Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan Congratulates Archpriest Valeriy Zakharov, Dean of the Churches of the Almaty Ecclesiastical District, on His 75th Birthday

June 8, 2026 marked the 75th birthday of Mitred Archpriest Valeriy Zakharov, rector of St. Nicholas Cathedral and dean of the churches of the Almaty Ecclesiastical District. Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan, Head of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan, sent a congratulatory address to Archpriest Valeriy:

Your High Reverence, dear Father Valeriy!

Please accept my sincere congratulations on the significant occasion of the 75th anniversary of your birth!

Your labors in the field of the Church are manifold. In His wisdom, the Lord has granted you many years of standing before His Altar and offering the Bloodless Sacrifice of thanksgiving for all and for everything. Striving to show yourself a good minister of Christ and a steward of the Mysteries of God (1 Cor. 4:1), you care for the spiritual growth of the clergy and flock entrusted to you and for guiding both those near and far onto the path of salvation.

The Lord has endowed you with many gifts, and all of them have been called into service throughout your many years of sacrificial and fruitful labor for the glory of the Holy Church.

As rector of one of the spiritually and historically significant churches of Almaty – St. Nicholas Cathedral – and as dean of the Almaty Ecclesiastical District, you make a substantial contribution to the spiritual revival of Kazakhstan’s southern capital.

On this significant day of celebration, I offer prayerful wishes for health, peace, and well-being.

May the Life-Giving Lord, through the intercessions of the Most Holy Theotokos, the prayers of the New Martyrs and Confessors of Kazakhstan, and the supplications of the Hieroconfessor Nicholas, Metropolitan of Almaty and Kazakhstan, at whose relics you perform your priestly ministry, renew your spiritual and physical strength, grant vigor of spirit, and bestow His all-strengthening help in your continued pastoral labors for the benefit of the Holy Church on the blessed land of Kazakhstan. Many and blessed years to you!