Bishop Basil (Krivocheine) as seen by those close to him

This article is the testimony of Nikita Krivoshein, nephew of Archbishop Basil (Krivoshein), delivered at the commemorative day organized in Brussels in November 2005. Belonging to the genre of personal testimony, it retraces the encounters and the relationship between the author and his uncle, from Archbishop Basil's first visits to the USSR in the 1950s to their reunions in Paris and Brussels after 1970. The central idea is that Archbishop Basil's personality was characterized by an unwavering firmness in his theological and political convictions, combined with a complete absence of judgment toward individuals. From a historical perspective, the testimony sheds new light on the discreet but real role that Archbishop Basil played with his family in the USSR, as well as on his prophetic dimension, illustrated in particular by his anticipations regarding the reconsecration of Russian churches and the place of his own death, which occurred in Saint Petersburg, his native city.