Markell (Popel)

Markell Popel (born 31 December 1821 or 1825 in Halych or Medukha, died in Saint Petersburg) was a bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church of Ukrainian origin.

He was born into a Greek Catholic family. He completed studies in philosophy and Catholic theology and, after marrying, was ordained a priest in the Uniate rite in 1850. For a year, he engaged in pastoral work in the parish in Buchach, then from 1851 to 1859, he was a catechist at a gymnasium in Ternopil, and until 1866, a catechist at gymnasiums in Lviv. He published textbooks on liturgics and moral theology intended for Greek Catholic seminary students.

From 1854, he was active in the Russophile movement. He was also one of the leaders of the ritual movement in Galicia, which demanded the removal of all Latin elements from the Greek Catholic Church's liturgy. Initially, he only advocated for the purification of the Eastern rite within the Catholic Church, but over time, he came to believe that the Union of Brest had been a negative event for the Rus' people and that their original faith was Orthodoxy. Consequently, in 1866, he moved to Chełm Land, which was under Russian rule, to promote the purification of the Eastern rite from Latin influences. In this way, the Tsarist authorities intended to prepare for the complete abolition of the Union in the Russian Empire.

For his role in the liquidation of the last Uniate administrative unit in the Russian Empire, he was consecrated on 8 June 1875 as an auxiliary bishop of the Eparchy of Chełm and Warsaw with the title of Bishop of Lublin, maintaining personal oversight of the former Uniate parishes. In 1878, after a conflict with Archbishop of Chełm and Warsaw, he was transferred to the Podolia and Bratslav see, where he served as the ordinary until 1882. He was then the Bishop of Polotsk and Vitebsk from 1882 to 1889. In 1889, he retired but remained a member of the Most Holy Synod and participated in its work until his death in 1903. He died and was buried in Saint Petersburg.

Early life

Youth and activities in Galicia Markell Popel was born in Galicia as the son of nobleman Onuphry Popel. He was baptized in the Greek Catholic Church.

He completed a four-year German school in Halych, followed by classical gymnasiums in Stanyslaviv and Buchach. He continued his university studies in Chernivtsi (philosophy) and in Lviv and Vienna (theology). However, by 1854, he had radically changed his views and joined a group of gymnasium teachers who, in cooperation with Yakiv Holovatsky, distributed Russophile publications among students. He later worked for three years as a Russian language teacher at an academic gymnasium in Lviv, and from 1862 to 1866, he was a catechist at a German gymnasium in Lviv.

Father Popel was one of the leaders of the ritual movement advocating for the removal of all Latin elements from the Uniate church's liturgy. He implemented such changes in his pastoral practice. In 1862, Greek Catholic Metropolitan of Lviv, Hryhoriy Yakhymovych, appointed him to a commission to coordinate efforts to purify the Eastern rite, to prevent further grassroots and unauthorized initiatives by parish clergy in the area. The sudden death of the hierarch prevented the commission's work, and his successor, Spyrydon Lytvynovych, significantly curtailed the movement. At this time, Father Popel was not yet an advocate of Orthodoxy. In 1857, he published a textbook on moral theology,

According to : Markell Popel should be considered an ideological seeker of the purity of the Eastern rite, who, although declaring loyalty and obedience to the pope, as they delved into the intricacies of Eastern church identity, came to the conviction of the Union's shortcomings and secretly leaned toward apostasy.From 1864 to 1865, he edited the religious magazine Nedelja.

According to Witold Kołbuk, Father Popel was one of the few clergy motivated to come to Chełm Land not by material considerations, but by sincere support for the idea of promoting Orthodoxy.

Father Markell Popel arrived in Chełm Land with a recommendation from Slavophile activist and chaplain of the church at the Russian embassy in Vienna, Father , as one of the first Galicians. From the beginning of the new ordinary's activity, Father Popel remained in conflict with him. Kuzemski negatively viewed the activities of the Galician clergy who had come to Chełm and were radically combating all Latin elements in the liturgy. In 1869, a conflict arose between Father Popel and the bishop over the former's boycott of the Feast of Corpus Christi. Father Popel was also involved in bringing more Galician Russophiles to Chełm Land.

Father Markell Popel continued to bring more priests from Galicia, personally issuing invitations for them. Such documents facilitated obtaining Russian visas and crossing the border. As the administrator of the diocese, he openly began preparing for the mass conversion of Chełm's Uniates to Orthodoxy. In April 1871, he issued a circular mandating the elimination of Latin elements from the Uniate liturgy. His decrees, combined with the anti-Unite policies of the Governor of Siedlce, , caused unrest among some Uniates, leading to riots in parishes in Podlachia. Those opposing the changes were repressed, imprisoned, and exiled to Siberia. In 1874, there were two instances of Russian military aggression against Uniate churches, resulting in fatalities in Pratulin and Drelów. During Father Popel's tenure as administrator, 74 Uniate priests with anti-Orthodox attitudes were exiled or interned, while another 66 fled from Chełm to Galicia. He declared the liturgical changes introduced by Popel as invalid and referred to him as the unfortunate pseudo-administrator. Signatories of the Act of the Chełm Cathedral Clergy. Father Markell Popel is visible in the largest image, in the center of the group In February 1875, Father Markell Popel, along with other priests serving in the Uniate Cathedral in Chełm, sent a letter to Tsar Alexander II requesting permission to convert to Orthodoxy. This letter, titled the Act of the Chełm Cathedral Clergy, was presented to the Tsar on April 6 of the same year by a delegation that included the administrator of the diocese. The approval of the act and the subsequent decision of the Most Holy Synod on 23 May 1875 marked the dissolution of the Chełm diocese and the incorporation of its pastoral institutions into the Russian Orthodox Church. Following this decision, Father Popel converted along with the vast majority of the Galician clergy who had come to Chełm. These rights were also granted to subsequent Bishops of Lublin, with Chełm remaining their seat. As a bishop, Markell Popel surrounded himself with clergy from Galicia and initially enjoyed the support of the Ober-Procurator of the Most Holy Synod, Konstantin Pobedonostsev, and the Minister of Education, Dmitry Tolstoy. After his departure, the previously influential circle of Galician clergy lost their prominence.

He died in 1903 in Saint Petersburg and was buried in the Church of St. Isidore in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra complex. In 1932, his remains were transferred to the Nikolskoe Cemetery.

Family Before 1850, he married Klementyna Ełowiecka (died 1864), with whom he had two sons. The other son, Juliyan, also became an Orthodox priest, attained the rank of protopriest, and until World War I, served as the parish priest in the church in Pławanice. He died of cholera in a field hospital in Malaryta during the evacuation into Russia in 1915.