Kulchytsky, Inokentii

Kulchytsky, Inokentii [Кульчицький, Інокентій; Kul’čyc’kyj, Inokentij] (secular name: Ivan), b 1681 in the Chernihiv region, d 6 December 1731 in Irkutsk, Russia. Orthodox church figure, bishop, and saint. Of Ukrainian noble descent, he studied at the Kyivan Mohyla Academy until 1706 and in 1708 became a monk in the Kyivan Cave Monastery. He lectured at the Moscow Greek-Slavonic-Latin Academy (ca 1711–18), serving for some time also as the academy's prefect. Kulchytsky was consecrated bishop of Pereiaslav in 1721 and assigned to missionary work in Peking. When he was barred entry to China, in 1727 he became the bishop of Irkutsk eparchy. There he did missionary work among the local population and expanded the local school system. Kulchytsky’s remains were found in 1764, and his relics became so famous that in 1805 Kulchytsky was canonized.

[This article was updated in 2017.]