Hieromartyr Benjamin Metropolitan of Petrograd, and Companions

Early Life and Episcopal Career

He was born Basil Pavlovich Kazansky in the Olonets Province in the north of European Russia, the son of a priest. After studies at the Petrozavodsk Theological Seminary he entered the St. Petersburg Theological Academy in 1893. In 1895 he was tonsured a monk and took the name Benjamin, was ordained a deacon, and the following year a priest.

Following his graduation in 1897 he served in the theological schools, teaching at Riga and holding inspectorships at the Kholm and St. Petersburg seminaries before becoming rector of the Samara seminary in 1902 with the rank of archimandrite. He was consecrated Bishop of Gdovsk in 1910. After the revolution of February 1917 he was raised to the rank of archbishop and then, in August 1917, named Metropolitan of Petrograd; his title was subsequently fixed as Metropolitan of Petrograd and Gdovsk. The sources describe him as a pastor who kept his attention on the care of his flock rather than on politics during a turbulent period.

The Seizure of Church Valuables

In 1922, amid a severe famine, the Soviet government launched a campaign to confiscate the treasures of the Church. Benjamin sought a path that would relieve the suffering without sacrilege: by tradition he reached an agreement in early March 1922 permitting parishes to contribute voluntarily while retaining some oversight of their sacred vessels, an approach that the press initially praised.

This conciliatory course was undercut by a faction of priests who would form the renovationist 'Living Church.' According to the synaxarion, twelve of them publicly demanded the unconditional surrender of all church property and moved to usurp diocesan authority. Benjamin issued a decree against their leader, Vvedensky, calling him to repentance and declaring him separated from the Church. The authorities threatened the metropolitan with death unless he rescinded the decree, and he declined.

Trial and Martyrdom

Benjamin was arrested and brought before a tribunal together with a large group of co-defendants on charges of counter-revolutionary conspiracy and resistance to the confiscation. The proceedings lasted some weeks. By the account preserved in the synaxarion, when the question of his sentence arose he declared that whatever the court decreed he would give thanks to God, saying, 'Glory to Thee, O Lord, glory to Thee for all things.' Early in July the chairman announced that the metropolitan and several other defendants were condemned to death.

On July 31, 1922, Metropolitan Benjamin was shot together with the Archimandrite Sergius (Shein) and the two lay jurists George Novitsky and John Kovsharov. The execution was carried out in secret, and the four were shaved and dressed in rags so that the firing squad would not recognize that they were killing clergy and faithful of the Church.

Glorification

In April 1992 the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church glorified Metropolitan Benjamin and those who suffered with him as holy martyrs. They are commemorated on July 31 and among the Synaxis of the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia.