Tikhon

Metropolitan Tikhon (, secular name Georgiy Alexandrovich Shevkunov, ; born 2 July 1958 in Moscow) is a bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church and a popular writer. He is the Metropolitan of Pskov and Porkhov; in October 2023 it was reported that he was to be moved to the Diocese of Simferopol and Crimea.

From 2015 to 2018 he was the head of the of Moscow city.

He was superior of the Sretensky Monastery in Moscow from 1995 to 2018. Tikhon is often referred to as the personal confessor of Russian president Vladimir Putin.

In 1986 he was transferred to the publishing department of the Moscow Patriarchate, where he worked under Metropolitan . His first appointment was connected with commemoration of the millennial anniversary of the baptism of Rus.

On 8 September 1998 Tikhon was elevated to Archimandrite status.

In 1999 he founded and headed it as rector. He graduated (by correspondence) the same seminary in 2004.

Church building

Tikhon organized the construction of a Cathedral to New Martyrs and Confessors of Russian Church in the historical centre of Moscow, Lubyanka. The construction is controversial as the newly-built cathedral (55 meters high) would be higher than the Dormition Cathedral in Moscow Kremlin (45 meters high). Building of churches higher than Dormition Cathedral was traditionally forbidden in Moscow. "Death of an Empire. Byzantium Lesson" published by Eksmo in 2008. "Everyday Saints and Other Stories" (; literally "Unsaintly Saints and Other Stories") first published in 2011, translated to English in 2012. The book was published in more than 2 million copies claiming to be the most popular modern book of the Russian Orthodox Church. "With God's Help Everything Possible. About Faith and Fatherland" (2014).

Movies 1989 — Сказы матушки Фроси о монастыре Дивеевском (documentary) (Mother Frosya's Tales about Diveyevo Monastery) 2007 — Псково-Печерская обитель (Pskov-Caves Monastery) (documentary). 2008 — (documentary). The movie won the Golden Eagle Award for Best Documentary of 2008. While the film's subject is Byzantium, many critics believed that the lesson about frequent turnover of leaders causing the death of empires was directed to modern Russia rather than ancient Byzantium. 2010 — «Береги себя». Короткие фильмы антиалкогольной рекламы. 2010 — «Давайте выпьем!». 2013 — «Женский день».

Exhibitions

Tikhon organized a number of historical exhibitions in Moscow Manege. The last one "My History. 20th Century" was devoted to the 1930-1940s in Russia and often talked about supposed positive contributions by Joseph Stalin. The critics considered the exhibition as an "apology of the Orthodox Christian Stalinism".

Ideology

Tikhon is considered to be an ultra-conservative, but it is claimed that he never published anything 'xenophobic.' This description fits the longstanding formula of blood libels used as pretexts for pogroms and other atrocities against Jews in Europe. Tikhon contested that his accusations were antisemitic or that they referred to Jews at all.

Tikhon supports the Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation and he is a member of Crimean Expert-Consultative Council.

He is said to be against ecumenism between the Catholic Church and the Russian Orthodox Church, repeating the saying "Catholics are not even a church and as a result not even Christian."

Relations with Vladimir Putin

Tikhon is rumoured to be the personal confessor (духовник) and spiritual adviser of Russian president Vladimir Putin although both men neither confirm nor deny it. Once asked about his relations with Putin, Tikhon answered: "You can believe those rumours if you want, but they certainly aren't spread by me," adding "I am no Cardinal Richelieu!"

In 2026, Tikhon was sanctioned by the European Union as part of a wider package imposed in relation to the Russo-Ukrainian war and the death of Alexei Navalny.

Awards Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" Order of Friendship (2008) Order of Saint Vladimir Order of Holy Prince Daniel