DOKUMENTE
15.12.2003:
APPEAL OF THE ALL-DIASPORA PASTORAL CONFERENCE
RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH OUTSIDE RUSSIA
18.12.2003
PRESS RELEASE FROM THE COUNCIL OF BISHOPS OF THE
RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH OUTSIDE OF RUSSIA
19.12.2003:
EPISTLE TO THE FLOCK FROM THE COUNCIL OF BISHOPS
OF THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH OUTSIDE OF RUSSIA
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19.12.2003 |
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Held in December 2003 in In the Name of the
Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit!
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18.12.2003 |
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18
/ 12 / 03
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15.12.2003 |
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Nyack, We, the
participants of the All-Diaspora Pastoral Conference, who have gathered from the world over
under the protection of the Most Holy Theotokos,
must first of all thank God for all His mercy to us. On the Feast of our Protectress, the Kursk-Root
Icon of the Mother of God, we celebrated the Divine Liturgy together at the Synodal Cathedral. We recalled the words of We bring thanks to God that we are
members of His "Grant peace and tranquility, love and steadfastness, and swift
reconciliation to Thy people, whom Thou hast redeemed by Thy precious Blood.
But unto those who have departed from Thee and seek Thee not, be Thou
manifest, that not one of them perish, but all of them be saved and come to
the knowledge of the truth: that all may glorify the most precious name of
our Lord Jesus Christ," These words of prayer expressed our desire, our prayerful
hope and at the same time, our pain. |
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15.12.2003: |
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His Holiness Patriarch Alexy
of Moscow and All Russia sent a letter to Metropolitan Laurus,
Chairman of the Bishops' Synod of the Russian Church Outside Russia, and to
the Bishops' Council of the Russian Church Outside Russia to open on December
13, 2003. Below is the text of the letter. Your
Eminence, Metropolitan Laurus, The
Most Reverend Archpastors of the
This division
was generated by the tragic consequences of the 1917 Revolution and the
bloody civil war. The Orthodox people suffered incalculable sufferings in
their homeland. The godless power mounted severe prosecution against the Reflecting on
the causes of the collapse of old Russia, we realise that the entire Russian
Church bears the burden of responsibility for what happened to our beloved
country and our people who proved to have had insufficient immunity against
the pernicious false teachings of the godless. The events of the 20th
century are a severe lesson for us all. The In the spirit
of repentance, the We should admit
however that the words and actions of church representatives both inside and
outside the homeland did not always answer to this lofty calling. Many words
and deeds of members and hierarchs of the Church were conditioned in many
ways by the external circumstances of church life and sometimes by the direct
pressure from non-church forces. Living in a world divided by an 'iron
curtain', we, on either side of it, were, each in our own way, subject to
opposing self-interested political systems. And neither system was Christian
or Orthodox, neither was concerned for the reunification of our people or
allocated a proper place to the Church in the people's life. The
confrontation penetrated also into the awareness of church people, prompting
church suspensions and strong mutual reproaches. At the same
time, pastoral work, the preaching of the word of God and celebration of the
Holy Sacraments continued in the Church both inside and outside Affirming this
common foundation of ours, we can examine anew, freely and jointly, and
overcome the remaining difference in understanding particular aspects of the
Church's relations with the external world, including her relations with
state and society. It is our profound conviction that already at present the
Russian Orthodox Church in We have been
entrusted with a common message to be given to the present-day humanity. This
makes us feel ever stronger the need to restore our unity. The continued
division becomes increasingly difficult to explain to our people as we
overcome other consequences of the 20th century revolution and
civil war. Almost all that used to divide our people has passed into history.
Only one wound has remained, giving us an especially severe pain. The
priority of its healing is realised both in church and non-church circles.
The Church can and must give to reviving We believe
therefore that the visit to our country expected to be made soon by His
Eminence Metropolitan Laurus and the recent visit
to Strengthened by
the prayerful intercession of Russia's holy martyrs and confessors and
putting the great cause of the restoration of church unity into the hands of
God, we will do everything that depends on us to bring nearer the day when
our full communion will become possible at last despite all the obstacles to
be invariably encountered on the way. + Alexy Patriarch
of |
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02.12.2003 |
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Concluding the visit of the official delegation of
the Russian Church Abroad to When asked by journalists to assess the visit
Archbishop Philaret of Minsk and Slutsk said, “I, as a participant of the talks, express
the feeling of deep personal gladness in connection with the meeting. This is
the first official meeting with representatives of the Russian Church Abroad.
We did not seek to achieve any concrete results immediately. We are happy
that the meeting as such has taken place. It is insufficient to say that it
has gone off in warm, friendly conditions. The meeting has been anticipated
with emotional trepidation by both parts. All of us take to heart the sin of
the separation, which hurts the Russian Orthodox Church. Therefore our side
through the Holy Patriarch and the other participants of the meeting thanked
God for His having brought us to the meeting. Good will to the restoration of the prayerful eucharistic communion has been testified in the joint
press release. There is no doubt that it will be restored, but patience and
an exploit of love are required of us because no consent can be achieved
without a sincere Christian self-sacrificing love that the Lord has commanded
to us. “Without Me ye can do nothing,” (John 15,5)
said the Saviour. Therefore we completely set hopes on the Lord, and we ought
to display the utmost obedience to our Churches. We ought to do it within our
limits, and the spiritual overseers of the Church Abroad within its limits.
When accomplishing our spiritual mission with full responsibility, we ought
to wait with patience and love for the restoration of the total community.
The latter will be preceded by the visit of the First Hierarch of the Russian
Church Abroad as well as by working meetings at which different problems will
be discussed. The meeting has taken place, mutual trust and love
have been expressed, and we embark on this way with hopes for God’s help. We
are calling upon all the members of our Church, here and there, to pray and
contribute to this historic process.”
In his turn Archbishop Mark of Berlin and Germany
thanked Metropolitan Philaret of Minsk and Slutsk for the warm words and emphasized that “they
testify to our having achieved the possibility of sincere, fraternal
intercourse with each other.” Summing up the results of the visit, the head
of the delegation of the Russian Church Abroad noted, ”I
am deeply moved that our meetings did not resemble usual official talks, but
they were full of brotherly love.” Archbishop Mark let know that the priests
and deacons and the flock of the Russian Church Abroad deeply feel the
importance of what is going on. “Our meetings were being accompanied by the
prayer and fasting of our clergymen abroad, of those who feel responsibility
for this movement,” he said. “The spiritual dimension of the event which we
observe gives us strength to go forward along the way of rapprochement,”
noted Archbishop Mark, “In Russia we had an opportunity to prayerfully kiss
relics of saints, holy hierarchs, new martyrs of Russia. Today we attended
the Liturgy, and we heard warm words of greeting by Holy Patriarch Alexy II of Some people, probably, anticipated lightning-fast
results of our meeting, but we have not set such a task before ourselves. The
delegation of the Russian Church Abroad have arrived
in 02 / 12 / 03 Translated by
A.I. Kuprin |
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