Metropolia of Kazakhstan

The Metropolia of Kazakhstan is a metropolia under the jurisdiction of the Church of Russia with jurisdiction over the Orthodox Christians of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Central Asia. The metropolia consists of nine eparchies. The Metropolitan of Astana and Kazakhstan serves as First Hierarch of the Orthodox in Kazakhstan and ruling hierarch of the Metropolia.

History

In 1871, the Russian Orthodox Church in Turkestan was organized as the Eparchy of Turkestan with its seat in Verny (later Alma-Ata, now Almaty, Kazakhstan). In 1872, Archbishop Sophonios was appointed as the first Eparch of Verny and Semirechensk. He served until 1877. During the Soviet years the Church was heavily persecuted until a revival began in 1945. In June 1945, the Diocese of Alma-Ata and Kazakhstan was established by the Holy Synod of the Moscow Patriarchate with the appointment of Archbishop Nikolai (Mogilevsky) as the ruling eparch.

In 1991, as the Soviet Union collapsed, the Church in an independent Kazakhstan was divided into three eparchies under Archbishop Alexei (Kutepov), the Eparchy of Almaty-Semipalatinsk (re-titled Astana-Almaty in 1999), Chimkent and Akmola, and Uralsk and Guryevskiy. On May 7, 2003, the Holy Synod established the three eparchies as a Metropolitan District.

Following the designation of Astana as the new capital of the Republic of Kazakhstan the seat of the Eparchy of Astana and Almaty was transferred from Almaty to Astana. In July 2010, the Metropolitan District was re-designated the Metropolia of Kazakhstan. In October 2010, the Holy Synod reorganized the territories of the original three eparchies to establish three new eparchies, those of Karaganda, Kostanai, Pavlodar. The Archbishop of Astana was elevated to the rank of metropolitan and designated the first hierarch of the Metropolia of Kazakhstan. The following month, Metropolitan Alexander of Astana stated that the Kazakh language would be gradually introduced into the divine services of the Orthodox Church in Kazakhstan. In 2011, three additional eparchies were established, those of Kokshetau, Petropavl, and Ust-Kamenogorsk.

The Metropolia was established to better organize the life of the Orthodox Church in Kazakhstan. Although not autonomous or self-governing, the Metropolia has its own statute approved by the Holy Synod and is responsible for coordinating the educational programs, publishing work, social outreach, and missionary efforts of the Kazakh Orthodox Church.