Rev. Valentin Iurochkin

Fr. Valentin was transferred to Holy Ghost parish in Knoxville on Feb. 12, 2024.

Fr. Valentin Iurochkin was born in Khabarovsk, Russia. He was not raised Catholic as a child. When he was five years old, his parents and sister immigrated to the United States, and he was left to be raised by his grandparents, waiting for a chance also to join his parents in the United States. When he was fourteen, he met a Catholic priest from Maryknoll, Fr. Joseph McCabe, who currently is working in Hong Kong. Fr. McCabe taught young Valentin about the Catholic faith. A few months later, young Valentin was baptized and confirmed at the Easter Vigil. As the priest was baptizing him, Valentin felt the calling to the priesthood. Soon after his Baptism, he had a chance to befriend Fr. Jesús Guerrero, a priest of the Diocese of Knoxville, who was studying the Russian language in Valentin’s hometown.



When he was seventeen, Valentin was invited to the United States to be naturalized, but he did not come, thinking that since his family was not Catholic, it would be harmful for his faith. Because of his call to the priesthood, at that time, he did not feel called to go to the United States. With this thought, he entered the religious community, The Institute of the Incarnate Word. Still, he hoped that in the future, if God willed it, he would one day have the chance to go to the United States.

When Valentin was eighteen, after finishing high school, Valentin was sent to the Tajikistan, a former Soviet republic, for a year of pre-seminary discernment. During that year he got to attend the World Youth Day with Pope Benedict XVI in Madrid and make a pilgrimage to Lourdes, France. The following year, Valentin enrolled at the Cardinal Barbarigo Seminary in Montefiascone, in the Province of Viterbo, Italy, where he studied for his Bachelor of Philosophy and learned Latin and Greek. He was later assigned as an assistant in the minor seminary in Ukraine, during the time of war between Russia and the Ukraine. Following this assignment, he returned to Italy for his first year of theology studies.

After Valentin’s first year of seminary, he was sent to Argentina for one month to learn Spanish and study South American culture. Later, he was invited to study Chinese and English in the Philippines and to teach Latin to English speaking Filipinos. While studying English, he went to Taiwan several times, and had the opportunity to study in the university to improve his Chinese. His general superior had wanted him to become a missionary priest to China. On March 25, 2019, Fr. Valentin Iurochkin was ordained to the holy priesthood at the Cathedral of St. Sebastian in the Philippine Archdiocese of Lipa. After all his efforts and study of the Chinese language, he was sent back Tajikistan to begin his priestly ministry.

Watch short VIDEO clip from Fr. Valentin’s Priestly Ordination on 5/25/19 here:



For his summer vacation in 2019, Fr. Valentin traveled to the United States and was invited by Fr. Jesús Guerrero to experience diocesan life in the Diocese of Knoxville. He met Bishop Stika the day before the ordination of Mr. Zach Griffiths to the transitional diaconate, and he traveled around the diocese with Bishop Stika. During this vacation he enjoyed priestly fraternity at the annual Convocation of Priests of the Nashville and Knoxville dioceses, which was held in Chattanooga, including a Mass concelebrated at the Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul. After returning to Rome, because of tensions in his religious community, he decided to petition to serve in the Diocese of Knoxville. By the end of the summer he was granted special permission by Pope Francis to transfer to the Diocese of Knoxville, and eventually received his visa from the Russian government.  

On November 6, 2019, he arrived in Knoxville and began assisting at the Cathedral. His first order of business was to get his driver license. With a fast-track program he passed his written exam and received a driver permit, and in 19 days he earned his driver license, just in time for his first assignment to serve at the Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul during Fr. Carter’s sabbatical, beginning December 30. Since then he has served the Basilica’s English- and Spanish-speaking communities actively every day. He also began assisting with the ministry at the UTC Newman Center. At the request of Bishop Stika, during this initial assignment at the Basilica he also completed his training to celebrate the Extraordinary Form of the Mass, which he had begun in Italy.

Having kept Fr. Valentin at the Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul through the coronavirus pandemic following Fr. Carter’s sabbatical, Bishop Stika assigned Fr. Valentin as the Parochial Vicar of the Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul, effective September 9, 2020, and also as Chaplain of the UTC Newman Center.

In addition to his proficiency with several languages, Fr. Valentin is also skilled musician and enjoys playing the piano and organ. During his time at seminary he served as choir director.

As Fr. Valentin begins his new assignment in Chattanooga, he hopes to bring the parishioners to a deeper love of Jesus Christ through to their attentive listening to the Word of God and their personal encounter with Jesus Christ, who is the only one who can bring our Christian life to perfection.

Effective Feb. 12, 2024, Fr. Valentin was reassigned as the Parochial Vicar of Holy Ghost Catholic Church in Knoxville. He will be greatly missed at the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul. 

View photos from our farewell Valentine's Reception for Fr. Valentin 2/11/2024


Bishop Stika incardinated Father Valentin Iurochkin, IVE, as a priest of the Diocese of Knoxville on Dec. 12, 2022.


 

 

"Outside the Collar":  Fr. Valentin Iurochkin

Thank You, Fr. Valentin!

Enjoy these photos of Fr. Valentin's ministry.

  On March 3, 2024, Fr. Valentin returned to Chattanooga to run in the Chattanooga Marathon. He had been training for this race while he was assigned to the Basilica. Way to go, Fr. Valentin!