Anthony (Scharba)

Scharba was born on January 30, 1947, in Sharon, Pennsylvania, USA, to Ivan and Dorofei Scharba. On March 23 of the same year, he was baptized in the Ukrainian Church of John the Baptist in his hometown.[1]

Scharba received his primary and secondary education in Sharpsville. After he graduated from high school, he enrolled in the Edinboro University of Pennsylvania in order to prepare for a lay career in as an international journalist.[1] Two years later, Scharba entered St. Andrew's College in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. At the same time, he also entered the University of Manitoba, where the St. Andrew's Seminary campus is located. He graduated from the UM in 1970 with a bachelor's degree in sociology and then graduated from St. Andrews Seminary in 1971 with a degree in theology. He remained in Winnipeg, accepting an offer to serve as the resident dean of St. Andrew's College.[1]

On October 1, 1972, Scharba was ordained a deacon by Bishop Constantine at the St. Vladimir Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral in Parma, Ohio. Then on November 26, he was ordained a priest at the Church of St. John the Baptist in Sharon.[1] By December, Scharba was sent to the parish of Ambridge and was transferred to Hammond, Indiana, in 1976. While he was at Hammond, Scharba studied at the theological faculty at Loyola University Chicago and Purdue University.[1] On May 29, 1985, he took monastic vows under the name Anthony in honor of Anthony the Great and he was elevated to archimandrite.[1] On October 6, he was consecrated as the bishop of New York and was ordained by Metropolitan Mstyslav at St. Andrew Memorial Church in South Bound Brook, New Jersey. On March 11-12, 1995, Anthony was elevated to bishop.[2]

Following the death of the Metropolitan Constatine, on May 21, 2012, Archbishop Anthony was elected locum tenens of the UOC-USA. On October 6, the Council of Clergy and Laity elected him as their primate. On November 14, the election was approved by Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople.[3] In addition, Metropolitan Anthony became locum tenens of the UAOC in the Diaspora. The enthronement took place on January 26, 2013, at the Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral of St. Andrew in Silver Spring, Maryland.[4]

At the council of the UAOC in the Diaspora of October 30-November 1, 2015, Metropolitan Anthony was officially elected Metropolitan of the UAOC in the Diaspora.[5]