Ecumenical Patriarch Approves Election of New Metropolitan of Ukrainian Orthodox Church in USA
Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople approved the election of Anthony (Shcherba) as new Metropolitan of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of USA (in the jurisdiction of the Constantinople Patriarchate), reported Sedmitsa.
The Extraordinary Sobor of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the U.S.A. has elected, on Saturday October 6, 2012, His Eminence, Archbishop Antony as Primate (Metropolitan) of the UOC of USA. His Grace, Bishop Daniel was also elected to fill the vacant office of President of the Diocesan Consistory.
His Eminence, Metropolitan-Elect succeeds the late Metropolitan Constantine who reposed in the Lord on May 21, 2012.
John Scherba was born on January 30, 1947, to John and Dorothy Scharba in Sharon, Pennsylvania, the eldest of five siblings and baptized on March 23, 1947. He received his elementary and secondary education in the Sharpsville, Pennsylvania school system and his religious education in St. John Parish in Sharon. After graduation from high school, he entered Edinboro State University in Edinboro, Pennsylvania to study to be a foreign journalist.
Having had a desire to enter the priesthood as he grew up, John changed career paths and entered the St. Andrew College-Seminary as well as the co-located University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. In 1970, he graduated from the University of Manitoba with a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology degree and, in 1971, received a Bachelor of Divinity degree after completing his studies at St. Andrew Seminary. After his graduation, John remained in Winnipeg as Dean of Residence for St. Andrew College.
John was ordained a deacon on October 1, 1972, by Bishop Constantine(Buggan) at St. Vladimir Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral, Parma, Ohio. On November 26, 1972, Dcn. John was ordained a priest, also by Bp. Constantine, at his home parish of St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Sharon. Father John's first parish assignment, in December 1972, was St. Vladimir Church in Ambridge, Pennsylvania where he remained for four years. He was, then, transferred to St. Michael Parish in Hammond, Indiana where he served for the next nine years. During his service in the parishes, Fr. John was very much involved with the youth activities of the parishes. In May 1985, Fr. John was tonsured a monk with the name Anthony, after St. Anthony the Great. After his election Archimandrite Anthony was consecrated a bishop on October 6, 1985 for the Ukrainian Orthodox Parishes in the USA and the Diaspora at St. Andrew Church in South Bound Brook, New Jersey.
In 1989, Bp. Anthony was assigned the additional duties of overseeing the Ukrainian Orthodox Eparchy of Australia and New Zealand in addition to his responsibilities in the United States. In Australasia, Bp. Anthony successfully united two Ukrainian Orthodox dioceses into a single church. He was subsequently elevated to the rank of archbishop by the Council of Bishops of the UOC of USA.
In 1994, Abp. Anthony accompanied Metropolitan Constantine when invited by the Ecumenical Patriarchate for discussions about the renewal of the ancient relationship between the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and the Ecumenical Patriarchate. On March 12, 1995, Holy Synod of the Patriarchate after examining the appeal of Metr. Constantine (Buggan) and his fellow Ukrainian bishops to the Ecumenical Patriarch, decided unanimously to accept them under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Thereafter the Holy Synod elected Archbishop Anthony with the title of Archbishop of Hierapolis, to serve the pastoral needs of the Ukrainian Orthodox Eastern Eparchy living in the United States of America as Metr. Constantine was installed as the Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the USA as Metropolitan of Irinoupolis.
After the repose of Metr. Constantine (Buggan) on May 21, 2012, Abp. Anthony was designated the Locum Tenens of the see until the election of a successor to Metr. Constantine.
