Clergy of previous years

Clergy of Previous Years

“When I am asked which form of activity is, in my view, the most important, I say: the ministry of a priest. There is nothing more important, because a priest appeals to the human mind and to the human heart, and calls people to that which transcends this earthly existence. No other field of human knowledge can convey anything comparable to people—not philosophy, nor aesthetics, nor culture.”

— His Holiness Patriarch Kirill

Archpriest Vladimir Koryak

Born on April 16, 1928, in the village of Kovalevka, Nemyriv District, Vinnytsia Region, Ukraine, into an Orthodox family.

In 1948, he enrolled at the Odessa Theological Seminary, graduating in 1952.
At the end of 1953, he enrolled in the correspondence programme of the Leningrad Theological Academy.
At the end of 1955, he married Valentina Alekseevna Stepanova, who was born on October 29, 1936.
In 1958, he graduated from the Leningrad Theological Academy (now the Saint Petersburg Theological Academy) with the degree of Candidate of Theology.
From 1959, he served as Secretary of the Diocesan Council of the Diocese of Perm and as rector of the Church of St. Nicholas in the urban-type settlement of Kirovsky, Perm.
In 1967–1968, he served as rector of the Holy Dormition Church in the stanitsa of Tikhoretskaya, Krasnodar Krai.
From 1969, he served as Secretary of the Diocese of Rostov and rector of the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
From 1972 until August 12, 1993, he served as rector of the Church of the Ascension in Rostov-on-Don.
From August 28, 1993, he served as a clergyman of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, and from January 7, 1998, as rector of the house church dedicated to the Great Martyr Saint Valentina.
On January 27, 1997, Father Vladimir was widowed.
On December 24, 2004, he was restored to the clergy of the Moscow Patriarchate.
From 2002 to 2005, he served as rector of the Church of the Archangel Michael in Altea, Spain, which at that time was under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.
He died on April 30, 2014, and was buried on the grounds of the chapel at the cemetery in the city of Tikhoretsk, Krasnodar Krai.

Archpriest Nikolai Soldatenkov

A great-grandson of Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin and a descendant of Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol, he was born on September 16, 1938, in Paris, into a family of Russian émigrés.
From 1946 to 1948, he was a student at the St. George boarding school in Meudon, near Paris.
From 1956 to 1958, he studied at the ETASA Engineering School (École Technique d’Aéronautique et de Construction Automobile).
From 1968 to 1970, he studied at the Institute of Computer Science.
He was conscripted into the French Army and took part in the Algerian War, attaining the rank of Corporal-Chef (Senior Corporal). He subsequently worked as a computer programmer and engineer for Alcatel in Paris.
In 1965, he made his first visit to Russia, undertaking a pilgrimage to the Holy Trinity–St. Sergius Lavra.
During the 1960s and 1970s, he served as a choir reader in the churches of Paris.
On December 12, 1976, he was ordained to the diaconate.
On July 18, 1977, he was ordained to the priesthood and appointed rector of the St. Seraphim Parish on Rue Lecourbe in Paris.
From 1977 to 1980, he served as a full-time clergyman at the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Brussels, Belgium.
From 1981 to 1983, he served as rector of the Church of St. Seraphim of Sarov in Paris.
From 1983, he served in parishes in southern France, including Toulouse, Marseille, and Antibes, as well as in other Orthodox parishes in Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria, Italy, and Australia.
In 1987, he was elevated to the rank of Archpriest.
In 1991, he served as a clergyman at the Church of St. Nicholas the Passion-Bearer and the Holy New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia in Villemoisson, France.
In 1999, he was granted the right to wear the epigonation.
In 2002, by decree of the President of the Russian Federation, Archpriest Nikolai was granted Russian citizenship.
In 2005, he transferred to the Diocese of Korsun of the Russian Orthodox Church and was appointed a clergyman of the Parish of Saints Stephen and Herman in Vézelay, Burgundy.
In 2008, he was granted the right to wear a cross adorned with jewels.
He served as the spiritual father of the descendants of officers of the Life Guards Cossack Regiment of His Imperial Majesty and of the Guards Association (the Society for the Remembrance of the Russian Imperial Guard in France).
In his later years, after being retired from active ministry due to ill health, he lived in Semur-en-Auxois, Burgundy.
He peacefully reposed in the Lord on March 8, 2018.

Positions:

1. From July 2005 to January 2007, he served as rector of the Church of the Archangel Michael in Altea, Spain.

Archpriest Sergiy Prosandeev

Born on March 13, 1967, in Rostov-on-Don, Russia.
In 1986, he graduated with honors from the Rostov College of Arts, specializing in folk instruments, and entered the Rostov Music Pedagogical Institute.
In 1990, he was ordained to the diaconate at the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos in Rostov-on-Don. In 1992, he was ordained to the priesthood and, that same year, became director of the Sunday School at the cathedral in Rostov-on-Don.
In 1995, with the blessing of Metropolitan Vladimir (Kotlyarov), the St. George Orthodox Classical Gymnasium was established, and he served as its spiritual director until the autumn of 2006. For many years, he hosted the “Path” programme on the state television and radio company Don-TR.
At the meeting of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church on October 6, 2006, chaired by His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Rus', he was assigned to serve in the Diocese of Korsun and appointed rector of the Church of the Archangel Michael in Altea, Spain.
He arrived at his new place of service on January 13, 2007.

Positions:

1. In January 2010, by decree of Archbishop Innokenty of Korsun, he was appointed to serve in Valencia at the Parish of St. George. By decree of His Holiness the Patriarch, at Easter 2012, he was granted the right to wear an ornamented pectoral cross.

Priest Adam Kondratyuk

Born on May 15, 1978, in Białystok, Poland, into a religious family.
In 1997, he graduated from a Humanities and Arts School, after which he enrolled in the Orthodox Theological Seminary in Warsaw. During his studies, he served as chairman of the Orthodox Theology Students' Circle and as editor-in-chief of the journal “Orlets.” During the same period, he founded the male choir of the Orthodox Theology Students' Circle.
In 2000, after graduating from the Seminary and with the blessing of Archbishop Jeremiah of Wrocław and Szczecin of the Polish Orthodox Church, he began serving as a choirmaster (regent) at the Cathedral in Szczecin. At the same time, he continued his studies at the Theological Academy in Warsaw. While still a seminary student, he organized Orthodox summer camps for young people.
In 2005, with the blessing of Archbishop Jeremiah of Wrocław and Szczecin, he founded the diocesan youth choir “Blagodar”, which carries out spiritual and educational activities. The choir has received numerous awards for its work.
In 2007, he moved to the city of Legnica, where he continued serving as a choirmaster. A year later, he married Eva Klinkiewicz, a soloist of the choir, in the same church. Since 2007, he directed the choir of the diocesan clergy. He also worked as a religious education teacher at a lower and upper secondary school in Legnica and actively participated in the activities of the Brotherhood of Orthodox Youth.
On March 14, 2010, he was ordained to the diaconate by Archbishop Innokenty of Korsun.
On March 21, 2010, he was ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Innokenty of Korsun.
On November 21, 2013, during the Little Entrance, in recognition of his diligent service to the Church of Christ, Bishop Nestor of Korsun granted him the right to wear the kamílavka and nabedrennik.
On November 21, 2015, during the Little Entrance, in recognition of his work in establishing and developing the parish in Altea, as well as on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of his priestly ordination, Bishop Nestor granted him the right to wear a pectoral (gold) cross.

Positions:

By decree of Archbishop Innokenty dated June 1, 2010, he was appointed rector of the Church of the Holy Archangel Michael.
By decree of Bishop Nestor of Korsun dated March 28, 2016, he was relieved of his duties as rector of the Church of the Archangel Michael in Altea and appointed rector of the Parish of St. Seraphim of Sarov in Benidorm.

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