Global InformationKassian Bogatyrets information
Kassian Bogatyrets (Kasyan Bohatyrets) | |
|---|---|
| Suffragan Bishop of Bukovina | |
 Bogatyrets in 1911 | |
| Church | Romanian Orthodox Church Russian Orthodox Church (Ukrainian Exarchate) |
| Appointed | 1944 |
| Term ended | 1945 |
| Predecessor | Tit Simedrea (as Metropolitan) |
| Successor | Theodosius (Kovernynsky) |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 1897 by Arcadie Ciupercovici |
| Personal details | |
| Born | November 5, 1868 Kabivtsi–Kabin, Duchy of Bukovina, Austria-Hungary |
| Died | July 28, 1960 (aged 91) Chernivtsi, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union |
| Buried | Chernivtsi Cemetery |
| Nationality | Austrian (to 1918) Romanian (1920–1954) Soviet (1954–1960) |
| Residence | Metropolitan Palace of Bukovina Svyato Vvedensky Monastery |
| Alma mater | Franz Joseph I University |
Kassian Dmitrievich Bogatyrets, or Kasyan Dmytrovych Bohatyrets (Rusyn and Russian: Кассиан Дмитриевич Богатырец; Ukrainian: Касіян Димитрович Богатирець; Romanian: Casian Bohatireț, Bogatireț, Bohatereț, or Bohatyretz; November 5, 1868 – July 28, 1960), was an Eastern Orthodox priest, church historian, and Rusyn community leader in Bukovina. Born a national of Austria-Hungary, he studied theology and history, and served the parish of Sadhora. He drew the suspicion of Austrian authorities attention with his open support for Russophile politics, and was persecuted after visiting the Russian Empire in 1908. He was arrested during the first days of World War I and deported to Sankt Marien, then tried for sedition in Vienna. He was scheduled to be executed by hanging in early 1917, but was freed by a general amnesty shortly before the Austrian monarchy crumbled.
Caught between Romanian and Ukrainian nationalisms, Bogatyrets hoped to obstruct Bukovina's incorporation into Greater Romania, or at least to preserve its autonomy. He eventually joined the Romanian Orthodox Church together with the whole Diocese of Bukovina, including his new parish at Coțmani (Kitsman). His ambitions to improve the standing of Romanian Rusyns were challenged by the Ukrainian National Party, and he remained the leader of a Russophile minority within the larger Ukrainian one. Bogatyrets championed the use of Slavic vernaculars in both education and church services, and did missionary work among the Ukrainians of Maramureș/Maramorosh. He also helped organize the Czechoslovak Orthodox Church on the other side of the border, in Carpathian Ruthenia.
World War II again challenged Bogatyrets' national affiliations, leading him to support reunification with the Russian Orthodox Church. He stayed behind in Soviet territory after the occupation of northern Bukovina but was eventually forced into exile. He lived in Nazi Germany and Romania to 1941, when the German–led invasion allowed him back to Cernăuți (Chernivtsi). For three years, he assisted Metropolitan Tit Simedrea and took over effective leadership of the Diocese when Simedrea left Bukovina. He joined the Ukrainian Exarchate in late 1944, welcoming back the Soviets, but was marginalized from 1949. His final work was as a historiographer of the regional church through its various administrative avatars.