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Grigory Gavrilovich Seletsky (the future Igumen John) was born into the family of a priest on the 25th of January 1885, in the village of Mitrofanovka, Alexandria uyezd, Kherson province. He finished the Yelisavettgrad theological seminary in Odessa, and then went on to the Moscow University. He then studied at the philosophy department of Gottingen University in Germany. From 1914, he was at the war front. After 1917, he worked in a cooperative in Moscow, and then in Yelisavettgrad between 1918 and 1921. In 1921 (or 1923) he was ordained a Priest. He was arrested in 1922 but was soon released. From 1922 (or 1923?) till the 27th of July 1926, he served at the Pokrov church in Yelisavettgrad until it was taken over by the “Renovationists”.
In 1924 Fr. Grigory had been sent by the Yelisavettgrad clergy to Patriarch Tikhon to petition him not to accept the renovationist Krasnitsky into his Higher Church Council. The Patriarch replied: “I thank you for your expressed feelings of loyalty. I ask you to believe that I will never go along the path of agreements and concessions which might threaten the integrity of Orthodoxy. But if the negotiations with Fr. Krasnitsky, especially in the newspaper report of Fr. Krasnitsky, instead of eliciting joy elicit fear, which is witnessed to by many declarations of archpastors, pastors and laity, then I find it expedient completely to cut off negotiations with Fr. Krasnitsky on reconciliation, and My signature in the journal on May 8/21, 1924 on the establishment of a Higher Church Administration attached to me is to be considered invalid.”
When Fr. Gregory went into the reception room of the Patriarch to receive his reply, he was met by a joyful Metropolitan Peter (Polyansky), who said: “What a good idea you had! We here have been trying for a long time to obtain from his Holiness that he break off his negotiations with Krasnitsky, but without success – his Holiness was procrastinating. But you brought your address, and his Holiness had to issue his resolution.”
Beginning in 1926, he lived and served in Kharkov. At the end of 1926 he was again arrested but was soon released on his own recognizance. According to the wish of Bishop Onufry, he was selected, in May of 1927, as administrator of the Zinoviev bishopric, and in fact performed these duties until 1928.
In November of 1927 he openly came out in opposition to Metropolitan Sergius’s “Declaration” and Metropolitan Michael (Yermakov). In Kiev and Kharkov, however, he didn’t find any direct support, as he was to later reveal at an investigation:
“All of the representatives of the Episcopate and clergy that I had to encounter in Kharkov, either recognized the “new course” of Metropolitan Sergius unreservedly or, even if they were displeased with certain aspects of it, still accepted it in its totality. This ideological loneliness of mine was very painful for me. Everything they said to me in defense of their point of view was not convincing to me at all. But the fact that I was alone or almost alone shook my confidence in the correctness of my point of view."
For this reason he went to Moscow in order to see Metropolitan Sergius; however, his efforts to influence him to change his view on Church life ended in failure. However, of great significance was a conversation he had with M.A. Novoselov, (Bishop Mark, who was secretly ordained by the “Danilovites” in 1923 and who was executed on the 4th of January 1938). He spoke very harshly of the Deputy Locum Tenens and of the need to withdraw from communion with Metropolitan Sergius. Father Grigory also met with Professor A.S. Losev, and with Archpriests Sergius Mechev and Vladimir Vorobyov. As a result, he finally decided to separate from Metropolitan Sergius, and in the summer of 1928, together with Archpriest Nikolai Vinogradov, he took a written petition from the clergy of the Zinoviev Bishopric to Archbishop Dimitry (Lyubimov) with a request to be accepted under his omophorion. Vladyka Dimitry agreed, but advised, that considering the current situation, he should serve under Bishop Paul (Kratirov) who was the closest “Josephite” Bishop. Interestingly, Father Grigory brought from Leningrad a message received from Archpriest Theodore Andreev from the head of ROCOR Metropolitan Anthony (Khrapovitsky). Fr. Nicholas Vinogradov was then appointed as dean of the Zinoviev region. He enjoyed great respect from all of the village parishes and was also Fr. Grigory’s spiritual father.
The “Josephites” of Zinoviev, Odessa and Poltava Dioceses were under the influence of Protopriest Gregory and Archimandrite Barsanuphius (Urchenko).
From the records of Fr. Grigory’s interrogation, we read: “I wrote to Novoselov in advance about my intention to visit Moscow and indicated the possible dates of my arrival - as well as calling Bishop Mark a “guest” in my letters. Meetings with him were held in Moscow at the apartments of acquaintances from Zinovievsk.” Also, there were two illegal visits to Leningrad, where Father Grigory met with Archbishop Dimitry.
He also maintained good relations with Bishop Damascene (Tsedrik), whom he visited in Starodub. Of all the Kievites, he was closest to Fr. Anatoly Zharovsky, although their views did not coincide in everything.
Thus, when Fr. Anatoly raised the question “of the necessity for the organizational establishment of communities, which had broken with Metropolitan Sergius, into an autonomous church structure and about declaring Metropolitan Joseph (Petrovykh) to be deputy Locum Tenens” – Fr. Grigory treated this negatively.
In 1929, Fr. Grigory was under investigation - being accused of “counter revolutionary” activities - but soon the case was dismissed and he was released.
At this time, the Peter-Pavlovsk church in Zinovievsk belonged to the “Josephites”. After Bishop Dimitry's arrest, the Zinoviev parishes were then left without a bishop. (They had certain disagreements with Bishop Paul, who lived in Kharkov, but the exact nature of these remain unknown.)
Therefore, at a secret gathering of the “Josephite” clergy in 1930, Fr. Grigory was selected as a candidate to become the Bishop. However, at the beginning, wishing to remain in the framework of legality, Fr. Nicholas Vinogradov refused to have a secret Bishop. And later it was no longer possible to carry out the consecration due to the mass arrests of 1931.
Batyushka was then arrested on the 15th of January 1930, as head of the Odessa branch of the CPI [TOC] and was imprisoned in the Kharkov jail. On the 2nd of January 1932, the GPU decreed that he be sentenced to 10 years in a labour camp. He first spent time in the Temnikovsk camp, and then at Beltbaltlag. In 1938, he was released and initially settled in the Kharkov district, but in the same year, he was arrested once again and sentenced to 5 years in a labour camp for being a “counter-revolutionary recidivist”. Thereafter, receiving an early release, he lived illegally in Kharkov. In the same year, he was ordained into monasticism with the name of John by Archbishop Anthony (Abashidze).
From 1941 to 1944 he lived in Poltava under German rule. He was elevated to the rank of Igumen by Bishop Benjamin (Novitsk) under whose omophorion he organized a women’s monastery in Poltava. With the approach of the Soviet armies, he, Bishop Benjamin and three spiritual daughters retreated westwards on a German train, but both independently began to feel that they should not leave Russia, and as the train passed Pochaev they both fell on their knees and asked God that they should stay in Pochaev. God heard their prayer, and the train began to slow down. They jumped off the moving train, which, without stopping, began to gather speed again. (Bishop Benjamin was soon sent to the camps and joined the Moscow Patriarchate.)
Later in 1944, Igumen John was arrested, but was released because of his age and settled on the edge of the city of Kremenets, near the Pochaev Lavra, having signed a promise that he would not leave. He served the Liturgy at home, living almost in seclusion until his death. He died on August 24, 1971, being 86 years of age, and was buried in the Kremenets City Cemetery.
(Compiled by A.M. of Kharkov with additional details from a work of V. Moss. This text was kindly translated by Seraphim Larin.)