Anthony Sevryuk
Metropolitan Anthony, is a prelate of the Russian Orthodox Church. Since June 2022, he has held the titles of Metropolitan of Volokolamsk and Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate.
Early life
Sevryuk was baptised at the age of 11. From 1991 to 1995 he studied at Secondary School Number 19 in his home city of Tver. In 1995, he entered the Tver Lyceum.In his youth, Sevryuk volunteered as an altar server at Holy Resurrection Cathedral in Tver.
Academic studies
In 2002 he entered the St. Petersburg Theological Seminary. During his training he studied, and later was the teacher of an optional English course. He regularly represented the school at various Orthodox conferences and seminars. In 2006, he participated in a workshop of the Syndesmos youth organization in Brussels, Belgium. In 2004-2007 participated annually in the summer Orthodox youth camp in Potamitissa, Cyprus, as a translator and head of the Russian-speaking delegation. In March 2007 he took an internship at the Orthodox religious department at the University of Joensuu, and at the same time worked on parish assignments for the Finnish Orthodox Church. In June 2007, upon returning to Saint Petersburg, he successfully defended his thesis for a seminary course on "Eschatology in World Religions", and on 17 June he graduated from Saint Petersburg Theological Seminary, and in 2010 graduated from the Saint Petersburg Theological Academy. In September 2008, he was appointed teacher of the Smolensk Theological Seminary.Religious life
Monk
On 5 March 2009 in Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius he was tonsured a Degrees of [Eastern Orthodox monasticism#Rasophore|rasophore monk] by newly-enthroned Patriarch Kirill of Moscow with name Anthony, after Anthony of Valaam.On 7 October 2015 in same place he was tonsured mantle monk by Kirill, this time with the name of Anthony, after Anthony of Rome.
In Italy
From 22 March to 30 May 2011, he served as the leading clergyman of the parish of St. Nicholas Stavropegic in Rome, Italy. From 30 May to 12 June 2011 he served as the leading clergyman of the Stavropegial Church in honor of St. Catherine the Great Martyr also in Rome. On 12 June 2011 he was appointed secretary of the parishes of the Moscow Patriarchate in Italy, and elevated to the rank of Archimandrite by Patriarch Kirill.During his time in Rome, Anthony said that he felt rather lonely as for the first time in his life he was living for a prolonged period of time in a place where Russian Orthodox made a small percentage of the population. Before and during his time in Rome the Orthodox community in Italy had grown to over 50 parishes, mostly due to immigration to Italy from Orthodox populations in Eastern Europe and to a lesser extent by converts. During the same time the Romanian Orthodox community in Italy grew to 163 parishes. Despite feeling uneasy at times, Anthony said that there are many similarities between Italians and Russians in tradition and customs, so the transition to being a pastor in Italy was not hard culturally.