Early Life and Education
Saint Innocent was born John Kulchitsky around 1680 in the Chernigov region, into a noble family whose forebears had migrated from Volhynia in the middle of the 17th century. He received a theological education at the Kiev Theological Academy.
He was tonsured a monk and given the name Innocent in 1710. He went on to serve as prefect and professor of theology at the Moscow Slavonic-Greek-Latin Academy, and in 1719 transferred to the St. Petersburg Alexander Nevsky Lavra, where he served as chief naval chaplain and, in 1720, as vice-regent of the Lavra.
The China Mission and Appointment to Irkutsk
On February 14, 1721, Innocent was consecrated Bishop of Pereyaslavl in preparation for leading the Russian Orthodox Mission in Beijing, which had been without a head since the death of Archimandrite Ilarion in 1717. Imperial authorities, however, denied him entry into China, and he spent some three years at Selingin near Irkutsk while the matter went unresolved.
In 1727 he was appointed the first bishop of the newly formed Diocese of Irkutsk and Nerchinsk. He extended its boundaries to take in Selingin, Yakutsk, and Ilimsk, established two schools at the Ascension Monastery for Mongol and Russian pupils, and began the construction of a stone church there. Sources note that he carried out this work without financial support from St. Petersburg. He learned Mongolian and preached among the local people.
Relics and Shrines
Saint Innocent died on November 27, 1731, and was buried beneath the altar of the Tikhvin church at the Ascension Monastery near Irkutsk. During restoration work in 1764 his remains were found incorrupt, and miracles were attributed to him; he was glorified by the Russian Orthodox Church on February 9, 1804.
In 1921 Soviet authorities confiscated his relics, which were held in museums for much of the 20th century. They were returned to the Church in 1990 and placed in Irkutsk on September 7 of that year.
