BISHOP VITALY (SHCHEPETEV) OF KOSTROMA. A BRIEF BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES

Georgy Sergeevih Dmitriev

Moscow University of Finance and Law, Sergiev Posad, Russia

Email: ross.georg@mail.ru

Issue: № 3 (35), 2026

Pages: 105

DOI: 10.24412/2309-5164-2026-3-

Annotation

Materials on the history of the Church during the reign of the Imp. Nicholas I (edited by Academician N. F. Dubrovin), memoirs about St. Petersburg theological schools (D. Rostislavov, I. Chistovich, letters of St. Filaret (Drozdov) and others allowed us to structure the biography of the outstanding hierarch of the 19th century, Bishop Vitaly (Shchepetev). A graduate of the Tula Seminary, he had a long career before ascending to the Cathedra of Kostroma. In the 1820s, he became the rector of the Moscow Seminary, and later of the St. Petersburg Academy, from which he was removed by the efforts of the Chief Procurator, N.A. Protasov. Being an enemy of Protasov, Bishop Vitaly joined the circle of friends of his opponent, Metropolitan Filaret of Moscow and became a vicar. After his suspension from participating in the meetings of the Synod in 1842 in connection, among other things, with the case of the priest Pavsky and his transition, Mitr. Filaret focused on the management of the Moscow Archdiocese, and the Ep. Vitaly was transferred to the vast Kostroma diocese. However, the period of independent management was short and tragic for Bishop Vitaly: the conflict with the consistory, especially with Secretary Arkharov, undermined his spiritual and physical strength. Vitaly was dismissed and was on his way to Moscow to visit his patron (who lived in the Simonov Monastery), but before he could leave Kostroma, he died in January 1846, shortly before making his will (published for the first time in this study).

Keywords

Bishop Vitaly, Odoev, Kostroma, Mitr. Filaret (Drozdov), synodal prosecutor Protasov, seminary, St. Petersburg Academy, The Synod, Consistory, the will

For citation

Dmitriev G. S. Bishop Vitaly (Shchepetev) of Kostroma.A brief biographical notices // Ipatievsky vestnik. 2026. № 3. Р. (In Russian). https:// doi.org/10.24412/2309-5164-2026-3-