Joseph (Petrovykh)
| Joseph | |
|---|---|
 Metropolitan Joseph (Petrovykh) | |
| Born |
Ivan Semyonovich Petrovykh name = Metropolitan Joseph (Petrovykh)15 December 1872 Ustyuzhna, Novgorod region |
| Died |
20 November 1937 (aged 64) Chimkent, Kazakhstan |
Metropolitan Joseph (secular name Ivan Semyonovich Petrovykh, Russian: Иван Семёнович Петровых; 15 December 1872 – 20 November 1937) was a metropolitan of Russian Orthodox Church.
Metropolitan of Leningrad 1926-1927, after the publication in 1927 the "Declaraton" by Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky) he led Josephites movement.
He was born in the Novgorod province in the area of Tikhvin city of Ustyuzhna.
He was against the recognition of the Soviet government by the Russian Orthodox Church in 1927–1937. He was a leader of the resistance movement and organizer of the Catacomb Church.
Before he was killed by the "Soviets", Metropolitan Joseph wrote: "Do not judge me so severely, and clearly understand the following: 1. I am not at all a schismatic, and I call not to a schism. but to the purification of the Church from those who sow real schism and provoke it. 2. To indicate to another his errors and wrongs is not schism but, to speak simply, it is putting an unbridled horse back into harness. 3. The refusal to accept sound reproaches and directives is in reality a schism and a trampling on the truth. 4. In the construction of ecclesiastical life the participants are not only those at the head, but the whole body of the Church, and a schismatic is he who assumes to himself rights which exceed his authority and in the name of the Church presumes to say that which is not shared by his colleagues. 5. Metropolitan Sergius has shown himself to be such a schismatic, for he has far exceeded his authority and has rejected and scorned the voice of many hierarchs, in whose midst the pure truth has been preserved".
He was killed by the Soviet government in 1937 under Chikment, Kazakhstan.
In 1981, Metropolitan Joseph was glorified as a New Martyr by the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, but his glorification has not been recognized by the Russian Orthodox Church.