Theophanes (Kim)

Archbishop Theophanes (Russian: Архиепископ Феофан, secular name Alexei Illarionovich Kim, Russian: Алексей Илларионович Ким; born January 19, 1976, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk) is a bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church; he is the Archbishop of the Russian Orthodox diocese of Korea of the Patriarchal Exarchate in South-East Asia.

Theophanes
Archbishop of Korea
Bishop Theophanes in 2017
Native name
Феофан
ChurchRussian Orthodox Church
MetropolisPatriarchal Exarchate in South-East Asia
DioceseDiocese of Korea
Appointed4 April 2019
PredecessorArchbishop of the Russian Orthodox diocese of Korea: office established
SuccessorArchbishop of the Russian Orthodox diocese of Korea: incumbent
Orders
RankArchbishop
Personal details
Birth nameAlexei Illarionovich Kim
Born (1976-01-19) January 19, 1976
Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Sakhalin oblast, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
DenominationEastern Orthodox Church

He is the first Eastern Orthodox bishop of Korean ancestry.[1][2][3][4]

Life

Early life

He was born on January 19, 1976 in the city of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk at Sakhalin Koreans family.[5] He attended school in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, graduating from the Vostochny Lyceum in 1993. Alexei continued his education at the Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk branch of the Moscow Commercial Institute, graduating in 1997.[6][7]

In May 1995 he was baptized and since that time he sang in the choir in the church of St. Innocent of Irkutsk, and then the Resurrection Cathedral in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk.[6]

Monastic life and ordination
Theophanes at a conference of Eastern Orthodox bishops in Astrakhan in 2015

On August 14, 1997, Alexei was tonsured a monk by Bishop Jonathan (Tsvetkov) of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk and the Kuril Islands with the name Theophanes in honor of St. Theophanes the Confessor, Bishop of Nicea.[6]

On August 17, 1997, Theophanes, who was a monk, was ordained a hierodeacon by Bishop Jonathan; Bishop Jonathan thereafter ordained him a hieromonk on August 19.[6]

During 1997 and 1998, Fr. Theophanes was a priest at the Resurrection Cathedral in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, while serving as director of the cathedral choir and editor of the diocesan newspaper.[6]

In 1998, he went to Smolensk to study at the Smolensk Theological Seminary. During this period he was assigned to Assumption Cathedral in Smolensk. In 2000 he graduated from Smolensk Theological Seminary was assigned as a priest to the Diocese of Abakan and Kyzyl.[6]

In September 2000, in response to the request of the Bishop Sotirios (Trambas) of Zelon, he was sent to South Korea to serve as pastor to Russian-speaking Eastern Orthodox people,[8] being temporarily assigned as an employee of the DECR of the Moscow Patriarchate to the clergy of the New Zealand metropolis of the Church of Constantinople,[7] which included Korea. To celebrate the church services in Church Slavonic language, he was given a small underground chapel dedicated of St. Maxim the Greek in Seoul, but sometimes he served in other parts of South Korea. At the time of his arrival to the country he did not speak Korean. To study the language he attended daily language classes at the Yonsei University durind two years.[9]

On May 16, 2001, he was awarded a pectoral cross at the request of Metropolitan Kirill.[6]

On May 6, 2006, he was named Honorary Citizen of Seoul.[6] He received a diploma from the hands of the Mayor of Seoul Lee Myung-bak.[10]

On June 6, 2006, he was elevated to the rank of hegumen by Metropolitan Kirill at Holy Trinity Catheral of St. Daniel monastery.[11]

On October 6, 2011, Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church elected him bishop of the newly established Diocese of Kyzyl and Tyva within the borders of the Tyva Republic.[12]

On October 25, 2011, Archbishop Jonathan (Tsvetkov) of Abakan elevated him to the rank of archimandrite.[13]

Bishop of Kyzyl and Tuva
Theophanes leading prayers at the Resurrection Cathedral in Kyzyl

October 30, 2011 at the Assumption Church in Troitse-Lykovo he was consecrated to the rank of Bishop of Kyzyl and Tuva. The consecration was performed by Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, Metropolitan Ambrose (Zografos) of Korea (Church of Constantinople), Metropolitan Juvenal (Poyarkov) of Krutitsy and Kolomna, Metropolitan Varsonofy (Sudakov) of Saransk and Mordovia, Archbishop Arsenius (Yepifanov) of Istra, Archbishop Jonathan (Tsvetkov) of Abakan and Khakassia, Archbishop Mark (Golovkov) of Yegoryevsk, Bishop Sergius (Chashin) of Solnechnogorsk, and Bishop Sabbas (Mikheyev) of Voskresensk.[14]

On November 12, 2011 Bishop Theophanes came to Kyzyl, and on November 13 he celebrate his first divine liturgy after election on Diocese of Kyzyl.[15] At that time Eastern Orthodoxy was considered in Tuva as a religion of ethnic Russians: if a Tuvan was to becomes Eastern Orthodox, he had to forget about the culture of his ancestors and turn into a Russian. For this reason, and also because of the lack of systematic missionary activity, the number of Tuvans who converted to Eastern Orthodoxy was insignificant, while ethnic Russians, who represented 6% of the total population of Tuva, were an ethnic minority and their number were decreasinge over time.[16] In these conditions, he began to study and master the Tuvan culture. All the Church bookstores in Tuva began to sell the Bible in Tuvan, translated by the Institute for Bible Translation, and the translation of liturgical texts into Tuvan began.[17][18] Missionaries from other regions of Russia were actively invited.[16]

On December 4, 2017, in accordance with the new regulations on the awards of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and all Russia elevated Theophanes to the rank of Archbishop in the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour.[19]

Archbishop of Korea

On April 4, 2019, by the decision of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, he was appointed Archbishop of the Russian Orthodox diocese of Korea of the Patriarchal Exarchate in South-East Asia, becoming locum tenens of the Diocese of Kyzyl.[20][4]

References
  1. OCP (2011-10-08). "Archimandrite Feofan (Kim) will be the first Korean bishop of the ROC". News | Orthodoxy Cognate PAGE. Retrieved 2019-04-05.
  2. "Владыка Феофан (Ким): первый епископ-кореец". www.pravmir.ru (in Russian). 7 October 2011. Retrieved 2019-04-05.
  3. Marc, Jon (2011-10-30). "Musings from the Fourth Rome: Bishop of Kyzyl and Tyva Consecrated in Moscow". Musings from the Fourth Rome. Retrieved 2019-04-05.
  4. "Ethnic Korean bishop appointed for Russian Church's Korean Diocese". OrthoChristian.Com. 5 April 2019. Retrieved 2019-04-06.
  5. "СВЯЩЕННЫЙ СИНОД РПЦ НАЗНАЧИЛ ИГУМЕНА ФЕОФАНА (КИМА) ЕПИСКОПОМ КЫЗЫЛСКИМ И ТУВИНСКИМ". www.arirang.ru. 8 October 2011. Retrieved 2019-04-05.
  6. "SUMMARY: Archimandrite Feofan (Kim) will be the first Korean bishop of the ROC". orthodox.cn. 6 October 2011. Retrieved 2019-04-05.
  7. "Феофан, архиепископ Кызыльский и Тывинский (Ким Алексей Илларионович) / Персоналии / Патриархия.ru". Патриархия.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 2019-04-05.
  8. "Care of the Diaspora of the Russian Orthodox Church". www.orthodox.cn. Retrieved 2019-04-05.
  9. Хан (22 March 2011). "Отец Феофан: "В Корее я до сих пор чувствую себя как дома"". Корё сарам. Retrieved 2019-04-05.
  10. "Священник Русской Православной Церкви стал почетным гражданином Сеула". www.pravoslavie.ru. 6 May 2006. Retrieved 2019-04-06.
  11. "60-летие Отдела Внешних Церковных Связей Московского Патриархата". rusdm.ru. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 2019-04-05.
  12. "Завершился первый день работы зимней сессии Священного Синода Русской Православной Церкви / Новости / Патриархия.ru". Патриархия.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 2019-04-05.
  13. "Игумен Феофан (Ким), избранный епископом Кызылским и Тывинским, возведен в сан архимандрита « abakan-eparchy.ru" (in Russian). Retrieved 2019-04-05.
  14. "Предстоятель Русской Церкви совершил великое освящение Успенского храма в Троице-Лыково и возглавил хиротонию архимандрита Феофана (Кима) во епископа Кызыльского и Тывинского / Новости / Патриархия.ru". Патриархия.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 2019-04-05.
  15. "Епископ Кызыльский и Тывинский Феофан прибыл к месту служения / Новости / Патриархия.ru". Патриархия.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 2019-04-05.
  16. "Должны ли миссионеры в Тыве стать кочевниками | Православный журнал "Нескучный сад"". www.nsad.ru. Retrieved 2019-04-05.
  17. "6 мая. В Кызыле в богослужении впервые прозвучали молитвословия на тувинском языке". www.pravtuva.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 2019-04-05.
  18. "В главном храме Тувы начались регулярные богослужения на тувинском языке". www.pravtuva.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 2019-04-05.
  19. "Блаженнейший Патриарх Александрийский и всей Африки Феодор II возглавил торжественное богослужение в Храме Христа Спасителя в день 100-летия интронизации святителя Тихона, Патриарха Московского / Новости / Патриархия.ru". Патриархия.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 2019-04-05.
  20. "Правящим архиереем Корейской епархии назначен архиепископ Кызыльский Феофан / Новости / Патриархия.ru". Патриархия.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 2019-04-05.
Eastern Orthodox Church titles
Preceded by
Jonafan (Tsvetkov)		 Bishop of Kyzyl and Tuva
(Diocese of Kyzyl and Tuva)
2011-2019		 Succeeded by
Himself
(locum tenens)
Preceded by
Position established		 Archbishop of Korea
(Russian Orthodox diocese of Korea in the Patriarchal Exarchate in South-East Asia)
2019–		 Succeeded by
Incumbent
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