The 40th Day Since the Repose of Archbishop Anthony (Moskalenko)

1 June 2025 – Forty days have passed since the repose in the Lord of Archbishop Anthony (Moskalenko).

At the Ascension Cathedral in Almaty, during the Sunday Divine Liturgy, Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan, Head of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan, together with the archpastors of the Metropolitan District, offered special prayers for the ever-memorable hierarch, who had shepherded the Urals Diocese for more than thirty years.

On the same day, in the city of Uralsk, at the burial site of the newly reposed Archbishop Anthony – at the altar of the Transfiguration Church – a memorial litia was served by the clergy of the Urals Diocese, led by Archimandrite Theodosius (Kuryanov), rector of the Cathedral of the Archangel Michael.

“The reposed archpastor lived a long life, rich in many events. In his youth, after completing his education at Krasnoyarsk State University and later at the Moscow Theological Academy, he heeded the call of Christ, the Chief Shepherd, and took up the cross of ministry to the Holy Church. By the Providence of God, he was entrusted with various ecclesiastical obediences – he served in parishes of the Khmelnytsky Diocese, was rector of the Vladimir Cathedral in Kyiv, and held the office of Chancellor of the Ukrainian Exarchate. By the will of the Church authorities, his episcopal consecration took place forty years ago – he became Bishop of Pereyaslav-Khmelnytsky, a vicar of the Kyiv Diocese, and later was appointed to the See of Chernivtsi.

At the dawn of Kazakhstan’s independence, in 1991, Bishop Anthony became the head of the newly established Urals Diocese, which at that time united the parishes of five regions of the Republic. For more than three decades, he labored with zeal and devotion in proclaiming the Gospel, ever striving to carry out his ministry ‘by purity, by knowledge, by long-suffering, by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by sincere love’ (2 Cor. 6:6). A great number of Kazakhstani citizens – regardless of nationality or religious belief – respected and valued him. His many years of work to promote the ideals of goodness and mercy in society, his efforts to strengthen interethnic friendship, were recognised with high ecclesiastical and state honors, as well as honorary citizenships of the West Kazakhstan Region and the cities of Uralsk and Atyrau. His great wisdom in life, openness and approachability, and tireless care for all aspects of church life in the region earned him the love of his spiritual children, clergy, and flock.”

(From the funeral address of Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan for Archbishop Anthony [Moskalenko])

Archbishop Anthony reposed in the Lord on 23 April 2025, in the 85th year of his life.