Onufriy (Orest Volodymyrovych Berezovskyi) — His Beatitude, Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine, Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (2014–present).
Place of Birth, Education
He was born on November 5, 1944, to a clergyman’s family in the village of Korytne, which is now part of the Vyzhnytsia District in Chernivtsi Oblast.
From 1962 to 1964, he studied at the Chernivtsi Technical School, after which he began working for construction companies based in Chernivtsi.
In 1966, he enrolled as a student in the General Technical Faculty of Chernivtsi University; however, after studying there for three years, he decided in 1969 to continue his studies at the Moscow Theological Seminary, entering directly into the second year. He graduated from that institution in 1972.
In 1988, he also graduated from the Moscow Theological Academy with a degree in theology.
A Career as a Clergyman
Starting in 1970 and for the next 18 years, he was a member of the monastic community at the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, where, combining his studies with monastic life, he performed various duties—he sang in the church choir, worked in the candle shop, and served as the abbot’s cell attendant.
On March 18, 1971, he took monastic vows and was given the name Onuphrius in honor of St. Onuphrius the Great. On June 20 of that same year, he was ordained a hierodeacon, and on May 29, 1972, he was ordained a hieromonk.
In 1980, he was ordained as an igumen. On August 28, 1984, he was appointed rector of the Church of the Transfiguration of the Savior at the Mount Athos Metochion in the village of Lukine. On June 28, 1985, he became the dean of the Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra, and on Christmas Day 1986, he was ordained an archimandrite.
From July 20, 1988, until November 1990, he served as abbot of the Pochaiv Lavra.
On November 24, 1990, by a decision of the Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, he was appointed Bishop of Chernivtsi and Bukovina. His nomination took place on December 8 of that year, and his consecration was held on December 9 at St. Volodymyr’s Cathedral in Kyiv.
On January 22, 1992, he refused to sign an appeal from the Bishops’ Council of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia, requesting autocephalous status. The next day, January 23, Metropolitan Filaret transferred him to the Ivano-Frankivsk See.
However, as early as April 7, 1992, he was reinstated to the Chernivtsi See. On May 27–28 of that same year, he took part in the Kharkiv Council, where, along with the majority of the bishops, he supported the decision to remove Filaret, who was subsequently excommunicated from the church and declared anathema.
On July 28, 1994, he was ordained an archbishop and became a permanent member of the Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
Long before the reunification of the Russian Orthodox Church within Russia and beyond its borders, he had established close ties with the First Hierarch of the Church Abroad, Metropolitan Laurus. They first met in 1995, after which they met on numerous occasions, both during Onufry’s trips to North America and during Metropolitan Lavr’s unofficial visits to Ukraine.
On November 22, 2000, he was elevated to the rank of metropolitan.
Until December 14, 2007, he headed the Synodal Canonical Commission of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, until it was merged with the Theological Commission to form the Theological-Canonical Commission. That same year, he became the head of the ecclesiastical court.
Since July 27, 2009, it has been part of the Inter-Council Presence of the Russian Orthodox Church.
On February 24, 2014, the Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church elected him as locum tenens of the Kyiv Metropolitan See by secret ballot.
On March 19, 2014, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church decided to admit him as a permanent member, assigning him the position in the order of precedence traditionally held by the Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine.
On August 13, 2014, following a secret ballot, he was elected and consecrated as the new primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate.
The enthronement ceremony took place on August 17, 2014.
