Valentin (Rusantsov) (March 3, 1939 – January 16, 2012) was metropolitan bishop of Suzdal and Vladimir (Russian: Митрополит Суздальский и Владимирский Валентин; secular name Anatolii Petrovich Rusantsov) and Primate of the Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church.
Early life
Metropolitan Valentin (Rusantsov) was born on March 3, 1939 in the town of Belorechensk, Krasnodar Krai. His father having died from war wounds and his mother being seriously ill, the young Anatoli was sent to an orphanage, from which he was adopted into the family of Ekaterina Buriak, who lived in the city of Maykop, Krasnodar Krai, and who were members of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Catacombs.
In 1952, during a pilgrimage to the sacred places in Georgia, the young Anatoli met monks who gave a new direction to his life. In 1956 he left for the Holy Dormition Monastery in the city of Odessa, where he met Archbishop Nestor (Anisimov), the well-known missionary to Kamchatka, and who had served one of the Far Eastern eparchies of the Russian Church Abroad. Together with him, Anatoli departed for the Novosibirsk eparchy and was tonsured reader in the village of Bolshoi Ului, in the Krasnoyarsk Krai.
Priesthood and Episcopacy
In 1957, Archbishop Nestor sent Anatoli to the Holy Spirit Monastery in the city of Vilnius, where in 1958, he became a monk and received the name of Valentin. He was tonsured by Archimandrite Seraphim (Smykov), who had been ordained to the priesthood by Metropolitan Anthony (Khrapovitsky). In 1960, Monk Valentin was ordained to the Holy Priesthood by Archbishop Anthony (Romanovki) of Stavropol and Baku, who had been consecrated a bishop by Patriarch Tikhon of Moscow. Hieromonk Valentin served throughout the Stavropol and Vladimir eparchy, becoming the rector of the Orthodox Cathedral in Makhachkala (a predominately Muslim area), where he revived Orthodox Christianity, saving the Cathedral from closure.
In 1970, he obtained a diploma from the historical faculty of Dagestan University. He graduated from the Moscow Theological Seminary in 1973 and in 1979 he obtained a Doctor of Theology degree from Moscow Theological Academy.
In 1973, Archimandrite Valentine arrive to Suzdal as rector of the Kazan church. In 1977 the Communist authorities forced the community to leave the church, which was situated on the city's trading square, and move to another, less prominent location, at the Saint Constantine the Great church of the city of Suzdal.
In 1987, the Communist authorities and the leaders of the Moscow Patriarchate initiated a persecution against Archimandrite Valentin primarily for his commentaries concerning the lack of religious freedom in the USSR during a lecture tour in the United States. On April 11, 1990, Archimandrite Valentin and his parish were received under the omophorion of the Russian Church Abroad, and on October 4 of the same year, he was appointed exarch of the Russian Church Abroad within the territory of the USSR.
On February 10, 1991, by the decision of the Synod of Bishops, in the church of St Job the Much-Suffering in Brussels, Belgium, a memorial church dedicated to the memory of the Holy Royal New-Martyrs, Archimandrite Valentin was consecrated bishop of Suzdal and Vladimir. The consecration was carried out by the following bishops of the Russian Church Abroad: Archbishop Anthony of Geneva, Archbishop Mark of Germany, Bishop Barnabas of Cannes and Bishop Gregory Grabbe.
In March 1994, Bishop Valentin founded the Higher Church Administration of the Russian Orthodox Church (as stipulated by Ukase #362 of Patriarch Tikhon of All Russia), entity which regulated the situation of the Russian dioceses of the Russian Church Abroad. In June, 1995, under the leadership of Archbishop Lazar (Zhurbenko), the Temporary Higher Church Administration (THCA) of the Russian Church was re-established. At this time, by decree of the THCA, that Bishop Valentine was elevated to the rank of Archbishop.
In 1996, the Hierarchal Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church was created, under the official name of the Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church (ROAC). In this manner, the Russian Church finally defined its independent canonical existence as a self-governing part of the local Russian Church. At the Synod meeting of March 2/15, 2001, it was decided that the head of the Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church should have the rank of Metropolitan.
Death
Metropolitan Valentin died on January 16, 2012 in Moscow, Russia.