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It has been reported by secular media and other questionable sources that due to Met Vitaly's degrading health and associated memory loss that he voluntarily retired in 2001 and was content with the election of Laurus (Skurla) of New York as the new First Hierarch Of ROCORFelix Corley, however nothing can be further from the truth. Met Vitaly denounced the uncanonical election of Laurus Skurla as Metropolitan(both in writing and verbally) and encouraged his flock to not be deceived by what was a very clear and highly organized attempt by the enemies of the Church to deceive the entire Russian Orthodox Faithful in believing the lie that Met Vitaly had voluntarily resigned. [[w:The Independent|The 'official' website of ROCOR was quickly changed, substituting Met Laurus' name in place of Met Independent]] observed: "Vitaly's in the hopes that the masses of Orthodox lay people would believe this lie. Unfortunately most of the Russian Orthodox faithful final years were beguiled marred by this blasphemymurky goings-on at his monastery, with allegations that his entourage was holding him hostage and continued to view Laurus as their new Metropolitan. However the truth of the matter is that Met Vitaly remained the First Hierarch Of ROCOR right up until the day he reposedfaking his signature on church decisions. And even now this same ChurchLike many splinter religious communities, called by some the Russian Orthodox Church In Exile, has been the same Church founded by Christ, concerning which Our Lord & Saviour Jesus Christ said '. . .the gates of hell shall his church came to fight not prevail against it" Matt 16:18. There is not enough space here so much to list all preserve the purity of the truth concerning what was done its faith as to Met Vitaly during the last 5 years of his lifeengage in bitter infighting. There are even some that would consider Met Vitaly a 'passion bearer' because of the harsh physical treatment he endured at the hands of the 'authorities'"<ref>[http://www. Those unfamiliar with this situation will surely doubt the veracity of what is being said hereindependent. co. uk/news/obituaries/metropolitan-vitaly-ustinov-417796. .however those who followed these events closely can see and will always see the truthhtml The Independent, Obituary: Metropolitan Vitaly Ustinov], no matter how much others try to distort and 'spin' this truth.28 September 2006</ref>
→Life
== Life ==
Metropolitan Vitaly, born Rostislav Petrovich Oustinow (Ростислав Петрович Устинов) in St. Petersburg, Russia, in 1910, was the son of an officer of the Black Sea Fleet, Peter Oustinow, and Lydia Andreevna, née Stopchansky, daughter of a gendarme general who served his whole life in the Caucasus.
In 1920, during the Civil War, Rostislav was sent to the military school founded in Feodosia by General Wrangel. When he joined the White Army and evacuated, the young Rostislav found himself in Constantinople. From there he traveled to Yugoslavia, where he studied in the Cadet Corps of the White Army.
From 1947 to 1951, Archimandrite Vitaly was the [[rector]] of the London [[parish]]. In 1951, on the [[feast day]] of Ss [[Apostle Peter|Peter]] and [[Apostle Paul|Paul]], he was [[consecration of a bishop|consecrated]] [[bishop]] and sent to Brazil as Bishop of Montevideo. Soon the young bishop opened his own print shop and established a small orphanage for boys where they taught them the [[daily cycle]] of services.
In 1954, Bp. Vitaly moved to Canada where he was appointed of as the Bishop of Edmonton and Western Canada. In 1957, he was appointed Bishop of Montreal and Canada. As Bishop of Montreal, Bp. Vitaly established a [[skete]] in Mansonville, Quebec. While in MontealMontreal, Bp. Vitaly acquired and refurbished the large St Nicholas Cathedral that was not far from the Synodal [[podvorie]].
In retrospect there was no place where Bp. Vitaly settled that he did not organize a small monastic brotherhood and active publishing concern.
The Council of Bishops in 1986 chose Bp. Vitaly as the First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia succeeding Metr. [[Philaret (Voznesensky) of New York|Philaret (Voznesensky)]].
Suffering from memory loss,<ref>[http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/metropolitan-vitaly-ustinov-417796.html The Independent, Obituary: Metropolitan Vitaly Ustinov], 28 September 2006</ref> Metropolitan Vitaly retired in 2001, and [[Laurus (Skurla) of New York|Metropolitan Laurus]] became the first hierarch of ROCOR,<ref>[http://www.russianorthodoxchurch.ws/english/pages/history/election.html Council of Bishops of 2001 and the Election of the New First Hierarch], Official History of the Council, ROCOR Official Web site, February 23, 2008</ref><ref>[http://www.russianorthodoxchurch.ws/english/pages/poslania/addresstopeople.html Address of the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia to Its Flock--October, 2001]</ref> but "within weeks he regretted the move, publicly attacking his successor.... Vitaly led his faithful followers into schism."<ref>[http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/metropolitan-vitaly-ustinov-417796.html The Independent, Obituary: Metropolitan Vitaly Ustinov], 28 September 2006</ref><ref>http://www.rocor-v.com/rocor/epistlemet24.html</ref>, and went on to head of the [[Russian Orthodox Church in Exile]].
On September 25, 2006, Metropolitan Vitaly reposed in Mansonville, Canada. <ref>[http://www.pokrov.org.uk/News/Vladyka_Vitaly.html Repose of Metropolitan Vitaly], December 25, 2007</ref>
{{succession|
before=''[[see]] created''|
title=Bishop of Montevideo<br>([[ROCOR]])|
years=1951-1954|
after=''see dissolved''}}
{{succession|
before=''see created''[[Athanasy (Martos) of Buenos Aires|Athanasy (Martos)]]|title=Bishop of Edmonton and Western Canada<br>([[ROCOR]])|
years=1954-1957|
after=[[Sava (SarachevichSaračević) of Edmonton|Sava (SarachevichSaračević)]]}}
{{succession|
before=[[Panteleimon (Rudyk) of Montreal|Panteleimon (Rudyk)]]|
title=Archbishop of Montreal and Canada<br>([[ROCOR]])|
years=1957-1986|
after=[[Gabriel (Chemodakov) of Manhattan|Gabriel (Chemodakov)]]}}
{{succession|
before=[[Philaret (Voznesensky) of New York|Philaret (Voznesensky)]]|
title=Metropolitan of [[Diocese of Eastern American and New York (ROCOR)|Eastern America and New York]]<br>([[ROCOR]])|
years=1986-2001|
after=[[Laurus (Škurla) of New York|Laurus (Škurla)]]}}
{{succession|
before=[[Philaret (Voznesensky) of New York|Philaret (Voznesensky)]]|
title=First Hierarch of ROCOR|
years=1986-2001|
after=[[Laurus (SkurlaŠkurla) of New York|Laurus (SkurlaŠkurla)]]}}
{{end box}}
[[Category:Bishops of Montreal]]
[[Category:Bishops of New York]]
[[Category:20th-21st-century bishops]]
[[Category:First Hierarchs of the ROCOR]]
