Greeting address to the Head of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan, Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan, from the members of the Synod of the Metropolis of Kazakhstan on the occasion of his name day and the 50th anniversary of his church servic

September 12, 2025. On the feast of the Holy Right-Believing Grand Prince Alexander Nevsky and Saint Alexander of Svir, the Head of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan, Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan, prayerfully marks his name day and the 50th anniversary of his church service.

On the occasion of this celebration, the members of the Synod of the Metropolis of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Republic of Kazakhstan sent a greeting address:

Your Eminence,

Most Reverend Metropolitan Alexander!

Today, on the commemoration of the great ancient ascetics - the Holy Right-Believing Prince Alexander Nevsky, the righteous defender of the Orthodox faith, a wise diplomat and statesman, and Saint Alexander of Svir, a humble monk, wonderworker, and contemplator of the ineffable mysteries of God - you prayerfully celebrate your name day.

This year is marked for you by a special date - it is 50 years since the beginning of your church ministry. The first lessons of faith and piety you received from your mentors - pastors and laity whose lives were marked by the struggles of confession and labors for the preservation of Orthodoxy. From your youth, your heart was filled with love for Christ and His Holy Church. Moved by this sacred feeling, half a century ago you crossed the threshold of the theological schools of the city on the Neva, where you underwent serious intellectual and spiritual preparation for further service and began to bear the obedience of a subdeacon. In those years, which have now become part of history, the theological schools of the city on the Neva were a unique higher educational institution with their outstanding faculty. Your rector was Archbishop Kirill of Vyborg - now His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus’, and your spiritual father was the ever-memorable wise elder Bishop Meliton (Solovyov) of Tikhvin. He passed on to you, as his spiritual son, the testament he himself had once heard in his youth from the righteous pastor John of Kronstadt: “Love the Church of God with all your heart.” These words became the guiding principle and motto of your whole life. The Lord also granted you the remarkable opportunity to communicate with an outstanding hierarch of exceptional intellectual gifts and administrative talents - the ever-memorable Metropolitan Nikodim (Rotov).

Your faith, strengthened in the era of administrative persecutions of the Church of Christ, became a solid foundation for all your subsequent constructive work. Having received an excellent theological education and passed through the school of various obediences, you became a good steward of the manifold grace of God (1 Pet. 4:10). The Almighty set you on the high lampstand of archpastoral ministry in a difficult period of the Church’s existence. In all challenging circumstances, you have always placed your trust in God, and with zeal, in the words of the Apostle Paul, you show steadfastness and immovability, always abounding in the work of the Lord (1 Cor. 15:58).

Now, for the fifteenth time, you celebrate this significant day on the blessed land of Kazakhstan, which you love, sanctified by the struggles of the new martyrs and confessors. You carefully preserve the traditions of spiritual enlightenment and pastoral care established here by outstanding hierarchs of the past, such as Archbishop Sofony (Sokolsky), Schema-Archbishop Anthony (Abashidze), the Holy Confessor Metropolitan Nicholas (Mogilevsky), and the elder-hierarch Metropolitan Joseph (Chernov). This succession both calls you to new labors and achievements, and at the same time is a pledge of prayerful support, which they unfailingly render you.

You are a faithful assistant to His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus’ as a permanent member of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church. His Holiness constantly emphasizes that Kazakhstan “is an example of peaceful interaction and cooperation among people belonging to different ethnic groups, nationalities, and religions.” Our Primate, our great lord and father, whose visit to the Metropolis we all eagerly await, values your active care for the ecclesiastical portion entrusted to you and your contribution to the development of relations with the leadership of the Republic, with representatives of traditional religions and public organizations.

We all bear witness to your good initiatives and righteous deeds, which are forever inscribed in the church chronicles in golden letters. “He who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully” (2 Cor. 9:6). With God’s help, church construction and the restoration of desecrated shrines continue in Kazakhstan, educational, charitable, and youth work expand, church-state relations develop, and interreligious dialogue is carried out. In our country, people of different nationalities and cultures respect your efforts in affirming eternal moral values and your tireless work in strengthening interfaith peace and interethnic harmony.

Millions of Orthodox believers see in you their spiritual father and guide, sincerely pray for you, and wish you health and blessed success in your ministry for the benefit of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan. May the Holy Right-Believing Prince Alexander strengthen your spirit and intercede before the All-Merciful Creator for spiritual and bodily strength, and may Saint Alexander of Svir, through his intercession, obtain for you abundant grace-filled help in the many important church and public labors which you diligently perform for the glory of God.