John (Kovalevsky)

Early years

Father - Evgraf Petrovich Kovalevsky , mother - teacher Inna Vladimirovna Kovalevskaya (nee Strekalova; 1877-1961) Brother of Peter and Maxim Kovalevsky ^[1] .

In February 1920, he left with his parents from Sevastopol to France. He lived in Nice , where on October 18, 1921 he was consecrated a reader in the Nikolsky Russian Cathedral . Then he moved to Paris, where he completed his secondary education. Together with his brothers, he served in the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Paris ^[2] . From his youth he was carried away by the idea of ​​bringing the Orthodox faith to the French ^[3] .

Activities in the Brotherhood of St. Photius

In 1925 he became one of the founders of the Brotherhood of St. Photius in Paris, one of the main tasks of which was proclaimed the preaching of Orthodoxy in the West. At the end of 1927, with the blessing of Metropolitan Eulogius (St. George), with the participation of Kovalevsky and other members of the Brotherhood of St. Photius, a parish was founded in Paris in honor of the Transfiguration of the Lord and in the name of St. Genevieve (Genovefa), where the service was first systematically performed in French ^[2] . Until 1931 he served as a psalmist in this parish ^[1] .

He graduated from the Faculty of Philology of the University of Paris (Sorbonne) . He graduated from the St. Sergius Orthodox Theological Institute in Paris in 1928 ^[2] . He was engaged in painting. He worked in the studio of artists V. I. Shukhaev and A. E. Yakovlev ^[1] .

In 1931, after the transfer of Metropolitan Eulogius to the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, he remained in the canonical subordination of the Moscow Patriarchate ^[2] along with other members of the brotherhood of St. Photius. The remaining few parishes of the Moscow Patriarchate in Western Europe were subordinate to Metropolitan of Vilna and Lithuania Eleutherius (Epiphany) .

At this time, Yevgraf Kovalevsky became seriously interested in the Western rite, an interest in which he had developed after meeting in 1927 with Louis-Charles Vinar , the head of the “Catholic Evangelical Church”, who considered for himself the possibility of moving to the Orthodox Church, but wished keep the rite by which he served. Vinar tried to join the West European exarchate of Metropolitan Eulogius (St. George), but this idea was not approved by the Patriarchate of Constantinople, which was in charge of the West European exarchate since 1931 . After that, Vintart filed a petition with the Moscow Patriarchate ^[3] . At the same time, members of the brotherhood of St. Photius, including Yevgraf Kovalevsky, in every possible way contributed to a favorable solution to this matter.

Subsequently, in his essay “Orthodoxy in France,” Kovalevsky insisted that ancient Gaul received Christianity not from Rome, but from the East, and was even baptized a little earlier than Rome. The direct enlighteners of Gaul were the eastern saints - the apostles Trofim and Dionysius the Areopagite , the righteous Lazarus the Four-Day , holy martyr Irenaeus of Lyons . At the same time, the Gallic Church, according to Kovalevsky, was independent and only with time fell under the authority of the Papal See. The basis of the Gallican liturgy, as Kovalevsky was convinced, was not the Roman, but the Syrian liturgy. The adoption of Orthodoxy by the French, he regarded not as a transition to another denomination, but a return to the roots ^[3] .

At the same time, at that moment a peculiar adventurism of Evgraf Kovalevsky manifested itself. Unbeknownst to Vinar himself, Kovalevsky entered into correspondence with the Deputy Patriarchal Locum Tenens, Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky) and the Head of the Patriarchal Parishes in Western Europe, Metropolitan Elevfery (Epiphany). In letters, Kovalevsky pointed out that there are dozens of priests and several thousand believers in the community, that there are masses of Roman Catholics who want to convert to Orthodoxy, not only in France, but also in other countries of Western Europe. During his visit to Paris, Metropolitan Eleutherius noted that there were no “thousands” in sight, nevertheless, Evgraf Kovalevsky was able to convince the Metropolitan of the need to accept Vinar into Orthodoxy ^[3] .

On June 16, 1936, the Deputy Patriarchal Locum Tenens, Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky), at the request of the brotherhood of St. Photius, issued Decree No. 1249, which stipulated how Vinart and his followers would be accepted into Orthodoxy. On December 1, 1936, the mortally ill Wyntart was annexed to Orthodoxy in the rank of presbyter , who he received in the Catholic Church. Soon after, he was tonsured a monk and elevated to the rank of archimandrite ^[2] .

In January 1937, under the brotherhood of St. Photius, a “commission for the affairs of Western Orthodoxy” was created, one of whose members was Yevgraf Kovalevsky. The main task of the commission was to develop the rite of liturgy for use in the Orthodox communities of the Western rite ^[2] .

After the death of March 3, 1937, Archimandrite Irenaeus (Vinarta), according to his will, the leadership of the Orthodox parish of the Western rite in honor of the Ascension of the Lord was entrusted to Lucien Shambo and Evgraf Kovalevsky ^[2] . Lucien Chambault was a priest in the community of Vinar and was in Orthodoxy a pleasure with him and almost simultaneously with Kovalevsky was ordained to the holy dignity ^[4] .

On March 5, 1937, the head of the Western European parishes of the Moscow Patriarchate, Metropolitan of Vilnius and Lithuania, Eleutherius (Epiphany) ordained Evgraf Kovalevsky to the rank of deacon , March 6 - to the rank of priest and appointed him clergyman of the Ascension Parish ^[2] .

At the funeral of Archimandrite Irenaeus, where Yevgraf Kovalevsky was instructed to translate the tombstone of Metropolitan Eleutherius into French, another unpleasant incident occurred. The hierarch in his speech did not hide the mistakes made by Archimandrite Irenaeus on his path to Orthodoxy. Evgraf Kovalevsky considered the words of the Metropolitan unfair and, instead of translating, he actually began to speak his own tombstone. Metropolitan Eleutherius, noticing the trick of Eugraph, asked to translate another translator - deacon Vladimir Rodionov . But when publishing the tombstone in the journal Spiritual Unity, the priest Evgraf Kovalevsky seriously changed the text, removing all the harsh expressions relating to Vinar. Upon learning of this, Metropolitan Eleutherius ordered the journal number to be withdrawn from circulation ^[3] .

At the same time, significant disagreements arose between Shambo and Kovalevsky on the question of what kind of liturgy should be served in the parishes of the Western rite: if Evgraf Kovalevsky sought to reconstruct the ancient Gallican liturgy, then Lucien Chambault was guided by the adaptation of the French-speaking Western liturgy that existed at that time and ^[4] , striving to continue the liturgical tradition that was in the community of Vinara ^[3] . On November 10, 1937, as a result of the conflict between Shambo and Kovalevsky on this issue, Metropolitan Eleutherius issued a decree on the assignment of Priest Evgraf for the temporary discharge of pastoral duties to the Church of the Sovereign Icon of the Mother of God in Nice ^[2] .

In 1939, with the permission of Metropolitan Eleutherius, Priest Evgraf Kovalevsky returned to Paris, where, with the support of the brotherhood of St. Photius, he organized and on August 27 of the same year opened a new parish of the Western rite in the name of the holy martyr Irenaeus of Lyons, whose rector was appointed ^[2] . Moreover, permission to create a parish was obtained through fraud, when only four Orthodox were included in the list of 25 parishioners ^[3] .

With the outbreak of World War II on September 3 of the same year, he was drafted into the French army , and the activities of the new parish were stopped. May 13, 1940 was captured by German ^[2] . Spent a long time at the Stalag IV-B camp near Mülberg in Saxony . Later, he was transferred to the camp of Russian prisoners of war Stalag, where he spiritually nourished his fellow prisoners ^[1] . After some time, he was arrested and sent to prison for anti-fascist propaganda, but due to illness he was again transferred to the French prison camp.

Head of Gallican Rite Communities of the Western European Exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church

In October 1943, after being released from the camp, he returned to Paris, where in December of that year, at the chapel of the holy martyr Irenaeus of Lyons, opened in 1942 in Paris on the island of Saint-Louis, he founded the liturgy center of Saint Irenaeus, whose task was to recreate Gallican rite on the basis of studies of liturgical manuscripts of the VI — VIII centuries. On November 11, 1944, the chapel of the holy martyr Irenaeus was transformed into a Western Orthodox parish, priest Evgraf was appointed rector of it ^[2] .

In the same year, he became one of the most active members of the commission for the affairs of Western Orthodoxy, which attempted to create a unified liturgy for all parishes of the Western rite. On November 15, 1944, with the support of French intellectual circles, the priest Evgraf Kovalevsky opened and headed the French Orthodox Institute of Saint Dionysius in Paris ^[2] . However, this was not without a misunderstanding: posters were posted for the institute’s advertising, informing about an impressive number of faculties, close ties with the Sorbonne, etc. This did not correspond to reality and ultimately discredited the Orthodox Church ^[3] .

By the spring of 1945, a text was drafted called the “Liturgy according to St. To the German of Paris ” ^[2] . The Orthodox priest of the Western rite, Mikhail Kaiser, noted: “The first problem that needs to be solved was what exactly to serve. They chose what is called the Liturgy of St. Herman , which existed around the ninth century, which they believed was undeniable in the tradition of France. The problem with this liturgy was that it existed only in plan, with missing parts and without headings on how to serve it. Therefore, they created them based on traditions performed in other churches, including their own. When they came to the ceremony where something seemed to be missing, they went home to the mother church, taking everything they needed from the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom , that is, the Cherubic Hymn , a special litany and other parts of the Eastern liturgy. <...> It was neither an eastern nor a western rite — it was a “western” hybrid rite, which seemed to put everything together ” ^[5] . May 1, 1945 in the church of the Holy Martyr Irenaeus for the first time performed divine services according to this order ^[2] .

On August 25, 1945, Metropolitan Nikolay Krutitsky (Yarushevich) during his visit to Paris elevated Priest Evrgaf to the rank of Archpriest ^[2] .

On November 21, 1946, the Patriarchal Exarch in Western Europe, Metropolitan Seraphim (Lukyanov), was appointed administrator (deanery) of all Western Orthodox parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church ^[2] .

Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh (Bloom) described his personal qualities and activities during that period of time: “He desired the blessings of the Church, he was deeply Orthodox, but he was sometimes ready to go to untruth in order to convince a person. I remember when he came to the congress of the Commonwealth , he told us about how Western Orthodoxy is growing <...> how domes are growing and so on. And then I tell him: “Evgraf, what did you tell us? You don’t have anything! ”And he replies:“ It doesn’t matter, I show people the domes in the sky, and looking at these domes, they begin to build the foundation, and then they will build the rest. ” <...> He was ready to go to deception, to inaccuracy, to untruth, in order to serve what he considered more and more important than this. But on the other hand, he was ready to starve for his idea. I remember once he was with us, and we sat in my room. I looked at him, he was wearing a rather elegant jacket and a very prominent, elegant shirt, and I said: “What happened, where did you get such a beautiful shirt?” He says: “I'll show you.” And then he took off his jacket, and he only had this part of his shirt, everything else was tied with ropes. <...> He was ready to give the last thing that only he had, he believed in Orthodoxy until he was ready to die for him, at least from hunger. He was ready to pick up any person and inspire him by faith in God and open some ways for him <...> he began to try to expand his work and to give every person the opportunity to begin Orthodoxy, even if he was not ready for it. I remember how he persuaded a Jew to partake of Easter alone, because “Easter is nothing but Jewish Passover that has become Christian” ” ^[6] .

Despite the increase in the number of parishes of the Gallican rite in the late 1940s, the brainchild of Archpriest Evgraf Kovalevsky caused more and more criticism. Reconstruction of the Gallican liturgy created and distributed by Archpriest Evgraf Kovalevsky was criticized. Archimandrite Dionysius (Shambo) repeatedly spoke out negatively regarding the liturgical experiments of Kovalevsky, considering the unacceptable liturgical use of scientific reconstructions of ancient rites and believing that such innovations are “dangerous and can only discredit the Church” ^[4] . Archbishop Photius of Oryol and Bryansk (Topiro) , who traveled to France from August 10 to October 25, 1946, noted in the report to Patriarch Alexy I: “The liturgical part in the French Orthodox parishes leaves much to be desired. In particular, I have to say about Prot. E. Kovalevsky. He often serves not so much as improvising, and moreover, not always successfully. "This makes an unfavorable impression on the worshipers and makes us regret both the lack of a stable liturgical text and the superficial attitude to worship in the Western rite." His liturgical experiments were negatively evaluated by the liturgist Nikolai Uspensky ^[7] from the Leningrad Theological Seminary ^[2] and Priest Alexander Shmeman from the St. Sergius Institute ^[5] . According to priest Mikhail Kaiser, Kovalevsky’s liturgical experiments “were not liked by any of the Orthodox at the St. Sergeyev’s Theological Institute,” and “the ritual raised great suspicion about the sincerity of their efforts. The liturgy is not something that you can play ” ^[5] .

Protests and a frivolous attitude to church discipline caused communion of the heterodox, non-canonical weddings, the use of esoteric practices, as well as authoritarian actions and unjustified financial expenses of Archpriest Evgraf Kovalevsky himself. This was facilitated by the fact that the metropolitans Evlogy (Georgievsky) and Serafim (Lukyanov) , who headed the West European exarchate, were not interested in the project, and after the departure of Metropolitan Seraphim in 1949, the Moscow Patriarchate was not at rest for several years in France. Archpriest Evgraf Kovalevsky was left to his own devices and began to act almost without control. All this led him to a conflict between Kovalevsky and many members of the Brotherhood of St. Photius and clergy of the Western European Exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church ^[3] . Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh cites such words by Vladimir Lossky , a former comrade-in-arms of Kovalevsky on the Brotherhood of St. Photius: “It is a pity that they gave the priesthood to Evgraf. Because giving the priesthood to Eugraph is like giving a revolver to a person with a mental disorder, ”noting that Lossky initially defended Kovalevsky ^[6] .

Under such conditions, realizing that over time he might face church punishments, he already in 1946 without the knowledge of the hierarchy officially registered the charter of the “French Orthodox Church”, and in 1948 - an organization with the same name. Later, through fictitious persons, he made financial transactions that were advantageous for himself: the building of the institute dormitory, bought in the prestigious suburb of Paris Colombes , was secretly registered with Evgraf Kovalevsky and his zealous admirer Ioann Vinar. Communities led by Kovalevsky become more and more isolated from the rest of the Russian Orthodox Church and more and more closed to their leader. So, Archimandrite Dionysius (Shambo) wrote: “They have their own life, focused on the person of Fr. Evgraf (more likely to make an impression of a sect), and the objective opinion of those in charge is such that the atmosphere reigns not only not truly Orthodox, but unhealthy, some even say offensive (clergy, parishioners, students unceremoniously speak to each other “Smoke, dance, go to the cafe, etc.).” ^[3] .

In 1951-1952, the West European Exarchate raised the issue of electing a new bishop of the Moscow Patriarchate to serve in France. One of the conditions for candidates was the mandatory presence of French citizenship. Archpriest Evgraf Kovalevsky took the current situation as a chance to realize his long-standing desire to receive initiation into the hierarchical dignity, but he was not elected, but Archimandrite Nikolai (Eremin) ^[8] .

On July 14, 1952, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church awarded Archpriest Evgraf Kovalevsky simultaneously with V.N. Lossky and V.N. Ilyin the degree of Doctor of Theology honoris causa .

Departure from the Russian Orthodox Church and an Acneus Condition

In the end, the controversial activity of Kovalevsky attracted the attention of the hierarchy of the Russian Orthodox Church. DECR Chairman Metropolitan Nikolai (Yarushevich) wrote: “As a pastor, Archpriest E. Kovalevsky is guilty of more than free treatment of the sacraments of repentance, the Eucharist, marriage, and the priesthood (denial of the need for confession before the sacrament, calls for communion and communion of non-Orthodox, non-observance of church marriages church rules, complicity in the non-canonical ordination of priesthood candidates, the personal wedding of a Catholic priest and his presentation for re-ordination, etc.). For each of these misdeeds prot. E. Kovalevsky is subject to the strictest church punishment. ”

On January 9, 1953, the Holy Synod of the Moscow Patriarchate ordered from January 15 to relieve Archpriest Evgraf Kovalevsky of his duties as a member of the Council under the Exarchate and to grant him leave from the duties of rector of the Irineevsky church and from rectoring at the Institute of St. Dionysius. His worship was allowed only with the permission of the Chairman of the Council of the Exarchate. He did not comply with this decision and on January 25 announced his withdrawal from the Russian Orthodox Church, together with the parishes of the Western rite led by him. The jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate in France remained only the Western Rite parish of Dionysius (Chambault) ^[3] .

On March 27, 1953, for the attempt to create an “independent French Orthodox Church”, as well as for gross violations of church discipline (including communion among the heterodox) by the decision of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church and the decree of Patriarch Alexy I, he was expelled from the clergy of the Moscow Patriarchate, but was not subjected to canonical penalties .

In 1954, Archpriest Evgraf Kovalevsky came under the jurisdiction of the Russian West European Exarchate of the Patriarchate of Constantinople , but in the same year he was banned from the service by Metropolitan Vladimir (Tikhonitsky) for "disobedience to church authority." After that, Kovalevsky and the communities he led were for several years outside any jurisdiction.

He was a participant in the exhibitions “Salon of Artists of the French School” in 1955 and 1958 ^[1] .

As part of the ROCA

In 1960, the “French Orthodox Church” became part of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia , where it received the name “Orthodox Catholic Church of France”. Joining the ROCA was carried out by the Bishop of Brussels and Western Europe, John (Maximovich) , who with great reverence belonged to the ancient Gallican liturgical tradition and saw in its revival not only a return to the liturgical diversity of the ancient undivided Church, but also saw great potential for the Orthodox mission in the Western world.

In 1961, the commission attached to the Synod of Bishops of the ROCOR approved the liturgical texts of the Gallican rite presented by Archpriest Efgra Kovalevsky and allowed the use of the Gregorian calendar in the communities of the French Orthodox Catholic Church with the preservation of the old style only in Easter ^[9] .

On November 11, 1964, Archpriest Evgraf Kovalevsky was ordained in the Sanctuary of San Francisco in the Bishop of Saint-Denis. The consecration was performed by Archbishop John (Maksimovich) and Bishop Feofil (Ionescu), manager of the Romanian parishes of the ROCA, ^[9] .

On July 2, 1966, Archbishop John (Maximovich), who patronized the Gallican mission, died. Bishop John (Kovalevsky) appealed to the ROCOR Synod of Bishops with a request to appoint vicars, hoping that the status of the head of the “French group” would now be raised to the ruling bishop. However, Archbishop Anthony (Bartoshevich) asked the Synod to carefully study the situation. In the same 1966, information was received by the Synod that the French parishes of the Western rite plan to transfer to the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate ^[3] .

The ROCOR Synod of Bishops in September 1966 entrusted the management of the affairs of the French Orthodox Catholic Church to Archbishop of Canada Vitaly (Ustinov) , who was sent to France. Archbishop Vitaliy immediately noticed that the flocks of Bishop John (Kovalevsky) are much smaller than the amount that he wrote about in his reports. On October 9, 1966, Archbishop Vitaly took part in a meeting of the Extraordinary General Assembly of the Orthodox Church of France. It turned out very ugly facts: one subdeacon John (Kovalevsky) was allowed to partake the laity during extra-service time, and not in his own, but in the neighboring German diocese . One of the clergy of the “Orthodox Church of France” was heterodox, ordained without first joining the Church, and this clergyman on the part of Bishop John (Kovalevsky) “was instructed about the possibility of extramarital cohabitation.” Throughout his ministry, this cleric confessed only once, moreover, at the insistence of the late Archbishop John (Maximovich). John (Kovalevsky) autocratically introduced various liturgical ranks, apparently of his own composition, which had nothing to do with the services of the ancient Gallican Church. On November 7, 1965, he admitted a Masonic memorial service in his temple ^[3] .

Anticipating the imminent penalties, John (Kovalevsky) sent a telegram to the Foreign Synod on October 20, 1966: "The bishop and the whole clergy of the Orthodox Catholic Church of France, having gathered, notify the Synod of their decision not to recognize the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad as the highest authority." With the consent of the Synod of Bishops, on the same day, the First Hierarch of the ROCOR Metropolitan Filaret (Voznesensky) sent John (Kovalevsky) a response telegram: “In view of the message that you and part of your clergy refused canonical obedience to the Synod of Bishops, you are forbidden in the clergy to submit you to the church court” .

Bishop John did not attach importance to this prohibition and continued to serve. He said to the flock that he needed support from the ROCA only as long as she was interested in the life goals of the French Church. However, not all followers of John (Kovalevsky) chose to leave ROCOR. The few remaining French parishes of the Western rite became part of the Geneva and Western European dioceses of the ROCA. At the same time, the Gallican rite in the few remaining communities was preserved subject to the Byzantine rite as the main one ^[8] .

The last years of life and the attempt to normalize canonical status

At the end of the same year, John (Kovalevsky) turned to the primates of the Orthodox Local Churches with a request to accept the FCCC while preserving the Gallican rite ^[10] . Apparently, the story of Metropolitan Anthony (Bloom), who then headed the Western European Exarchate of the Moscow Patriarchate about the request of John (Kovalevsky) to accept him as clergy of the Moscow Patriarchate, dates back to this time: “I tell him:“ Well, make a list of your clergy and a list of your parishes - where how many of them and how many people in each parish. " And it turned out a huge number of people. I was not ready to take Evgraf's word and therefore checked. And it turned out that he recorded all the parishioners of each parish in all parishes. It turned out that there was a complete list of parishioners, and this full list passed from parish to parish, so it turned out a really very large number <...> He was not accepted. I was against it, and many others were against it ” ^[6] .

On February 9, 1967, the ROCOR Synod of Bishops deprived Bishop John (Kovalevsky) of the rank of bishop and reduced him to the position of a simple monk ^[3] .

He attempted to settle the canonical status of his jurisdiction. In 1967, he began negotiations with the Romanian patriarch Justinian , but died before he could finish them. The accession of the "Orthodox Catholic Church of France" to the canonical Romanian Orthodox Church took place only in 1972.

He died on January 30, 1970 at Bon Secour Hospital in Paris. He was buried on February 3, 1970 at the Pere Lachaise cemetery in Paris.

• The case of the ordination of a priest of the Western Orthodox Ascension Church in Paris [manuscript:]: autograph. - [B. m.], 1937 - 6 pp. (2 hours). - (Materials on the accession of the Evangelical Catholic group to the Russian Orthodox Church, headed by Bishop L.K. Vintart).

• Le Pouvoir souverain dans l'Église (1948)
• La Sainte Messe selon l'ancien rite des Gaules ou Liturgie selon S. Germain de Paris. Le canon eucharistique de l'ancien rite des Gaules . (1956)
• Homies Quelques enseignements spirituels donnés en l'Eglise Saint Irénée . (1971)
• Message de Noël .
• Pierre et Paul. Leur signification. Leur place dans la tradition chrétienne catholique orthodox .
• Quarante Degrés ou quarante Immolation de Carême .
• La Sainte Messe selon St Germain de Paris et le chant des fideèles .
• Initiation à la Genèse .
• Technique de la prière . (published in English under the title A Method of Prayer for Modern Times, Praxis, 1993, ISBN 978-1872292182 ).
• Le chemin de la vie et la destinée de l'âme après la mort .
• Ezéchiel .
• Le mystère des origines .
• Initiation trinitaire .
• La liturgie céleste .
• Marie, Vierge et Mère .
• Les chemins de l'homme .
• Le Verbe incarné .
• La quête de l'Esprit .
• Le sens de l'exode .
• Le carême .

He published numerous articles in French and German in the Cahiers Saint Irénée, in the Présence Orthodoxe and other journals.

• Journal No. 5 of the meeting of the Holy Synod [in the case of Archpriest E. Kovalevsky] (March 27, 1953) // Bulletin of the Russian West European Patriarchal Exarchate. M., 1953. No. 15. P. 122—124.
  • Compte rendu [Journal No. 5 of the meeting of the Holy Synod (in the case of Archpriest E. Kovalevsky)] // Bulletin of the Russian West European Patriarchal Exarchate. M., 1953. No. 15. P. 128-130.
• Boris, Archbishop. From a letter [in the case of Archpriest E. Kovalevsky] (January 17, 1953) [in French ling.] // Bulletin of the Russian West European Patriarchal Exarchate. M., 1953. No. 15. P. 127-128.
• Boris, Archbishop of Berlin and Germany, and. about. Exarch of the Moscow Patriarchate in Western Europe. Message [on the decision of Patriarch Alexy I on the church life of the Western European Exarchate, including the case of Archpriest E. Kovalevsky] (January 17, 1953) // Bulletin of the Russian Western European Patriarchal Exarchate. M., 1953. No. 15. P. 121—122.
• Nicholas, Metropolitan of Krutitsky and Kolomna. From a letter to the chairman of the Council under the Exarch of the Moscow Patriarchate in Western Europe, Archimandrite Nikolai [in French ling.] // Bulletin of the Russian West European Patriarchal Exarchate. M., 1953. No. 15. P. 131-132.
• Nicholas, Metropolitan of Krutitsky and Kolomna. From a letter to the chairman of the Council under the Exarch of the Moscow Patriarchate in Western Europe, Archimandrite Nikolai [in the case of Archpriest E. Kovalevsky] (June 5, 1953) // Bulletin of the Russian West European Patriarchal Exarchate. M., 1953. No. 15. P. 125-126

• John (Kovalevsky) at the Rodovod . Tree of ancestors and descendants
• Bishop John (according to other sources, John the Nectarius) (Kovalevsky Evgraf Evgrafovich) (Eugraphe Kovalevsky) (1905-1970)
• Monseigneur JEAN, évêque de Saint-Denis on the official website of the jurisdiction he founded
• “It was a genius and a saint” // ahilla.ru, 2017