Metropolitan Alexander (in the world Alexander Nikolaevich Drabinko) – bishop of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, former bishop of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate). 2007 – 2018 – Metropolitan Pereyaslav Khmelnytsky and Vishnevsky, vicar of the Kiev Metropolis. Since 1998 – assistant to Metropolitan of Kiev and All Ukraine Volodymyr, since 2006 – his secretary.
Place of Birth & Education
Alexander Drabinko was born on March 18, 1977 in the town of Korets, Rivne region into a family of employees.
In 1994 he graduated from the Koretsk secondary school № 3 with a gold medal.
From 1994 to 1998 he studied at the Moscow Theological Seminary, from which he graduated with the first grade.
From 1998 to 2002 he studied at the Kiev Theological Academy, after which he defended his thesis on the topic “Orthodoxy in Post-totalitarian Ukraine (milestones in history)”. For this work, the Academic Council of the KDA awarded him the degree of Candidate of Theology.
Service
In 1998, he was appointed an assistant to Metropolitan of Kiev and All Ukraine Volodymyr, Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate).
On May 20, 2004, Metropolitan Volodymyr of Kiev and All Ukraine in the Church of St. Mary Magdalene in Tiberias (Holy Land) ordained a deacon.
On July 1, 2006, he was appointed personal secretary of the Primate of the UOC, Metropolitan Volodymyr.
On July 28, 2006, at the Dormition Cathedral of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, Metropolitan Vladimir ordained celibate priest.
Since August 1, 2006 – editor-in-chief of the official website of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and editor-in-chief of the official church-wide print publication Tserkovnaya (Orthodox) newspaper.
On August 20, 2006, at the monastery of St. Panteleimon on Mount Athos, Metropolitan Volodymyr of Kiev and All Ukraine tonsured into monasticism with the name “Alexander” in honor of the Monk Alexander of Svirsky.
On August 28, 2006, in the Holy Dormition Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, Metropolitan Vladimir was elevated to the rank of hegumen. On September 24, Metropolitan Vladimir was elevated to the rank of archimandrite.
On December 14, 2007, by a resolution of the Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, he was appointed Bishop of Pereyaslav-Khmelnitsky, vicar of the Kiev Metropolis.
In 2008, he was appointed rector of the wooden Church of All Saints at the construction site of the Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ.
Since the end of January 2010, he has been mentioned as the acting chairman of the department for external church relations of the UOC.
In 2010, Vladyka Alexander became the rector of the stavropegic Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord in the Kiev residential area Teremki-2.
On December 19, 2010, in the crypt of the Basilica of St. Nicholas in the city of Bari, he was elevated to the rank of archbishop.
On June 14, 2011, by decision of the Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, he was approved as the chairman of the department for external church relations of the UOC and a permanent member of the Holy Synod with the title “Pereyaslav-Khmelnytsky and Vishnevsky”.
On December 23, 2011, during the illness of Metropolitan Vladimir of Kiev, at a meeting of the Synod, he was appointed chairman of the commission that should temporarily manage the Kiev diocese, as well as responsible for the treatment of the primate before the Holy Synod.
Gap c UOC-MP
On December 15, 2018, he took part in a unification council, at which the Orthodox Church of Ukraine was established. Metropolitan Epiphanius of Pereyaslavl Belotserkovskiy was elected its primate. On December 17, 2018, the synod of the UOC-MP freed from the leadership of the diocese and banned the vicar bishop of the Kiev Metropolitanate of Metropolitan Pereyaslav-Khmelnitsky and Vishevsky Alexander (Drabinko) from serving. On the same day, the Ecumenical Patriarchate announced that it was accepting Drabinko into its jurisdiction. On December 19, Metropolitan Pereyaslav-Khmelnitsky and Vishnevsky Alexander held a liturgy in Kiev at the Transfiguration Church of the UOC-MP and during the service announced the transfer of his parish to the local church of Ukraine. 4 march 2019 year decision Holy Synod of the OCU appointed diocesan bishop of the newly formed Pereyaslavl-Vishnevsk diocese.
Quotes – About autocephaly:
“Moreover, it was politics that led to the formation of three Orthodox confessions on the territory of the already independent state of Ukraine, and only the one that was part of the Russian Church had the canonical recognition of the Orthodox churches of the world. did not find in myself the desire to overcome the split “, – written by Father Alexander.
About the UOC-MP:
“Unfortunately, the UOC today is not free from the policy dictated by Russia. And the curators of this process in Ukraine are Metropolitan Anthony (Pakanich) and Vadim Novinsky. These are exclusively political motives.”, – said Drabinko.
Drabinko explained that now the UOC-MP, to which he previously belonged, – “this is the totality of the dioceses of the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine”…
Awards & Church:
Order of St. Nestor the Chronicler of the 1st degree, the order of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir II degree, the Order of Distinction of the Primate of the UOC (2012), the cross of the Brotherhood of the All-Holy Sepulcher with a golden crown “Jerusalem Orthodox Church (2012).
Secular:
by decree the President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko awarded Order of Merit III degree (2009)… By decree the President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych awarded Order of Merit II degree (2013).