Metropolitan Laurus (Slovak: Metropolita Laurus, secular nameVasily Mikhaylovich Shkurla, Russian: Василий Михайлович Шкурла, or Vasiľ Škurla in Slovakian; January 1, 1928 – March 16, 2008) was First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR), the fifth cleric to hold that position. Born in Czechoslovakia, he emigrated to the United States in 1946 after World War II with brothers from his monastery. They joined the Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville, New York, established in 1928 by the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia.
Father Laurus was ordained to the priesthood in 1954 and advanced within the church. Late in his life, after the fall of the Soviet Union, he negotiated the fourth ROCOR agreement, which reunited ROCOR to the Russian Orthodox Patriarchate based in Moscow. In 2007 he participated in a joint celebration of the Divine Liturgy with the Patriarch of Moscow at Christ the Saviour Cathedral in Moscow.
When he was five, Vasiľ began serving at the altar of the Church of Monastery of St. Job of Pochaev in Ladomirová, which was the parish church for the local Orthodox population. At the age of eight, young Vasiľ approached the abbot of the monastery, ArchimandriteSeraphim (Ivanov), to request being accepted as a novice. In 1939, at the age of eleven, Vasiľ gained his father's permission to join the monastery. He began to participate fully in the monastery life while continuing his required secondary education. He continued the higher grades of secondary education, traveling by bicycle to and from school in the local town of Svidník. On a daily basis, he rose at 4.00 a.m. for the Midnight Office and took part in the other Divine Services.
As the Red Army approached in 1944 during World War II, the brotherhood evacuated the monastery. They moved first to Bratislava, and then on to Germany and Switzerland, as they knew the Orthodox Church had been suppressed in the Soviet Union. While in Geneva, at the age of sixteen, Vassily became a novice. In 1946, after the war, the brotherhood, including Vasiľ, emigrated to the United States.
In 1967 Laurus was elected to the episcopate, being consecrated bishop of Manhattan at the Synodal Cathedral of the Theotokos of the Sign in New York City. With this elevation came an assignment as secretary of the Synod of Bishops.
In 1976 Laurus was elected abbot of Holy Trinity Monastery. He was also appointed as Bishop of Syracuse and Holy Trinity by the Synod of Bishops. In the following years, Laurus traveled and led many pilgrimages throughout the Orthodox Christian world, including to Israel and Mount Athos. In 1981, he was elevated to archbishop.
In October 2001, after the retirement of Metropolitan Vitaly (Ustinov), Archbishop Laurus was elected by the Synod of Bishops as metropolitan of Eastern America and New York and the first hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia.[2][3]
Between May 6 and May 14, 2006, Laurus chaired the fourth All-Diaspora Council of ROCOR.[citation needed] By that time, the Soviet Union had fallen and the Russian Orthodox Church began to operate openly again in Russia. The Council gave approval for reconciliation and normalization of relations with the Moscow Patriarchate.[4]
Metropolitan Laurus died aged 80, in the Holy Trinity Monastery, Jordanville, on March 16, 2008. He was buried on March 21 alongside previous leaders of the Russian Church Abroad at Holy Trinity Monastery's cemetery.
He was succeeded as First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia by Metropolitan Hilarion (Kapral).
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