Potapy Emelianov (1884, Ufa Guberniya, Russian Empire - August 14, 1936, Karelian ASSR, USSR) was a Russian Catholic priest and confessor.
Early life[]
Petr Emelianov was born into a family of Priestless Old Believers who were later received into the Edinoverie by the Russian Orthodox Bishop of Ufa, Antony (Khrapovitsky) of Kiev. He was tonsured and subsequently ordained as a hieromonk of the Russian Orthodox Church. When Bishop Antony was named Metropolitan of Kiev, he brought the young hieromonk with him and assigned him to the Old Ritualist parish at Nizhnaya Bogdanovka, near Lugansk, Ukraine.
Catholicism[]
By 1918, the Hieromonk Potapy had become convinced that true Orthodoxy could not be ordained except through Communion with the Holy See. After learning that Metropolitan Andrei Sheptytsky had formed an Exarchate for Russian Rite Catholics, Father Potapy travelled toSt. Petersburg to meet with the Exarch, Blessed Leonid Feodorov. After questioning him closely, Exarch Leonid received Father Potapy and his entire parish into the Russian Catholic Church.
Persecution[]
Father Potapy and his parishioners underwent severe harassment and violent persecution from both the Red Guards and the White Army during the Russian Civil War. He survived a ten-year GULAG sentence at Solovki prison camp and died shortly after his release.
Legacy[]
Father Potapy is greatly venerated among Russian Greek-Catholics and is now being investigated for possible Beatification. His present title is Servant of God.
External links[]
- Catholicmartyrs - Fr. Potapy Emelianov at 64.233.167.104
Further reading[]
- Fr. Paul Mailleux, "Exarch Leonid Feodorov; Bridgebuilder Between Rome and Moscow," 1964.
- Fr. Christopher Zugger, "The Forgotten; Catholics in the Soviet Empire from Lenin to Stalin," University of Syracuse Press.