Early life Rostislav Petrovich Ustinov was born to naval officer Peter Ustinov and Lydia Andreevna (née Stopchanskaya), daughter of the General of Police in the Caucasus. In 1920, during the Civil War in Russia, Rostislav Ustinov moved with his family to Crimea. There he enlisted into a
cadet corps military school established by General
Pyotr Wrangel. At the end of the year the corps, numbering 650 cadets, moved to
Istanbul, and thence to
Yugoslavia. In 1923, his mother recalled him to Istanbul, after which she moved to Paris and placed him in the French college of Saint Louis in the city of
Le Маns. After completing his studies, Rostislav lived with mother in
Cannes. In 1934, he was called to serve in the army and was enlisted in the Ninth
Cuirassier (cavalry) Regiment. Having served up to the grade of foreman, he refused to continue military career as an officer, deciding to leave the world and to enter a monastery. Four years later, he arrived in the
Monastery of Saint Job of Pochayev in
Ladomirová in the
Carpathian Mountains (at the time, the territory of
Czechoslovakia). In 1939, Rostislav Ustinov was professed a
monk with the name of Vitaly, and received the Little Schema a year later. The
Second World War forced the monastic brotherhood to leave
Ladomirova and to evacuate to Germany. Vitaly appeared in Berlin where, together with archimandrite
Nathaniel (Lvov), he engaged in wide missionary activity amongst the Russian refugees and prisoners of war. Nafanail and Vitaly then relocated to
Hamburg where they concentrated on the work of preventing thousands of refugees from being compulsorily repatriated to the
USSR. In Hamburg,
hegumen Vitaly began active church life at
Camp Fischbeck. In the barrack-type church, the daily circle of divine services were conducted. Simultaneously, Vitaly began a small monastic brotherhood, and established a printing house which began to print badly needed anthologies from the church service-books for all the camp churches of Germany. From 1947 to 1951, Vitaly was Prior of the London parish, where archimandrite
Anthony (Bloom) serially served in one church.
Bishop and First-Hierarch On 12 July 1951, on the feast of Saints Peter and Paul, Vitaly was consecrated Bishop of
São Paulo, vicar of the Brazilian diocese. There the young bishop opened a printing house and arranged a small shelter for boys who were trained as
acolytes for the cycle of divine services. In 1955, Bishop Vitaly with his brotherhood was transferred to
Edmonton, Alberta,
Canada. 75 miles from the city, he erected the Dormition monastery. He was appointed ruling bishop of Montreal and Canada, Bishop Vitaly founded a
skete in
Mansonville, Quebec. In
Montreal, Bishop Vitaly built and magnificently equipped a large cathedral. The fine house of his(its) monastic farmstead and a residence is near to a cathedral. In this farmstead, a printing house operated, publishing service-books and the periodical "The Orthodox Bulletin". The death of
Metropolitan Philaret in 1985 necessitated the election of a new Metropolitan. On 22 January 1986, Vitaly was elected Metropolitan of Eastern America and New York, also retaining management of the Canadian diocese. ==Retirement and schism==