Little-known events from the life and archpastoral ministry of Metropolitan Ioana (Bodnarchuk)

Abstract

In November of this year it will be the 25th anniversary of Metropolitan Ioann (Bodnarchuk) appointment to the Volyn Department, who in the late 1980s marked the beginning of the newest revival of the Ukrainian Church. The study focuses on the main life milestones of Bishop John, his exile, study at the theological seminary and academy. His visits to the parish of Truskavets, as well as his consecration and episcopal ministry at the Zhytomyr Department have been mentioned. In 1989, Bishop Ioan led the national-church movement for the restoration of the UAOC, due to his efforts the Local Council on June 5-6, 1990 was convened and held in Kyiv, which was of great importance for the further development of Orthodoxy in Ukraine. The greatest attention in the research is paid to the period when Metropolitan Ioan performed his archpastoral service in the Lutsk-Volyn and Sambir-Drohobych dioceses of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Kyiv Patriarchate. The circumstances of his tragic death in a car accident have also been given. In this article, based on sources and individual publications in the periodicals of the time, the little-known facts from the archpastoral ministry of the metropolitan have been covered. The analysis of the collected material testifies that Bishop Ioan was an authoritative Orthodox hierarch and made a significant contribution to the formation and development of the newest Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate.

Keywords

• Metropolitan Ioan (Bodnarchuk)
• Volyn diocese
• UAOC