The German period of the priestly ministry of metropolitan Vitaly (Ustinov) (based on the materials of the archive of the German diocese of the Russian Church Abroad)

The article explores the activities of the future Metropolitan Vitaly (Ustinov) on the territory of the German diocese on the basis of the archives of the German diocese. The German diocese was for the future Fourth First Hierarch the place, where his formation as a clergyman took place. The post-war German diocese, where Father Vitaly arrived from Ladomirovo, was an integral large structure, divided into four zones: Father Vitaly served in the northern part of Germany (the North-German-Vicariate). The article describes the forced relocation of Hieromonk Vitaly from Berlin to Hamburg during bombings and shelling; The article presents the problems Father Vitaly faced in Hamburg: saving Russian migrants from forced repatriation, organising various courses, pastoral care. The parish structure in Germany was the place where the revolutionary and post-war waves of emigration merged. Father Vitaly showed breadth and wisdom in feeding different groups of migrants, including in the parish life representatives of different waves of migration, which later played a positive role in understanding the parishes’ role for the reception of late 20th century migrants, to open the possibility of interchurch dialogue. At the same time, the experience of clashing with Soviet structures in rescuing migrants from repatriation led to a wary attitude towards the structures and a willingness to confront them.