Metropolitan Methodius: brief biography

The Most Reverend Methodius, who now heads the Perm and Solikamsk departments in the jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Church, is one of the most ambiguous hierarchs of Russian Orthodoxy. In the recent past, he claimed the patriarchal throne, competing with Metropolitan Kirill of Kaliningrad. The life and ministry of this man will be discussed in this article.

Formation of the personality of Metropolitan Methodius

Metropolitan Mefody (Nemtsov) was born, whose photo can be seen below, on February 16, 1949 in Ukraine, on the territory of the modern Lugansk region. After school he received a secular education in the railway technical school, after which he entered the Odessa Theological Seminary, which he graduated in 1972. This was an atypical choice, made by the future Metropolitan Methodius (Nemtsov). His family was from the servants, but something influenced the young man who connected his life with the ministry in the church. Following the seminary, he entered the spiritual academy in Leningrad, and then in postgraduate study at the Moscow Theological Academy. At that time, as part of the youth delegation of representatives of theological schools of the Russian Orthodox Church, he went abroad, visiting Greece, Bulgaria and Finland.

The adoption of the sacred dignity

In 1974, the future Metropolitan Methodius takes monastic tonsure at the hands of His Eminence Nicodemus, Metropolitan of Leningrad and Novgorod. At this time he takes the name of Methodius in honor of the Equal-to-the-Apostles Enlightener of the Slavs. The civil name given to him in baptism is Nicholas. Two days after the monastic vows, the monk Methodius takes the holy deacon's dignity, and a few months later becomes a priest.

Serving in the ROC as a priest

In the first years after his consecration, Metropolitan Methodius served in Moscow, in the Novodevichy Convent. At the same time, he began his ecclesiastical career in the Department of External Church Relations, literally in a few months passing from the rank-and-file referent to the deputy chairman of the department. This is a rather dark page in the biography of Metropolitan Methodius. After the collapse of the USSR, many facts of cooperation between clergymen and the KGB were revealed. Among other things, it became clear that the DECR was a secret service center inside the Russian Orthodox Church, and Metropolitan Methodius made a dizzyingly fast career there only as from the submission of the leadership of the state security. Later, these same forces influenced his election to the bishops. Of course, after perestroika, the fact that Metropolitan Mefody was recruited into the KGB and had an officer rank in this structure was hushed up. The same policy of silence was held for all other recruited clergymen, who were very numerous. Often such a step was taken by the hierarchs, as this was the only way to receive the holy dignity or to keep it with you.
Later, Metropolitan Methodius (Nemtsov) serves in the rank of archimandrite in various churches in Moscow, until in 1980 he was elevated to the bishopric.

Hierarchical ministry

Naming and ordination to the bishops of Archimandrite Methodius was held in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. The place of service of the new bishop was the Irkutsk department, which also includes parishes in Chita and other cities. In addition, together with the Irkutsk diocese, he was assigned temporary management of the Khabarovsk church structures.

But served in Siberia, Metropolitan Methodius did not last long - in two years he was transferred to Voronezh. In 1985-1989, parallel to the episcopal ministry, he performed the duties of financial and economic manager of the Patriarchate.

In 1985, the Most Reverend Methodius became an archbishop. In 1988 - Metropolitan, in reward for his efforts to prepare and hold celebrations in honor of the 1000th anniversary of the baptism of Rus.

In 1997, Metropolitan Methodius was appointed by the most holy Alexy, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, to the position of a member of the commission for the preparation and celebration of the 2000th anniversary of Christianity. Together with this, he also takes the place of chairman of the Historical and Legal Commission of the Russian Orthodox Church.
In the composition of various commissions, Metropolitan Mefody quite actively conducts a dialogue with various religious organizations. He is on the list of Trustees of the project "Orthodox Encyclopedia" and in the editorial board of the publication "Religions of the World", annually published by the Russian Academy of Sciences, as well as the quarterly "Historical Herald."

In 2003, the Most Reverend Methodius became the head of the metropolitan district in the Republic of Kazakhstan, carrying the ministry there until 2010, when he was transferred to the Perm Metropolia by a decree of the Holy Synod. This position he occupies to this day.