Archbishop Dosithei (Ivanchenko)
Archbishop Dosithei (Ivanchenko) (1884-1984)
Mikhail may be spelt Michael, Michel.
Ivanovich may be spelt Ivanovitch.
Dosithei may be spelt Dositei, Dosifei, Dosoftei.
Ivanchenko may be spelt Ivantchenko, Iwanchenko.
Early life of Mikhail Ivanovich Ivanchenko
On 21 November, 1884, Mikhail Ivanovich Ivanchenko was born in the Kharkov Governorate (province) within the Russian Empire. At present, it is not known precisely where he was born, or who were his parents.
Lack of this information is probably because of the turmoil, confusion, and destruction associated with subsequent wars, and with the 1917 Russian Revolution.
Nevertheless, Mikhail Ivanovich was raised as an Orthodox Christian within the Russian Orthodox Church in a region which later became Ukraine.
He completed his primary and secondary education somewhere in the Kharkov Province.
Higher education
In 1910, Mikhail Ivanovich entered the Faculty of Mathematics of the Kharkov University in Kharkiv.
Kharkov (Kharkiv) University
Marriage, 1914
On 1 April, 1914, in the Temple of Saint Elias in Syzran (near Samara, by the Volga River), Mikhail Ivanovich Ivanchenko was married to Klavdiya Georgievna Kopylova, a teacher of the women's gymnasium.
Employment
After graduating from the university in the first category, he was appointed to a teaching position at the Ufa Men's Gymnasium, in Ufa, in the Ufa Province (near the Ural Mountains).
There, he simultaneously led the church bishops' choir.
In 1916, he defended successfully his dissertation for the Master of Mathematical Sciences Degree.
Ordinations, 1917
On 8 November, 1917, Mikhail Ivanovich Ivanchenko was ordained to the Holy Diaconate by Bishop Andrei (Ukhtomsky) of Ufa
On 14 November, 1917, Deacon Mikhail I Ivanchenko was ordained to the Holy Priesthood by Bishop Andrei (Ukhtomsky) of Ufa.
Pastoral service
Priest Mikhail I Ivanchenko was assigned to serve as second priest of the Temple of Holy Prophet Elias in Ufa.
Holy Prophet Elias Temple, Ufa
Imprisonment, exile, secular work
In 1919, Priest Mikhail Ivanchenko was arrested, and then he was sent to prison. He remained in various prisons in Siberia.
It is not written what occurred after his release, although it is likely that he was not permitted to change his location for some time.
In 1927, Father Mikhail was able to move to Kharkov, where he was engaged in scientific work at the mathematical department of the university. Then, as a professor, for 12 years, he headed the department of mathematics at the Kharkov Electrotechnical Institute. During this time, he wrote various works in his speciality.
According to a colleague at the university, physicist Alexander Pankov, Father Mikhail's mother fell ill in 1934. “Father Mikhail went to her, so that she could receive Holy Communion. This was done with very great caution, as required by him and by our official positions”. (It was very dangerous to do such a thing : let it be known, and one would lose employment immediately.)
World War II, renewal of pastoral service, 1941
In the course of World War II (1939-1945), in 1941, during the “Great Patriotic War” (1941-1945) (called in the West the "Eastern Front" or the "Nazi German-Soviet War"), and during the consequent Nazi German occupation (1941-1944), Father Mikhail returned to pastoral work (because the occupying army permitted the Church to function openly). From 20 September, 1941 to 21 January, 1942, he served as a priest n the Holy Protection Monastery in central Kharkov.
On 3 January, 1942, Metropolitan Theophil (Buldovsky) of Kharkov (who was canonically ordained as a bishop ; but at that time, he was in the schismatic Ukrainian Autonomous Orthodox Church) assigned him to serve as rector of the parish in the village of Kotelva in the Poltava diocese. Also in January, 1942, Metropolitan Theophil (Buldovsky) awarded him a pectoral cross.
Later in 1942, Priest Mikhail Ivanchenko was elevated by Metropolitan Theophil (Buldovsky) the dignity of archpriest.
According to a letter to the Council for the Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church, from the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs, dated 11 December, 1951, Father Mikhail Ivanchenko continued during this period to work at the Kharkov University at the Department of Higher Mathematics, and that he “collaborated with the Germans”.
Bereavement, 1942
In late 1942, in the course of military battles between the USSR and the Nazi German Army, Archpriest Mikhail Ivanchenko became bereft of his wife and his two sons who were killed during that time.
Monastic tonsure, 1943
Widowed Archpriest Mikhail Ivanchenko moved to Kiev itself.
In Kiev, on 15 May, 1943, Archpriest Mikhail Ivanchenko was tonsured to be a monk by Archbishop Nikanor (Abramovich) of Kiev, who gave him the name Dosithei (Dositheus).
Archbishop Nikanor (Abramovich) immediately elevated Hieromonk Dosithei (Ivanchenko) to the dignity of archimandrite.
Until August, 1943, Archimandrite Dosithei was the dean of the district and chairman of the Diocesan Administration of the Poltava Diocese.
Displacement
As the Nazi German Army began to withdraw westwards in connection with the offensive of the Soviet Red Army, the further service of Archimandrite Dosithei took place in the parishes of Lvov and of Krinitsa in Western Ukraine.
On 17 November, 1944, he participated in the meeting of the bishops of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church in the city of Breslau (now Wroclaw, Poland) as a representative of the Poltava Diocese.
Exile, move to ROCOR
Then, because of the movement of the front towards the west, Archimandrite Dosithei and a multitude of other refugees moved farther west, into Germany.
His daughter Ilaria (born in 1933) had survived, and she accompanied him into exile.
In 1945, Archimandrite Dosithei was living in a camp for displaced persons in the City of Heidelberg. There, he founded an Orthodox Christian parish in the camp where he lived. At the same time, he left the UAOC and joined the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR). However, the ROCOR did not accept his elevation to archimandrite that he had received in the UAOC.
A controversy had arisen in 1947 because Metropolitan Seraphim (Lyade) of Berlin and Germany had expressed the hope to be re-united with the Moscow Patriarchate (although it did not come to be so). There were differences between the metropolitan and Metropolitan Anastasiy (Gribanovsky) about this. In this context, and perhaps also because of a disagreement with the metropolitan, Archimandrite Dosithei became involved in the controversies in some manner, and on 26 March, 1948, he was relieved of his assignment as rector of the Heidelberg parish. Nevertheless, he continued to serve in this city in a private apartment (in the manner he had done back in the USSR). In his letter to Metropolitan Seraphim dated 38 January, 1949, Archimandrite Dosithei wrote with regret : “And believe me, Vladyka, if God prolongs both your and my days, we will see in Heidelberg a parish that does not exist for emigration purposes, but to satisfy only religious needs. Indeed, it is truly painful for Vladyka to observe these current enterprises, which for some reason are called Orthodox parishes [...]”.
It seems that Archimandrite Dosithei was concerned that the parishes being established were often “planted” only to meet the needs of the migrants ; and that many would close when they found their homes abroad, since they did not reach out to and evangelise the locals. However, he expected apparently that Heidelberg might be an exception.
On 23 October, 1949, Archimandrite Dosithei was restored to this dignity by Bishop Alexander (Lovchiy) of Kissingen (in Bavaria), Vicar-Bishop of the ROCOR Diocese of Berlin and Germany. This took place in the Temple of Saint Nicholas in Munich.
On 25 April, 1950, Metropolitan Seraphim (Lyade) of Berlin and Germany assigned him to serve as rector of the Saint Nicholas Temple in Stuttgart (in Baden-Württemberg).
However, on 15 May 1950, Metropolitan Seraphim (Lyade) gave Archimandrite Dosithei a letter of canonical release from his omophor, with the blessing to transfer to another diocese.
Not long afterwards, Archimandrite Dosithei (Ivanchenko), together with his daughter who was ill, sailed for the USA.
1950 : USA ; Transfer to the Moscow Patriarchate
After having arrived in the USA, in New York City, Archimandrite Dosithei in some manner encountered the local expressions of the Russian Orthodox Church : the “Metropolia” (Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church in North America) ; “ROCOR” (Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia) ; “Russian Exarchate” (the Moscow Patriarchate Diocese of New York and the Aleutians). The leadership of all 3 entities lived in the same city (New York).
Acceptance into the Russian Exarchate of North America, 1951
In November, 1951, Archbishop Macariy (Ilyinsky), Exarch of the Moscow Patriarchate Diocese in the Americas, accepted Archimandrite Dosithei (Ivanchenko) into the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate. He was assigned at first as a cleric of the Saint Nicholas Cathedral in New York City.
Soon afterwards, he was transferred, and he was assigned to serve as rector of the Saint Nicholas Cathedral in San Francisco, California.
Saint Nicholas Cathedral, San Francisco
Archimandrite Dosithei had been sent to replace the dismissed Archpriest Pyotr Kotlyarov. For various reasons, the transfer proved to be difficult (not because of any personal fault). The Soviet embassy in the USA declared that it was considered wrong to use a “traitor of the motherland” to work in the exarchate. The embassy also warned of the possibility that Archimandrite Dosithei might leave, and with him take the cathedral entrusted to him into schism (meaning either to the ROCOR or to the “Metropolia”). From the contents of a letter from the parish committee of the Saint Nicholas Cathedral in San Francisco, it seems that the interest in Archimandrite Dosithei by the Soviet authorities had been provoked by supporters of the former rector of the cathedral. The letter included the phrase : "persons from amongst the schismatic groups of political emigration, who launched attacks both in émigré newspapers and by sending vile anonymous letters".
Especially because there was a controversy, the Moscow Patriarchate sought to verify the data reported by Archimandrite Dosithei about the period of his stay in Poland. Metropolitan Macariy (Oksiyuk), the head of the Polish Orthodox Church, was asked to corroborate the details. However, he replied that there was no information about the archimandrite in the archives of the Warsaw Metropolis, and that his name was unknown to any of the persons to whom he referred. Of course, any information would be found only in the records of the ROCOR, which were not accessible either to the Church of Poland or the Church of Russia.
Interference from the Council for the Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church
Nevertheless, in December, 1951, on the recommendation of the Council for the Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church, Alexei I (Simansky), sent a telegram to Exarch Makariy (Ilyinsky), in which he demanded the immediate removal of Archimandrite Dosithei from the clergy of the Patriarchal Church.
This order of Patriarch Alexei was not carried out immediately. Archbishops Macariy (Ilyinsky) and Adam (Philipovsky), as well as Archpriest Joseph Dzvonchik appealed to the patriarch with a series of petitions for the forgiveness of Archimandrite Dosithei, and for granting him permission to continue serving in the exarchate. They pointed out that his removal could lead to a new lawsuit against the exarchate, as a result of which the cathedral in San Francisco could be lost. According to their opinions, as well as to the opinion of Archpriest Alexander Prisadsky in Berkeley, California, Archimandrite Dosithei's activities had thus far contributed to the strengthening of the parishes in which he worked.
Resolution of the situation, 1952
Archimandrite Dosithei himself, in a letter to Patriarch Alexei dated 21 January, 1952, asked that Patriarch Alexei accept his “tearful repentance” for his 5-year sojourn in the jurisdiction of the Karlovac Church, and that he not to be expelled from the Russian Orthodox Church.
On 27 February, 1952, Mr. Belyshev turned to S R Savchenko (the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of State Security) of the USSR with a request to inform him of his opinion about the question of “the possibility of using Ivanchenko as rector of the cathedral in San Francisco or another point in the USA or Canada, where he could be appointed as a dean or even a vicar bishop, subject to the subsequent restoration of citizenship of the USSR”. The letter informed that the Moscow Patriarchate was ready to bear the costs of moving and treating the daughter of Archimandrite Dosithei to the USSR, if this was deemed appropriate and if it were deemed possible to use Archimandrite Dosithei.
Pastoral service in the USA
Ultimately, this case ended well for him. During the next years, Archimandrite Dosithei subsequently served in parishes in Lopez, Pennsylvania ; in Baltimore, Maryland ; in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and in San Francisco, California.
He also received citizenship of the USA.
In the course of these events in his life, he came to speak 3 languages : Russian, German and English.
Administrative responsibilities, 1954-1962
Between 1954 and 1962, while Archbishop Boris (Vik) was the Russian Orthodox Exarch of North America (who was permitted a visa only periodically to enter the USA and Canada to fulfil his responsibilities), Archimandrite Dosithei was given the blessing to fulfil these responsibilities on his behalf, in consultation with and the blessing of Archbishop Boris.
In February, 1955, the Holy Synod of the Church of Russia elected Archimandrite Dosithei (Ivanchenko) to become a bishop in North America, in the Russian Exarchate. However, in accordance with the decree, the ordination would not take place until after the repose of Archbishop Adam (Philipovsky) (which took place on 29 April, 1956).
Rector of Saint Nicholas Cathedral, 1958
On 25 December, 1958, Archimandrite Dosithei (Ivanchenko) was assigned to serve as rector of Saint Nicholas Cathedral in New York City.
Saint Nicholas Cathedral, New York
On 25 April, 1959, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church decided that the rector of Saint Nicholas Cathedral in New York, Archimandrite Dosithei (Ivanchenko), would be ordained to become a bishop.
A corresponding decree was sent to the Exarchate about this decision.
Episcopal ordination, 1959
On 8 May, 1959, at Saint Nicholas Cathedral in New York, Archimandrite Dosithei (Ivanchenko) formally made the accustomed Confession of Faith, and he became Bishop-elect of New York. The bishops who participated in this service were : Archbishop Panteleimon (Rudyk) of Edmonton and Canada ; Metropolitan Orest (Chornok) of Agathonikia and the American Carpatho-Russian Diocese ; and Bishop Andrei (Moldovan) of the Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese of America.
On 9 May, 1959, in the Cathedral of Saint Nicholas in New York City, at the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy, Archbishop Panteleimon (Rudyk), Metropolitan Orest (Chornok), and Bishop Andrei (Moldovan) ordained Archimandrite Dosithei (Ivanchenko) to the Holy Episcopate.
Episcopal service
Bishop Dosithei (Ivanchenko) was assigned to serve as Bishop of New York within the Russian Orthodox Exarchate of North America. He served under the authority of the Exarch, Metropolitan Boris (Vik).
In 1962, in New York, Bishop Dosithei accepted under his omophor a group of Old Catholics of Mount Royal Monastery (rector Bishop William Henry Francis Brothers), who served according to the Western Rite. They were at first given a chapel in Saint Nicholas Cathedral. The brotherhood later moved to Woodstock, New York, and then to Jacksonville, Florida. In 1975, the community moved to the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR).
All Saints of Russia Temple and Cemetery, Pine Bush, New York, 1962
In 1962, Vladyka Dosithei organised the construction of the Temple of All Saints of Russia on an estate that was purchased in the early 1960s with money donated to the Moscow Patriarchate. The estate is a five-minute drive from Pine Bush, New York (not far from Poughkeepsie). It consists of more that 180 acres (73 hectares) of land, and he saw to the establishment of a cemetery on this property. Vladyka Dosithei worked hard to develop the property.
All Saints of Russia Temple, Pine Bush, New York
Bishop of Brooklyn, 1963
On 22 February, 1963, Bishop Dosithei (Ivanchenko) was assigned to serve as Bishop of Brooklyn, and Vicar-Bishop of the Diocese of New York and the Aleutians.
In 1963, Bishop Dosithei was awarded the Order of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir of the 2nd degree.
Retirement, 1964
On 15 October, 1964, Bishop Dosithei (Ivanchenko) was given retirement, in accordance with his request. He was given a pension, but he was also not removed from service.
Return to active service, 1965
On 5 February, 1965, he was again assigned officially to serve as Bishop of Brooklyn, and Vicar-Bishop of the New York Diocese.
On 21 July, 1969, Vladyka Dosithei was awarded the Order of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir, 1st degree.
On 5 April, 1970, Bishop Dosithei (Ivanchenko) was elevated to the dignity of archbishop with the right to wear a Cross on his klobuk.
During the course of his active service from 1959, Vladyka Dosithei made pastoral visits to parishes of the Exarchate in both the USA and Canada. The Canadian parishes at that time constituted the Canadian Diocese of Edmonton within the Exarchate, led by Archbishop Panteleimon (Rudyk) at Saint Barbara's Cathedral in Edmonton, Alberta.
Following the 1970 autocephaly of The Orthodox Church in America (OCA) in 1970, the parishes of that diocese which remained outside the autocephalous OCA were cared for by an administrator from the Moscow Patriarchate. A similar administration was established in the USA.
Autocephaly for the “Metropolia”, 1970
On 10 April, 1970, the Church of Russia granted Autocephaly to the Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church in North America (ROGCCNA), also known as "the Metropolia", which then became The Orthodox Church in America (OCA).
At that time, the dioceses of the Russian Orthodox Church in the USA and in Canada were abolished. They were replaced by a special administration in each country for the parishes that did not enter the autocephaly but remained with the Moscow Patriarchate in the Administration of the Russian Orthodox Patriarchal Parishes in the USA, and in the Administration of the Russian Orthodox Patriarchal Parishes in Canada. (In 2023, the administrator of both administrations is Bishop Matthew (Andreev).)
Retirement, 1970
In association with this change, Archbishop Dosithei (Ivanchenko) was retired, in accordance with his previous petition.
In retirement, Vladyka Dosithei continued to serve in the parishes of the administration in the USA in accordance with the blessing of the bishop who was assigned at the time to administer the parishes.
While he was serving in the parishes of the exarchate and of its successor, Vladyka Dosithei became well-known as a composer of Church music.
Repose, 1984
On 1 June, 1984, Archbishop Dosithei (Ivanchenko) fell asleep in the Lord (at the age of 100 years).
On 5 June, 1984, the Funeral Services for the Burial of a Hierarch were offered in the Patriarchal Parish of All Saints of Russia, at 287 Jansen Road, Pine Bush, New York.
The body of Archbishop Dosithei (Ivanchenko) was interred in the All Saints of Russia Cemetery at Pine Bush, not far from the Temple. Vladyka Dosithei had pre-arranged this already in 1962.
All Saints of Russia Cemetery, Pine Bush, New York
– Bishop of New York and the Aleutians 1959-1963. Preceded by : Metropolitan Boris (Vik). Succeeded by :Archbishop John (Wendland).
– Vicar-Bishop of the Diocese of New York and the Aleutians 1963-1970.
– Bishop of Brooklyn 1963-1964 ; 1965-1970.
– Archbishop of Brooklyn 1970.
– Former Archbishop of Brooklyn 1970-1984.
Reflections
Awards
• Order of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Duke Vladimir, 2nd degree (1963)
• Order of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Duke Vladimir, 1st degree (1969)
Writings
Writings about Archbishop Dosithei (Ivanchenko) in the “Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate”
• “Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate” (JMP)
• ‘About the Appointment of Archimandrite [Dosithei] as Bishop in New York’ in “JMP” (1959), no. 6, p. 28.
• ‘Naming and Consecration of Archimandrite Dosithei (Ivanchenko)’ in “JMP” (1959), no. 10, pp. 11-14.
• ‘Awards of Bishops’ in “JMP” (1959) & (1963), no. 6, p. 10.
• ‘Decisions of the Holy Synod’ in “JMP” (1964), no. 11, p. 3, & (1965), no. 3, p. 6.
• ‘Patriarchal Awards’ in “JMP” (1969), no. 11, p. 4.
• ‘Decrees of Patriarch Alexy of Moscow and All Russia : Retirement of Archbishop Dosithei (Ivanchenko) of Brooklyn’ in “JMP” (1970), no. 5, pp. 6, 23.
• ‘Repose of Archbishop Dosithei (Ivanchenko)’ in “JMP” (1984), no. 7, p. 4.
References
Orthodox Encyclopaedia biography
Additional information
ABC of Faith : History of the Hierarchy of the Russian Orthodox Church
Kireev, Protodeacon Alexander, “Dioceses and Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church 1943-2002” (Moscow : 2002), p.245.
(Lemeshevsky), Metropolitan Manuel, “Russian Church Hierarchs” (3 vols.) (Moscow : Sretensky Monastery, 2004), vol. 3, pp. 96-97.
Pospielovsky, Dimitry, “The Russian Church under the Soviet Regime, 1917-1982”, 2 volumes (Crestwood, NY : SVS Press, 1984). ISBN : 0881410330.
(Protsyuk), Metropolitan Theodosius, “Separation Movements in the Orthodox Church in Ukraine (1917-1943)” (Moscow : Publishing House of the Krutitsy Metochion, 2004), pp. 502, 607.
Vlasovsky, I, “Essay on the History of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, 20th Century”, vol. 4, p. 272.
Russian Religious Workers Abroad reference
Patriarch Sergiy (Stragorodsky)
Metropolitan Theophil (Buldovsky)
Metropolitan Anastasiy (Gribanovsky)
Metropolitan Macariy (Oksiyuk)
Metropolitan Benjamin (Fedchenkov)
Metropolitan Makariy (Ilyinsky)
Metropolitan Germogen (Kozhin)
Archbishop Nikanor (Abramovich)
Archbishop Panteleimon (Rudyk)
Archbishop Jonathan (Kopolovitch)
Findagrave listing for All Saints of Russia Cemetery, Pine Bush, New York
Orthodoxwiki article about the Russian Orthodox Exarchate of North America
Orthodoxwiki article about Saint Nicholas Russian Orthodox Cathedral, New York City