Nicodemus (Krotkov)
Nikodim (Cyrillic: Никодим; born as Nikolai Vasilyevich Krotkov (Russian: Николай Васильевич Кротков); 1868-1938) was a bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church, later the Archbishop of Kostroma and Galich.
He confirmed Pavlo Skoropadsky as the Hetman of Ukraine on April 29, 1918 in the Saint Sophia Cathedral. During the Revolutionary period in Ukraine 1917-1920 he served as a Metropolitan of Kiev and Galicia as a vicar to the murdered by Bolsheviks Metropolitan Vladimir. In 2000 he was recognized as a hieromartyr by the Russian Orthodox Church.
Biography
Nikodim was born in a family of a Russian priest from the Kostroma Eparchy as Nikolai Vasilyevich Krotkov. In 1889 he graduated from the Kostroma Theological Seminary, after which Krotkov was appointed as a teacher to a parish school. In 1896 he enrolled into the Kiev Theological Academy and on August 13, 1899 Krotkov was tonsured as a monk. In 1900 Krotkov finished the academy with a degree of a Candidate in Theology. In 1905 he was a rector of the Pskov Theological Seminary.
On November 11, 1907 Nikodim has been laid on of hands for the bishop of Akkerman, vicar of Kishenev and Khotin Eparchy to Archbishop Anastasiy. Since November 16, 1911 he was a bishop of Chyhyryn, vicar of Kiev Eparchy. On April 29, 1918 Nikodim confirmed Pavlo Skoropadsky as the Hetman of Ukraine in the Saint Sophia Cathedral, after which he conducted a service of intercession at the Sofiyivska Ploshcha (Sophia Square). Nikodim was against adopting an autocephaly of the Ukrainian Orthodoxy. Since 1921 he was a bishop of Taurida and Simferopol. In 1922 Nikodim was promoted to the rank of archbishop. From 1922 to 1932 he spent time in prison. From June 10, 1932 to January 2, 1937 Nikodim was an archbishop of Kostroma, after which he retired. Later Nikodim was repressed and convicted again. He died in prison.
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