Hilarion Kapral

Metropolitan Hilarion (born Igor Alexeyevich Kapral, ; 6 January 1948 – 16 May 2022) was a bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR), Metropolitan of Eastern America and New York, First-Hierarch of the ROCOR from 18 May 2008 until his death; as the first person elected to that position following the Act of Canonical Communion between the ROCOR and the Russian Orthodox Church, he was the first whose election required approval by the Holy Synod of the Moscow Patriarchate.

On 17 May 2007, upon the signing of the Act of Canonical Communion between the ROCOR and the Russian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate), Kapral became a part of the episcopate of the Moscow Patriarchate.

Biography

Early years The youngest child of Alexei and Euphrosynia Kapral, Ukrainian immigrants, Igor Kapral was born on 6 January 1948 in Spirit River, Alberta, Canada. He spoke Ukrainian at home and English at school. He spent a childhood he described as having been "pleasant ... absolutely free of any harmful influences", walking two and a half miles to school each day. (Later, Kapral transferred to a school in Blueberry Creek, but he returned to finish high school.)

From his youth, Kapral felt drawn to the Church and loved to read books and periodicals on religion and morals. From a young age, around 6 or 7, he knew that he wanted to become a priest. He attended Holy Trinity Church in Spirit River, a congregation of the ROCOR composed of ethnic Ukrainians. Services were held monthly or bi-monthly, and often Archbishop Panteleimon (Rudyk) would celebrate these services. Igor revered Archbishop Panteleimon, who told the boy, "someday you will be a priest".

In December 2003, the Council of Bishops of the ROCOR awarded him the honour of wearing a diamond cross on his klobuk.

In May 2006, the Council of Bishops of the ROCOR appointed him Chief Deputy of the President of the Synod of Bishops with residence in New York.

First-Hierarch of the ROCOR On 12 May 2008, Archbishop Hilarion was elected and elevated as the new First-hierarch of the ROCOR, having received 9 votes out of 11. On 14 May of that year, he was approved by the Holy Synod of the Moscow Patriarchate to the post of the primate and elevated to the rank of metropolitan. On 18 May, he was enthroned in New York City. On 10 December 2008, he was appointed a member of the Preparatory Commission for the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church. He was the first Metropolitan of Eastern America and New York born in North America.

On the first day of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Hilarion, an ethnic Ukrainian who spoke Ukrainian at home as a child,

Death On 16 May 2022, Metropolitan Hilarion died in a New York City hospital, following a lengthy period of ill health. He was 74. He is buried in the monastic brotherhood cemetery behind Holy Trinity Cathedral in Jordanville, NY.