George Kovalenko, SJ (1900 – 5 November 1975) was a Russian Jesuit, a priest of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and a member of the Russian

apostolate An apostolate is a Christian organization "directed to serving and evangelizing the world", most often associated with the Anglican Communion or the Catholic Church. In more general usage, an apostolate is an association of persons dedicated to the ...

Biography

Born into an Orthodox family of a general of the

Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army (russian: Ру́сская импера́торская а́рмия, tr. ) was the armed land force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian Ar ...

in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

, he studied at the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute. In 1918, he became a cadet, joining the White Army, and fought in Southern Russia under the command of Generals Anatoly Lieven and Boris Permikin; he was awarded the

Cross of St. George The Cross of Saint George (russian: Георгиевский крест, Georgiyevskiy krest) is a state decoration of the Russian Federation. It was initially established by Imperial Russia where it was officially known as the Decoration of t ...

. In exile, he was in the camps near

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

. In 1922 he worked in Danzig, then moved to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, and studied theology and philosophy in Italy. He lived at the Collegium Russicum and entered the

Society of Jesus , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

. In 1944 Kovalenko was ordained a priest. In

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

he organized a small publishing house, which published pamphlets and books for Russian displaced persons, visited camps for Russian refugees and displaced persons, helped the children of Saint Helena Boarding School for Russian girls in Rome, and also worked in a shelter for Russian refugees in Rome. He protested against the extradition of Russians held in the camp on

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by the Italian government. Through the Catholic Church, since 1947 he led the work of the Russian Center in Rome, and engaged in the distribution of material assistance provided by the

International Refugee Organization The International Refugee Organization (IRO) was an intergovernmental organization founded on 20 April 1946 to deal with the massive refugee problem created by World War II. A Preparatory Commission began operations fourteen months previously. ...

under the

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and the Committee for Aid to Russian refugees in Italy. Kovalenko was actively assisted by the

Congregation of Marian Fathers The Congregation of Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary ( la, Congregatio Clericorum Marianorum ab Immaculata Conceptionis Beatissimae Virginis Mariae) is a Catholic male clerical religious congregation fou ...

monks George Bryanchaninov and Andrei Katkov and they joined the French Jesuit . At this time, Kovalenko met Russian writer Boris Shiryaev. In 1951 Kovalenko went to Argentina to help Archimandrite Nikolai Alekseev, where at the church of Saints Peter and Paul he created a library. Kovalenko published articles in the Paris newspaper '' Russian Thought'', in the Catholic Russian-language press abroad, and published under the pseudonym Ochekov in the Argentine newspaper ('For the Truth'). In 1958 due to ill health, he returned to Rome, where he underwent a serious operation. Kovalenko later worked as a librarian and taught Russian at the Collegium Russicum. He died in Rome.

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External links

Священник Георгий Коваленко (Католическая Церковь)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kovalenko, George 1900 births 1975 deaths Converts to Eastern Catholicism from Eastern Orthodoxy Former Russian Orthodox Christians Russian Jesuits Russian Eastern Catholics 20th-century Roman Catholic priests