Schema-Archimandrite Pakhomy (Goroshko), Spiritual Father of the Brotherhood of the Karaganda Diocese, Reposed in the Lord

August 6, 2026. On the 94th year of his life, the oldest cleric of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District, Schema-Archimandrite Pakhomy (Goroshko), reposed in the Lord.

Schema-Archimandrite Pakhomy (in the world Pyotr Spiridonovich Goroshko) was born in 1932 in the Brest Region. In 1948 he completed four years of elementary education and worked on a collective farm until 1951. From 1951 to 1955 he fulfilled his military service. In 1957 he came to Kazakhstan during the Virgin Lands campaign and worked as an excavator operator at Yermentau (now Yereymentau) in the Akmola Region.

In 1958 he arrived in Karaganda to meet St. Sebastian of Karaganda, becoming his spiritual son and closest assistant. For a time he worked as a boiler operator in a hospital and later served as a driver for the Church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos.

From 1967 to 1975 he studied at the Moscow Theological Seminary and the Moscow Theological Academy. Upon graduation he received the academic degree of Candidate of Theology, defending a dissertation in the Department of Pastoral Theology entitled “Schema-Hegumen Anthony (Putilov), Abbot of the St. Nicholas Monastery in Maloyaroslavets, and His Epistolary Legacy.”

On November 29, 1968, he was tonsured a monk by Bishop Pitirim (Nechayev) of Volokolamsk. In February 1969, Bishop Filaret (Vakhromeyev) of Dmitrov, Rector of the Moscow Theological Academy, ordained him to the diaconate, and on March 7, 1971, he was ordained to the holy priesthood.

After completing his studies at the Moscow Theological Academy, he remained there as a postgraduate fellow in the Department of Moral Theology and served as a member of the Academy’s library staff.

In 1977, at the request of the parish council of the Church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos, Archbishop Vladimir (Sabodan), Rector of the Moscow Theological Academy, blessed Hieromonk Pyotr to return to minister in Karaganda. Beginning in October 1977, he faithfully served at the Church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos, remaining there until the end of his earthly life.

For nearly forty years, Father Pakhomy fulfilled the obedience of spiritual father of the Karaganda Diocese. In recognition of his many years of service to the Holy Church, he received numerous ecclesiastical awards. On November 16, 2021, at the recommendation of Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus’ awarded Archimandrite Pyotr the high ecclesiastical distinction of the right to wear a second jeweled pectoral cross.

On January 28, 2026, Archimandrite Pyotr received the Great Schema, taking the name Pakhomy in honor of St. Pachomius the Great.

The entire life of Schema-Archimandrite Pakhomy was devoted to the service of God and His people. Through his prayers, pastoral ministry, and grace-filled words, he strengthened the faith of thousands. His love, meekness, humility, and spiritual wisdom drew countless pilgrims who came to him from every part of Kazakhstan, as well as from neighboring and more distant countries, seeking counsel, prayer, and consolation.

With the repose of Schema-Archimandrite Pakhomy, the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan has suffered a profound loss. The blessed memory of this kind shepherd, wise spiritual father, and faithful servant of Christ’s Church will remain forever in the hearts of the clergy, monastics, and his many spiritual children.

May the All-Merciful Lord grant rest to the soul of the newly departed Schema-Archimandrite Pakhomy in the dwellings of the righteous, and may his memory be eternal.