In 1929, Alexei and Evfrosinia Kapral moved from the Western Ukraine to Alberta, Canada. They eventually had seven children, with the last, Igor, being born in 1948. When he was 21, Igor enrolled in [[Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary (Jordanville, New York)|Holy Trinity Seminary]], Jordanville; three years later, he graduated from the Seminary seminary and entered the [[Holy Trinity Monastery (Jordanville, New York)|attached monastery]] as a novice.

In 1974, Igor was tonsured [[tonsure]]d to the rassophor with the name Hilarion, named for St Hilarion, the Metropolitan of Kiev. The next year, he was ordained to the [[diaconate]] by [[Archbishop]] Averky (Taushev), and began his obedience as Abp. Averky's cell attendant.

Dcn Hilarion received a double honour in 1976, as it was the year when he was ordained to the [[priest]]hood by [[Bishop]] [[Laurus (Skurla) of New York|Laurus]], and also when he graduated from Syracuse University with a Masters master's degree in Slavic Studies and Russian Literature.

In 1984, at the young age of 36, Fr Hilarion was consecrated a [[bishop]] by Metropolitan [[Philaret (Voznesensky) of New York|Philaret of New York]] and nine other bishops, and was appointed to the see of Manhattan, charged with overseeing the [[parish]]es in Pennsylvania and serving as deputy secretary for the Synod of Bishops.

In 1995, Bishop Hilarion was transferred to the see See of Washington, while retaining, however, his residence in New York. This didn't last long, however, as he was simultaneously transferred to the [[Diocese of Australia and New Zealand (ROCOR)|Diocese of Australia and New Zealand]] and raised to the rank of [[Archbishoparchbishop]]. Further honour honor came in 2003 when he was awarded the honour of wearing a diamond cross on his [[klobuk]].