Perm and the Aftermath of Andronicus’s Execution

Perm, a river city in the Urals, was shaken in 1918 by the killing of Archbishop Andronicus, whose death intensified public grief and anger. The new Soviet authorities, fearing unrest, sought to calm the city with what appeared to be a concession: they summoned the Orthodox bishop Theophanes to replace the murdered shepherd. On June 9, 1918, his arrival was meant to quiet Perm’s outrage and give the appearance of order. Yet the invitation was also a snare—an attempt to draw a faithful pastor into reach of a regime increasingly hostile to the Church.

Bishop Theophanes: Presence Over Self‑Preservation

Theophanes understood the peril. He also understood the peril of abandonment. He came not as a political figure, but as a shepherd to a wounded flock, choosing to stand where fear and sorrow were thickest. His ministry in Perm became a lived sermon: Christian leadership is not proven by safety, but by steadfast care. In a time when words were policed and pulpits watched, his very presence proclaimed that Christ does not forsake His people.

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.” (John 10:11)

Arrest and Martyrdom (October–Christmas Eve, 1918)

In October, Theophanes was arrested, confirming that the earlier “summons” had been bait. On Christmas Eve he was brutally murdered—stripped and repeatedly lowered by the hair through an ice-hole cut in a frozen river. The cruelty was calculated to humiliate and terrify, to make faith look futile. Yet the Church has long remembered such deaths not as defeats, but as witnesses: the body can be broken, but the soul held fast by Christ cannot be conquered.

“Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.” (Matthew 10:28)

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” (2 Timothy 4:7)

Theophanes’s steadfastness encourages believers to endure with courage, to serve without bargaining for safety, and to trust that God’s victory outlasts every regime.