Constantine of Irinoupolis
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Metropolitan Constantine (secular name Theodore Stanislavovich Buggan; July 29, 1936 – May 21, 2012) was the Metropolitan of Irinoupolis, and Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA (UOC of USA), which is a jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in the United States. The primatial cathedral is in Parma, Ohio (St. Vladimir Cathedral), and the Church's head offices and Consistory are based in South Bound Brook, New Jersey.[1][2]
Early life
Metropolitan Constantine was born in Pittsburgh on July 19, 1936 to Stanley (Stanislav) and Catherine Buggan, a Ukrainian family. Upon completion of his secondary education he entered the College of St. Andrew, in Winnipeg (an affiliate college with the University of Manitoba), Canada, from which he graduated in 1959. He also studied at Saint Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary in Crestwood, New York and Duquesne University, receiving a doctorate in philosophy from the latter.
Priesthood and episcopacy
On April 23, 1967 he was ordained deacon in South Bound Brook, New Jersey by Metropolitan Mstyslav (Skrypnyk) (future first patriarch of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church), and a priest on July 23 by Metropolitan John (Theodorovich), in Pittsburgh. His pastoral work comprised St. Vladimir Cathedral in Chicago, Illinois and St. Nicholas Church in Troy, New York. Father Theodore was tonsured a monk on December 18, 1971, receiving the name Constantine, and on May 7, 1972, he was consecrated by Metropolitan Mstyslav (Skrypnyk) to the Chicago cathedra of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in America (UOC in America). In 1977 he was elevated to the rank of archbishop, and to metropolitan in 1982. After the death of Patriarch Mstyslav (Skrypnyk) in 1993 he became the Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in America (UOC in America), and in 1994, of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church in the Diaspora. In 1995–1996 the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in America (UOC in America) and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church in the Diaspora entered in communion with the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, and Metropolitan Constantine received the titular diocese of Irinoupolis.
Following the will of Patriarch Dymytriy (Yarema), in the year 2000 the Council of Bishops of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, recognized Metropolitan Constantine as the spiritual head of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church in Ukraine. On September 27, 2000, Metropolitan Constantine named Ihor (Isichenko), Archbishop of Kharkov and Poltava as his representative in Ukraine.
Death
Metropolitan Constantine (Buggan) died from congestive heart failure on May 21, 2012 in the city of Pittsburgh at the age of 75.
External links
- Metropolitan Constantine
- Metropolitan Constantine's final sermon (video) two days before he died on Monday morning May 21, 2012. Posted by Ihor Charischak. Original footage. To be updated.
- Metropolitan Constantine Enters Eternal Rest
Notes
List of University of Manitoba alumni