Archbishop Job (Smakouz)

Bishop Job (Smakouz) of Kashira (1964-____)

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

Victor may be spelt Viktor.

Early life of Victor Feodorovich Smakouz

On 19 February, 1964, Victor Feodorovich Smakouz was born into the family of a priest in the town of Pochaiv, Kremenets County, in the Ternopil Province of Ukraine. At that time, only part of the Pochaiv Monastery was able to be used by the monks, and one of the buildings of the monastery property was used as a maternity hospital. Thus, he was born on the monastery’s territory.

He was raised by his family as an Orthodox Christian within what was at that time the Ukrainian Exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Victor attended the parish churches of the Pochaiv village before he entered the Pochaiv Monastery.

Military service, 1984-1986

During the period 1984 to 1986, Victor Feodorovich fulfilled his obligation of military service in the Soviet Army.

Higher education and formation

Victor Feodorovich enrolled in and attended the (then) Leningrad Theological Seminary. After his graduation in 1987, he entered the Saint Petersburg Theological Academy (the name of the city had by then been changed, and thus that of the Seminary and Academy), from which he graduated in 1991 with a Ph.D. in Theology.

Upon his graduation, Victor Feodorovich was sent by the educational committee to Ukraine, to be at the disposal of the Metropolitan of Kyiv, Metropolitan Filaret (Denysenko), for teaching. Metropolitan Filaret assigned him to be a teacher at the Kyiv Seminary. He taught patrology, general Church history, canon law and Greek. Victor Feodorovich was also assigned to be an Assistant Inspector and the Secretary of the Kyiv Theological Academy’s administration.

Saint Petersburg Theological Academy

Ordinations, 1991

On 25 August, 1991, Victor Feodorovich Smakouz, a celibate, was ordained to the Holy Diaconate.

Then, 2 days later, on 27 August, 1991, Deacon Victor F Smakouz was ordained to the Holy Priesthood.

Pastoral service

In 1992, he was assigned to serve as Secretary of the Academic Council of the Kyiv Academy, and the Superintendent Dean of the Academic Church of the Nativity in the Kyiv-Caves Lavra while he continued teaching at the seminary.

In 1995, Priest Victor Feodorovich Smakouz was raised to the dignity of archpriest.

Monastic tonsure, 1997

On 17 April, 1997, the Archpriest Victor Smakouz was tonsured to be a monk, and he was given the name Job (Iov), after the Holy Igumen Job of Pochaev.

On 13 June, 1997, Hieromonk Job (Smakouz) was elevated to the dignity of archimandrite.

On 22 June, 1997, Archimandrite Job (Smakouz) was chosen and elected by the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (MP) to become a bishop.

Episcopal ordination, 1997

On 19 August, 1997, Archimandrite Job (Smakouz) was ordained to the Holy Episcopate in the Refectory Church of the Venerable Fathers Antony and Theodosius of the Kyiv-Pechersk (Caves) Lavra.

Episcopal service

Bishop Job (Smakouz) was assigned to serve as the Bishop of Kherson and Tauria, of the Kerson and Tavride Diocese.

On 30 March, 1999, Bishop Job (Smakouz) was assigned to serve as the bishop of the Ukrainian Orthodox Diocese of Sumy and Akhtyrka, as well as to become the rector of the Sumy Pastoral Theological School and the chief editor of the newspaper “Orthodox Sumshina”.

Transfer to Canada, 2005

On 24 May, 2005, Bishop Job (Smakouz) was transferred and assigned to be the Vicar-Bishop of Kashira, a vicariate of the Moscow Diocese of the Church of Russia, and to be the Administrator of the Parishes of the Moscow Patriarchate in Canada.

On 31 March, 2009, the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Church of Russia appointed Bishop Job (Smakouz) to serve as the Acting Administrator of the Parishes of the Moscow Patriarchate in the USA, during the period from the return to Russia of the then administrator, Bishop Mercurii (Ivanov) of Zaraisk, and the arrival of his successor Archbishop Justinian (Ovchinnikov) of Narofominsk, a position he held until early March, 2010. Since then, he continued in his responsibility of serving as the Administrator of the Canadian parishes.

Bishop Job (Smakouz)

Transfer to Ukraine, 2018

By 2018, Vladyka Job (Smakouz) had reached the maximum number of permitted extensions to his visa for remaining in Canada. As a result, it was necessary to petition for his release.

Bishop Job with Bishop Matthew, the successor, at farewell services in Saint Barbara's Cathedral, Edmonton

On 14 July, 2018, the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church resolved : "according to the submitted petition, to release His Grace Bishop Job of Kashira from the administration of the Patriarchal Parishes in Canada and to bless him to continue his archpastoral ministry within the Ukrainian Orthodox Church at the discretion of the Synod of the latter ; to express deep gratitude to His Grace Bishop Job for the many years of his archpastoral work on Canadian soil".

In addition, the Holy Synod of Bishops resolved to assign Bishop Matthew (Andreev) of Sourozh to be the temporary administrator of the Canadian parishes (in addition to his other responsibilities).

The return of Bishop Job to Ukraine was received as being a gift to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (MP).

On 1 October, 2018, Bishop Job (Smakouz) was assigned to serve as the Bishop of Shumsk, and Vicar-Bishop of the Ternopil Diocese in Ukraine, and also to be the new rector of the Pochaiv Theological Seminary.

Pochaiv Lavra

On that day, a Moleben was served in the Seminary Chapel of Saints Job and Amphilokhy of Pochaiv by Metropolitan Sergei (Gensitsky) of Ternopil and Kremenets, Bishop Seraphim (Zaliznitsky) of Ivano-Frankivsk and Kolomeya, and by Bishop Job (Smakouz) of Shumsk. At this time, Bishop Job was introduced as the new rector of the seminary, and Bishop Seraphim, who had served as the rector from 2016 to 2018, was thanked for his services. He had just been transferred to the diocese of Ivano-Frankivsk and Kolomeya.

Bishop Seraphim gave a farewell word, and Bishop Job then expressed his wish to continue the traditions existing in the seminary. Afterwards, under the chairmanship of Metropolitan Sergei of Ternopil and Kremenets, a paedagogical meeting was held, which was attended by all the teachers of the Pochaiv Theological Seminary.

On 25 June, 2019, during the Primatial Divine Liturgy in the Kyiv Caves Lavra in Kyiv, Metropolitan Onufry (Berezovskiy) of Kyiv and All Ukraine elevated him to the dignity of archbishop.

— Bishop of Kherson and Tauria 1997-1999. Preceded by : Archbishop Jonathan (Eletsky). Succeeded by : Archbishop Mark (Petrovtsiy).

— Bishop of Sumy and Okhtyrka (Akhtyrka) 1999-2005. Preceded by : Archbishop Jonathan (Eletsky. Succeeded by : Archbishop Mark (Petrovtsiy).

— Bishop of Kashira 2005-2018 Preceded by : ___. Succeeded by : __.

— Vicar-Bishop of the Moscow Diocese 2005-2018.

— Administrator of the Canadian MP Parishes 2005-2018. Preceded by : Archbishop Mark (Petrovtsiy). Succeeded by : Bishop Matthew (Andreev).

— Acting Administrator of the USA Moscow Patriarchate Parishes 2009-2010.

— Bishop of Shumsk, Ukraine 2018-2019. Preceded by : ___.

— Vicar-Bishop of the Ternopil Diocese, Ukraine 2018-2019.

— Archbishop of Shumsk 2019-____. Succeeded by : ___.

— Vicar-Archbishop of the Ternopil Diocese, Ukraine 2019-____.

Reflections

Interview

Bishop Job (Smakouz) was interviewed in March, 2019, by Natalia Goroshkova of "Orthodox Life".

Bishop Job (Smakouz) of Shumsk on how to defeat the image of the "dark twin" of the Church.

NG : Vladyko, today you can hear how the Church is accused of various diseases, talking about Her ‘sins’,
insolvency, uselessness, etc. Please comment.

BJ : These accusations and perplexities were answered perfectly 100 years ago by the remarkable lay theologian
Sergey I Fudel.
His answer is contained in a small book, ‘At the Walls of the Church’, which appeared in the 1970s (in ‘samizdat’).
It became widely known during the 1980s-1990s. The author, who had spent a total of 35 years in the gulag, writes
that 'the disease of the Church is in all of us. When you sincerely recognise yourself in this sick part of
the church society, then you are not afraid, according to the Great Fathers of the Church, to perceive the very
fact of the disease. At that time, for some reason, only then do you begin to feel the joy of the heart, the
invincible church shrine'. One of the researchers of his surprisingly deep creativity (Kopirovsky) said, ‘S Fudel
felt the need to convey the feeling that he himself had of the Church as light, of the Church as a society of saints.
This, he believed, would allow the image of her dark counterpart to be defeated, which sometimes arises from the
vision of the Church in history. He himself was a living member of the Church and helped others live in it with
patience, joy, and hope’. And Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh also said, ‘The Church has a glorious aspect and
a tragic aspect. The wretched aspect of the Church is each of us [...]’. According to S Fudel, the famous pastor,
Father Valentin Sventsitsky (in the difficult 1920s, when confusion arose in the Church, caused by the persecutions
of the Soviet government, various schisms and trends), expressed in a short formula the resolution of the
whole complexity of the concern of internal church evil. ‘All sin in the Church’, said Father Valentin, ‘is a sin not
of the Church, but against the Church’. From this, it is clear that in the Church there is a split based on the decline
of morality, not to exclude other motives : first and foremost, religious ignorance and thoughtlessness. Everything that
is distorted, impure, wrong, which we see within the confines of the Church, is not the Church. In order not to be a
participant in the distortion, you do not at all need to leave the confines of the Church. You only need not to participate
in the distortions. Then the words will be fulfilled, ‘For the pure all is pure’.

NG : What is important for every Christian to know about the Church in order not to fall into the sin of condemnation ?

BJ : Every Christian should be ready to distinguish between the Church as a Divine-Human Organism and the
church as a church organisation. In our situation it is also possible to distinguish its former parts that have
broken away from it, which have become simple religious organisations. S Fudel writes about the importance of this
(I believe that his words must be fully quoted) : ‘Some young people who recently came to the Church thoughtlessly
and trustfully accepted everything that is in it. Then, when they received a blow from the church-twin, they became
upset by the death of their ideal, and they returned to godlessness. However, it is said to us, ‘Be wise as snakes and
as simple as doves’ (Matthew 10:16).

I knew one such young man who, during his ‘deep waters’ of Christianity (irresolvable difficulties), secretly stood up
in prayer at night, and he put his lone, small figure during those minutes in a tub with a palm tree, all the time being
afraid that he would crush his father (an active atheist) when he saw him. This young man dreamed of a monastery at that
time, and no-one warned or instructed him about anything. There, they said, everything is wonderful. Therefore, when the
heat of the temptations came from the inner life of the Church (sins of others), he could not resist and he withdrew from
the Church. It is necessary to talk about the church-twin from the very beginning, to speak clearly and simply, as clearly
as it is spoken of in the Gospel. It is necessary to know about Christ and to seek only Him, because the Church is simply
the Body of Christ in His humanity. Then you will be given a wise heart to discern good and evil within the confines of the
Church. Then you will be able to see that the Light (of the Church) shines in darkness, and the darkness has not
overcome it [see John 1:5].

Sergey Fudel noted with regret about his time that there were ‘more and more deserts in the Church and fewer people in the
churches [...]’. However, he also indicated that the new martyrs and confessors of our Church are a testament of to the era
of theomachism, as Mother Smaragda told her pupil : ‘‟Even if you stand alone in the church at all – stand !ˮ Stand in the
temple, in the sense of attending worship services, and stand in the Church, in the sense of loyalty to it [...]’.

NG : What is our most important acquisition in the Church ?

BJ : Patriarch Alexy I once responded to a question by Metropolitan Anthony (Bloom). He identified the Church as follows :
‘The Church is the Body of Christ crucified for the sake of the world’. The Body of the Lord Himself in His earthly life
and the Body of His Church in history has always suffered and was exhausted. Even now, so is the Church – in different ways in
different parts of the world. The history of the Church is the Garden of Gethsemane and Golgotha, after which there will
always be the Resurrection. This is one of the main signs of the true Church, Saint Nicholas noted surprisingly.
Macarius of Egypt said, ‘Where the Holy Spirit is, there, like a shadow, persecution follows [...] Just as the prophets [...]
always were persecuted [...] As the Lord and His apostles were persecuted [...]’.

Our contemporary, the famous Greek Orthodox philosopher and theologian Christos Yannaras, once at a meeting with young
people, very correctly noted that we enter the Church and attend services not to become ‘good people’. For this, there are
many earthly organisations. As an example, he pointed to himself, ‘I come to the Church to find out : is it true that
death is trampled upon by death ? And we hear the answer to this question only in the Church at every Liturgy, in every
parish, where the main event of Christianity is embodied : the Victory of Christ over death’. ‘This is the most
important thing that we can feel only in the Church’. Thus, Yannaras shared his personal experience.

The Greek theologian told the Orthodox youth that this ‘answer’ encourages people to change their lives, and in such a way as
to ‘share their “I” in order to partake of eternal being. Therefore, the parishioners cannot remain in the shell of their
individualism : It cannot be that the parishioners do not know each other, that everyone in and of himself would come and
go for the sake of an individual spiritual need’. He noted that any religion calls people to become better, but only the
Church calls believers to become a true community, the eternal Body of Christ, and he adds ‘such a body that produces
culture : that is, it can describe its spiritual experience through painting, architecture, music and other arts’.

Yannaras spoke very categorically about our common service to God in the Church : ‘If a parish or a diocese does not produce
anything that relates to something higher, it may not be a parish at all, but some kind of foam [...]’. Therefore, the very
main thing in the parish is the ardent desire of the clergy and parishioners to ‘change internally’, to grow spiritually
to the measure of the age of Christ. We in the Church should be united by a single language of the heart. We must speak
the language of love. This is the most powerful missionary tool. May the Lord help us to learn this language of love,
which is the most difficult in the world and at the same time the simplest. Sometimes it is possible to master
ten foreign languages much more easily than the language of love, the language of the heart. Love is the theological
language of the Church Fathers, the Hesychast prayer books, the true spirit-bearing elders.

Therefore, it is not the Church that should be left by anyone in our difficult times. Rather, we should be closer
to Christ. We should be in the Church together with worthy shepherds. However, we should be at a safe distance from
those religious organisations and leaders regarding whom we have a fair doubt : are they Christ’s for their own
personal interests ? Every layman in our time should be a theologian, the first assistant of the clergy in the parish
to work with the people who are entering the Church, in order to become an active ‘deacon’ (servant) in a jacket or
a cassock. If one is a woman, then she serves as a ‘deacon’ in her own place, in those situations where there are
vocations, talents, urgent needs and Church blessings.

Awards

• Order of Saint Sergius of Radonezh, 2nd degree (Russian Orthodox Church) 22 June, 2007

• Order of Saint Seraphim of Sarov, 2nd degree (Russian Orthodox Church) 1 February, 2014

Writings

• "The History of the Church Sermon in the Kiev Metropolitanate during the 17th and 18th Centuries" (candidate's dissertation)

• "Galitskaya Rus - Holy Land" (Short Patericon of the Galician Saints)

• Smakouz, V, Afanasyuk, A, (students of the first year of Leningrad Theological Academy) 'About the Tambov Land' in "Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate", no. 9 (1989).

• (Smakouz) Bishop Job, "Church Service of the Faithful Son of Galician Rus, Archbishop Panteleimon (Rudyk)" (On the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Edmonton-Canadian Diocese of the Moscow Patriarchate)

• "Patriotic Feat of the Clergy and Believers of the Patriarchal Russian Orthodox Church in Canada during the Second World War" (On the 70th Anniversary of the Great Patriotic War and the 50th anniversary of the death of Metropolitan Benjamin (Fedchenkov))

• History of Western-Russian Church Relations with Rome in Medals (American Medal of 1916 in memory of the unification of Carpatho-Rusyns with the Russian Orthodox Church)

• "Priest Ignatius Gudim (1882-1944) : a Sufferer for the Orthodox Faith and Russian ideals in Galician Rus"

• "Ascetic life in Galician Rus"

• "Spiritual Growth and Initial Ascetic Life in Galicia of Russia"

Interviews :

• Bishop of Sumy and Akhtyrsk Job : 'The purpose of earthly existence is eternal life with God' in “Star of Christmas” (Special issue of “Independence” for the 2000th anniversary of the Nativity of Christ) (1999) p. 51.

• Bishop Job (Smakouz) : “New Fathers of the Church must emerge from theological schools” in “Kamo Gryadeshi” (magazine) no. 4 (20) (2002)

• Bishop Job (Smakouz) : Pravoslavie.ru interview, “Canada is actively de-Christianising society” (3 August, 2011)

• Bishop Job: Pravoslavie.ru interview, “There is little spiritual joy, because there is no asceticism” (16 April, 2013)

• “Questions-Questionnaire to our two Masters of Orthodox Canada, His Eminence Archbishop Gabriel of Montreal and Canada and His Grace Bishop Job of Kashira” (compiled for the joint website of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia and the Patriarchal website of the Orthodox Church in Canada 2013) (in Russian)

• Bishop Job (Smakouz) of Kashira, Pravlife.org (Orthodox Life) interview : “About Rusyns in Canada” (18 September, 2015)

• Pravoslavie.ru interview : “Born through schism : On the historical features of the emergence of the 'UOC in Canada'” (20 September, 2018)

• 2018 Orthodox Life Interview by Natalia Goroshkova (27 March, 2019)

• Pravoslavie.ru interview : “We must learn to keep our heart for Christ”, a conversation about the heart as the focus of the human soul. (13 November, 2019)