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Metropolitan Peter, in the worldly realm Peter Fyodorovich Polyansky, was born in Voronezh Province in 1863. He received his secondary education at the Voronezh Seminary and his higher education at the Moscow Theological Academy, from which he graduated in 1892 with a PhD in Theology and a Master's degree, and was retained there as an assistant inspector. He soon wrote a dissertation on "On Pastoral Epistles," for which he was awarded a Master of Theology. From the Moscow Academy, he was appointed superintendent of the Zhirovichi Theological School (Grodno Province), and was then invited to serve as clerk of the Educational Committee of the Holy Synod. A year later, he was appointed a supernumerary member, and a short time later, a full-time member of the Educational Committee. He held the latter position until the Revolution, serving as auditor of theological educational institutions.
Traveling literally throughout Russia on official duties, including the Caucasus and Siberia, Peter had a wide network of acquaintances among the higher clergy and professors. Possessing a naturally sociable nature and undeniable intellectual gifts, Peter. enjoyed enormous respect among his extensive circle of acquaintances. And thanks to the strength of his character, combined with his innate tact, Peter exerted a great influence on spiritual, educational, and upbringing matters in Russia.
After the revolution, Peter served on the All-Russian Local Council in 1917–1918. Patriarch Tikhon, elected by the Council, recruited Peter as one of his closest collaborators. In 1920, Patriarch Tikhon tonsured Peter as a monk and on April 25, ordained him a bishop and appointed him patriarchal vicar, later elevating him to the rank of Metropolitan of Krutitsy.
According to the will of the late Patriarch Tikhon, Metropolitan Peter of Krutitsy was listed among three hierarchs destined to serve as locum tenens of the patriarchal throne in a prescribed order of succession. Circumstances conspired such that neither of the first two metropolitans was actually able to fulfill the duties of locum tenens of the patriarchal throne, and only Metropolitan Peter of Krutitsy, the third candidate nominated by Patriarch Tikhon, assumed this high and responsible position. This moment was characterized, on the one hand, by the failure of the last hopes for the creation of a patriarchal "legal administration," which the late Patriarch had advocated, and, on the other hand, by the ever-growing activity of the Renovationists.
During Metropolitan Peter's reign, the Renovationists, emboldened by the patriarch's death, began to seek unification with the Orthodox Church and vigorously prepared for their second council, scheduled to take place in Moscow in the summer of 1925. Soviet authorities, with broad support for the Renovationists, used every administrative measure to persuade local Orthodox bishops to join the Renovationists: those who resisted were arrested and exiled, while those who wavered were promised all sorts of benefits on the condition that they convert to Renovationism. In an atmosphere of growing pressure from the Renovationists and the Soviet authorities, under the onslaught of repression, it seemed that hesitation and uncertainty were emerging in a number of localities across Russia. Firm and fearless leadership was needed. And at that moment, Metropolitan Peter issued his message to the Russian Church, which sharply and clearly defined the position of the Orthodox Church in the face of the coming events as a position of complete, irreconcilable standing for the truth and rejection of any compromises, both with Renovationism and with the Soviet government that supported it.
This message from Metropolitan Peter, which immediately restored firmness in the Church and doomed to complete collapse the long and meticulous preparations of the Renovationists and the government, also played a fatal role in his personal fate. The Soviet authorities, convinced that in him the Orthodox Church had an incorruptible and fearless leader, sufficiently energetic and courageous, began to prepare means to remove him from the leadership of the Church.
To this end, newspaper articles began appearing full of slanderous insinuations against Metropolitan Peter and his alleged counterrevolutionary activities. Then, at a renovationist pseudo-council in Moscow, the famous Vvedensky read out a deliberately false document, fabricated by the GPU, allegedly exposing Metropolitan Peter's connections with "foreign countries." Simultaneously, facing the now direct and obvious threat of arrest, Tuchkov, on behalf of the government, began negotiating with Metropolitan Peter for "legalization," i.e., the official formalization of the Orthodox Church's governance, which it had hitherto lacked due to its illegal status.
This “legalization” promised to alleviate the Church’s disenfranchised position, but required Metropolitan Peter to accept a number of conditions, such as:
1) issuance of a declaration of certain content;
2) exclusion from the ranks of administrators of bishops who are objectionable to the authorities, i.e. their removal from church life;
3) condemnation of foreign bishops;
4) a certain level of contact with the government, represented by Tuchkov, in future. In exchange, they promised official governance and immunity for those bishops appointed to dioceses by agreement with the authorities.
By offering Metropolitan Peter its terms at a time when he was already facing immediate personal danger, the government undoubtedly expected that, desiring to preserve his freedom and save himself from future trials, Metropolitan Peter would unwittingly make concessions. However, disregarding all personal considerations, Metropolitan Peter resolutely rejected the terms offered to him and, in particular, refused to sign the declaration proposed by Tuchkov.
In the summer of 1925, Tuchkov, the Commissar for Church Affairs, wanted to arbitrarily appoint Metropolitan Agathangel as Locum Tenens and send Metropolitan Peter to Yaroslavl. The Locum Tenens responded: "I will willingly transfer power to Metropolitan Agathangel, as he is my candidate for the Locum Tenens, but I will remain Metropolitan of Krutitsy, as it is not the business of the civil authority to interfere in purely ecclesiastical matters." This was stated with such firmness that Tuchkov abandoned his intention until 1927, when Metropolitan Sergius subordinated the Church's internal freedom to the God-fighting authorities and recognized their authority and jurisdiction in purely ecclesiastical matters.
Metropolitan Peter, the locum tenens of the patriarchal throne, didn't rule for long. He already knew for certain that no concessions on his part could bribe the authorities. The authorities took everything and gave nothing. Therefore, the metropolitan flatly rejected the various proposals of the government agent, even banishing him from his chambers with these words: "You're all lying; you'll give nothing, only promises; now please leave the room; we have a meeting." The embittered enemy couldn't tolerate such exclusion from church affairs for long.
On December 10, 1925, Metropolitan Peter's home was searched during the night. He was first arrested at home and then transferred two days later to the Lubyanka prison. A group of hierarchs living in Moscow, close to Metropolitan Peter and apparently, according to the GPU, aligned with him, were arrested at the same time. These included Archbishops Nikolai of Vladimir, Pakhomiy of Chernigov, Prokopiy of Kherson, Gury of Irkutsk, and Bishops Parthenius of Anashevsky, Damaskin of Glukhovsky, Tikhon of Gomel, Varsonoft of Kargopol, and others.
According to the will left by Metropolitan Peter, in the event of his arrest, first Metropolitan Sergius of Nizhny Novgorod, then Metropolitan Michael, Exarch of Ukraine, and finally Metropolitan Joseph of Petrograd (who was in Rostov) were to take over the governance of the Church as deputy locum tenens.
However, by the time of Metropolitan Peter's arrest, the GPU had already prepared a self-appointed group of bishops, headed by Archbishop Gregory of Yekaterinburg and Bishop Boris of Mozhaisk, which, following the example of the living Church during the arrest of the patriarch, immediately, as soon as Metropolitan Peter was arrested, convened a meeting of its pre-arranged participants - nine bishops living in Moscow - and announced that Metropolitan Peter's activities were counter-revolutionary and that, in view of his arrest and the resulting absence of governance of the Church, they, the nine bishops who had gathered, would organize themselves into a "Temporary Supreme Church Council" and take control of the Church into their own hands.
Archbishop Gregory and others, having received a meeting with Metropolitan Peter at the GPU, give him a report on the situation of the Church, in which they say that Metropolitan Sergius is unable to govern the Church, that Metropolitan Michael has refused, and Metropolitan Joseph has also refused, and that, therefore, church affairs require new orders from Metropolitan Peter in order to avoid complete anarchy.
Metropolitan Peter, unaware of betrayal and knowing Archbishop Gregory from his previous steadfastness in Orthodoxy, wrote a resolution on this report, right there at the GPU, during a meeting on February 1, 1926, to hand over the administration of the Church to a collegium of Archbishops Nikolai of Vladimir, Dmitry of Tomsk, and Gregory of Yekaterinburg. At the time, Archbishop Nikolai was imprisoned in the same GPU prison, while Archbishop Dmitry was in Tomsk and unable to travel to Moscow. Archbishop Gregory, aware of all this, remained silent and, with Metropolitan Peter's resolution, left the GPU, obviously considering himself master of the situation. However, Metropolitan Peter wrote his resolution not in a categorical, but in a conditional form, thereby making it clear that it was binding only under certain conditions, namely, the inability of Metropolitan Sergius to govern the Church. This gave Metropolitan Sergius and the entire Church the right to reject the betrayal and arbitrary initiative of Archbishop Gregory and others.
Remaining in solitary confinement in the GPU's internal prison until May 1926, completely cut off from the world, Metropolitan Peter, of course, had no idea of the actual state of church affairs. He guessed that all was likely not well and calm, since Metropolitan Sergius was unable, and Metropolitan Michael and Archbishop Joseph had refused, to govern the Church.
By this time, it was obvious to everyone that this GPU scheme—aimed at introducing further turmoil into the life of the Church, weakening it, and, if the All-Russian Supreme Church Council (VVCS) succeeded, subordinating it to its influence—was failing, just like all the previous ones. Then, unwilling to abandon his plan, Tuchkov resorted to a new ruse: Metropolitan Agathangel, who had completed his exile in the Narym region, was allowed to return to Yaroslavl, but was detained en route in Perm. There, he met with Tuchkov. Having portrayed the Church's situation as close to disaster, and the internal struggle between the All-Russian Church Council and Metropolitan Sergius for power as a factor preventing the government from legalizing the Orthodox Church, which the government allegedly strives for, Tuchkov asked Metropolitan Agathangel to regulate the Church's internal affairs with his authority and the powers granted by the patriarch, and to enter into negotiations with the government to formalize the Orthodox Church Administration.
Metropolitan Agathangel, completely unaware of the true state of affairs and trusting Tuchkov, issued his famous Perm Epistle and assumed control of the Church. Having thus provoked Metropolitan Agathangel, Tuchkov simultaneously sought to provoke Metropolitan Peter. Showing him Metropolitan Agathangel's Epistle, he suggested that he write a letter to Metropolitan Agathangel about transferring the locum tenens to him. Metropolitan Peter seized this opportunity and wrote to Metropolitan Agathangel on May 22, welcoming his return and joyfully transferring his rights. However, Metropolitan Sergius had already entered into correspondence with Metropolitan Agathangel, explaining the erroneous nature of the Perm Epistle, as Metropolitan Peter had not renounced his authority and had a legitimate deputy in Metropolitan Sergius.
On June 12, 1926, Metropolitan Agathangel renounced his Perm Epistle. Metropolitan Sergius remained the sole legitimate Administrator of the Church. The Soviet authorities, convinced of the futility of their attempts to provoke anarchy in the Church through the All-Russian Church Council and Metropolitan Agathangel, began to continue negotiations for legalization, begun a year earlier with Metropolitan Peter.
As for Metropolitan Peter himself, he was secretly taken from Moscow at that time and placed in solitary confinement in the fortress of the former Savior Euthymius Monastery in Suzdal. He remained there until late autumn of 1926.
Tuchkov continued to insist that Metropolitan Sergius accept the conditions that had been set before Metropolitan Peter back in 1925, and to make these conditions more “persuasive,” the GPU intensified the repressions against the episcopate so much that there were still bishops left in a rare diocese.
When Metropolitan Sergius was arrested, the honest, pure, and beloved Metropolitan Joseph of Petrograd, who was in exile, assumed control of the Church in accordance with Metropolitan Peter's last will. He deemed it impossible to actually govern the Church, as he was in the remote Yaroslavl province and could not leave, so he delegated control to three deputies: Archbishop Korniliy, who had been arrested; Archbishop Thaddeus, who was in exile; and Archbishop Seraphim of Uglich, who assumed control of the Church.
At the same time, Metropolitan Peter was transferred from Suzdal to a GPU prison in Moscow, where Tuchkov offered him the opportunity to resign as locum tenens. Metropolitan Peter vehemently refused and, through the priest sharing his cell, asked everyone to convey that he "will never, under any circumstances, abandon his ministry and will remain faithful to the Orthodox Church until his death."
At the end of December, Metropolitan Peter was sent into exile in Tobolsk, passing through prisons in Vyatka, Perm, Yekaterinburg, and Tyumen. On January 1, 1927, in Perm prison, Metropolitan Peter had the opportunity to learn for the first time about the state of church affairs in Russia, including Archbishop Gregory's provocation the previous year, Metropolitan Agathangel's speech, and other matters. It was then that he composed his letter to the Church, which aimed to explain all the unintentional mistakes he had made from prison and to direct church life back on track.
On January 21, 1927, Metropolitan Peter met with Archbishop Gregory in Yekaterinburg Prison, after which he was able to deliver his message to the outside world. In November 1927, he arrived at Tobolsk Prison, from where, in early March, he was sent to the village of Abalatskoye on the banks of the Irtysh River, 50 miles above Tobolsk.
At this time, Archbishop Seraphim of Uglich was summoned to the Moscow GPU, where Tuchkov offered him the infamous terms of "legalization." Archbishop Seraphim refused, citing that he did not consider himself authorized to decide fundamental issues without the senior hierarchs in custody. After three days of Archbishop Seraphim's detention at the GPU, Tuchkov released him to Uglich, and on March 20, Metropolitan Sergius, to whom Archbishop Seraphim had handed over the administration, was released.
The fact that Metropolitan Sergius was released at a time when repressions against the Church throughout Russia were increasing immediately gave rise to a number of fears and anxieties.
In an atmosphere of growing mistrust, Metropolitan Sergius's famous declaration was finally issued in June 1927. Metropolitan Sergius capitulated to the GPU, accepted all the conditions of "legalization," and began to consistently implement them. The citadel of Orthodoxy—the patriarchal throne—was in the hands of the Church's enemies. Shortly before Metropolitan Sergius' declaration was issued, Metropolitan Peter was arrested again and thrown into Tobolsk prison.
Metropolitan Peter, after spending two months in Tobolsk prison, was exiled down the Ob River to the winter hut of He, two hundred miles from Obdorsk on the shore of the Gulf of Ob, in the tundra. There, deprived of all communication with the outside world, deprived of all assistance, gravely ill, he was doomed to a slow death. One person describes the plight of the exiles: "In August 1927, Metropolitan Peter arrived in He on a barge towed by an Obtrest steamship. He managed to rent a two-room house from a local Samoyed old woman for ten rubles a month. He had to pay another ten rubles for board and laundry. At first, the metropolitan felt well and said he was resting after two months in Tobolsk prison and ten days in the Obdorsk GPU, breathing fresh air.
He was walking in the vicinity of He, through tundra covered with shrubs and low birch trees, surrounded by hills and small ravines. However, at the end of the feast of the Beheading of John the Baptist, he suffered his first attack of severe asthma and angina pectoris, and from then on he remained bedridden. The complete lack of medical care and medicine forced us to send a native to Obdorsk by boat (two hundred miles), who brought with him the Obdorsk paramedic and the Obrest paramedic. This council recognized Metropolitan Peter's condition as grave. Leaving behind some medications, they advised requesting a transfer to another location with a hospital. Metropolitan Peter wrote a statement to Ivanov, the authorized representative of the Obdorsk GPU, asking him to telegraph Tuchkov his request for a transfer south. I transmitted this statement to the GPU on the way from exile in Obdorsk. According to Metropolitan Peter, since June 1927, the day he was imprisoned in Tobolsk, he has received no news, no money, no parcels from Russia, despite knowing that such things had arrived in Tobolsk addressed to him. "The climate in He is damp and cold, and very unhealthy. A steamship arrives in He once a year."
In this state, constantly ill, Metropolitan Peter remained in He until September 1928. His exile ended in November. All requests to Tuchkov for a transfer to another location with a better climate remained unanswered. In September, Metropolitan Peter was transferred back to Tobolsk Prison, where he met with Tuchkov.
He offered him the chance to resign his position as locum tenens, promising him his freedom. However, Metropolitan Peter flatly refused and was immediately escorted back to He, and his exile was extended for another three years.
In 1930, Metropolitan Peter's term in exile expired, and hope arose for his return. But this never materialized, as Metropolitan Peter disapproved of Metropolitan Sergius's collusion with the Bolsheviks and concessions to their demands. He expressed this in a letter to Sergius, which included the phrase: "If you are unable to defend the Church, step aside and yield to a stronger one." The contents of this letter became known, and the Bolsheviks expended considerable effort—not without some fruitless effort—to find out who had disclosed it.
There was a time when Soviet agents offered Metropolitan Sergius the opportunity to release Metropolitan Peter from exile if at least ten church communities would vouch for his loyalty to the Soviet government. The church communities were forced to refuse, as the requested voucher was worded in a manner unacceptable to them and Metropolitan Peter. This offer was a new Soviet ploy and a surefire way to close more parishes. At the very first sign of Metropolitan Sergius's activity, the Bolsheviks would have picked on him, arrested him again, and closed the ten parishes.
The Soviet authorities had previously offered Metropolitan Peter his release on the condition that he sanction all of Metropolitan Sergius' orders, but he categorically refused this, preferring to drag out his life in exile, in poverty, cold, and hunger, rather than sacrifice his episcopal conscience.
In Moscow, believers awaited the return of Metropolitan Peter from exile, the ten-year term of which had already expired on November 27, 1935.
Metropolitan Peter died, presumably, in December 1936, because on the 27th of that month and year, the Moscow Patriarchate conferred upon Metropolitan Sergius the title of "Patriarchal Locum Tenens," whereas until then he had been called his "Deputy." It was only in 1937, two or three months later, that the Lithuanian Diocese Abroad, subordinate to the Patriarchate, announced that it had received notification from the Patriarchate of the death of the former locum tenens, without specifying the date or place of his death. Rumor has it that Metropolitan Peter had enjoyed some relief in his final months. He was transported from his remote place of exile closer to central Russia and given a cell and some care at a closed monastery, but was denied the right to communicate with the outside world through correspondence or meetings. It was here that he died, having spent more than ten years in prison.
Source: https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Mihail_Polskij/novye-mucheniki-rossijskie/13