Eleutherius (Kozorez) of Shymkent

His Eminence Eleutherius (Kozorez) (Russian: Елевферий Козорез; 17 September 1953 – 4 June 2021) was Archbishop of Shymkent and Akmola in Kazakhstan. Archbishop Eleutherius was the founding bishop of the Eparchy of Shymkent from 1991 to his repose as victim of the Great Pandemic in 2021.

Life

Yuri Feofanovich Kozorez (George) was born on September 17, 1953 into a peasant family in the rural village of Obariv, near Rivne in Ukraine. George graduated high school in 1970, when he was 14 years old. During this time, he served the Church with minor orders. In the following years, George went to Moscow in order to join the Moscow Theological Seminary, from which he graduated in 1979. He remained there as a post-graduate student, receiving his Degree in Theology in 1984 from the Moscow Theological Academy. In 1985, George moved to the Eparchy of Almaty in Kazakhstan, serving under the newly-elected Bishop Eusebius (Savvin) of Almaty (1984–1990; now Metropolitan of Pskov), who had also come from Moscow.

On April 13, 1985, Bishop Eusebius ordained George a deacon at the Cathedral of Saint Nicholas in Almaty. (see photos) Deacon George was ordained into Holy Priesthood by the same bishop on September 17, being entrusted as rector to the cathedral. Father George left the cathedral in 1986 to be made rector of the Church of Saint Nicholas in Shymkent, (see photos) as well as dean to the churches located in Turkistan (where Shymkent is) and Kyzylorda. On March 26, 1987, Father George was tonsured into monasticism receiving the name of Eleutherius. In 1988, Hieromonk Eleutherius was elevated to the rank of hegumen.

During the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Holy Synod of the Russian Church began a series of structural reforms in January 1991. The synod created the Province of Kazakhstan on January 31, establishing the Eparchy of Shymkent thanks to Hegumen Eleutherius' works and restoring the Eparchy of Uralsk. Now, Kazakhstan had three eparchies: Almaty, Shymkent and Uralsk. Hegumen Eleutherius was elected on the same day by the synod as Bishop of Shymkent and Tselinograd, having the Church of Saint Nicholas in Shymkent elevated to cathedral.

On February 14, 1991, Hegumen Eleutherius was elevated to archimandrite, being consecrated Bishop the next day. On July 16, 1993, following the independence of Kazakhstan and the change of Tselinograd's name to Akmola, Bishop Eleutherius' title changed to “Shymkent and Akmola”. Due to his commitment to the revival of Orthodoxy in Kazakhstan since his arrival in the country, Bishop Eleutherius headed from May 5, 1995, a planning group for reviving missionary activities in the country. It led to the recognition by the Holy Synod of an intereparchial comission of Kazakh bishops consisting of the three eparchies, headed by Archbishop Alexei (Kutepov) of Almaty (1990–2002; now Metropolitan of Tula), on July 16 of the same year.

In 1999, after Astana (today Nur-Sultan) became capital of Kazakhstan, the Eparchy of Almaty was transferred to Astana, which was also capital of Akmola, being renamed as “Eparchy of Astana and Almaty”. Bishop Eleutherius' title and jurisdiction over Akmola remained for all the territories in the region besides the capital. After Archbishop Alexei's election to the Eparchy of Tula in 2002, Bishop Eleutherius became also vicar to the Eparchy of Astana until 2003. On February 29, 2004, the Holy Synod elevated him to the rank of Archbishop.

Archbishop Eleutherius' joint work with the other two eparchies of Kazakhstan resulted in the creation of the Metropolia of Kazakhstan during the 2010 structural reforms issued by the Holy Synod over all of its canonical territory. While Astana was promoted to the seat of the metropolia, three new eparchies were established: Pavlodar and Karaganda from the Eparchy of Astana and Kostanay from Archbishop Eleutherius' eparchy, which faded as a missionary vicariate during the atheist persecution in 1937. On March 25, 2011, Archbishop Eleutherius assumed the position of chairman of the Ecclesiastical Court for the Metropolia of Kazakhstan.

During the new October 2011 structural reforms announced by the Holy Synod, another three eparchies were established: Kokshetau (from Shymkent), Ust-Kamenogorsk (from Kostanay) and the restored Eparchy of Petropavl (from Pavlodar). The territories of the eparchies was also rearranged — Akmola, for example, joined jurisdiction under Kokshetau. Therefore, Archbishop Eleutherius' title was changed to “Shymkent and Taraz”. He also participated in the cheirotonia of His Grace the new Bishop of Karaganda, Archimandrite Sebastian Osokin by His Holiness the Patriarch Kyrill of Moscow in 2011.

Archbishop Eleutherius was hospitalized with severe coronavirus infection at the end of May 2021. He reposed in the Lord at 67 years of age on June 4, victim of thromboembolism. His funeral liturgy took place two days later, presided by His Eminence the Metropolitan Alexander (Mogilev) of Astana. Archbishop Eleutherius was buried at the altar of the Cathedral of Saint Nicholas in Shymkent, where he served for more than half of his earthly life.

Succession box: Eleutherius (Kozorez) of Shymkent
Preceded by: —	Archbishop of Shymkent 1991–2021	Succeeded by: —

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