Metropolitan Job (Tyvoniuk)

Metropolitan Job (Tyvoniuk) (1938-2020)

Dmitry may be spelt Dmitri, Demetrios, Dimitri.

Job may be spelt Iov to reflect the Russian, Ukrainian and Greek pronunciation.

Early life of Dmitry Yakovlevich Tyvoniuk

Dmitry Yakovlevich Tyvoniuk was born on 6 November, 1938, to a peasant family in the village of Pochaiv in the Kremenets district of the Ternopil Province of Ukraine (at that time in the Ukrainian SSR).

He completed his primary and secondary schooling in Pochaiv, Ukraine.

Monastic formation ; education

Then Dmitry Yakovlevich became a novice in the Pochaiv Lavra of the Dormition.

Afterwards, he served an obedience for some years in the Holy Trinity Monastery of the Odessa Diocese.

Higher education

In 1957, Dmitry Yakovlevich entered the Kyiv Theological Seminary.

Kiev Caves Monastery Theological Seminary

During this time, from 1958 to 1960, Dmitry served the compulsory time in the Soviet Army.

After his military service, Dmitry continued his studies at the Odessa Theological Seminary, and graduated in 1965.

Odessa Theological Seminary

In 1965, he entered the Moscow Theological Academy at the Holy Trinity-Saint Sergius Lavra in Sergiyev Posad (in Soviet times called "Zagorsk").

In 1967, Dmitry Yakovlevich entered the brotherhood of the Holy Trinity-Saint Sergius Lavra near Moscow, Russia.

Moscow Theological Academy

Monastic tonsure, 1968

On 20 June, 1968, at the Holy Trinity-Saint Sergius Lavra, Dmitry Yakovlevich Tyvoniuk was tonsured to be a monk, and he was given the name Iov (Job)in honour of the Venerable Job of Pochaiv.

Diaconal ordination, 1968

On 18 July, 1968, the Monk Iov (Tyvoniuk) was ordained to the Holy Diaconate by Metropolitan Pimen (Izvekov) of Krutitsy and Kolomenskoye.

Diaconal service

Hierodeacon Job (Tyvoniuk) remained within the brotherhood of the Holy Trinity-Saint Sergius Lavra, where he served obediences.

In 1969, Hierodeacon Job (Tyvoniuk) graduated from the Moscow Theological Academy with a Ph.D. in theology. His thesis was entitled “The Cathedral of the Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra (History, Description and the Last Restoration)”.

Presbyteral ordination, 1969

In June, 1969, Metropolitan Pimen (Izvekov) ordained Hierodeacon Job (Tyvoniuk) to the Holy Priesthood.

Pastoral service ; further education

As a hieromonk, he was assigned to be Dean of the Holy Resurrection Cathedral in the city of Chita in the present Zabaykalsky Krai, a province east of Lake Baikal in Siberia.

Holy Resurrection Cathedral, Chita, Zabaykalsky Krai

In 1970, Hieromonk Job entered a post-graduate programme at the Moscow Theological Academy.

In 1971, he was first a referent, and then the head of the chancery of the Department of External Church Relations (DECR) of the Moscow Patriarchate in Moscow.

In 1973, he completed his courses at the Graduate School of the Moscow Theological Academy (connected with the DECR : in this programme, graduates may acquire a special comprehension of inter-Church diplomacy, and of inter-Christian dialogues).

In 1974, he was elevated to the dignity of igumen, and later that year to the dignity of archimandrite.

Archimandrite Job (Tyvoniuk) was then chosen by the Holy Synod to be a bishop.

Episcopal ordination, 1975

On 3 January, 1975, he was ordained to the Holy Episcopate at the Patriarchal Cathedral of the Epiphany in Moscow by Patriarch Pimen (Izvekov), Metropolitans Filaret (Denysenko) of Kyiv and Halych, and Juvenaly (Poyarkov) of Tula and Belev ; Archbishops Pitirim (Nechayev) of Volokolamsk and Vladimir Sabodan of Dmitrov ; Bishops Serapion (Fadeev) of Podolsk, and Chrysostom (Nikitin) of Kursk and Belgorod.

Holy Epiphany Cathedral, Yelokhovo, Moscow

Episcopal service ; Transfer to Canada, 1975

At the time of his ordination, Bishop Job (Tyvoniuk) was assigned to be the Bishop of Zaraisk, and Vicar-Bishop of the Moscow Diocese.

Bishop Job was immediately assigned to serve as the Administrator of the Patriarchal Parishes in Canada, and temporarily of the parishes in the USA.

Saint Barbara's Cathedral, Edmonton, Alberta

Saint Nicholas Cathedral, New York City, New York

Return to Russia, 1976

On 19 July, 1976 Bishop Job (Tyvoniuk) was released from the Patriarchal Parishes in Canada and in the USA, and he was assigned to serve as the Deputy Chairman of the Department of External Church Relations in Moscow.

In 1979, Bishop Job led a Russian Orthodox Church pilgrimage-group in the Holy Land for 5 days.

On 12 March, 1979, Bishop Job was awarded the Order of Saint Sergius of Radonezh, 3rd degree.

On 23 December, 1980, Bishop Job (Tyvoniuk) was assigned to serve on the Commission of the Holy Synod for the Celebration of the 1000th Anniversary of the Baptism of Rus’.

On 23 March, 1981, Bishop Job was assigned to lead the Moscow Patriarchate’s delegation visiting the Representation of the Russian Orthodox Church to the Serbian Orthodox Church in Belgrade, Yugoslavia (Serbia).

On 4 July, 1988, for his active participation in preparing for and completing the celebration of the 1000th Anniversary of the Baptism of Rus’, Bishop Job was awarded a special panagia.

In 1988, Bishop Job (Tyvoniuk) was elevated to the dignity of archbishop.

On 30 November, 1988 the Holy Synod assigned Bishop Job to serve as the Archbishop of Kostroma and Galich. He replaced a bishop who was soon afterwards deposed because he had entered a schismatic group.

Bishop of Zhytomyr, Ukraine, 1989

On 13-14 September 1989, the Holy Synod released Archbishop Job from his responsibility as Deputy Chairman of the Department of External Church Relations, and assigned him to serve as the Archbishop of Zhytomyr and Ovruch in Ukraine (the title of the diocese was adjusted).

Holy Transfiguration Cathedral, Zhytomyr

The election of Metropolitan Volodymyr (Sabodan) as Metropolitan of Kyiv and Ukraine, 1992

After he had arrived in Ukraine, Archbishop Job (Tyvoniuk) critically evaluated the actions of Metropolitan Filaret (Denysenko), both before and after the 1990 failure to become the Patriarch of Moscow, and he outlined the candidacy of Metropolitan Volodymyr (Sabodan) in his place. When Metropolitan Filaret refused to promise to convene a meeting of the hierarchs of Ukraine for the purpose of releasing him from the duties as the head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (an order given at the meeting of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church on 1-4 April, 1992, in which he participated), Archbishop Job invited Bishop Onufry (Berezovskiy) to a meeting in Zhytomyr. Despite the opposition of Metropolitan Filaret, the meeting took place. In addition to Archbishop Job (Tyvoniuk) and Bishop Onuphry, Metropolitan Agafangel (Savvin), Bishops Basil, Sergius and Alypy, and other clergy and laity attended. The participants of the meeting recognised that Metropolitan Filaret was an oath-breaker, and the participants demanded the convocation of the promised and required council. This request was later carried out on the instructions of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, at the Kharkov Annunciation Cathedral on 27-28 May, 1992. This assembly deposed Metropolitan Filaret (Denysenko), and it elected Metropolitan Voldymyr (Sabodan) to be the Metropolitan of Kyiv and Ukraine.

Return to Russia, 1994

On 5 October, 1994, Archbishop Job (Tyvoniuk) was transferred, and he was assigned to serve as the Archbishop of Odintsovsk, and Vicar-Archbishop of the Moscow Diocese.

Archbishop of Chelyabinsk and Zlatoust, 1994

On 27 December, 1996, Archbishop Job was transferred, and he was assigned to serve as the Archbishop of Chelyabinsk and Zlatoust to the east of the Urals, in Siberia.

Saint Simeon of Verkhoturye Cathedral, Chelybinsk

In the background environment of this region at that time in particular was the recently-revealed information (after 1991) about the situation in Mayak, a city 72 km northwest of Chelyabinksk, in which the production of nuclear materials since 1945 has caused a large number of cases of radiation-related illnesses.

However, despite the persecutions during the time of the Soviet Union, the Cathedral of Saint Simeon in Chelyabinsk was never closed. Liturgical services and prayers have continued without ceasing since it was constructed and sanctified in 1883.

On 25 February, 2000, Patriarch Aleksey II (Ridiger) of Moscow elevated him to the dignity of metropolitan.

During the time of his service in Chelyabinsk, there was a significant increase in the number of parishes in the Diocese of Chelyabinsk. Amongst the newly-constructed Temples are : the Saint Seraphim of Sarov Complex ; the Temple of Saint Simeon of Verkhoturye in Zlatoust ; the Holy Ascension Temple (opened in 2004) in Magnitogorsk ; the Temple of the Holy Epiphany in Etkul ; and the largest Temple of Saint George the Victorious in Chelyabinsk.

Nevertheless, during his visit to Chelyabinsk, Patriarch Kirill (Gundyaev) pointed out that there remained a remnant of Soviet days in the city. He referred to the Saint Alexander Nevsky Temple on Alom Field, which still remained as an organ recital-hall. Soon afterwards, it was returned to the Church (on 8 July, 2010), and it became a popular site for weddings.

Metropolitan Job’s relationships with local authorities are described as being exemplary. In 2008, Metropolitan Job (Tyvoniuk) was awarded the distinction “For services to the Chelyabinsk region”. As a result of consultations carried out in 2009, on 19 April, 2010, an agreement on social partnership with the Ural Federal District was signed in Chelyabinsk by Patriarch Kirill (Gundyaev).

According to the recollection of Proclus Igamna, Metropolitan Job (Tyvaniuk) was originally met in a hostile manner by the Chelyabinsk clergy ; but he managed to gain credibility with them. One of his original supporters was Igumen Sebastian (Jatkov) (a monastic serving a parish). According to the "Kommersant" newspaper, the metropolitan ignored incoming appeals concerning this igumen's addiction to paedophilia. Nevertheless, by the end of 1997 (according to Proclus), a cooling began between Metropolitan Job and the igumen. In 1999, the igumen was arrested, in 2000 he was found guilty and sentenced to imprisonment.

In 2004, a conflict occurred between Metropolitan Job and the rector of the Magnitogorsk Temple, the Priest Yaroslav Marchishak. Father Marchishak accused the financial managers of the Temple of embezzlement, and he formed a new parish council. However, he was accused of adultery, and he was deprived of the status of a cleric. The scandal caused a great resonance locally, and the local media predicted that Metropolitan Job would retire.

In 2007, the diocese began the struggle against the cult of the Chebarkul teenager Vyacheslav Krasheninnikov, who had reposed in 1993. Metropolitan Job (Tyvoniuk) wrote :

 Due to the increasing incidence of pilgrimages of clergy and laity of many dioceses of our Church 
 to the city of Chebarkul to venerate the so-called 'youngster Vyacheslav of Chebarkul', 
 by this report we remind everyone that the person is neither canonised by the Russian Orthodox Church, 
 nor locally recognised. The cult of 'the young man, Vyacheslav' is self-invented, contains elements 
 of ordinary superstition, blasphemous attacks on the Church's teaching and is permeated by 
 a group of anti-Church-minded individuals.

This struggle ended successfully in 2010, when the Publishing Council of the Russian Orthodox Church recognised that the life-story of the “holy boy” and his sayings were contrary to Orthodox dogma.

Retirement, 2011

On 22 March, 2011, by a decision of the Holy Synod (Journal No. 12), Metropolitan Job was released from the pastorate of the Chelyabinsk and Zlatoust diocese, and he was blessed to retire from active service for health reasons.

He established his residence in retirement in Moscow, and he was blessed to serve in the Temple of the Deposition of the Robe in the Donskoy district.

Repose, 2020

On 1 December, 2020, Metropolitan Job (Tyvoniuk) fell asleep in the Lord in Moscow.

On 3 December, 2020, at the Temple of the Deposition of the Robe in the Donskoy District of Moscow, the Funeral Service for the Burial of a Hierarch was served.

After the funeral services, the body of Metropolitan Job (Tyvoniuk) was transported to the Pochaev Lavra in Ukraine, where it was interred at the brotherhood cemetery of the Pochaev Lavra.

All Saints Cemetery Temple, Pochaiv Lavra

— Bishop of Zaraisk 1975-1988. Preceded by : ____. Succeeded by :____.

— Vicar-Bishop of the Moscow Diocese 1975-1988.

— Administrator of the Moscow Patriarchate Parishes in Canada and the USA 1975-1976. Preceded by : Bishop Makary (Svistun) (as Bishop of Uman). Succeeded by : Bishop Ireney (Seredniy) (as Bishop of Serpukhov).

— Archbishop of Kostroma and Galich 1988-1989. Preceded by : Bishop Ioann Bodnarchuk. Succeeded by :____.

— Archbishop of Zhytomyr and Ovruch, Ukraine 1989-1994. Preceded by : ____. Succeeded by :____.

— Archbishop of Odintsovsk 1994-1996. Preceded by : ____. Succeeded by :____.

— Vicar-Archbishop of the Moscow Diocese 1994-1996.

— Archbishop of Chelyabinsk and Zlatoust 1996-2000.

— Metropolitan of Chelyabinsk and Zlatoust 2000-2011. Preceded by : ____. Succeeded by :____.

— Former Metropolitan of Chelyabinsk and Zlatoust 2011-2020.

Reflections

Awards (Church) :

• Order of Saint Prince Vladimir, 2nd degree, 1977

• Order of Saint Nicholas, 1979

• Order of Saint Sergius of Radonezh, 3rd degree, 1979

• Order of Saint Sergius, 2nd degree

• Order of Saint Sergius of Radonezh, 1st degree

• Order of Saint Prince Daniel of Moscow, 2nd degree

Writings

Partial bibliography of articles from various sources about the metropolitan :

Articles in the “Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate (JMP)” :

1975 : no. 2, p. 3 ; no. 3, pp. 5-9 ; no.11, p. 27.

1976 : no. 9, p. 3 ; no. 12, p. 10.

1977 : no. 4, p. 11 ; no. 10, p. 9 ; no. 11, pp. 3, 6.

1978 : no. 1, pp. 26, 28 ; no. 3, p. 5, 43 ; no. 11, p. 7 ; no. 12, p. 10.

1979 : no. 1, p. 9 ; no. 5, p. 4 ; no. 8, pp. 10, 14 ; no. 9, p. 8 ; no. 10, pp. 2, 30 ; no. 12, p. 9.

1980 : no. 1, pp. 8, 12 ; no. 2, p. 46 ; no. 3, p. 15 ; no. 5, pp. 12, 20 ; no. 6, pp. 5, 6 ; no. 9, pp. 11, 13, 34 ; no. 10, p. 22 ; no. 11, pp. 4, 6, 12 ; no. 12, pp. 8, 28, 58.

1981 : no. 1, p. 6 ; no. 2, pp. 4, 15 ; no. 4, pp. 23, 44 ; no. 5, pp. 5, 6, 7 ; no. 8, pp. 5, 7 ; no. 9, pp. 4, 9 ; no. 11, pp. 4, 6, 8, 10, 17, 20 ; no. 12, pp. 11.

1982 : no. 1, p. 20 ; no. 7, pp. 9, 10 ; no. 8, pp. 11, 47 ; no. 12, p. 34, 36.

1983 : no. 1, pp. 9, 11 ; no. 8, pp. 9, 15, 16, 17 ; no. 9, p. 5 ; no. 10, p. 68; no. 12, pp. 8, 9 , 10.

1984 : no. 1, p. 12 ; no. 3, pp. 15, 52 ; no. 4, pp. 14, 50 ; no. 5, p. 68 ; no. 6, p. 10 ; no. 7, pp. 38, 66 ; no. 8, pp. 11, 49 ; no. 9, p. 8 ; no. 10, p. 4 ; no. 12, pp. 5, 18, 29.

1985 : no. 1, pp. 24, 34 ; no. 2, p. 13 ; no. 3, p. 6 ; no. 4, pp. 6, 15 ; no. 5, p. 7 ; no. 10, pp. 9, 14.

1988 : no. 10, p. 7.

1988 : no. 10-11, p. 9.

1989 : no. 2, p. 8.

“Newsletter of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate (DECR)”, no. 10-11 (1988), p. 9

N Chistoserdova, ‘Creating the Kingdom of God in You’ in “Vecherniy Chelyabinsk” (31 January, 1997).

S Blinovskikh, ‘Attack on Archbishop Job’ in “Evening Chelyabinsk” (16 July, 1998)

‘The First Metropolitan of the Urals’ in “Evening Chelyabinsk” (29 February, 2000)

N Chistoserdova, ‘Vestments of the Metropolitan” in “Vecherniy Chelyabinsk” (1 March. 2000)

I Stepanov, ‘The First Metropolitan in the Urals’ in “South Ural Panorama : Gas. Chelyabinsk” (2-8 March, 2000)

‘Speech at the Naming of the Bishop of Zaraisk’ in “Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate”, no. 3 (1975), pp. 5-8