Anthony Vadkovsky

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Anthony Vadkovsky
Metropolitan of Saint Petersburg and Ladoga
Church	Russian Orthodox Church
Diocese	Eparchy of Saint Petersburg and Ladoga
Orders
Ordination	March 4, 1883
Consecration	May 3, 1887 by Isidore (Nikolski)
Personal details
Born	Alexander Vasilyevich Vadkovsky August 3, 1846 Tsarovka
Died	November 2, 1912 Saint Petersburg
Buried	Nikolskoe Cemetery
Denomination	Eastern Orthodoxy

Anthony, birth name Alexander Vasilyevich Vadkovsky (born on 3 September [O.S. 22 August] 1846 in Tsarovka, died on 2 November 1912 in Saint Petersburg)^[a][1] was a Russian Orthodox bishop and Metropolitan of Saint Petersburg and Ladoga [pl] from 1898 to 1912.

He was the son of an Orthodox priest. Anthony completed his studies at the Tambov Theological Seminary and then the Kazan Theological Academy. After obtaining his final diploma, he was employed at the academy as a lecturer in homiletics. He also worked for the journal Orthodox Companion. In 1872, he married Elizaveta Penkovskaya, who died of tuberculosis after seven years of marriage. When their two children, born from this union, died ten years later, Alexander Vadkovsky decided to enter monastic life and took his perpetual monastic vows on 4 March 1883. On 14 November 1883, he was granted the dignity of archimandrite and appointed the superior of the Monastery of St. John the Baptist in Kazan [pl]. A year later, he became the inspector of the Kazan Theological Academy. With the support of the Ober-Procurator of the Most Holy Synod, Konstantin Pobedonostsev, he was transferred to the position of inspector of the Saint Petersburg Theological Academy. In 1887, he became its rector, also receiving episcopal consecration with the title of Bishop of Vyborg, vicar of the Diocese of Saint Petersburg and Ladoga.

From 1892 to 1898, Anthony was the Bishop of Finland and Vyborg [pl], initiating the translation of Orthodox liturgical texts from Church Slavonic into Finnish and participating in Orthodox-Old Catholic and Orthodox-Anglican dialogues. In 1898, he assumed the highest ecclesiastical office of the synodal period as Metropolitan of Saint Petersburg and Ladoga. As Metropolitan, he engaged in charitable activities and continued teaching at the Saint Petersburg Theological Academy. After 1905, most of his efforts were directed toward reforming the structure of the Russian Orthodox Church. Metropolitan Anthony sought the Emperor Nicholas II's approval for the abolition of the Most Holy Synod, full independence of the church from state bodies, and the election of the first Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia since 1700. Between 1905 and 1906, the committee led by the hierarch prepared the necessary documents for convening a Local Council to approve these changes. However, the council did not take place due to Nicholas II's opposition.

Anthony consistently opposed political activities by the Orthodox clergy, including electing clergy as deputies to the State Duma. Consequently, he was accused by Black Hundreds organizations of liberalism and hostility towards the monarchy. On the other hand, renewal movements, led by the Living Church, regarded him as their inspiration and precursor.

He died after an illness in 1912 and was buried in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.

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