Jonah of Moscow

Jonah of Moscow (; died 31 March 1461) was Metropolitan of Kiev and all Rus', the primate of the Russian Orthodox Church, from 1448 until his death in 1461.

After Isidore was condemned for supporting the Union of Florence, Jonah was appointed as metropolitan by a council of Russian bishops at the behest of Vasily II of Moscow.

Like his immediate predecessors, he permanently resided in Moscow, and was the last Moscow-based metropolitan to keep the traditional title with reference to the metropolitan city of Kiev. He was also the first metropolitan in Moscow to be appointed without the approval of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, as had been the norm, which marked the beginning of autocephaly of the Russian Orthodox Church.

After the death of Photius in 1431, Jonah was chosen by the grand prince of Moscow and a council of Russian bishops as the new metropolitan at the end of 1432. However, due to a succession crisis and civil strife in Moscow, he did not hurry to Constantinople to receive his ordination and did not decide to go to Constantinople until the middle of 1435. Meanwhile, at the request of the Lithuanian grand duke Švitrigaila, the bishop was appointed as metropolitan, but the latter did not come to Moscow and remained metropolitan only in Lithuania. Soon, Švitrigaila suspected Gerasim of treason and executed him in 1435.

When Jonah finally arrived to Constantinople in 1436, the patriarch had already chosen the Greek bishop Isidore and appointed the latter as the new metropolitan. Isidore came to Moscow in 1437 and made a good impression there with his diplomatic skills and knowledge of the Slavonic language. However, only five months later, in September 1437, he left Moscow to participate to the Council of Florence for the unification of the Churches of Rome and Constantinople. Abraham of Suzdal was the only Russian prelate present and he signed the union, but, according to his companion Simeon, this was only under duress. Isidore brought the news of the Council to Moscow in 1441, and according to Russian sources, Vasily II along with a council of Russian bishops condemned the Council in order to protect the purity of the faith. Although not all Russian clergy supported Jonah, the move was subsequently justified in the Russian point of view following the fall of Constantinople in 1453, which was interpreted as divine punishment. As a result, Jonah and Vasily II tacitly accepted the co-existence of two Russian Orthodox hierarchies.

Jonah died on 31 March 1461. He was buried in the Dormition Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin. He was canonized by Macarius at the Moscow Council of 1547.

Veneration The Eastern Orthodox Church commemorates Jonah on the following dates.

March 31: Date of Repose. May 27: Uncovering and Translation of Relics. June 15: Primary Feast. October 5: Synaxis of the Hierarchs of Moscow.