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Orthodox Profiles #9
Exodus: St John Maximovitch Leads His Flock Out of Shanghai
As interest in St John keeps growing with Russian, with many publications appearing in the saint’s native language, John Dunlop’s excellent book fills a much needed void in English. Having had the good fortune of being born in Shanghai to devout Orthodox parents in 1934, and to serve St John in his cathedral between 1940 and 1948, I witnessed some of his miracles and experienced the power of his incessant prayers throughout my life.”
—Very Rev. George Larin
St John Maximovitch (1896–1966) is loved and venerated throughout the world. Born on the eve of the Communist Revolution, he was a leading figure in the Russian diaspora, serving the Church in Yugoslavia, China, the Philippines, France, and the United States. His sanctity, asceticism, and wonderworking are well known from several different published versions of his life.
In Exodus, readers discover more about St John’s role in sustaining his flock in Shanghai, arranging for their flight to Tubabao, and his successful efforts to lobby the U.S. government, which allowed thousands of refugees and orphans to emigrate to America. Drawing extensively on unpublished primary sources—letters, memoirs, interviews, newspaper articles from key figures and eyewitnesses—John B. Dunlop takes readers on an exciting journey, as they learn more about both St John and his émigré flock.
—Very Rev. George Larin
St John Maximovitch (1896–1966) is loved and venerated throughout the world. Born on the eve of the Communist Revolution, he was a leading figure in the Russian diaspora, serving the Church in Yugoslavia, China, the Philippines, France, and the United States. His sanctity, asceticism, and wonderworking are well known from several different published versions of his life.
In Exodus, readers discover more about St John’s role in sustaining his flock in Shanghai, arranging for their flight to Tubabao, and his successful efforts to lobby the U.S. government, which allowed thousands of refugees and orphans to emigrate to America. Drawing extensively on unpublished primary sources—letters, memoirs, interviews, newspaper articles from key figures and eyewitnesses—John B. Dunlop takes readers on an exciting journey, as they learn more about both St John and his émigré flock.
- GenresChristianity
269 pages, Paperback
Published August 1, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 18, 2026
This is both a biography of St. John Maximovich and an account of the White Russian exiles whom he ministered to during his oversight of the Orthodox Church in Shanghai, China.
Born in the Russian Empire in what is now Ukraine, John and his family, in the wake of the Russian Civil War and Communist takeover, fled to Belgrade, Serbia, at which John, after being educated, took his vows as a monk and as a priest, a vocation to which he took to exceptionally well -- living a life in complete ascetism --- poverty, fasting, prayer, and ministry to his people.
Much loved by his Serbian flock, in 1935, the Russian Orthodox Synod outside Russia directed John to become the Bishop of Shanghai. This was not the promotion that, on the face of it, it may seem to some.
John had no experience in Asia, much less China. And China itself at the time was a chaotic mess -- with a China and Japan locked into a major war while at the same time in a civil war between the Communists and the Nationalists. In the midst of this, a beleaguered community of White Russians -- Russians who opposed the Bolsheviks during the Russian Civil, fleeing Russia in the aftermath -- struggling for survival in a foreign land far different from home.
As the Sino-Japanese War continued into the Second World War, conditions in Shanghai became increasingly desperate for Chinese and foreign expatriates alike, especially as Japan expanded her conquests across China to Shanghai itself.
Ministering to his flock's spiritual needs was a major task for John, but it was necessary also to tend to their other needs as well. John and his fellow Orthodox started an orphanage, initially to help those Russian children whose parents in their desperation abandoned them, expanding it to other orphans that John found in the streets of Shanghai.
This was a challenging assignment for John that only became more daunting each succeeding year. His superior in China, the Archbishop, openly collaborated with the Japanese, then switching his allegiance to Josef Stalin in the wake of Soviet advances into northern China, and John was under pressure to do the same, but never did compromise the integrity of his bishopric. Which would prove to be a good thing once the fortunes of war swung against Japan.
Eventually, the Japanese surrendered, and the Chinese Nationalist resumed control of Shanghai, but this would prove short-lived --- as their control of China rapidly worsened in the wake of Communist offensives.
By 1949, the plight of the Russian community in Shanghai was in real danger --- the Communists were no friend of expatriates, were imprisoning or outright executing foreigners deemed counter-revolutionary, and, of most concern to White Russians, turning in many of their number to Soviet authorities under Stalin, practically a death sentence.
John and other members of the White Russian community were able to coordinate rescue efforts from the IRO (International Refugee Organization). However, finding a nation willing to take them in was no easy matter --- most of postwar Europe was still flooded with displaced persons. Australia and South American countries were reluctant to take in any more refugees. To their credit, the Philippines, newly independent and itself still devastated by Japan's occupation, offered, at last to take them in, settling in at a refugee camp in Samar, an island called Tubaobao.
While better than a firing squad or a Soviet labor camp, the island's resources were rudimentary at best --- little food, not much clean water, and, for the refugees unacclimated to such a place --- brutal heat, humidity, and insect life. However, with help from the IRO, they worked together to build it in a virtual city of 5,000 refugees.
At times, the IRO staff seemed, once the refugees were there, to work seemingly against them as much as for them. For food, the refugees were fed cans of old WW2 tins of hash left over from the US Army's stores abandoned in the islands during the recapture of the Philippines. Barely edible, and past their expiration date, it made many refugees ill. Many of the refugees weakened by poor diet, the harsh climate, and unsafe water, became ill, and Tubabao became their final resting place.
However, eventually, the plight of the refugees became known in the US. While a few nations such as Dominican Republic, Paraguay, and Australia, were willing to take in a handful of refugees, it was not enough. Eventually, a US senator, William Knowland, visited the camp, and was willing to have hearings for legislation allowing them to be admitted to the US.
This proved to be no easy task. In the growing distrust of the developing Cold War, Russians were held in disrepute, regardless of their prior history such as White Russians, whom had fought or opposed the Communists. To make their case, John testified before Congress, and his efforts along with others ultimately succeeded in gaining their admission via special legislation to the United States --- even including the orphans from the Orthodox orphanage in Shanghai.
It was a major effort, requiring much hard work, but, like a shepherd or a Moses, John, led his people, looked out for them, and gained them a safe refuge at last --- after decades on the run and of desperation.
Over all, I learned much about the Russian Orthodox Church exiled abroad, about the plight of White Russians, and an appreciation for St. John Maximovich as a leader, a Christian, and a saint. A fine book for anyone with an interest in these.
Born in the Russian Empire in what is now Ukraine, John and his family, in the wake of the Russian Civil War and Communist takeover, fled to Belgrade, Serbia, at which John, after being educated, took his vows as a monk and as a priest, a vocation to which he took to exceptionally well -- living a life in complete ascetism --- poverty, fasting, prayer, and ministry to his people.
Much loved by his Serbian flock, in 1935, the Russian Orthodox Synod outside Russia directed John to become the Bishop of Shanghai. This was not the promotion that, on the face of it, it may seem to some.
John had no experience in Asia, much less China. And China itself at the time was a chaotic mess -- with a China and Japan locked into a major war while at the same time in a civil war between the Communists and the Nationalists. In the midst of this, a beleaguered community of White Russians -- Russians who opposed the Bolsheviks during the Russian Civil, fleeing Russia in the aftermath -- struggling for survival in a foreign land far different from home.
As the Sino-Japanese War continued into the Second World War, conditions in Shanghai became increasingly desperate for Chinese and foreign expatriates alike, especially as Japan expanded her conquests across China to Shanghai itself.
Ministering to his flock's spiritual needs was a major task for John, but it was necessary also to tend to their other needs as well. John and his fellow Orthodox started an orphanage, initially to help those Russian children whose parents in their desperation abandoned them, expanding it to other orphans that John found in the streets of Shanghai.
This was a challenging assignment for John that only became more daunting each succeeding year. His superior in China, the Archbishop, openly collaborated with the Japanese, then switching his allegiance to Josef Stalin in the wake of Soviet advances into northern China, and John was under pressure to do the same, but never did compromise the integrity of his bishopric. Which would prove to be a good thing once the fortunes of war swung against Japan.
Eventually, the Japanese surrendered, and the Chinese Nationalist resumed control of Shanghai, but this would prove short-lived --- as their control of China rapidly worsened in the wake of Communist offensives.
By 1949, the plight of the Russian community in Shanghai was in real danger --- the Communists were no friend of expatriates, were imprisoning or outright executing foreigners deemed counter-revolutionary, and, of most concern to White Russians, turning in many of their number to Soviet authorities under Stalin, practically a death sentence.
John and other members of the White Russian community were able to coordinate rescue efforts from the IRO (International Refugee Organization). However, finding a nation willing to take them in was no easy matter --- most of postwar Europe was still flooded with displaced persons. Australia and South American countries were reluctant to take in any more refugees. To their credit, the Philippines, newly independent and itself still devastated by Japan's occupation, offered, at last to take them in, settling in at a refugee camp in Samar, an island called Tubaobao.
While better than a firing squad or a Soviet labor camp, the island's resources were rudimentary at best --- little food, not much clean water, and, for the refugees unacclimated to such a place --- brutal heat, humidity, and insect life. However, with help from the IRO, they worked together to build it in a virtual city of 5,000 refugees.
At times, the IRO staff seemed, once the refugees were there, to work seemingly against them as much as for them. For food, the refugees were fed cans of old WW2 tins of hash left over from the US Army's stores abandoned in the islands during the recapture of the Philippines. Barely edible, and past their expiration date, it made many refugees ill. Many of the refugees weakened by poor diet, the harsh climate, and unsafe water, became ill, and Tubabao became their final resting place.
However, eventually, the plight of the refugees became known in the US. While a few nations such as Dominican Republic, Paraguay, and Australia, were willing to take in a handful of refugees, it was not enough. Eventually, a US senator, William Knowland, visited the camp, and was willing to have hearings for legislation allowing them to be admitted to the US.
This proved to be no easy task. In the growing distrust of the developing Cold War, Russians were held in disrepute, regardless of their prior history such as White Russians, whom had fought or opposed the Communists. To make their case, John testified before Congress, and his efforts along with others ultimately succeeded in gaining their admission via special legislation to the United States --- even including the orphans from the Orthodox orphanage in Shanghai.
It was a major effort, requiring much hard work, but, like a shepherd or a Moses, John, led his people, looked out for them, and gained them a safe refuge at last --- after decades on the run and of desperation.
Over all, I learned much about the Russian Orthodox Church exiled abroad, about the plight of White Russians, and an appreciation for St. John Maximovich as a leader, a Christian, and a saint. A fine book for anyone with an interest in these.
June 3, 2020
I initially purchased this book intending to read it as a biography of St. John Maximovich, since it is currently the only biography of him I could currently find in print. However, it turned out not to be that, but instead a story of political tension, war, faith in extreme circumstances, and everything the non-Communist Russians ("Whites") of Shanghai endured in the face of Stalin-backed Communist Chinese forces driving them out of their homeland. They endured so much to get to the United States and away from persecution, and this book reads like an Oscar-winning film rather than a biography. Seriously, Hollywood needs to adapt this story to the big-screen. It has war, politics, epic military efforts, humanirarianism, and--as expressed in its title--a Moses figure leading his people to the Promised Land through endless feelings of hopelessness.
The author--or rather, compiler--extensively uses primary sources to weave the story of the Orthodox in Shanghai and St. John Maximovich, much to the book's benefit. It makes the whole narrative feel much more real (I know it is real, but still). My only complaint, perhaps, is that the book ends rather abruptly without much of a conclusion, and despite St. John's prominence in the title, cover, and the early narrative, on the whole the book reads more as a people's history than of an account of his accomplishments. I say none of this to his discredit, of course, but I guess I was looking for more on him. Anyway. Still an amazing story of an untold chapter of the Orthodox world in the face of adversity.
The author--or rather, compiler--extensively uses primary sources to weave the story of the Orthodox in Shanghai and St. John Maximovich, much to the book's benefit. It makes the whole narrative feel much more real (I know it is real, but still). My only complaint, perhaps, is that the book ends rather abruptly without much of a conclusion, and despite St. John's prominence in the title, cover, and the early narrative, on the whole the book reads more as a people's history than of an account of his accomplishments. I say none of this to his discredit, of course, but I guess I was looking for more on him. Anyway. Still an amazing story of an untold chapter of the Orthodox world in the face of adversity.
June 23, 2020
Excellent inspiring book about the time of St John Maximovitch in Shangai and subsequent flight with close to 5000 refugees to the Philippines. Truly mind-boggling all the suffering they went through, yet there were different heroes, who along with Archbishop John, fought for the lives of the people in spite of all the obstacles, pestilence, and horrendous conditions. Definitely inspired to learn more about St John.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews