Kyrill Yonchev

{{Infobox Christian leader

| name = Kyrill

| honorific-prefix = His Eminence

| honorific-suffix = The Most Reverend

| bishop_of = Archbishop of the Bulgarian Diocese and of Western Pennsylvania

| image = File:Archbishop Kirill Yonchev.jpg

| caption = Archbishop Kirill sometime between 1990 - 1995

| archdiocese = Bulgarian Diocese
Diocese of the South

| metropolis =

| see =

| elected = 1976 (Bulgarian Diocese)
1978 (Western Pennsylvania)

| enthroned =

| ended =

| predecessor = Theodosius (Lazor) (Western Pennsylvania)

| successor = Alexander (Golitzin) (Bulgarian Diocses)
Melchisedek (Pleska) (Western Pennsylvania)

| ordination =

| other_post =

| birth_name = Ilia Manchov Yonchev

| birth_date = {{birth date|1920|2|26}}

| birth_place = Panagyurishte, Bulgaria

| death_date = {{death date and age|2007|6|17|1920|2|26}}

| death_place = Allison Park, Pennsylvania

| buried =

| nationality =

| religion = Eastern Orthodox

| residence =

| parents =

| spouse =

| children =

| occupation =

| profession =

| alma_mater = Sofia Theological Seminary

| signature =

}}

Archbishop Kyrill (Yonchev) (secular name Ilia Manchov Yonchev, {{langx|bg|Илия Манчов Йончев}}; February 26, 1920 – June 17, 2007) was the archbishop of the Orthodox Church in America's Diocese of Western Pennsylvania and Bulgarian Diocese.

Biography

Archbishop Kirill was born as Ilia Manchov Yonchev in Panagyurishte, Bulgaria, on 26 February 1920. In 1940 he graduated from the Saint John of Rila Theological Seminary in Sofia.{{cite web |url=http://www.oca.org/News.asp?ID=1264&SID=19 |title=In Memoriam: His Eminence, Archbishop Kyrill of Pittsburgh, Western Pennsylvania, and the Bulgarian Diocese |date=17 June 2007 |accessdate=2007-06-18}}

On January 19, 1941, he was tonsured to monastic orders and given the name Kyrill. The following day, he was ordained to the diaconate. In April 1943, he was ordained to the priesthood.

In 1944 Father Kyrill graduated from the Saint Clement of Ochrid School of Theology and was appointed instructor of theology in the seminary in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. In the same year, he was named abbot of the Bachkovo Monastery.

In 1946, Father Kyrill was sent to Bern, Switzerland, for advanced studies in theology and philosophy. In 1950, following the communist takeover of Bulgaria, he emigrated to the United States. A short time later, he was assigned pastor of Saint George Bulgarian Orthodox Church, Toledo, OH.

Bishop

In the late 1950s, Metropolitan Andrei (Petkov), leader of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia's Bulgarian Diocese of North and South America and Australia, petitioned to be accepted into the Russian Metropolia but had been rebuffed by them for unclear reasons, so in 1964 he petitioned and was approved by the Holy Synod of the Church of Bulgaria to be readmitted to the Bulgarian episcopacy. One of his clergy, Archimandrite Kyrill (Yonchev), disagreed with his decision and was consecrated by the bishops of the ROCOR to serve as head of the Bulgarian Diocese in Exile. Due partly to Metr. Andrei's advanced age, Bp. Kyrill persuaded many Bulgarian parishes to accept his authority.{{harvtxt|Surrency|1973|p=187}}

In 1976, Bp. Kyrill and his diocese broke from the ROCOR and joined the Orthodox Church in America, thus creating its Bulgarian Diocese.{{cite web |url=http://www.oca.org/DOC-AAC-05-synopsis.asp?SID=12 |title=Synopsis of the 5th All-American Council |accessdate=2007-01-01 |last=Liberovsky |first=Alexis |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070202224907/http://www.oca.org/DOC-AAC-05-synopsis.asp?SID=12 |archivedate=2007-02-02 }}

Archbishop Kyrill died on June 17, 2007, after suffering from ill health for the previous year.

Notes

References

{{cite book |title=The Quest for Orthodox Unity in America: A History of the Orthodox Church in North America in the Twentieth Century |last1=Surrency|first1=Serafim |year=1973 |publisher=Saints Boris and Gleb Press |language=English}}