John Pashin

Holy Hieromartyr John Pashin (in the world Ivan Dmitrievich Pashin) was bishop of Rylsk, vicar of the diocese of Kursk, born on 8 (20) May 1881 at Petrikov (now in the Gomel region) and shot on 11 March 1938 at Chibyu, in the camp near Ukhta. He was numbered among the new martyrs and confessors of the Russian Church in August 2000, at the Jubilee Council of Bishops, on the presentation of the diocese of Kursk. Our sources give no day of commemoration.

Family

He was born into a priest's family. His father, Dimitry, served at the church of the Resurrection in Petrikov and in August 1881 was moved to the church of Saint Paraskeva-⁠Friday in the village of Simonovichi, in the Mozyr district. He died when Ivan was three. His mother was named Nadezhda Vasilyevna. His maternal grandfather, Vasily Zavitnevich, archpriest and rector of the church of Saint Nicholas in Skrygalovo (until 1903), took in his daughter and grandson. His wife, Antonina Vasilyevna (18 May 1883 to 3 May 1915), a merchant's daughter, graduated from the Mariinsky gymnasium in Minsk. They had two children, Nadezhda (born 21 September 1902) and Vasily (born 10 June 1907).

Priest and teacher

In 1895 he graduated from the theological school at Slutsk, and in 1901 from the theological seminary at Minsk. From 1901 he was priest at the church of the Intercession in the village of Knyaz-⁠Ozero, in the Mozyr district, and from February 1903 at the church of Saint Nicholas in the village of Skrygalovo, in the same district. From 1902 he taught in the village of Dyakovichi, from 1905 in the parish school at Skrygalovo, from 1906 in the school at Leshnya and from 1907 in the people's school at Skrygalovo. From the summer of 1909 he was rector of the church of the Holy Great Martyr George the Victorious in the village of Prilepy, in the Minsk district. In 1910 he founded the parish temperance society, which later became the Temperance Brotherhood, with a statute, a hymn and a banner. For the good leadership of the five parish schools in the parish, in 1913 (or 1912) the Holy Synod gave him a Bible. In 1914 a new stone church was built in the village, consecrated in 1916, and in the same year two more parish schools were opened. In 1916 and 1917, until September, he studied at the Petrograd Theological Academy. He received the epigonation, the skufia and medals.

Bishop

On 7 April 1923, in the cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul in Minsk, Bishop Melchizedek (Paevsky) consecrated him bishop of Mozyr and Turov, vicar of the diocese of Minsk. He served much in churches and taught children church singing and the Law of God in his own apartment, which led to conflict with the authorities. He was accused of having "undermined the authority of the Soviet school". No grounds were found to bring him to trial, but by decision of the Special Council of the OGPU of 26 March 1926 he was deprived of the right to live in large cities and was expelled from Petrikov. According to the recollections of contemporaries, on the day of the expulsion people followed the bishop to the landing stage, and then waded long through the cold water after the barge that carried him away. He lived at Loev, in the Gomel region, and continued to govern the vicariate in secret. On 18 September 1926 the Special Council of the OGPU sentenced him to three years of exile in the Zyryan region.

In August 1929 he was moved to "free settlement". By directive of Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky), the deputy locum tenens, he chose as his place of residence the town of Rylsk and was appointed bishop of Rylsk, vicar of the diocese of Kursk.

Arrest and martyrdom

He was arrested on 28 September 1932, accused of belonging to the organization "Zealots of the Church" and of leading its "Rylsk group". In his testimony Bishop John (Pashin) denounced no one and admitted no guilt. By decision of the Special Council of the OGPU of 7 December 1932 he was sentenced to ten years in a camp and taken to Ukhtpechlag, in the Komi Autonomous Republic. In the camp he was arrested again. On 5 January 1938 the troika of the UNKVD for the Arkhangelsk region sentenced him to be shot, and on 11 March 1938 he was shot. He was buried in an unknown common grave.

Glorification

In August 2000, on the presentation of the diocese of Kursk, the Jubilee Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church numbered him among the holy new martyrs and confessors. In 2005, in Minsk, a book about the holy hieromartyr John (Pashin) was published, prepared for printing by the priest Theodore Krivonos and Gordey Shcheglov, candidate of theology.