Ambrose (Pappa-Georgopoli)

Priest and Monk

The son of the Greek priest of Constantinople Patriarchate Georgy Papp-Georgopoli (22nd priest of his kind). He graduated from a religious school. In 1811, he got married, in the same year, Metropolitan of Enos Matthew (Megalos) was ordained a priest. In 1814, he became a widow, the son George remained in the family. In 1817 he was tonsured a monk. Consisted at the bishop's house of Metropolitan Matthew of Aenos.

From 1823, he was rector of the Trinity Monastery on the island of Halki in the Sea of ​​Marmara , then became the proto- church of the Church of Constantinople.

Metropolitan of Constantinople Patriarchate

In 1835, the Patriarch of Constantinople Gregory VI was ordained a bishop and appointed by the Metropolitan of Bosno-Sarajevo .

Unlike his predecessors, who did not protect the interests of their Slavic flock (the Bosnian Serbs ), Metropolitan Ambrose took a different position. During the uprising of the Serbs against the Turks sympathized with the rebels. According to the author of The History of the Belokrinitsky Hierarchy, Professor Nikolay Subbotin , who in general shared a negative attitude towards the Old Believers for the Synodal period :

Metropolitan Ambrose was an exception to the Bosnian fanariot rulers. A man is naturally good, he could not indifferently look at the plight of the people - he took his side and, if possible, tried to alleviate his needs. It was such an extraordinary phenomenon, so long contradicted the popular concept of the Greek hierarchs that the people did not even recognize Ambrose for the Greek: a rumor was established that he was a natural Slav, and it was Bulgarian. Here are the wonderful words about Ambrose, recorded in one Bosnian chronicle: “This ruler was a holy man, he cared a lot about the poor. He was a Bulgarian, he was not at all avid, and he was only concerned that the people should feel at ease, that the people would not tolerate lies. ”

The legend of the Bulgarian origin of Metropolitan Ambrose was later developed by the Old Believer monk Pavel (Velikodvorsky) , inventing to him another worldly name - Andrei, since Amirai’s name is not present in the calendar, and Slavicizing the surname of the hierarch - Poppovich.

Irritated by the actions of Metropolitan Ambrose, the Turkish ruler of Sarajevo persuaded several wealthy merchants to write a denunciation to the Constantinople Patriarch of Metropolitan Ambrose, in which, in particular, it was reported that the metropolitan was supporting an anti-Turkish uprising.

The new Constantinople Patriarch Anfim IV , fearing a possible conflict with Turkish officials, on September 12, 1840, with his order, withdrew Ambrose to Constantinople , where the latter could leave only on December 27, 1841, because he spent some time in Sarajevo prison as an insolvent debtor.

Upon arrival in Constantinople , being a placeless bishop, he was in poverty with his married son George.

Negotiations with Old Believers

At the beginning of 1846, representatives of the Russian Old Believers, Beglopopovtsy from Austria-Hungary — monks Pavel (Velikodvorsky) and Alimpiy (Miloradov) , who were searching for a bishop who agreed to establish an Old Believer hierarchy — came to him. Even before visiting Constantinople, the monks Pavel and Alimpiy received in 1844 from the government of Austria-Hungary permission to establish an bishop's department in the Old Believer Belokrinitsky Monastery ( Northern Bukovina ). Old Believer envoys told Metropolitan Ambrose about the history of their church and its current situation, persuading him to head the Russian Old Believers.

There is a story by the monk Alimpios that Vladyka Ambrose for a long time did not give his consent to join the Old Believers, but then suddenly changed his position. At the decisive meeting with the envoys, he said:

Yesterday, when I was escorting you, I was busy thinking: Is there any good offered to me? With this thought, I prayed to God, I lay down. But before I could even fall asleep, I suddenly saw a priestly husband in front of me in the light and said: “That you tire a lot with reflections. You are destined to fulfill this great cause from God and suffer from the Russian Tsar. ” At the last word “to suffer” I shuddered and felt, but no one was there, only in the room there was a light that gradually disappeared, like someone leaving with a lit candle. My heart was filled with both fear and joy, so I spent the whole night without sleep in my prayers to God, and decided to give you my full consent; for if it is God's favor, then we are obliged to fulfill it with joy.

On April 16, 1846, Metropolitan Ambrose signed a document stating that he “by virtue of good conscience deigned to enter the Old Believer religion as a metropolitan” and undertakes “upon arrival at the Belokrinitsky monastery, having brought the church annexation according to the rules of the saints, Father, immediately the governors of another hierarch, as permitted by the supreme decree. " In turn, representatives of the Old Believers pledged to "maintain his eminence, Metropolitan Ambrose, throughout the monastic dependency in all peace and satisfaction throughout his life." Thus, the requirement of the Austrian authorities that they should not be charged with the material content of the Old Believer bishop was fulfilled.

Founder of the Old Believers hierarchy

At the end of May 1846, together with the Old Believer ambassadors, Metropolitan Ambrose left for Austria. For some time he traveled through Turkish territory in Cossack clothing with documents addressed to a Cossack-Old Believer, and only after arriving in Dobrudja , in which the Old Believers lived, received a bishop's passport from the Turkish authorities. July 11 was presented to the Austrian Emperor Ferdinand .

On October 12, 1846, he arrived in Belaya Krinitsa , where he was solemnly received by Old Believers; October 28 was solemnly attached to the Old Belief second rank (through chrismation ) in the Belokrinitsky monastery.

During the time of the leadership of the Old Believer Church, he consecrated two bishops: Cyril of Maynos and Arkady Slavsky , as well as five priests and three hierarchs . Thus, the Belokrinitskaya Old Believers Hierarchy was established (in pre-revolutionary Russian literature it was often called the Austrian), which was recognized by a number of Old Believer communities; some others - the so-called “ Beglopopovtsy ” in the newest sense - did not submit to the Metropolitan. They substantiated their position with doubts about the reality of the baptism of Metropolitan Ambrose (the Old Believers recognize only “full” baptism in three dives, not “oblivitelny”, adopted by Catholics and some Orthodox), the point of view that the metropolitan was banned in serving time, as he accepted the offer of the Old Believers. They also doubted the sincerity of the decision of the Metropolitan to join the Old Believers. The Old Believer author of the beginning of the 20th century, Fedor Melnikov, devoted one of his works to refute such arguments, in particular, pointing out that in the Greek church of that time, “oblivious” baptism was not practiced, and the metropolitan himself, while at rest, took part in patriarchal divine services. In 1903, the Old Believer Bishop Innokenty (Usov) published a paper on the baptism of Metropolitan Ambrose.

At its council in 2007, the Russian Old Orthodox Church (formerly “Beglopopovtsy”) acknowledged that Vladyka Ambrose “after being removed from the Bosnian pulpit was a contingent bishop, lived alone in Constantinople and was not banned in the clergy until he joined the Old Believers”, however questions of the baptism of Metropolitan Ambrose and the motivation of his joining the Old Believers, were still called “puzzling” ^[1] .

According to the memoirs of the Old Believer monk Euphrosyne about Vladyka Ambrose during his stay in the Belokrinitsky monastery,

he served in the Slavic language, read the Gospel, spoke exclamations very clearly and correctly. During the service often cried of emotion. He was baptized fervently and folded his fingers very carefully. Bowed very low. He lived in two cells, in which there were many icons. The food was the simplest: soup or soup, porridge and fish, when allowed by the charter. He was engaged in physical labor in the garden. He spoke in Russian, but he uttered some words in Church Slavonic.

In December 1847, Russian Emperor Nicholas I demanded that the Austrian government stop the activities of Metropolitan Ambrose and close the Belokrinitsky monastery. The Austrian authorities summoned the metropolitan to Vienna , where he was offered an alternative - either to return to the jurisdiction of the Patriarch of Constantinople (he was given a letter from the Patriarch promising favors in case of repentance), or to go for a lifelong exile. Metropolitan Ambrose chose the link, stating that "I once accepted this religion and did not want to go back." At the same time the monastery was closed, but soon reopened, remaining the center of the Old Believers.

On July 26, 1848, the metropolitan received an order to go to the city of Zilli , where he remained for 15 years, leading a strictly monastic life. Together with him was the son George with his family. He maintained a correspondence with his flock, sometimes secretly accepted the Old Believers.

He died on November 11, 1863 from dropsy . He was buried in the Greek cemetery in Trieste ( Italy ), as there were no Orthodox cemeteries in Zilli.

In 1912, the Old Believers intended to transfer his remains to White Krinitsa, but this project was not realized due to the outbreak of the First World War .

In 1996, he was canonized by the decision of the Universal Consecrated Council, held in the village of Belaya Krynytsia. At the same time, a decision was made to transfer the relics from Italy to White Krinitsa (Ukraine), and a joint church commission was established to transfer the relics, which included representatives of the Moscow Metropolis and the Israeli Metropolis (Romania) ^[2] .

In May 2000, the remains of the saint were transferred to the city of Braila ( Romania ), to which the Old Believer Metropolitan's Department was transferred from Belaya Krinitsa, and buried in the Cathedral of the Intercession Cathedral ^[2] .

• Ambrose article in the Orthodox Encyclopedia
• Biography
• Urushev D. A. I don’t want to come back again // NG-Religion of August 16, 2006
• Urushev D. А. Good Shepherd // Truth and Life. 2006, No. 2
• Melnikov F. Ye. The history of the Old Believers