Iziaslav (Brutskiy)

Metropolitan Iziasłaŭ (born Ivan Daniłavič Brucki, be, Іван Данілавіч Бруцкі) (22 January 1926 – 26 November 2007) was the primate of the

Belarusian Autocephalous Orthodox Church The Belarusian Autocephalous Orthodox Church ( be, Беларуская аўтакефальная праваслаўная царква, ''Bielaruskaja aŭtakiefaĺnaja pravaslaŭnaja carkva'' BAPC; russian: Белорусская автокеф ...

. Ivan Brucki was born in a wealthy farmer's family in Biełavuša (now

Stolin Raion Stolin District or Stolinski Rayon (; ) is district (''raion'') in the southeast of the Brest Region, Belarus. Its administrative center is in the city of Stolin. The region has a population of 89,000 people, of which 26,300 people live in urban ...

Brest Voblast Brest Region or Brest Oblast or Brest Voblasts ( be, Брэ́сцкая во́бласць ''(Bresckaja vobłasć)''; russian: Бре́стская о́бласть (''Brestskaya Oblast)'') is one of the regions of Belarus. Its administrative cent ...

West Belarus Western Belorussia or Western Belarus ( be, Заходняя Беларусь, translit=Zachodniaja Bielaruś; pl, Zachodnia Białoruś; russian: Западная Белоруссия, translit=Zapadnaya Belorussiya) is a historical region of mod ...

. After annexation of West Belarus by the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

in 1939, Brucki's father was in 1940 exiled to

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

. In 1943 the young Ivan Brucki was sent by the Nazis to Germany as an

ostarbeiter : ' (, "Eastern worker") was a Nazi German designation for foreign slave workers gathered from occupied Central and Eastern Europe to perform forced labor in Germany during World War II. The Germans started deporting civilians at the beginning ...

. Having avoided repatriation in 1947, Ivan Brucki graduated from a gymnasium in

Hannover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German States of Germany, state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germa ...

. He then immigrated to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and participated there in the local Belarusian social and life and in the parish life of the

. In 1962, he immigrated to the

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

and became an active member in different political and religious organizations in

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

and

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

. As a member of the

and an active member of the community, he was delegated to the Church Council (''Sabor'') of this jurisdiction which took place in May 1972 in Highland Park,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. In 1979, he was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...

to the

diaconate A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Churc ...

and later that same year to the priesthood. He graduated from the

St. Sophia Ukrainian Orthodox Theological Seminary The St. Sophia Ukrainian Orthodox Theological Seminary ( uk, Софійська українська православна богословська семінарія) located in South Bound Brook, New Jersey, United States was established in 197 ...

in 1981. Then, by the

hierarchs An ordinary (from Latin ''ordinarius'') is an officer of a church or civic authority who by reason of office has ordinary power to execute laws. Such officers are found in hierarchically organised churches of Western Christianity which have an ...

of the

and

Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church The Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC; uk, Українська автокефальна православна церква (УАПЦ), Ukrayinska avtokefalna pravoslavna tserkva (UAPC)) was one of the three major Eastern Orthod ...

he was consecrated to the rank of

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

. Shortly after that, he become

archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

and in 1984, Archbishop Iziasłaŭ was elevated to the rank of

metropolitan Metropolitan may refer to: * Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories * Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England * Metropolitan county, a typ ...

and elected to be the

Primate Primates are a diverse order of mammals. They are divided into the strepsirrhines, which include the lemurs, galagos, and lorisids, and the haplorhines, which include the tarsiers and the simians (monkeys and apes, the latter including huma ...

of the

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Iziaslau 1926 births 2007 deaths People from Stolin District People from Polesie Voivodeship Eastern Orthodox Christians from Belarus American people of Belarusian descent Eastern Orthodox metropolitans Primates of independent Eastern Orthodox churches