Methodius (Kanchuga)

He was born on March 28, 1921 in the village of Vyshniy Orlik (now - the district of Svidnik , Prešov Region , Slovakia ) in the family of Elijah Kanchuga and Anna, nee Esuzkova, from whom they inherited a love for church life and the great-grandfather of the Orthodox Church. From childhood, he regularly visited the temple, and served during divine services ^[1] .

After graduating from a public school in his native village, 14-year-old Mikhal Kanchuga decided to devote his church service, and entered the Monastery of St. Job of Pochaev in Ladomirova ^[1] , where he worked in a monastery printing house ^[2] .

In 1937-1939 he was in the Pochaev Lavra ^[2] , where he studied theological seminary at the monastery and adopted monasticism with the name Methodius in honor of Methodius the Equal-to-the-Apostles , Slovenian teacher ^[1] .

In 1942 he was admitted to the ranks of the Slovak Army, in which he fought on the Eastern Front ^[2] .

July 31, 1943 in Melitopol in occupied Ukraine, Bishop of Melitopol Seraphim (Kushneryuk) was ordained to the rank of deacon , and on August 1 of that year - to the rank of priest ^[1] .

In 1944, after leaving the army, he returned to his homeland, becoming an Orthodox priest in Banska Bystrica. In the summer of that year he joined the Slovak National Uprising ^[2] . As a secretary of the episcopal administration of the Orthodox Church in Eastern Slovakia on radio from Banska Bystrica, he called on Orthodox priests and believers to fight for liberation from fascist slavery on the side of the “free peoples” led by the Soviet Union ^[1] . After the suppression of the uprising, in several partisan groups, he fought against the German Nazis ^[2] . For his patriotic activities in the liberation movement he was awarded ^[1] .

After the liberation of Slovakia joined in the restoration of church life ^[1] . At the turn of 1944-1945, he took part in the transition of the Orthodox Church in Slovakia to the jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Church, which created its Exarchate in Czechoslovakia. During this period, he was one of the most influential people in the Czechoslovak Church ^[2] .

He served as the head of the educational department of the Czechoslovak Orthodox Church, edited the church calendar and church magazines “Svet pravoslávia” and “Hlas pravoslávia”, in which he published his articles. In 1947 he published the "Orthodox Prayer Book" (Pravoslávny molitvoslov) ^[1] .

Until 1953, he worked in parishes in Banska Bystrica, Kosice , Presov , Chircha ^[1] . In subsequent years, he lost his influence, because of the disinclination of influential people at the head of the Exarchate and even signing the mandatory protocol of the Czechoslovak State Security Service, did not save him from disgrace ^[2] .

In the postwar years, especially after removal from active church service in 1953, he was engaged in raising his educational level. He graduated from the gymnasium course at the State Real Gymnasium in Humenne , entered the Orthodox Theological Faculty in Presov, and then studied Slavic and Russian studies at the Philological Faculty of Charles University in Prague , where he received the title of “promovaný filológ”. Later he studied law at the Faculty of Law of Charles University in Prague ^[1] .

In addition to performing pastoral duties, he held various leadership positions in the Church. He was elected a member of the diocesan council of the Presov diocese, and he also served as the district archdecan (deanery) of the Sabinovsky archdean ^[1] .

In 1948, he was a member of the delegation of the Czechoslovak Orthodox Church at the Conference of Heads and Representatives of the Autocephalous Orthodox Churches in Moscow ^[1] .

In 1958 he returned to active pastoral service ^[2] and until August 1, 1962 he served at the Orthodox parish in Strazhsky with the rank of hegumen ^[3] .

November 3, 1962 in the Orthodox church of the cathedral in Mikhalovtsy was consecrated bishop of Trebishevsky, vicar of the Mikhalov diocese. The consecration in Mikhalovtsy was performed by the Metropolitan of Prague and all Czechoslovakia, John (Kukhtin) , Bishop of Michalov Methodius (Milli) and Bishop of Presov Dorofei (Philip) ^[1] .

In October 1964, Bishop Methodius, as part of a small Czechoslovak delegation, participated in the III Pan-Orthodox meeting , which was held on the Greek island of Rhodes , from where, in November, without coordination with the Czechoslovak leadership, he went to the Carpathian Orthodox Diocese in Johnstown , Pennsylvania, USA.

The authorities of Czechoslovakia perceived him as an immigrant immigrant . On December 3, 1964, he was removed from the department, and on January 21, 1965, he was fired to retire for violations of church discipline.

The Patriarch of Constantinople approved the transfer of Bishop Methodius from the post of vicar bishop of the Mikhalov diocese to the post of vicar bishop of the American Carorussian diocese. He served in this position from spring until the summer of 1965, but in the end he decided to return to his homeland because the Czechoslovak Orthodox Church did not give him canonical leave ^[4] .

On November 5, 1965 he returned to his homeland under an amnesty of the president of the republic, but he was banned from pastoral activity, with a recommendation to look for work outside the Church. The efforts of the former bishop aimed at rehabilitation from 1965 to 1981 were unsuccessful ^[5] .

The last time he lived with his sister in the city of Kolin in the Central Bohemian region of the Czech Republic, where he died on May 6, 1982. He was buried in Prague ^[5] .

• Pavel Marek Avanturista, nebo oběť? K životním osudům jednoho pravoslavného vladyky v období totalitních režimů // Dvadsať rokov Katedry histórie Filozofickej fakulty KU v Ružomberku. Mimoriadne číslo časopisu venované jubileu (pp. 132–170)