, our attitude and action toward them should, for that reason, be all the more sympathetic and helpful.”

While the bishops have been united on issues surrounding immigration, they still face a dilemma. Their priorities are many, and it serves both them and the administration to find a way to work together on areas of agreement while acknowledging there are sure to be differences as well.

For now, and in virtually every diocese, there are local Catholic parishes and diocesan organizations that continue to serve the needy without looking at their immigration status. In the spirit of the good Samaritan, that work will continue, regardless of national policies or threats. But potential raids on Catholic churches, offices, and schools — if they come to pass — will certainly ratchet up the tension.

Perhaps all Catholic communities should pray for the intercession of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, who Pope Pius XII proclaimed “Patroness of Immigrants.”

Hieromartyr Vladimir (Khrishchenovich; †1933)

Hieromartyr Vladimir was born in 1876 in the village of Gezgaly, Lida County, Vilna Province, into the family of the peasant Ivan Khrishchenovich. In 1911, Vladimir graduated from the Slutsk Theological School and began serving as a psalmist at the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in the village of Gorki, Bobruisk County, Minsk Province.

In 1930, Bishop Nikolai (Shemetillo) of Slutsk ordained Vladimir Ivanovich as a priest for the Church of St. Nicholas. While living in Gorki, Father Vladimir frequently visited a neighboring parish in the village of Yazyl, where there was no priest at the time, and conducted services in the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord.

In 1932, Father Vladimir delivered a sermon in the church, which led to his arrest. He addressed the parishioners in this sermon, saying:

“Brothers! The Lord created man, and it is in His power to do with him as He wills; we must listen to God and believe in Him, attend church, and pray to God. Our only salvation is the Lord.”

Father Vladimir was arrested on December 27, 1932, along with the psalmist, the church warden, and several parishioners of the Transfiguration Church. In answer to the interrogator’s questions, the priest said:

“Yes, as a priest, doomed to a life of poverty; I expressed dissatisfaction with the policies of the Soviet government. Since there was no priest in the village of Yazyl, but there was a church, I conducted services there at the invitation of believers.”

From prison, he wrote to his family:

“My dear, most precious wife and children! I hasten to congratulate you on the New Year, on new happiness. May God help you endure all the hardships and sorrows brought by evil people and the machinations of the devil, who seeks to destroy us. The Almighty will not allow this and will help us bear all the burdens of the cross. I ask you not to forget God, on whom everything depends.”

Father Vladimir’s wife, Sofia, wrote to him in prison:

“Glory to the Almighty, we are all alive and well, and we wish you the same. We congratulate you on the upcoming New Year. Do not worry about us. Write to me in detail about everything, specifically, what you are accused of and what they are interrogating you about… If you need felt boots or padded trousers, I will try to send them… I was in Slutsk; on the night of December 18, there was a search at the bishop’s residence…”

On February 12, 1933, Priest Vladimir Khrishchenovich, the church psalmist, the warden, and one of the church council members were sentenced to execution, while the rest of the parishioners received various prison terms. Shortly after the sentence, Father Vladimir and all those condemned with him were executed.

Based on materials from the website of the Regional Public Foundation, “Memory of Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Orthodox Church.”

Martyr Stepan (Stepan Pimenovich Nalyvaiko; †1945)

Martyr Stepan Pimenovich Nalyvaiko was born in the village of Konstantinovka in Kherson province into a pious peasant family. Before his eyes stood the Christian ideals of the ancient saints, especially the podvig of Venerable Alexis the Man of GodThe parents sought the missing Alexis everywhere, but without success. The servants sent by Euphemianus also arrived in Edessa, but they did not recognize the beggar sitting at the portico as their master.

“>Holy Righteous Alexis, the Man of God, and in early April 1923, he left his home, wife, daughter, and household and set out on a journey.

Upon arriving in Moscow, Stepan delivered a heartfelt speech about the deceased patriarchal archdeacon Konstantin Rozov, and then, addressing the people, added: “The times are very difficult and hard now, but this is a time of deliverance from sin, so I ask you—do not forget God. Baptize your children. Do not live without a church wedding. And most importantly, live according to your conscience. A time will come when Orthodox Christians will rise, and God will overthrow these God-haters.”

A police unit was called, and Stepan Pimenovich was arrested and taken to the GPU.¹ When asked which state he belonged to, he replied, “The New Jerusalem.” In response to the interrogator’s question about his property status, he wrote, “The Eternal Gospel is within me.” When asked about his political beliefs, he answered, “A true Orthodox Christian.” When asked what he did and where he served, he replied with words full of sorrow and bitterness: “I don’t remember, but I know that it was in Russia, back when there was still a Russia. But now I will not speak to you about Russia because it no longer exists.”

On October 26, 1923, the NKVD Commission on Administrative Exiles sentenced Stepan Nalyvaiko “to imprisonment in the Solovki concentration camp for a term of three years.”

At the end of his sentence, OGPU representatives asked Stepan Pimenovich whether he had changed his beliefs. “No, I have not,” he replied, for which he received another three years of exile, which he served in Kazakhstan.

Stepan Pimenovich was repeatedly arrested on charges of counterrevolutionary activity, but he refused to plead guilty. In 1941, the Special Council of the NKVD of the USSR sentenced him to five years in a corrective labor camp in Norilsk after he had visited a cemetery church in Simferopol several times, where the priest collaborated with the NKVD.

New Martyr Stepan died in the camp on February 12, 1945, shortly before the end of his sentence.

Martyr Stepan was born in 1898 in the village of Konstantinovka, Melitopol County, Kherson Province, into the pious peasant family of Pimen and Euphrosinia Nalyvaiko. His mother, Euphrosinia Romanovna, had a significant influence on his upbringing, ensuring that he received a good church education, knew the Holy Scriptures well, and developed a love for reading spiritual books.

After the establishment of Soviet power, when persecutions against the Orthodox Church began, Euphrosinia Romanovna started traveling to neighboring villages to preach. The authorities warned her: “Old woman, stop preaching, or we will imprison you.” But Euphrosinia did not listen to them. Finally, in the winter of 1927, they came to arrest her. She put on a fur coat and said to the young man assigned to take her into custody:

“Take two fur coats.”

“Why would I need two?” he asked.

“Because you will have to bring me back.”

“Old woman, you think you know so much,” he replied arrogantly and did not take the coat.

After questioning, Euphrosinia Romanovna was released and escorted back to Konstantinovka by the same young man. She passed away in her native village in 1929.

When Stepan was nine years old, his parents sent him to a parish school, where he studied for three years before enrolling in the school at the Grigorie-Bizyukov Monastery, where he studied for another two years. At that time, the monastery was headed by Archbishop Dimitry (Abashidze) of Tavria, and it was renowned for the piety of its monks and its missionary work. The education he received at the parish school, and especially his time at the Grigorie-Bizyukov Monastery, had a profound impact on Stepan and shaped his entire life.

It was there that Stepan first experienced the poetic beauty and spiritual depth of Orthodox worship. He attended almost every service and was blessed to serve as an assistant during the Liturgy. In this atmosphere of holiness, he became deeply familiar with Church tradition and studied the lives of the saints. No podvig, no courage, no labor, no moral or spiritual beauty, no worldly wisdom could compare to the podvig, courage, labor, moral and spiritual beauty, and wisdom of a saint. The entire world, with its ideas of ideals and heroism, faded before his eyes like a pale shadow of true life and its true purpose. The image of the Christian ideal and the thirst to attain it settled in Stepan’s soul and never left him throughout his life. Like many Russian adolescents, he was especially struck by the life of St. Alexis, the Man of God.

When Stepan turned fourteen, he returned home to help his father with the household. His father, Pimen Konstantinovich, was a poor peasant who owned no land of his own and rented between five and ten desyatinas (about 13 to 27 acres), depending on what he could manage. He had two horses and a cow. But Stepan’s mind and heart were not inclined toward farming, and in 1914, at the age of sixteen, he left for the city of Henichesk, where he settled at the monastery’s metochion and was accepted as a singer in the monastery choir.

There, he realized he lacked sufficient church education, particularly in understanding the Church typikon (liturgical rules). For two months, he diligently studied the typikon at the Korsun-Bogoroditsky Monastery. Afterward, he returned to his native village and became a church singer under the rector, Father Pavel Buchinsky, who was later executed by the Bolsheviks. At the same time, Stepan continued to help his father with farm work.

In February 1917, Stepan was mobilized into the active army. After three months of training in Ekaterinoslav, he was sent to the Romanian front. In July 1917, the Germans, taking advantage of the revolution in Russia and the resulting disorganization of the army, launched an offensive on the Romanian front. As a result, units of the 134th Feodosia Regiment, in which Stepan Nalyvaiko served, were captured. While in captivity, Stepan worked for about two months in the frontline zone before being sent by the Germans as a forced laborer to the “Lamsdorf” concentration camp, where he remained until January 1918. At that time, the camp administration sent him to perform civilian labor in a nearby settlement.

By then, under the Brest-Litovsk Treaty, Ukraine had been ceded to Germany and occupied by German forces. Stepan’s mother, Euphrosinia Romanovna, appealed to the occupation authorities for permission for her son to return home from captivity. In the fall of 1918, permission was granted, and Stepan was once again placed in the “Lamsdorf” concentration camp, this time for transport home. However, before he could be sent, a revolution broke out in Germany, worsening conditions in the camp to the point where prisoners faced starvation.

Stepan escaped from the camp and began his journey home. He walked day and night, enduring hunger and cold, crossing parts of Germany, Austria, and Hungary. Eventually, he crossed the Russian border, reached Kherson, and finally arrived in his district town of Alyoshki, where he obtained documents confirming that he was a soldier returning from captivity.

Four days before Christmas, Stepan arrived at his family home. He took a position as a psalmist in the local church and worked on his family’s impoverished farm, which, like most in the area, was barely enough to sustain them.

By that time, his father had grown old, and his mother was seriously ill, with no one to care for her. Because of this, Stepan decided to marry. He took as his wife an orphan from the same village, Kharitina Dmitrievna Sevastyanova. A year later, their daughter Raisa was born.

Before his eyes stood the Christian ideals of the ancient saints, especially the feat of Holy Righteous Alexis Man of God, and in early April 1923, he left his home, wife, daughter, and household to become a wanderer. Leaving his native village in the dead of night, he set out for Moscow. The journey took more than forty days. Upon arriving in Moscow, Stepan made his confession at the Danilov and Donskoy Monasteries and prayed to God to reveal to him what he must do to appear before the rulers of Russia and proclaim God’s truth.

At that time, the patriarchal archdeacon Konstantin Rozov passed away. His funeral service and burial were scheduled for June 3 at 3 p.m. at the Vagankovo Cemetery. A great crowd gathered. When the coffin was brought into the church, the doors were closed, and a priest came out to the waiting crowd to announce that the funeral had been postponed until the next morning because the grave was not ready, and the closest relatives had not yet arrived.

As people hesitated to disperse, Stepan stepped onto a raised platform and spoke movingly about the departed archdeacon. Then, addressing the crowd, he added:

“These are very difficult and hard times, but this is a time of deliverance from sin. Therefore, I ask you—do not forget God. Baptize your children. Do not live without a church wedding. And most importantly, live by your conscience. The time will come when Orthodox Christians will rise, and God will overthrow these God-haters.

As he spoke, the police attempted to push through the crowd to arrest the preacher, but the people formed a barrier and would not let them through. A police unit was then called, and Stepan was arrested and taken by carriage to the police station. On the way, an officer asked him what province he was from. Stepan replied:

“All provinces are mine.”

“What is your name, and how old are you?” the officer asked.

“I am twenty-four years old. My name is Nalyvaiko, Stepan Pimenovich.”

“Where are your documents?” the officer inquired.

Stepan unbuttoned his shirt, revealing a heavy tin cross on his chest, and said:

“Here are my documents. I have nothing else.”

At the police station, he refused to answer questions and was taken to the GPU. There, he was given a questionnaire to fill out. In response to the question about which state he belonged to, he wrote: “The New Jerusalem.” And for the uninformed interrogator, he clarified: “The one descending from heaven.” When asked about his profession, he wrote: “Reaper.” For occupation, he wrote: “Witness of the Word of God, preacher.” To the questions about where he had worked, how he had lived, and whether he owned property, he responded: “By the will of Jesus Christ, with all that Jesus Christ provided.” When asked about his military rank, he replied: “A warrior of Jesus Christ.”

On June 7, an interrogation took place, during which Stepan continued to speak in a mystical and allegorical manner. In response to the question about his marital status, he wrote: “Now I am alone and will remain alone. What was before is dead and has passed.” When asked about his property status, he wrote: “The Eternal Gospel is within me.” When asked about his political beliefs, he answered: “A true Orthodox Christian.” When asked what he did and where he served, he replied with sorrow and bitterness: “I do not remember, but I know that it was in Russia, back when Russia still existed. Now I will not speak to you about Russia because it no longer exists.”

When the investigator asked where he had come from, Stepan answered:

“I arrived in Moscow on the Thursday before Trinity from the New Jerusalem, descending from heaven, on foot.”

“Where did you live upon arriving in Moscow?” the investigator asked.

“I lived these days in the middle of the city of Babylon.”

“How did you end up at Vagankovo Cemetery?”

“I was led to Vagankovo Cemetery by the Spirit given to me by God, to bear witness to the Word of God. There were many people in the cemetery, and I spoke to them, declaring that the time of deliverance from sin is near.”

“What is your attitude toward Soviet power?”

“I do not approve of the current government because it does not acknowledge God. I have been sent to struggle against this power, but I fight not using military weapons, but the truth of the Holy Scriptures.”

The interrogation ended there. After carefully reading Stepan’s responses, the investigator summoned him again two days later and asked:

“Why do you say that Russia no longer exists?”

“Russia existed when the Orthodox were in power. Now it is Babylon, a city of lawlessness,” Stepan replied.

“Did you participate in the Civil War?”

“I did not participate in the Civil War. The means of deliverance from the sins of lawlessness is the turning of people to the truth—that is, the recognition of Jesus Christ as the Son of God. I cannot support this government because no one can serve two masters. This power is harmful because it stands against God. I desire a government that submits entirely to Jesus Christ, the Son of God. This government is darkness, but under that government, people would walk in the light.”

Two days later, Stepan was interrogated again. When asked questions by the investigator, he replied:

“My preaching began only recently, on the very day I was detained at Vagankovo Cemetery. Where I lived before that or what I did, I will not say, for now that I have begun to testify of Jesus, I have died to all that was before, to all that is earthly.”

Finally, the investigator asked:

“Do you recognize Soviet power?”

“How could I not recognize it? How can one deny power when it exists? If you tell me this is an inkwell and ask, “Is this an inkwell?” I will answer—of course, it is an inkwell. How can I say it does not exist? Power, of course, exists. But I do not share many of its views on religion. If there were no persecution of the Church, I would share its views. If the government did not destroy churches, kill, and exile priests, I would welcome it. But as it is, I cannot and will not lie about it.”

In the GPU prison, Stepan was initially held in a common cell. His presence there was a great comfort to the other prisoners. He immediately stated that although he had been arrested for agitation against Soviet power, even now, deprived of his freedom, he was not afraid to speak the truth openly to the investigators. “The foundation of Soviet power is built on sand. Do not be afraid and do not despair; the time of deliverance is near.” His presence had such an impact on the prisoners that their spirits lifted, and the fear that deadens the soul and paralyzes the mind disappeared.

In mid-June, Stepan was transferred from the GPU prison to a common cell in Butyrka prison. On June 25, he sent a statement to the GPU investigator:

“Rulers of the Russian land, I ask you to turn your attention to your people, who groan under the yoke of their own making; they look at the ruler with sorrow, and the ruler looks at the people. Let each judge for himself—is it not fear that rules man? And this fear is the fear of falsehood. Can falsehood be stronger than truth? By no means, because falsehood rules over man only as long as he lives on this earth, but when man dies, falsehood dies with him. Let us turn to the truth and see its strength. If a person lives by truth, then whether he is persecuted, reviled, oppressed, subjected to violence, sick, or even dying—look upon him and see with what joy he endures all this! Why? Because the truth by which he lived does not die. Truth overcomes even death because it has the Kingdom and power before all ages and forever. Amen. The time is near for the fulfillment of truth, and it will not pass by, for the hour of the harvest foretold by Jesus Christ is coming… Therefore, I ask you, rulers of the Russian land, enough of conquering your own land… Turn to Christ and find life in Him… I also ask, if possible, to be transferred to solitary confinement and to be given some paper and ink…”

A month later, Kazansky, the officer of the 6th department of the GPU secret division assigned to the case, ordered Stepan’s request to be granted—he was transferred from the common cell to solitary confinement and provided with ink and paper, with permission to write his own testimony.

Receiving the paper and the ability to write freely, Stepan briefly outlined his biography and then wrote:

“I came to the rulers to proclaim that the Lord is coming with myriads of His angels to judge the earth, and if the nations do not repent of their iniquities—that is, fornication, murder, theft, and so on—then the Lord will punish all severely. And I, a sinner, love my family, but I am even more zealous for God, so that, having received the spirit of preaching, I could no longer stay at home. On the night of April 10, I rose from my bed and left, entrusting myself to God’s will. I arrived in Moscow on May 24 or 25 and prayed to God to show me what to do, how to appear before the rulers and speak God’s words. I had no personal purpose in coming to Moscow, only to proclaim the works of the Lord to the rulers… And until I had said everything I needed to say, I did not give you my address. But when I had finished, I revealed my address. Now, I do not know if I am guilty of anything or if I deserve punishment for speaking God’s word, but I have fulfilled my Christian duty, for my zeal for God made me leave my father, mother, wife, and daughter. Now, consider my words and judge them for yourselves.”

At the same time, he wrote a statement to the GPU officer Kazansky, which contained a message addressed to the rulers of the Russian land. In it, he wrote:

“Rulers of the Russian land! I appeal to you—why do you oppress yourselves? Why do you divide yourselves among yourselves? Why do you testify against yourselves? You oppress yourselves because you have rejected your people and left them without protection, without a shepherd, like a flock in the wilderness. Do you not pity them, as they groan so terribly? How many days now have they wandered from hill to hill in the wilderness while their shepherds have been led astray by disgraceful women, drunken with the wine of the iniquity of fornication. Sober up! Return to your flock, for it has been entrusted to you, and you will be held accountable for it. You are divided among yourselves because each of you harbors evil within, and that evil is pride and deceit. And is it with these that you hope to do ‘good’? For evil cannot drive out evil, fire cannot be extinguished with fire. You testify against yourselves—you claim to be benefactors of humanity, yet you hate all and love only yourselves, seeking your own glory while despising the glory of the Heavenly Father and killing those who seek His glory…”

On August 31, 1923, Stepan was summoned for interrogation by investigator Kazansky. When questioned, he replied:

“Upon arriving in Moscow, I stopped at the Danilov Monastery, where I stayed for a few days. There I made confession, though I do not remember to whom. Some parishioners, whom I did not know, occasionally invited me for a meal or to stay the night. I also visited the Donskoy Monastery, where I also confessed, though again, I do not remember to whom. While in Moscow, I heard from people about the death of Archdeacon Rozov and his upcoming funeral at Vagankovo Cemetery, which is what led me to go there. I have nothing more to add regarding my case and will say nothing further.”

On September 22, an officer from the 6th department of the GPU’s secret division compiled a conclusion on Stepan’s “case.” He wrote:

“Questioned as a defendant, citizen Nalyvaiko stated that in delivering his anti-government speech, he was merely fulfilling the mission of a preacher, carrying out God’s command, which had been revealed to him in a vision, to rebuke the rulers. He declared that he could not reconcile himself with the existing non-Orthodox government and would continue to struggle against it, though not with weapons, but with the word. While in custody, citizen Nalyvaiko sent two statements to the investigator, filled with accusations against the Soviet government for supposedly oppressing the people and predicting its imminent downfall… I conclude that Nalyvaiko should be deemed a socially dangerous element and, in accordance with the decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee from August 10, 1922, should be administratively exiled to the Arkhangelsk province for a term of three years.”

“Three years in a labor camp,” corrected the head of the 6th department of the GPU secret division, Tuchkov.

And Agranov, deputy head of the GPU secret division, added: “I agree with Comrade Tuchkov’s conclusion.”

On October 26, 1923, the NKVD Commission on Administrative Exile sentenced Stepan to “three years of imprisonment in the Solovki concentration camp.”

Life in the camp was difficult for him: he fell ill with scurvy, and his legs became paralyzed. Upon learning of Stepan’s dire condition, his mother, Euphrosinia Romanovna, immediately set out to visit him at the Solovetsky camp, bringing linens and food. Stepan’s health was critical—he was carried to the meeting on a stretcher. For the duration of their visit, a separate room was provided for mother and son, where they spent several days together.

After three years, when his sentence was completed, the OGPU officials summoned him and asked, “Well, have you changed your beliefs?

“No, I have not.”

“Then you will receive another three years of exile.”

He served his exile in Kazakhstan, in the city of Turkestan. When these three years had passed, he was given another three years in exile, as if they wanted him to remain there for life. During his exile, he learned various crafts, displaying remarkable talent—he could make boats, mandolins, guitars, and even a phaeton if necessary. Stepan rented a house and a garden and arranged for his wife and daughter to join him. His daughter, Raisa, was at the age to start school, but when she turned seven, Stepan wrote from exile: “Under no circumstances should you send her to school.”

He remembered his own church education and the teachings of the Holy Fathers, especially those like St. Basil the Great, who said it was better to remain without secular, pagan education than to corrupt one’s soul through worldly knowledge. His family obeyed him, as he was highly respected both at home and in the village, and they did not send the girl to school. Teachers came to their house, trying to persuade them to enroll her, but Stepan’s parents, Pimen and Euphrosinia, stood firm in their decision.

Their daughter, Tatyana Pimenovna, also came and tried to convince her father:”

“Papa, I heard at the village council that if you don’t send your granddaughter to school, they will come and take your horse.

It was hard for the old man to lose his work helper, his horse, and he didn’t know what to do. Soon, the teachers arrived. Euphrosinia Romanovna met them and said:”

“Why does she need school? She is already literate. Raya, look—what letter is this?”

“V,” the girl answered.

The teachers continued to insist, but they never sent her to school. Soon after, Stepan called his wife and daughter to join him. The girl, who had not learned the alphabet at home, gained all her basic education in Kazakhstan. She studied the Law of God, arithmetic, and modern history. The only difficulty in exile was that the only church available was a Renovationist² one, so the family did not attend services there.

While studying the Law of God, she came across the story of the Virgin Mary giving birth to Jesus Christ while remaining a Virgin, and this puzzled her. How could such a thing be? Her father happened to pass by, and she shared her confusion:”

“I don’t understand. Is there some mistake here?

After listening to her, Stepan replied:

“You are right to wonder. The Mother of God gave birth to Jesus Christ and remained a Virgin. Now, remember—how many miracles happened during the time of Moses? The parting of the Red Sea, the burning bush that was not consumed, the blossoming of Aaron’s rod, the wonders performed by the prophet Elias. What were these? Miracles? Yes, miracles! These are acts performed by God’s power, contrary to the natural order of things. The Lord, the Creator and Lawgiver, if He so wills, establishes a new law or, contrary to the laws He has set, performs a supernatural act, which we, as humans, perceive as a miracle. He does this so that mankind may see the hand of the Creator and understand who is the true Lawgiver and Creator of the world.”

The year 1931 arrived, and Stepan’s third term was nearing its end. By that time, Euphrosinia Romanovna had already passed away, and Pimen Konstantinovich was very old and completely frail. Stepan’s wife, Kharitina, had to return to Konstantinovka with their daughter to help the old man with the harvest, and they remained there until the authorities decided on Stepan’s fate. His parents believed that their granddaughter had received a proper religious upbringing and an initial understanding of God, the Church, world history, and Russian history, so they felt that schooling would no longer be morally dangerous for her. Later, she went on to receive a higher education.

Stepan was a sociable man, and people always found conversation with him interesting. No matter what topic was being discussed, he would always steer the conversation toward the most important subject—religion and God. Many residents of the town visited his home, including high-ranking OGPU officials.

One day, he asked them, “Well, my friends, are you planning to release me or not? Is there anything against me?

“No,” they answered.

“Then I will write to Moscow, “Stepan said.

And so, he wrote to the authorities in Moscow. Some time passed, and he went to the head of the OGPU and repeated his question.

“Stepan Pimenovich,” the officer replied, “your release order is on my desk, but we don’t want to let you go. Listen to me. When you return to your homeland, the local authorities will gather compromising materials on you, arrest you, and imprison you again. Take my advice—go, collect your father and your family, and come back here. Why move back? You will be arrested and exiled again anyway—that is the policy. Take your father, take your family, and return.

Stepan did not agree with the OGPU chief. He took his release certificate and left for his homeland in September 1932.

In the village of Konstantinovka, the church had been closed for five years, and there was no priest. When Stepan arrived, people immediately gravitated toward him. The village had nine hundred households at the time, and everyone asked him to help reopen the church. Stepan knew that the church could not have been legally closed. He gathered a church community of twenty people and went to the authorities in Kherson with documents. He returned immediately, bringing a priest with him. A nun named Evdokia, who lived in the village, became the psalmist, and Stepan took charge of the church choir, which he quickly assembled—so many people wanted to sing in the church that there was no shortage of volunteers.

Pascha arrived, and Stepan was overjoyed. For three days, he climbed the bell tower and rang the bells with inspiration and enthusiasm. The Paschal spirit and great joy filled Stepan’s soul and the hearts of the people of Konstantinovka.

The authorities soon began to pressure him:

“Join the collective farm!”

At that time, he was working as a hired laborer, a house painter and decorator. “What will I do in the collective farm?” Stepan replied. “Give me a passport, and I will leave.

But the authorities refused to issue him a passport, and the persecution and hardships began. Around that time, Stepan’s father, Pimen Konstantinovich, passed away. The land that had been in his care remained unsown, and in August 1934, Stepan was prosecuted for failing to plant grain on a one-hectare plot and sentenced to five years in a labor camp. He filed an appeal, the case was reviewed, and before he even reached the labor camp, he was released and returned home. However, the persecution did not stop. The authorities kept demanding various taxes from him. They confiscated his bull, cow, and horse, leaving only chickens, yet they still taxed him as if he had a full farm—requiring milk, meat, and hides. He had nothing left to pay with.

In April 1935, Stepan was put on trial. Judge Kuropatkin sentenced him to three years in a labor camp and two years of loss of civil rights. He was imprisoned and remained in jail until February 1937, when he was sent in a prison convoy to Vladivostok. He filed an appeal with the authorities in Moscow, and after some time, a response arrived: Stepan was to be acquitted, his conviction expunged, and a criminal case opened against the judge and prosecutor responsible for his sentencing.

Meanwhile, his wife and daughter had moved to Simferopol, and in the summer of 1937, Stepan joined them and found work as a house painter. He attended church at the cemetery, where the parish priest, Father Nikolai Shvets, asked him in August 1940 to paint the church roof. Around the same time, the cathedral rector invited Stepan to lead the choir. Once again, he found his place in church services—there was nothing he loved more than the Church. Naturally, when talking with believers, he openly shared his religious views, discussing how the Holy Scriptures addressed contemporary issues of human life. This led to his final “case.”

On October 25, 1940, an order was issued for Stepan’s arrest. Three days later, Father Nikolai invited Stepan to his home to thank him for completing the church work. Stepan told his wife:

“Kharitina, Father Nikolai and his wife are inviting us for tea.”

She declined, so he went alone. He returned home around eleven in the evening and said:

“Father Nikolai’s brother was there—he had come from central Russia. We ate, drank tea, and talked for a little while.

That night, around two in the morning, there was a knock at the door. When they opened it, NKVD officers stood on the threshold, presenting a warrant for a search and Stepan’s arrest. Stepan asked what they were looking for. They replied, “Documents,” without specifying which ones. They confiscated his passport, a 1904 edition of the Bible, and a 1903 edition of the Gospel. Finally, they found his release certificate. Upon discovering it, they said to Stepan:

“Take a blanket, a pillow, and come with us.”

And so, he was arrested.

While her father was under investigation, his daughter persistently tried to get permission from the prison authorities to send him food, but they refused. She continued pressing them. Seeing her persistence, an NKVD officer took her into a separate room and asked:

“What can you say about your father? What kind of father was he?”

“You shouldn’t be asking a daughter such questions,” she replied. “Even if my father had been a bad man, how could I say that about him? But a father like mine—there is no one better.”

They let her go, but they never accepted food packages throughout the entire six-month investigation.

Stepan was interrogated the very day he was arrested.

“Why were you convicted and exiled in 1923?” the investigator asked.

“In 1923, I was convicted because, as a religious man, I preached at Vagankovo Cemetery in Moscow that Christian teaching is the only true doctrine. I was convicted and exiled for my preaching.”

“Which teaching do you consider to be correct?

“Not having an understanding of communist teachings, I did not judge communism as right or wrong—I simply preached Christian doctrine.”

“Were there many or few people at your sermons?”

“There were few people at my sermons.”

In the following days, the investigators’ questions were based entirely on informers’ reports.

“Explain what kind of agitation you conducted in 1923 at Vagankovo Cemetery.”

“I don’t remember exactly what I said, but I spoke from the Gospel.”

“Did you engage in anti-Soviet agitation at that time?”

“No, I did not conduct anti-Soviet agitation.”

“Then why were you arrested and convicted?”

“I don’t remember now.”

Having no real charges against Stepan, the investigators tried to extract more details from him in order to involve his acquaintances as witnesses, thus avoiding the need to rely on informants.

“Name the surnames of any active church members you know who live in Simferopol.

“I visited the church about twenty times since the fall of 1938. Among my acquaintances was Kapustin, an archpriest; he was in exile, but I don’t remember for what reason.”

“While in exile in Kazakhstan, did you have any connections with religious figures?

“No, I had no connections with any religious figures in Kazakhstan.”

“Do you know Petro Sidorchuk or Lavrentiy Korolev?”

“No, I do not know Sidorchuk or Korolev.”

“Are you acquainted with Fyodor Ponomarenko?”

“No, I do not know Fyodor Ponomarenko.”

“We have an address and surname for Fyodor Ponomarenko written in your notebook. Did you write this?”

“I wrote it, but I don’t remember why or when.”

“Name any church figures you know who live in Simferopol.”

“I have no acquaintances among church figures in Simferopol.”

“Name any church figures you know who live outside Simferopol.”

“I have no acquaintances among church figures outside Simferopol.”

“Where and when did you complete missionary school?”

“I did not study at a missionary school.”

“The investigation has information that you studied at a missionary school. Provide testimony on this matter.”

“I did not study at a missionary school.”

“Where and when were you a missionary?”

“I was not a missionary, but I read many religious books at home and while in prison and exile.”

“Name the clergy members you were acquainted with while serving your sentence in prison and exile.”

“I don’t remember whom I was in prison or exile with, so I cannot name them.”

“The investigation has information that, as a religious believer, you gathered church members and conducted anti-Soviet propaganda among them. Do you plead guilty to this?”

“I did not conduct anti-Soviet propaganda among believers. I do not plead guilty.

And so it went, day after day, week after week, month after month—interrogation after interrogation.

“The investigation has credible evidence that on July 11, 1940, you gathered believers near the cemetery church and held a religious discussion with them. Provide testimony on this matter.”

“I deny this. I was not at the cemetery on July 11, 1940, and I could not have spoken there.”

“You are lying. The investigation demands an honest answer.”

“On July 11, I was working and was not at the cemetery.”

“The investigation has information that on July 11, you conducted anti-Soviet propaganda among believers at the cemetery. Do you plead guilty to this?”

“On July 11, I was working, I was not at the cemetery, and I do not plead guilty to conducting anti-Soviet propaganda.”

“You are not telling the truth.”

“No, I am telling the truth.”

“The investigation has evidence of your anti-Soviet activities. Do you plead guilty?”

“No, I do not plead guilty.”

“The investigation demands a frank confession of your guilt.”

“I do not plead guilty.”

“Have you taken the path of denial and obstruction of the investigation?”

“I have not obstructed the investigation. I do not consider myself guilty.”

“Do you plead guilty to engaging in anti-Soviet activities?”

“No, I do not plead guilty.”

“Name the clergy members in Simferopol with whom you had contact.”

“While attending the cemetery church, I met a priest named Nikolai. I do not know his surname. I also knew another priest, but I do not remember his surname either.”

“Explain under what circumstances you became acquainted with Father Nikolai.”

“I met Father Nikolai at church, I do not remember exactly when, but I believe it was around 1937. We talked, but I do not recall what we discussed. In August 1940, Father Nikolai asked me to paint the church roof, and I agreed. While painting the roof, I visited Father Nikolai. Another person was present, but I do not know his name or surname. During our conversation on religious topics, I spoke about the thirteenth chapter of Revelation. The second time I visited Father Nikolai was to get oil for painting the roof. This was in mid-September. At Father Nikolai’s home, I again met an unknown citizen. After finishing the roof painting, I visited Father Nikolai’s home again to settle payment. Shortly after that, I was arrested.”

“You visited Father Nikolai and spoke with him. Tell us everything you know about him.”

“I do not know Father Nikolai well and have nothing to say about him. I did not have any discussions with him.

Although almost all interrogations were conducted at night, Stepan diligently read through the protocols carefully, and at the end of each one, before signing, he wrote in his own hand: “The protocol has been read by me. It is recorded correctly from my words.”

Despite all the investigators’ efforts, they failed to force Stepan to incriminate himself. The investigation period was nearing its end, yet Stepan remained calm and composed, refusing to bear false witness against himself. On January 18, 1941, the investigator summoned him for another interrogation.

“Do you plead guilty to the charges against you?”

“I do not plead guilty to the charges against me.”

“The investigation urges you to abandon this pointless obstinacy—your denial of anti-Soviet activities—and to confess openly to the counterrevolutionary actions you have committed.”

“I did not engage in anti-Soviet or counterrevolutionary activities.”

The investigators were unable to find false witnesses to testify against Stepan. To their displeasure, they had to rely solely on the statements of informants, who were presented as witnesses for the prosecution. On January 21, Stepan was summoned for his final interrogation.

“Do you plead guilty to the charges against you?”

“I do not plead guilty to the charges against me.”

That same day, the investigator prepared the protocol for the conclusion of the investigation and allowed the accused to review the case materials. After reading them, Stepan wrote:

“I have reviewed the investigation materials on thirty-three pages. Based on the investigative materials, I do not plead guilty, as I have absolutely never engaged in anti-Soviet agitation anywhere at any time. I have never discussed political or religious topics with anyone. Therefore, I DO NOT PLEAD GUILTY to any of the charges above.”

On February 4, the Special Cases Department of the Prosecutor’s Office reviewed the investigation materials and issued its conclusion:

“Having been charged and interrogated as a defendant, Nalyvaiko S. P. did not plead guilty to counterrevolutionary activities. However, he does not deny the fact that he visited the church in Simferopol (at the cemetery) about twenty times.

“Considering that the collected materials are insufficient to refer the case to a court hearing, but that the personality of the accused, Nalyvaiko S. P., presents a social danger, I would propose that the case against Nalyvaiko S. P. for counterrevolutionary activities be referred to the Special Council of the NKVD of the USSR.”

On April 7, 1941, the Special Council sentenced Stepan Pimenovich to five years in a forced labor camp.

Before being sent to the camp, he was allowed a final meeting with his daughter. He told her that the guest at Father Nikolai’s home that night was not actually his brother but the chief of the NKVD investigative unit, and that Father Nikolai himself was an NKVD informant. Everything he was accused of was fabricated, but since the verdict was decided by the Special Council, no one had bothered to verify the testimonies or evidence. He was sentenced solely because of his previous conviction.

Stepan Pimenovich was sent to a forced labor camp in Norilsk.

With the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War [World War II], all correspondence between him and his family ceased. It was only in early 1945 that they received the first letter from him after the long silence:

“Only three months remain until the end of my sentence. God willing, we will still have time to live together again.”

His family sent him a letter, money, and a package—but no reply ever came.

Some time later, Raisa Stepanovna wrote to the Gulag administration, inquiring about her father. The response stated that Stepan Pimenovich Nalyvaiko died on February 12, 1945.

From starvation.

Based on materials from the website of the Regional Public Foundation for the Memory of Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Photo: solba.ru     

Holy Hieromartyr Ioann (Ivan Mikhailovich Granitov) was born in 1875. He was ordained a priest, later elevated to the rank of archpriest, and appointed rector of the Church of St. Nicholas in the stanitsa² of Talgar, Vernensky Uyezd, Semirechensk province.

Holy Hieromartyr Konstantin (Konstantin Ivanovich Zverev) was born in 1881. He graduated from the Vernensky Classical Gymnasium and the Tashkent¹ Teacher’s Seminary. He was ordained a deacon and served in the Church of St. Nicholas in the village of Talgar, Vernensky Uyezd.

On February 11, 1920, during the onset of godless persecutions, Archpriest Ioann was arrested by the Bolsheviks on the bogus charges of “counter-revolutionary actions against Soviet power… and hiding grain supplies.” During his arrest, the tormentors tore out his beard, gouged out his eyes before his execution, and sawed his neck with the chain of his pectoral cross. Amid the torture, the priest cried out to the Orthodox believers: “Do not renounce God!”

Seeing the priest suffering such brutal torment, Deacon Konstantin stood up in his defense and was immediately hacked to death with sabers. The executioners placed the remains of the holy martyr into a sack and threw them into a ravine near the cemetery where the executions were carried out.

Archpriest Ioann Granitov was executed on the night of February 11–12, 1920.

Holy Martyr Leonty (Klimenko) was born in 1887 and served in the village of Yevgenyevka, Vernensky Uyezd, Semirechensk Province. During the persecutions of the Church, he was accused by atheists of counter-revolutionary activities, mocking the Communist Party, storing ammunition, and refusing to grind grain for the communists. He was executed on the night of February 11–12, 1920, along with Archpriest Ioann Granitov and five other martyrs. The bodies of the brutally murdered saints were buried in an unmarked grave near the stanitsa of Talgar.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis has urged U.S. Catholics and people of goodwill to not give in to “narratives” that discriminate against and cause unnecessary suffering to migrants and refugees.

“I recognize your valuable efforts, dear brother bishops of the United States, as you work closely with migrants and refugees, proclaiming Jesus Christ and promoting fundamental human rights,” he said in a letter to the U.S. bishops published by the Vatican Feb. 11.

Pope Francis said he was writing because of “the major crisis that is taking place in the United States” with the start of President Donald J. Trump’s “program of mass deportations.”

In his presidential executive order, “Protecting the American people against invasion,” released Jan. 20, Trump said, “Many of these aliens unlawfully within the United States present significant threats to national security and public safety, committing vile and heinous acts against innocent Americans.”

Pope Francis said, “The rightly formed conscience cannot fail to make a critical judgment and express its disagreement with any measure that tacitly or explicitly identifies the illegal status of some migrants with criminality.”

He also applauded the efforts of the U.S. bishops’ to assist migrants and refugees and to counter the arguments of the Trump administration, saying that “God will richly reward all that you do for the protection and defense of those who are considered less valuable, less important or less human!”

“I exhort all the faithful of the Catholic Church, and all men and women of goodwill, not to give in to narratives that discriminate against and cause unnecessary suffering to our migrant and refugee brothers and sisters,” he wrote.

“With charity and clarity we are all called to live in solidarity and fraternity, to build bridges that bring us ever closer together, to avoid walls of ignominy and to learn to give our lives as Jesus Christ gave his for the salvation of all,” the pope wrote.

In his letter to the bishops, the pope said every nation has the right to defend itself and keep its communities safe “from those who have committed violent or serious crimes while in the country or prior to arrival.”

However, he continued, “the act of deporting people who in many cases have left their own land for reasons of extreme poverty, insecurity, exploitation, persecution or serious deterioration of the environment, damages the dignity of many men and women, and of entire families, and places them in a state of particular vulnerability and defenselessness.”

“This is not a minor issue,” he wrote. “An authentic rule of law is verified precisely in the dignified treatment that all people deserve, especially the poorest and most marginalized.”

Pope Francis also used the letter to respond to an assertion U.S. Vice President JD Vance, who is Catholic, made in a late January television interview about the Catholic concept of “ordo amoris” (the order of love or charity).

The concept, Vance said, teaches that “you love your family, and then you love your neighbor, and then you love your community, and then you love your fellow citizens in your own country. And then after that, you can focus and prioritize the rest of the world.”

However, the pope said, “Christian love is not a concentric expansion of interests that little by little extend to other persons and groups. In other words: the human person is not a mere individual, relatively expansive, with some philanthropic feelings!”

“The true ordo amoris that must be promoted is that which we discover by meditating constantly on the parable of the ‘Good Samaritan,’ that is, by meditating on the love that builds a fraternity open to all, without exception,” the pope wrote.

The pope wrote that “worrying about personal, community or national identity, apart from these considerations (of human fraternity), easily introduces an ideological criterion that distorts social life and imposes the will of the strongest as the criterion of truth.”

“The true common good is promoted when society and government, with creativity and strict respect for the rights of all — as I have affirmed on numerous occasions — welcomes, protects, promotes and integrates the most fragile, unprotected and vulnerable,” he wrote.

That does not prevent or hamper the development of policies that regulate “orderly and legal migration,” he wrote. “However, this development cannot come about through the privilege of some and the sacrifice of others.”

“What is built on the basis of force, and not on the truth about the equal dignity of every human being, begins badly and will end badly,” the pope warned.

While the pope did not name specific U.S. policies, his letter emphasized the Catholic Church’s longstanding closeness to and support of migrants and refugees.

The U.S. bishops’ conference had recently faced unfounded claims that it profited from its partnership with the U.S. government in assisting refugees who qualified for federal assistance. Vance questioned the bishops’ motives for criticizing new immigration policies in a Jan. 26 interview, asking whether the bishops were just concerned about receiving federal resettlement funding.

At a time that is “so clearly marked by the phenomenon of migration,” the pope reaffirmed “not only our faith in a God who is always close, incarnate, migrant and refugee, but also the infinite and transcendent dignity of every human person.”

These words, he said, “are not an artificial construct.” Even a quick look at the church’s social doctrine over the centuries clearly shows Jesus Christ “did not live apart from the difficult experience of being expelled from his own land because of an imminent risk to his life and from the experience of having to take refuge in a society and a culture foreign to his own.”

“The Son of God, in becoming man, also chose to live the drama of immigration,” he wrote.

Therefore, he wrote, “all the Christian faithful and people of goodwill are called upon to consider the legitimacy of norms and public policies in the light of the dignity of the person and his or her fundamental rights, not vice versa.”

“Let us ask Our Lady of Guadalupe to protect individuals and families who live in fear or pain due to migration and/or deportation,” he wrote.

Archpriest Peter Guryanov is the rector of the Church of the Queen of All Icon of the Mother of God in Dimitrovgrad, Ulyanovsk Province, Russia. He also serves as head of the Information and Publishing Department of the Melekess Diocese, Chairman of the Diocesan Commission on Family, Protection of Motherhood and Childhood, and member of the Dimitrovgrad city Cultural Council.

    

I’m often asked why I almost always wear my cassock everywhere—to the store, the market, the metro, on the bus, and just out on the street. Sometimes I even get this question from my fellow priests, with an ironic smile. To tell you the truth, even my wife sometimes throws in her two cents, if we’re going to the store with the children, asking if it’s worth drawing attention to ourselves by our appearance.

So why do I spend most of my time in clothes that match my rank?

This story is to blame: About three years ago, a young woman came to me for Confession in tears. She repented of wanting to commit suicide. There was a period in her life that could be called hell. This hell was in her mind, and therefore, all around her. There wasn’t a single drop of light, not a glimmer. It seemed like God had left her. I would say she was in severe despondency.

Then on that very day when she had finally decided to kill herself and had come to the pharmacy to get medicine that would help her commit this insanity, I was in line at the pharmacy in front of her. I was standing there in my cassock. Of course, I don’t remember this.

When she saw a priest, something stirred in her heart and she began to doubt that this was the right thing to do. She bought the drugs, but after staying awake all night, she chose to live.

Do you see? Simply the image of a priest in “combat gear” can change the way someone is thinking. And if I had been in regular clothes that day…? It’s scary to even think about what could’ve happened.

Since then, I try to wear my cassock all the time. In our times, I think this is even a confession of faith. After all, sometimes you get ridicule and sideways glances. But if the time comes when you no longer see Orthodox priests on the street, that will mean things are very bad for us… Is this what Christ God chose us for?

Pope Francis on Tuesday appointed Tucson Bishop Edward Weisenburger as the new archbishop of Detroit, accepting the resignation of current Archbishop Allen Vigneron.

Vigneron, who has led the Michigan archdiocese since 2009, had submitted his resignation in October 2023 upon turning 75 as required by canon law. In a Tuesday statement he “extend[ed] to Archbishop-elect Weisenburger a heartfelt welcome to his new home.”

“I offer the assurance of our prayerful support as he comes here to take up the mission being given to him by our Holy Father Pope Francis,” Vigneron said.

Weisenburger, meanwhile, said he was “humbled to be called to serve such a noble Church,” describing the Detroit Archdiocese as “steeped in rich history, vibrant ministries, and known for a committed clergy with a great passion for evangelization.”

“Despite the challenge of leaving my happy home in the Diocese of Tucson, I promise the good people of the Archdiocese of Detroit my all,” the archbishop-elect said.

Weisenburger was born in Illinois on Dec. 23, 1960. He attended Conception Seminary College in Missouri and graduated in 1983, after which he studied at the American College Seminary at the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium, earning degrees in theology, religious studies, and moral and religious sciences.

After being ordained to the priesthood in 1987 in the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, Weisenburger attended the University of St. Paul in Ottawa, Canada, graduating with a pontifical licentiate in canon law in 1992.

He served a variety of roles in the Oklahoma City Archdiocese, including as vice chancellor and on the diocesan tribunal; he also did prison ministry for several years. He also notably served as an on-site chaplain at the site of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.

He was appointed bishop of Salina, Kansas, by Pope Benedict XVI on Feb. 6, 2012, and ordained on May 1 of that year. Pope Francis subsequently appointed him bishop of Tucson on Oct. 3, 2017, where he was installed on Nov. 29 of the same year.

In addition to his ministries and bishoprics, the archbishop-elect has served at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops on the migration committee as well as the subcommittee on the Catholic Communication Campaign.