A public figure whose statements are controversial, the author of many books, articles, presenter and guest of television shows - all this can be said about Archpriest Andrei Tkachev. His biography and family photos are of interest to many, not only believers. True, the clergyman does not like to make his personal life public. But the priest is always ready for an open dialogue with both his supporters and ill-wishers.
School years and military service
Andrei was born during the Soviet Union, in the capital of the Ukrainian SSR, Lvov, on December 30, 1969. His parents sent their son to study in a Russian school. He was baptized in early childhood, but he made a conscious choice in favor of his faith in adolescence. According to Fr. Andrew, he acutely felt the “melancholy and nonsense” of the world around him, in which God is absent. The priest calls himself “self-taught,” but this is not entirely true. He has more than one educational institution behind him:
- Moscow Suvorov Military School - at the age of 15 (1984), at the insistence of his parents, he became a cadet.
- Military Institute of the USSR Ministry of Defense - Faculty of Special Propaganda, specialization became the Persian language. The training was not completed, since the young man did not show any interest in him.
Service in the ranks of the Soviet army followed. In his free time, Andrei Yuryevich studied the Bhagavad Gita (a sacred book in Hinduism, written in Sanskrit, translated as “Divine Song”). After demobilization, he returned to Lviv, where he first worked as a loader in a store.
Biography
The future priest was born almost at the very end of 1960. The boy was born in the wonderful city of Lviv in Ukraine. His parents wanted their son to make a military career for himself, so when the young man turned 15, they sent him to study at the Moscow Suvorov Military School.
Having completed his studies, Andrei, fulfilling the wishes of his parents, set out to continue to engage in this difficult craft. So, he gains knowledge within the walls of the Ministry of Defense, where he studied at the department for training experts for complex operations in the Persian language.
A priest explains difficult moments from sacred texts
According to him, it was this moment in his life that he chose as literary growth. In those days, he first became acquainted with the magnificent works of Russian poets, who had a significant influence on the development of his worldview.
This is interesting! Perhaps this is why the young man did not continue his studies at the institute, left his military career and headed in a completely different direction. Apparently, since childhood, the priest’s soul was drawn to battles, but not earthly, but spiritual.
Beginning of a church career
One of his friends brought Andrei to church to listen to music and pray. So the young man began to read the Gospel and study other Christian literature. He went to work as a watchman at the temple, was a sexton (he rang the bell). On the advice of a confessor (a priest who takes confession), he studied at the Kyiv Theological Seminary as an external student (from 1992 to 1994).
During his studies, he met the future archimandrites Longin (Chernukha) and Kirill (Govorun). Then he entered the Theological Academy, but did not come to lectures, for which he was expelled. Later, the priest said that he simply did not have time for classes, because he led a very active life.
Ordination to the rank of deacon took place in Kyiv, and a little later in the same 1993 he accepted priestly ordination (became a priest - a clergyman with the right to perform sacraments and rituals). He began the service in the Church of St. George the Victorious (Lviv). From the very beginning of his spiritual path, Father Andrei Tkachev worked with young people - he taught the Law of God in one of the schools, and gave lectures at the Lviv Theological Academy.
In 2005, he moved to the Ukrainian capital - he had to regularly participate in the filming of television programs on the Kievan Rus TV channel. At that moment, the clergyman had only an absentee letter from the Lviv diocese; he had no permanent place of work. He served wherever necessary, in several different churches.
Then, at the request of the parishioners, the rector of the Church of Agapit of Pechersk took Fr. Andrei to the clergy, where he continued to serve from 2006 to 2014. His career took off - in 2013, the priest began to head the missionary department of the Kyiv diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate).
Moving to Russia
The clergyman is known for his controversial statements not only on religious topics. Father has his own clear civic position, which he did not hesitate to express during the crisis of Russian-Ukrainian relations in 2014. There was a conflict between the Moscow and Kyiv patriarchates. As a result, the archpriest decided to move to Moscow because he feared persecution.
The new church that temporarily sheltered the priest is the house church of Moscow State University (in the name of the martyr Tatiana). In August, the spiritual father was made a supernumerary cleric of the Church of the Resurrection of the Word on the Assumption Vrazhek. The main place of service for the new cleric was the St. Basil the Great Gymnasium near Moscow, where he headed one of the departments. He attended services only in his free time from obedience.
From conversations with the priest, his attitude towards the UOC, which he called an “ambiguous organization,” became clear. According to Andrei Yurievich, too many “two-faced goats” have gathered there, and he called the Ukrainian state itself “a barracks of violently insane people.” In Russia, in his opinion, there are many more spiritual shepherds. In Ukraine, “people have gone crazy,” because in fact their faith is only for show and they have lost contact with the Lord.
Now the archpriest is a full-time cleric of the Church of St. Basil the Great of the Patriarchal Metochion in the village of Zaitsevo (Moscow region, Odintsovo district). He was released from his previous obedience in the Church of the Resurrection of the Word in October 2022.
He often delivers sermons in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior and in the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin at patriarchal services. It is part of the Inter-Council Presence (until 2022) - a church organization that assists the Russian Orthodox Church in preparing important decisions regarding internal life and public activities.
In Russia, the priest enjoys the favor of high-ranking clergy, in particular, Patriarch Kirill (Gundyaev). The patriarch himself stated this in a recent speech at a meeting with young people; the video is available in the public domain. The Patriarch stated that he immediately understood that Fr. Andrei can make a great contribution to the moral education of young people and “accepted it with love.”
Family of Andrei Tkachev
Little is known about the personal life of Father Andrei. He believes that family is a sacred concept that should not be visible to others. It is known that Father Andrei is married. He met his future wife in his native Lviv. Now the couple lives in Moscow and is raising four children.
Archpriest with his sons
The archpriest has a large family, which he never tires of being proud of. It is curious that during the “dashing” nineties, his family experienced absolutely no difficulties and did not join in the general panic. This is because at that time they were abstracted from watching television.
Successful author
Andrey Yuryevich not only manages to perform and host TV shows. He writes quite a lot of books. They can be purchased not only in church shops, but also through online stores. New products are released very quickly in electronic format, which cost an order of magnitude cheaper than paper ones. New items for 2022 have different themes:
- “Living word. The Bible is about our joys and troubles." The author believes that a great book is not a collection of dusty moral laws, but a word addressed to every modern person living on the planet.
- “The age of maturity. The time of the wise, happy and a little saintly.” The archpriest explains that old age can be met in such a way that it will become a blessing not only for the believer himself, but also for his loved ones. Answers the question of how not to be afraid of old age, not to be lonely, but to live in harmony with others and yourself.
- "Love. Those who seek and find." Father, being an experienced confessor, answered in this publication the most frequent perplexities that arise among his spiritual children. The topic will be close to both those who have recently been married and those who have already had enough of family happiness.
For his creativity Fr. Andrey was awarded the Runet Book Prize in 2013, and became a nominee for the Patriarchal Literary Prize in 2014 and 2016.
A television
Thanks to this opportunity, Andrei was able to preach throughout the country, giving people lessons about morality, morality and other modern and exciting topics. Although the conversations with the priest were brief, people gained a rich experience from it and revised their worldview. He performed on a project called “To Sleep the Future,” whose prime time fell at a late time. Before going to bed, the audience received wonderful teachings and were able to sleep with peace of mind.
The priest talks about the life of believers
The program very soon found its listeners, who began to write positive reviews in its honor. His intimate evening conversations were able to show people a completely different world. Andrey was able to very briefly and clearly explain to people the benefits of morality and prayers. Using many saints as examples, he actually achieved answers from his listeners.
This is interesting! The project itself was not of any moralizing nature, but attracted the audience with its thoughtfulness and logic.
A little later, he was invited to a new project called “The Garden of Divine Songs,” where the preacher told the audience about the great knowledge that is stored in the Psalter. Reading out some passages from there, Andrei tried to explain to people what they were talking about. In addition, he penetrates to the very essence of the sacred texts, citing the events of that time as examples.
Andrey and his wife
Media activities
Many are interested in the priest’s personal life, which is not surprising, because he is not only the author of books, but also a bright personality with many subscribers on social networks. It is known for sure that he got married in 1992, even before entering the Kyiv Seminary. All that journalists managed to find out about his family life is that he has a wife and four children.
It is impossible to find a photo of the family on the Internet. Apparently, the priest considers such interest idle and does not encourage it. He raises his children so that they are less dependent on modern vanity. According to the clergyman, back in the 90s the family completely gave up watching television.
The TV program “Meeting” with Andrei Tkachev is currently airing on the “Spas” channel. Recordings can be found on the official website of the channel, on various topics:
- “Politics” (03/09/19) - how Orthodox Christians should treat government officials.
- “The Last Judgment” (03/02/19) - how believers should prepare for this event, whether they should be afraid of death.
- “The Prodigal Son” (02/23/19) - is repentance always possible for a person, how to build a relationship with God.
These are just new topics, but there is also an archive of 2022 issues. In addition to the video, there is a text version. Viewers who come to the program ask questions on air, and the priest answers. The duration of the transfer is about an hour.
The priest is also present on the social network VKontakte. True, the page is not run by him himself, but by trusted representatives from the editorial office of his official website. The group posts videos, of which there are about 300, and more than 500 audio recordings (these are all sermons). In discussions, you can suggest a topic for new speeches, ask for prayer support.
On the portal “Orthodoxy and the World” there is a separate tag “Archpriest Andrei Tkachev”, where you can find a lot of materials related to the priest in one way or another. These are his articles and comments from third parties on particularly sensational statements.
To listen or read something new from the priest, you need to type in a search engine: “Andrey Tkachev (archpriest), latest sermons for 2022.” They can be found in large quantities, for example, on the official YouTube channel. Many contain answers to questions that constantly come from believers.
Missionary
At a difficult moment for Ukraine, Andrei begins his pastoral service, preaching not only in church, but also in the world. Thanks to the huge number of his literary works, the priest successfully implements missionary activities. Tkachev's sermons are known many miles from his hometown. According to the preacher, it was not he who chose missionary work, but it was him.
TV appearance
The priest was not afraid to call a spade a spade, so he was completely open to the public. He was not afraid of her, but tried to teach her, relying on his vivid examples. This did not go unnoticed by the public, so one day he received an invitation to speak on one of the Ukrainian channels.
Criticism of statements
Some of the archpriest’s sayings often become the object of comments both from the public and from ordinary parishioners of Orthodox churches. The famous Orthodox publicist Deacon Andrei Kuraev has repeatedly spoken disapprovingly of the priest. Priest Georgy Maximov criticized the doctrine of salvation that the priest adheres to. The most scandalous statements are widely known:
- In 2006, he was criticized by journalists for his aggressiveness towards the West. The priest replied that he would try in the future “to be more restrained.”
- In January 2014, during the riots in Kyiv, Tkachev said in a sermon to parishioners that he did not pray for the rebels, did not feel sorry for them and wanted “for them to devour each other.” Indignant letters and calls from believers and clergy poured in. The priest, summoned to the Patriarchate to give explanations, said that he was expressing personal, not evangelical thoughts.
- In the program “Holy Truth”, aired on the Tsargrad TV channel, an opinion about evolution was voiced, which many considered incompetent. Priest Alexander Pikalev later said that Fr. Andrey made a number of mistakes that show his poor knowledge in this area of knowledge.
- Another topic for the scandal was a statement in which a clergyman called on a woman to be “broken over the knee” so that she would not take power over a man in the house. In a video recording of another speech, he called girls who did not maintain their honor before marriage “shameless bastards”, “mad dogs” and offered to hit them “in the jaw”. The video was subsequently removed from the network.
Later, the priest gave an explanation regarding his remarks about his attitude towards women. According to him, the conversations took place in a narrow circle of parishioners well known to him, with whom he prefers to communicate openly. One of his spiritual children made an audio recording without blessing and posted it online. The words were taken out of context because they were intended for a specific person in his specific situation.
Lectures and Sermons
Sermons occupy a special place in the life of a clergyman . In them he addresses all people, no matter who is in front of him. His audience consists of different classes of society, be it sincere believers, desperate pensioners, carefree students, marginalized people, or even bearers of a completely different faith.
He speaks succinctly and clearly, without trying to entice the listener or persuade him to accept his point of view. Everyone will hear for themselves what they need.
The position of the archpriest makes him a very controversial person, but at the same time it brought him fame. In his sermons, Tkachev often uses quotes from ancient thinkers and reveals the real picture of the world.
On the website “Elitsa” the priest maintains a video blog . You can also find video recordings on YouTube.
In video conversations, Andrey Tkachev touches on a very important topic about the love of other people. Today people think more about personal gain; they have lost real guidelines in life. Watching all this, it is very difficult to find yourself. To find yourself, you need to go away for a while. Conscious loneliness will allow you to recover.
He often mentions that society and loneliness are interconnected and impossible without each other. Personality manifests itself in society, but develops without it. A person needs solitude.
Very popular lectures by the archpriest in the multiblog are conversations where he talks about Xenia of St. Petersburg and Prince Rostislav .
Some of the priest's statements were repeatedly criticized for being excessively aggressive and incompetent. In one of the interviews, Tkachev replied that he was presenting the truth that actually exists, but would try to be more balanced in his words in the future.
One of the most famous scandalous incidents involving Tkachev. The sermon on video had the effect of a bomb exploding. In it, the priest spoke unflatteringly about women who did not retain their virginity before marriage, and allowed himself to make incorrect statements. Perhaps it is really difficult for the archpriest to maintain self-control in some matters.
