Hieromartyr
Hieromartyr John Skadovsky
1874 — 1937
Also known as: Иван Георгиевич Скадовский, Иоанн Скадовский, пресвитер, Иоанн Скадовский, иерей
A Kherson nobleman who became a priest in 1918, shared exile with Archbishop Procopius (Titov) and was shot with him in Turtkul, Karakalpakstan, on 23 November 1937; glorified in 2000.
Hieromartyr John (Ivan Georgievich Skadovsky) was born in Kherson on 30 May 1874 into a noble landowning family; his grandfather had founded the Annunciation convent near Kherson. Trained in agriculture and winemaking, he served as a rural official and ran his estate until, influenced by Bishop Procopius (Titov), he decided to become a priest. In 1918, after his estate had been confiscated, he gave his remaining property to the peasants and was ordained by Metropolitan Platon (Rozhdestvensky). He served in Kherson until 1926.
Arrested and sentenced in 1931 to five years in the Vishera camps, he was later exiled to Kamyshin, where Archbishop Procopius joined him in 1934. Both were arrested and in March 1935 exiled to Turtkul in Karakalpakstan (now Uzbekistan). There they lived together, arranged a small house church and served for local believers.
Arrested on 24 August 1937 for running an "illegal prayer house" and "counter-revolutionary agitation", Fr John denied any guilt. He and Archbishop Procopius were sentenced by an NKVD troika and shot on 23 November 1937. Glorified locally by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in 1996 and by the Jubilee Council of Bishops in 2000. Feast: 10 (23) November; also in the Synaxis of the New Martyrs and the Synaxis of the Saints of the Central Asian Metropolitan District (8 September).