Veniamin (Kazansky)
Encyclopedia
Metropolitan Veniamin was a bishop in the Russian Orthodox Church
and eventually Archbishop (later Metropolitan) of Petrograd and Gdov
from 1917 to 1922. He was executed by firing squad by Soviet authorities and, in August 1992, was recognized as a holy martyr by the Russian Orthodox Church.
Following his graduation he taught sacred scripture at the Riga Seminary and was then inspector of the Kholm Seminary and the St. Petersburg Spiritual Academy before becoming rector of the Samara Spiritual Academy (with the rank of archimandrite
) in 1902. In 1905, he became rector of the St. Petersburg Spiritual Academy.
On May 24 of that year, he was democratically elected by the clergy and the people to the archbishopric of Petrograd and Ladoga, the first bishop popularly elected in the Russian church. in June, his title was changed to Archbishop of Petrograd and Gdov, and in August was elevated to the metropolitan dignity.
While the Church tried to maintain a neutral stance during the Russian Civil War, the Russian Orthodox Church and Soviet State had diametrically opposite world views and the church was viewed as dangerously counter-revolutionary by the Soviet authorities. The real conflict, however, came out into the open in 1922 when the Soviet authorities demanded the church hand over church valuables to pay for famine relief. The church agreed to this, but refused to hand over certain valuables of religious or historic significance. In April 1922, Metropolitan Veniamin reached an agreement with Petrograd party officials to hand over certain valuables and to allow parishioners to substitute their own valuables for other church valuables of historic or religious significance.
to establish the renovationist
All-Russian Church Administration as the new church government after Patriarch Tikhon
stepped down on May 12. Veniamin was tried by a revolutionary tribunal with ten other defendants from June 10 to July 5 and found guilty and condemned to death, but the sentences of six of the defendants were later commuted by the Politburo, though not of Veniamin and others seen as the main instigators of counterrevolution. Veniamin and ten others were shot on the night of August 12–13, 1922 in the eastern outskirts of Petrograd, at the Porokhov Station of the Irinovskaya Railroad (a narrow-gauge railroad built to bring peat into the city for heating that starts in the Bolshaya Okhta district of St. Petersburg, across the Neva River
from the Smolny Institute and ending at Vsevolozhsk
24 km east of the city.) His cenotaph
is in the Nikolskoe Cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra
.
Russian Orthodox Church
The Russian Orthodox Church or, alternatively, the Moscow Patriarchate The ROC is often said to be the largest of the Eastern Orthodox churches in the world; including all the autocephalous churches under its umbrella, its adherents number over 150 million worldwide—about half of the 300 million...
and eventually Archbishop (later Metropolitan) of Petrograd and Gdov
Gdov
Gdov is a town and the administrative center of Gdovsky District of Pskov Oblast, Russia, situated on the Gdovka River, just from its outflow into Lake Peipus. Population:...
from 1917 to 1922. He was executed by firing squad by Soviet authorities and, in August 1992, was recognized as a holy martyr by the Russian Orthodox Church.
Background and education
Veniamin was born to a priestly family in the pogost (village) of Nimenskii in the Andreevksii Volost of the Kargopol Uezd near Arkhangelsk in the Olonets Gubernia in the northwest of the Russian empire. He graduated from the Olonets Seminary in 1893 and earned his kandidatura in theology from the St. Petersburg Spiritual Academy in 1897, defending a thesis on Archbishop Arkadii of Olonets' anti-heretical activities. He was tonsured a monk in 1895 and consecrated a hierodeacon (a deacon who is also a monk) that same year and a hieromonk (an ordained monk, a relative rarity in Eastern Christianity) in 1896.Following his graduation he taught sacred scripture at the Riga Seminary and was then inspector of the Kholm Seminary and the St. Petersburg Spiritual Academy before becoming rector of the Samara Spiritual Academy (with the rank of archimandrite
Archimandrite
The title Archimandrite , primarily used in the Eastern Orthodox and the Eastern Catholic churches, originally referred to a superior abbot whom a bishop appointed to supervise...
) in 1902. In 1905, he became rector of the St. Petersburg Spiritual Academy.
Episcopate
Veniamin was consecrated Bishop of Gdov, a vicarial bishop of the Eparchy of St. Petersburg, on January 24, 1910. Metropolitan Antonii (Vadkovskii) of St. Petersburg and Ladoga officiated at the installment in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra in St. Petersburg.Archbishop and then Metropolitan of Petrograd
After the arrest and deposition of Metropolitan Pitirim (Onkova) on March 2, 1917, Veniamin administered the Petrograd eparchy as vicarial Bishop of Gdov.On May 24 of that year, he was democratically elected by the clergy and the people to the archbishopric of Petrograd and Ladoga, the first bishop popularly elected in the Russian church. in June, his title was changed to Archbishop of Petrograd and Gdov, and in August was elevated to the metropolitan dignity.
While the Church tried to maintain a neutral stance during the Russian Civil War, the Russian Orthodox Church and Soviet State had diametrically opposite world views and the church was viewed as dangerously counter-revolutionary by the Soviet authorities. The real conflict, however, came out into the open in 1922 when the Soviet authorities demanded the church hand over church valuables to pay for famine relief. The church agreed to this, but refused to hand over certain valuables of religious or historic significance. In April 1922, Metropolitan Veniamin reached an agreement with Petrograd party officials to hand over certain valuables and to allow parishioners to substitute their own valuables for other church valuables of historic or religious significance.
Arrest and Execution
In April and May 1922, a number of churchmen were arrested and tried as counterrevolutionaries for opposing the seizure of church valuables. Veniamin himself was arrested on May 29 after he had opposed efforts by Alexander VvedesnkyAlexander Vvedensky (religious leader)
Alexandr Ivanovich Vvedensky was one of the leaders of the Living Church movement , a movement of the Russian Orthodox Church from 1922-1946 to reform the Russian Church life; he is considered the person...
to establish the renovationist
Living Church
The Living Church , also called Renovationist Church or Renovationism was a schism in the Russian Orthodox Church in 1922–1946...
All-Russian Church Administration as the new church government after Patriarch Tikhon
Tikhon of Moscow
Saint Tikhon of Moscow , born Vasily Ivanovich Bellavin , was the 11th Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia of the Russian Orthodox Church during the early years of the Soviet Union, 1917 through 1925.-Early life:...
stepped down on May 12. Veniamin was tried by a revolutionary tribunal with ten other defendants from June 10 to July 5 and found guilty and condemned to death, but the sentences of six of the defendants were later commuted by the Politburo, though not of Veniamin and others seen as the main instigators of counterrevolution. Veniamin and ten others were shot on the night of August 12–13, 1922 in the eastern outskirts of Petrograd, at the Porokhov Station of the Irinovskaya Railroad (a narrow-gauge railroad built to bring peat into the city for heating that starts in the Bolshaya Okhta district of St. Petersburg, across the Neva River
Neva River
The Neva is a river in northwestern Russia flowing from Lake Ladoga through the western part of Leningrad Oblast to the Neva Bay of the Gulf of Finland. Despite its modest length , it is the third largest river in Europe in terms of average discharge .The Neva is the only river flowing from Lake...
from the Smolny Institute and ending at Vsevolozhsk
Vsevolozhsk
Vsevolozhsk is a town and the administrative center of Vsevolozhsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the Karelian Isthmus east of St. Petersburg. Population: The town's name came from manufacturer Vsevolozhsky...
24 km east of the city.) His cenotaph
Cenotaph
A cenotaph is an "empty tomb" or a monument erected in honour of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been interred elsewhere. The word derives from the Greek κενοτάφιον = kenotaphion...
is in the Nikolskoe Cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra
Alexander Nevsky Lavra
Saint Alexander Nevsky Lavra or Saint Alexander Nevsky Monastery was founded by Peter I of Russia in 1710 at the eastern end of the Nevsky Prospekt in St. Petersburg supposing that that was the site of the Neva Battle in 1240 when Alexander Nevsky, a prince, defeated the Swedes; however, the battle...
.