Ioann (Snychev) (1927-1995), Metropolitan of St. Petersburg and Ladoga 1990-1995

Categories / Religion. Church/Personalia
IOANN (lay name Ivan Matveevich Snychev) (1927-1995, St. Petersburg), Church figure, historian and spiritual writer, Doctor of Theology (1988). In 1944-45, Ioann served in the army. From 1945, he was a lay brother in service of Manuil (Lemeshevsky), Bishop of Orenburg, who became his spiritual tutor and protector. In 1946, he took monastic vows, in 1948, Ioann was admitted into priesthood. In 1948-51, he studied at the Theological Seminary in Saratov, in 1951-55 - at the Theological Academy in Leningrad. In 1956-57, he taught at the Theological Seminary in Minsk, in 1959-60 – at the Theological Seminary in Saratov. He became an ecclesiarch (key-bearer) for the Holy Virgin Intercession Cathedral in Kuybyshev. From 1961, he was Father Superior (hegumen); in 1964, Archimandrite; in 1965, he became the Bishop of Syzran; in 1969, the Bishop (in 1976, Archbishop) of Kuybyshev and Syzran. From August 1990, he was Metropolitan of St. Petersburg and Ladoga. During the tenure of Metropolitan Ioann many monasteries and churches were opened in the St. Petersburg Eparchy, the church press was revived, Orthodox radio and TV programs have appeared, while the number of clergy has increased by three times. He wrote works on the history of the Russian Orthodox Church and historical philosophical compositions, conveying the position of traditional Orthodoxy. He was buried in Nikolskoe Cemetery of Alexander Nevsky Lavra .

References: Архиерей Божией Милостью. СПб., 1998.

V. V. Antonov. Ioann (Ivan Matveevich Snychev), Metropolitan
Manuil (Lemeshevsky Viktor Viktorovich), Metropolitan
Архиерей Божией Милостью. СПб., 1998 Theological Academy
Nikolskoe Cemetery