Vasyl II of Aleksandropol

His all-Holiness Vasyl II
Œcumenical Patriarch of Aleksandropolis - New Rome and Primate of all-Pavlov
Church	Œcumenical Patriarchate of Aleksandropolis
Archdiocese	Aleksandropolis - New Rome
See	Aleksandropol
Installed	25 October 2021
Orders
Ordination	by Rt Rev’d +Columba (Jackson) of New Jersey
Personal details
Birth name	Aithan Robertovych Boyarskyj
Born	(1997-06-20)June 20, 1997
Denomination	Pavlovian Orthodox
Alma mater	St Gall’s Theological Seminary

Vasyl II (Pavlovian: Василь Бʹ, Vasyl B', Latin: Basilius II; born 20 June 1997) is the current Œcumenical Patriarch of Aleksandropolis and Primate of the Pavlovian Orthodox Church, since 25 October 2021. In accordance with his title he is, in Pavlov, regarded as the primus inter pares (first among equals) in the global Christian Church, and as the spiritual leader of all Christians worldwide. Vasyl II was born as Aithan Robertovych Boyarskyj (Pavlovian: Аіѳан Робєртович Боярский) in the United States in what is now the County of Virginia within Pavlov. Robertovych became a subject within the Empire of Pavlov almost a year to the day after his solemn profession as a monk, and was ordained as a priest only a few days after being accepted as a subject of the Pavlovian Tsar, initially serving as a theological advisor to the Holy Synod, as well as other committees, prior to his election and enthronement as Œcumenical Patriarch with the Edict of Traiectum.

Early life and background

Aithan Robertovych Boyarskyj was born on June 20th, 1997 as the elder of a set of twins. Due to having been born several months premature it was expected neither he nor his brother would survive beyond the span of a few days — it was only after an emergency baptism and blessing from Fr. John Lubey, a local Roman Catholic priest known for his healing abilities, that their condition stabilised; completely defying the expectations of medical staff. Robertovych thereafter demonstrated a life-long interest in religion; converting to Pure Land Buddhism at the age of 12. After reading St John Paul the Great’s critique of Buddhism in Crossing the Threshold of Hope and experiencing a dream in which John Paul’s corpse assaulted him in displeasure, Robertovych returned to communion with Rome while in high school. A crisis of faith concerning the Roman Catholic doctrine of indefectibility would prompt him to again leave the Church in 2015 upon graduating from high school and subsequently join the independent sacramental movement.

Robertovych would briefly study at St Bonaventure Theological Seminary in 2016 before later enrolling in St Gall’s Seminary, which dealt with priestly formation for service within what was then-known as the Holy Celtic Church. Although struggles with mental health frequently interrupted his studies Robertovych would eventually graduate cum laude from seminary in the spring of 2020; and made his solemn profession as a monk of the Congregation of St Romuald later that same year. Due to the COVID pandemic Br Robertovych was not ordained as a priest until October 2021; being ordained, by the laying-on of hands in the usual fashion, by the Rt Rev’d +Columba of New Jersey, a friendly local bishop who had encouraged his entrance into seminary. Several days prior to his ordination Br Robertovych (who had been interested in and familiar with micronationalism since childhood) applied for and received naturalisation as a subject of the Empire of Pavlov, which he had become acquainted with upon reading the MicroWiki article concerning the Orthodox Church of Pavlov. Shortly afterward he made contact with Tsar Aleksandr IV and volunteered his expertise and counsel after learning that the Church (like all other micronational churches which claimed to be governed by “bishops”) was ran by laymen with no theological education and lacked any access to apostolic succession or valid sacraments.

After several rounds of discussion between the Tsar, Br Robertovych, and Grand Prince Jaroslav Alexandrovych (who had served as the inaugural “Metropolitan” of the Church) the Holy Synod of the Church elected Br Robertovych as the new head of the Church; formally recommending to the Crown that he be appointed to the position. After a stated period of prayerful reflection on the part of the Tsar the Edict of Traiectum was gazetted on the 25th of October, the day after Rev Br Robertovych was ordained to the priesthood; dismissing and ceremonially exiling then-“Metropolitan” Nektarios (Nemajevych), unexpectedly raising the Metropolitan See of Aleksandropolis to the status of Œcumenical Patriarchate, and appointing Fr Robertovych as inaugural Patriarch (who took the regnal name Vasyl II) before convoking a Synod to discuss reforms and doctrinal clarification within the Church.

Patriarchate

As Patriarch, Vasyl co-presided over the Second Synod of Harlemum, an œcumenical council of the Church of Pavlov which was convened to overhaul the institution in the spirit of the ‘Great Reset’ period within Pavlov and promote the Tsar’s wish to evangelise through the Empire’s activities.

Distinctions

An act of legislation called the Karolopol Act was passed by the Senate to incorporate the Patriarchal private estate into Pavlov, resulting in the grant of the hereditary County of Virginia and Barony of Karolopol to His all-Holiness. Patriarch Vasyl was briefly appointed as Chief Justiciar of Nichensburg in the immediate aftermath of King Ludwig’s abdication, and continues to serve on the nation’s Privy Council within the transitional government of Filaret Prokhorovych Zakharov.

On 23 November 2021, he was granted the hereditary noble title of Çelebi by the Shah of Hasanistan.