Archbishop Jeronim (Chernov)
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Archbishop Jeronim (Chernov) of Detroit and Flint (1878-1957)
Jeronim, or Jerome are English spellings of the Russian Ieronim or the Greek Ieronimos.
Ioann may be spelt John, Ioan, Ivan.
Early life of Ioann Chernov
Ioann Chernov was born in 1878, into a family of clergy, in the town of Sudodga, in the Vladimir Governorate, in the Russian Empire.
Soon, before he was of school age, the family moved to the city of Vladimir. His father was an official who served as an accountant in the Treasury.
There, under the influence of his "churchly" mother, Ioann was sent to Church schools for his primary and secondary education.
Higher education
In 1895, Ioann enrolled in the Vladimir Spiritual Seminary, from which he graduated in 1899 with the title of "student". The rector there was Archimandrite Nikon (Sofiiskiy), and the inspector was Hieromonk Evlogiy (Georgievsky).
After graduating from the seminary, from 1899 to 1902, Ioann served as a psalm-reader ("psalomshchik"), and he taught the Law of God in the the school of the Malakhovo village near Suzdal.
Marriage
At some time during his schooling, or while he was teaching, Ioann was married.
Ordinations, 1902
On 28 April, 1902, Ioann Chernov was ordained to the Holy Diaconate.
On 2 May, 1902, Deacon Ioann Chernov was ordained to the Holy Priesthood.
Pastoral service
From 1902 to 1909, Priest Ioann Chernov served in several different parishes.
Bereavement, 1902
In 1902, during the first year of his pastoral service, Priest Ioann Chernov was widowed upon the unexpected repose of his wife. It is not written so, but it was not uncommon (and still occurs) that a woman might not survive child-birth.
Further education, 1909
In 1909, under the influence of his relatives (and before 1906, under that of his former rector Bishop Nikon (Sofiisky) of Vladimir), Priest Ioann Chernov enrolled in the Moscow Theological Academy.
Monastic tonsure, 1912
On 23 December, 1912 (during the fourth year of his studies), in the Academy Chapel, Priest Ioann Chernov was tonsured to be a monk by the rector of the Academy, Archimandrite Feodor (Pozdeyevskiy) and given the name Jeronim (Ieronim, Ieronym).
In 1913, the Hieromonk Jeronim (Chernov) received a Candidate of Theology degree from the Moscow Theological Academy. For his thesis, "The Prophet Isaiah and His Time", Hieromonk Jeronim was awarded a monetary grant ; and on the submission of Professor D I Vvedensky, he was kept as a professor's fellow in the Department of Biblical History, with the right to develop an essay for a master's degree.
In 1914, Hieromonk Jeronim entered the Kursk Monastery of the Sign, at which the holy Kursk-Root Icon of the Mother of God ("Kursk-Korennaya" Icon) was kept.
On 13 May, 1914, he was assigned to the Kursk Theological Seminary, where he taught Sacred History.
In 1915, Hieromonk Jeronim was unanimously elected to be the inspector at the seminary. He continued in this responsibility until the Kursk Seminary was closed after the October Revolution by the Bolsheviks in 1919.
In 1918, Igumen Jeronim (Chernov) was also assigned to be the Deputy Abbot ("namyestnik") of the Kursk Monastery of the Sign.
Igumen Jeronim was also assigned to serve as Secretary to Bishop Theophan (Gavrilov) of the Kursk-Oboyansk Diocese.
In 1919, Igumen Jeronim (Chernov) was elevated to the dignity of archimandrite.
In 1919, as they came to dominate Russia, the Bolsheviks were actively attacking the Orthodox clergy and destroying church facilities.
In September, 1919, as the White Army retreated from Kursk, Bishop Theophan (Gavrilov), along with Archimandrite Jeronim (Chernov) and others, took the Holy Kursk Root Icon for safekeeping, and they left Kursk for exile. They travelled to the south, to a port on the Black Sea, and then they boarded a ship which took them to Constantinople, and Thessalonika.
Exile, 1920
In March, 1920, they reached Serbia in (Yugoslavia).
In Yugoslavia, Archimandrite Jeronim was assigned to serve in several communities. He was assigned by Bishop Mardarije (Uskoković) to direct the monastic school at Rakovica.
Palestine, 1923
On 2 December, 1922, the Provisional Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church (Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia) assigned Archimandrite Jeronim (Chernov) to serve as the Head of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem, Palestine. He served in this position until 1925, after which he continued to reside in Palestine, where he served in various places belonging to this Mission until 1933.
In 1934, he was recalled to Serbia, from where he would be sent to North America.
Transfer to the USA, 1935
In early 1935, Archimandrite Jeronim (Chernov) was invited to the USA by Bishop Vitaly (Maximenko) of New York.
Episcopal ordination, 1935
On 18 August, 1935, at the Exaltation of the Holy Cross Sobor in The Bronx, New York City, New York, Archimandrite Jeronim (Chernov) was ordained to the Holy Episcopate by Archbishop Vitaly (Maximenko) of New York, Bishop Joasaph (Skorodumov) of Montreal and Eastern Canada, and Metropolitan Theodosius (Abourjaily) of Tyre and Sidon.
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Bishop Jeronim
Episcopal service
Bishop Jeronim (Chernov) was assigned to be the Bishop of Detroit and Cleveland.
Later in 1935, the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR) and the North American Archdiocese (the Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church of North America (ROGCCNA)) engaged in a period of harmony and unity in their mutual service in North America.
Service in Canada, 1936
On 4 May, during a period of co-operation between the Russian Diocese of North America (Metropolia) and the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR), Bishop Jeronim was assigned to be the Bishop of Montréal and Eastern Canada.
Bishops of the Metropolia and ROCOR, late 1930s : Vladyka Jeronim standing, centre
On 11 October, 1937, Vladyka Jeronim (Chernov) was transferred to the USA, and he was assigned to the Diocese of Detroit and Cleveland (following the retirement of Bishop Arseny (Chahovtsov) and his move to Saint Tikhon's Monastery in Pennsylvania.
In late 1945, Vladika Jeronim travelled to Geneva, Switzerland, at the invitation of Metropolitan Anastassy (Gribanovsky) to participate in the episcopal consecrations of Archimandrite Nafanail (Lvov) (later Archbishop of Vienna and Austria) and Archimandrite Seraphim (Ivanov) (later Archbishop of Chicago and Detroit).
At the Great Bishops' Council of the North American Metropolitan District of the Russian Church Abroad in May of 1946, Vladika Jeronim was assigned to serve as the representative of the North American Metropolitan District to the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Church Abroad for a term of one year.
Renewal of division between the ROGCCNA and the ROCOR, 1946
In November, 1946, Bishop Jeronim (Chernov) participated in the 7th All-American Sobor in Cleveland, Ohio. Because of the decisions of this Sobor, the hierarchs of the Metropolia and the ROCOR separated from each other. As a consquence, Archbishop Vitaly (Maximenko), Archbishop Tikhon (Troitsky), Archbishop Joasaph (Skordumov) and Bishop Jeronim (Chernov), who had opposed the proposed resolution at that Sobor, remained within the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, and they separated from the Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church of North America.
With this separation, the Diocese of Detroit and Cleveland was reduced to 4 parishes. The ROCOR Holy Synod made a re-arrangement of the diocese, and changed the name of the diocese.
Bishop Jeronim (Chernov) was assigned by the ROCOR Synod of Bishops to be the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Detroit and Flint (both cities being in the State of Michigan).
At the same time, the Holy Synod of the ROCOR elevated Bishop Jeronim (Chernov) to the dignity of archbishop.
From 1950, Archbishop Jeronim (Chernov) was a member of the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia.
In 1953, Archbishop Jeronim was awarded the right to wear the diamond (they are usually glass) Cross on his klobuk. In the awarding, it was noted that it had been given "for loyalty to the canons".
Repose, 1957
On 14 May, 1957, Archbishop Jeronim (Chernov) reposed in Christ in Detroit, Michigan.
— Bishop of Detroit and Cleveland 1935-1936. Preceded by : Bishop Paul (Gavrilov). Succeeded by : Archbishop Arseny (Chahovtsov).
— Bishop of Montréal and Eastern Canada 1936-1937. Preceded by : Bishop Emmanuel (Abou-Hatab). Succeeded by : Bishop Anthony (Tereshchenko).
— Bishop of Detroit and Cleveland 1937-1946. Preceded by : Archbishop Vitaly (Maximenko).
— Archbishop of Detroit and Flint (ROCOR) 1946-1957. Succeeded by : See merged with Chicago.
Reflections
After the repose of Vladyka Jeronim, the diocese he had led was merged with the Diocese of Chicago and Cleveland.
Writings
• "50th Anniversary of the Bishop's Ministry of the Most Reverend Metropolitan Anastasy, 1906-1956" (New York : Holy Trinity Monastery, Jordanville, 1956).
• "A History of the Russian Church Abroad, 1917-1971" (Washington : Saint Nectarios Press, Seattle, 1972].
• (Ivanov), Archbishop Seraphim, "Odigitria of the Russian Abroad Of The New Indigenous Desert" (New York, 1963).
• Seide, Fr. Georg, "Geschichle der Russischen Orthodoxen Kirche im Austand von der Grundung bis in die Gegenwart" (Munich : Otto Harassowitz, 1983).
• Tserk. Ved., no. 22 (1914) p. 261 ; no. 43 (1915) p. 494.
• Orthodox Russia, no. 16 (1935) p. 1 ; no. 11/12 (1952) p.30 ; no. 11 (1957) pp. 5-6.
• "Anniversary collection to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Russian Orthodox Church in North America", 2, (New York, 1945) pp. 210-211.
References
Dictionary and Encyclopaedia of Academics biography (in Russian)
Orthodox Encyclopaedia biography
Additional information :
Archdiocese of Canada — Orthodox Church in America, “The Orthodox Church in Canada : A Chronology” (Ottawa : Archdiocese of Canada, 1988).
Tarasar, Constance J, ed., "Orthodox America 1794-1976 : Development of The Orthodox Church in America" (Syosset, NY : The Orthodox Church in America Department of History and Archives, 1975). ASIN : B000ZLZAUE.
Biography of His Grace Archbishop Ieronim (Chernov) of Detroit 1978-1957
Orthodoxwiki article about the ROCOR and the OCA
Article about the "Metropolia"
Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR) web-site
Orthodoxwiki article about the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia
Canadian Orthodox History Project no. 19, p. 77.