He was chosen as Vicarial Bishop of Zaraysk, vicar to the Moscow Eparchy, in November 1965.

He was consecrated on December 25, 1965 in the Trinity Church of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra in Leningrad.

In 1969 he was made Bishop of Tula and assistant of the Russian Orthodox Church's department of External Relations.

[2] On November 30, 1987, Metropolitan Yuvenali took part to the Social Committee for International Cooperation in the Field of Humanitarian Issues and Human Rights, which was established (November 30, 1987) within the framework of the Soviet Committee for European Security and Cooperation.

It was part of the Gorbachev's Perestroika that affirmed to promote the Helsinki Agreement and the freedom of religion independently from the Western civic groups of activists for human rights.