14 Facts About John Kochurov

Ivan Alexandrovich Kochurov was a priest of the Russian Orthodox Church.

John Kochurov was one of a number of young educated priests who came to the United States in the late 1890s as missionaries among the emigres from Carpathian Ruthenia and Galicia.

John Kochurov was active in establishing parishes and aiding communities, mainly in the Midwest.

John Kochurov became the first hieromartyr of the Soviet Revolution.

John Kochurov's education included attendance at the Ryazan Theological Seminary before continuing at the St Petersburg Theological Academy.

John Kochurov excelled at his studies at both the seminary and academy.

Under the guidance of Bishop Tikhon, later Patriarch Tikhon of Moscow and saint, John Kochurov enlisted the services of the noted architect Louis Sullivan to design the church.

John Kochurov devoted much effort to aiding the establishment of other parishes in the Chicago area.

John Kochurov performed the first service for the future Archangel Michael Orthodox Church in southwest Chicago.

John Kochurov translated religious texts into English, looking to the time when the church in America would consist of English-speaking members.

John Kochurov returned to Russia in 1907 where he was assigned to Narva.

John Kochurov was taken by the Bolsheviks out of town where he was summarily shot.

John Kochurov was buried several days later in the crypt of St Catherine's Cathedral.

In December 1994, John Kochurov was glorified by the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church, in session at St Daniel's Monastery, Moscow, Russia, as the first of the new martyrs of the 20th century.