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The '''Metropolia of Kazakhstan''' is a [[metropolia]] under the [[jurisdiction]] of the [[Russian Orthodox Church|Church of Rus'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 Church in Kazakhstan and head ruling hierarch of the Metropolia.

In 1871 , the Russian Orthodox Church in Turkestan was organized as a the [[diocese |Eparchy]] of Turkestan with its [[see|seat ]] in Verne Verny (later Alma-Ata, now Almaty, Kazakhstan). Forty-five In 1872, Archbishop Sophonios was appointed as the first Eparch of Verny and Semirechensk. He served until 1877. During the Soviet years later a separate vicariate was created for the Orthodox Church was heavily persecuted until a revival began in Kazakhstan with its seat in Verne, whilst in 1945. In June 1945 , the Diocese of Alma-Ata and Kazakhstan was established by the [[Holy Synod. As the Soviet Union collapsed this diocese was divided into three freestanding dioceses directly under ]] of the [[Moscow Patriarchate]], with the Eparchies appointment of Alma-Ata and Semipalatinsk, [[Eparchy of Chimkent and Akmola|Chimkent and Akmola]], and [[Eparchy of Uralsk and Guryevskiy|Uralsk and Guryevskiy]]Archbishop Nikolai (Mogilevsky) as the ruling eparch.

==Founding of the Metropolia==Following the designation of Astana In 1991, as the new capital of Soviet Union collapsed, the Republic of Church in an independent Kazakhstan the seat of was divided into three eparchies under Archbishop Alexei (Kutepov), the Eparchy of AlmaAlmaty-Ata and Semipalatinsk was transferred from (re-titled Astana-Almaty to Astanain 1999), [[Eparchy of Chimkent and Akmola|Chimkent and Akmola]], while the diocese itself was renamed the and [[Eparchy of Astana Uralsk and Guryevskiy|Uralsk and AlmatyGuryevskiy]]. In July 2010 the Eparchies of AstanaOn [[May 7]], Chimkent2003, and Uralsk were formally organized by the Holy Synod of established the Russian Orthodox Church three eparchies as the Metropolia of Kazakhstan, with the recently enthroned Archbishop of Astana being elevated to the rank of metropolitan and first hierarch of the Orthodox Church in Kazakhstana Metropolitan District.

The Metropolia was established to better organize Following the designation of Astana as the life new capital of the Orthodox Church in Republic of Kazakhstanthe seat of the [[Eparchy of Astana and Almaty]] was transferred from Almaty to Astana. Although not autonomous or selfIn July 2010, the Metropolitan District was re-governing, designated the Metropolia has its own statute approved by of Kazakhstan. In October 2010, the Holy Synod and is responsible for coordinating reorganized the territories of the educational programsoriginal three eparchies to establish three new eparchies, publishing workthose of [[Eparchy of Karaganda|Karaganda]], social outreach[[Eparchy of Kostanai|Kostanai]], [[Eparchy of Pavlodar|Pavlodar]]. The Archbishop of Astana was elevated to the rank of [[metropolitan]] and missionary efforts 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 Churchin Kazakhstan. In 2011, three additional eparchies were established, those of Kokshetau, Petropavl, and Ust-Kamenogorsk.

In October 2010 The Metropolia was established to better organize the Holy Synod reorganized life of the territories of Orthodox Church in Kazakhstan. Although not autonomous or self-governing, the original three eparchies to establish Metropolia has its own statute approved by the new Eparchies of [[Eparchy of Karaganda|KaragandaHoly Synod]]and is responsible for coordinating the educational programs, publishing work, [[Eparchy of Kostanai|Kostanai]]social outreach, and [[Eparchy of Pavlodar|Pavlodarmissionary]]. The following month Metropolitan Alexander efforts of Astana stated that the Kazakh language would be gradually introduced into the divine services of the Orthodox Church in Kazakhstan.

==HierarchsConstituent eparchies and hierarchs==*Metropolitan ===[[Alexander (Mogilev) of Astana and Almaty|Aleksandr Eparchy of Astana and Almaty]] (2010-present)===*Archbishop Established: 1945 [[Anthony (Moskalenko) of Uralsk and Guryevskiy|Antoniy of Uralsk and GuryevskiySee]] (1991-present): Astana*Archbishop :Metropolitan [[Eleutherius Alexander (KozorezMogilev) of Chimkent Astana and AkmolaAlmaty|Elevferiy of Chimkent and Akmola]] Alexander (1991-present)*Bishop [[Anatolius (AksenovMogilev) of Kostanai and Petropavlovsk|Anatoliy of Kostanai and Petropavlovsk]] (2010-present)*:Bishop [[Barnabas Gennadius (SafronovGogolev) of Pavlodar and Ust-KamenogorskKaskelen|Varnava of Pavlodar and Ust-Kamenogorsk]] (2010-present)*Bishop [[Sebastian (Osokin) of Karaganda and Shakhtinsk|Sevastian of Karaganda and Shakhtinsk]] (2011-present)*Bishop [[Gennadius (Gogolev) of Kaskelen|Gennadiy of Kaskelen]], Auxiliary of the Astana Eparchy (2010-present)bishop

===[[Eparchy of Uralsk and Guryev]]===*Established: 1991 See: Oral:Archbishop [[Anthony (Moskalenko) of Uralsk|Anthony (Moskalenko)]] ===[[Eparchy of Chimkent and Akmola]]===*Established: 1991 See: Shymkent:Archbishop [[Eleutherius (Kozorez) of Chimkent|Eleutherius (Kozorez)]] ===[[Eparchy of Karaganda]]===*Established: 2010 See: Karaganda:Bishop [[Sebastian (Osokin) of Karaganda and Shakhtinsk|Sebastian (Osokin)]] ===[[Eparchy of Kostanai]]===*Established: 2010 See: Kostanai:Bishop [[Anatolius (Aksenov) of Kostanai and Petropavlovsk|Anatolius (Aksenov)]] ===[[Eparchy of Pavlodar]]===*Established: 2010 See: Pavlodar:Bishop [[Barnabas (Safronov) of Pavlodar|Barnabas (Safronov)]] ===[[Eparchy of Kokshetau]]===*Established: 2011 ===[[Eparchy of Petropavl]]===*Established: 2011 ===[[Eparchy of Ust-Kamenogorsk]]===*Established: 2011 ==Metropolitans of Kazakhstan==*Alexander (Mogilev) 2010 - Present*[[Methodius (Nemtsov) of Perm|Methodius (Nemtsov)]] 2003 - 2010 ==Sources==*[http://www.religions-congress.org/content/blogcategory/22/36/lang,english/ Christianity]*[[Wikipedia: Eparchies_of_the_Russian_Orthodox_Church]] ==External Linkslinks==*[http://mitropolia.kz/ Metropolia of Kazakhstan] (Official Website- In Russian)*[http://www.patriarchia.ru/db/text/78634.html Eparchy of Astana and Alma-Ata] (Moscow Patriarchate)In Russian*[http://www.patriarchia.ru/db/text/78677.html Eparchy of Chimkent and Akmola] (Moscow Patriarchate)*[http://eparhia.kz/ Eparchy of Karaganda] (Official Website)In Russian*[http://www.patriarchia.ru/db/text/1292492.html Eparchy of Kostanai] (Moscow Patriarchate)In Russian*[http://pavlodar-eparhia.ru/ Eparchy of Pavlodar] (Official Website) In Russian*[http://www.uralsk-eparhiya.kz/ Eparchy of Uralsk and Guryevskiy] (Official Website) In Russian