DEPARTMET'iTOT' PUBLIC & FOREIGN RELATIONS of the SYNOD OF OF THE RUSSTAN ORTHODOXCHURCH OUTSIDE OF

NEWSLETTER#45-E

Augustr l983

oll THE couNcrl, oF BUSHOPSWHrCH CONVENEDrN MANSONVILLE, QUEBEC

The Council of Blshops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Rus- sian opened on 2L JuIy/3 August f983, in the Skete of the Transfiguration guebecr ' in Mansonviller orr Canadian terrltory not far from the Unlted States border. ?he following hierarchs attended: Metropolitan Philaret, President of the Councll and the Synod of Bishops Seraphim, Archbishop of Chicago, Detroit & the Midwest Athanasius, Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Argentina & Paraguay V'ita Iy , Archbi shop o f l4ontrea 1 & Canada Anthony, Archbishop of Los Angeles & Southern California Anthony, Arehbishop of Geneva & Western Europe Anthony, Archbishop of Western America & San Francj-sco Seraphim, Archbishop of Caracas & Venezuela Paul, Archbishop of Syndey, Australia & New Zealand Laurus, Archbishop of Syracuse & Holy Trinity Constantine, of Richmond & Great Britain Gregory, Bishop of Washington a Florida Ivlark, Bishop of BerIln & Germany Alypy, Bishop of Cleveland Because of the state of his health, Archbishop Nathanael of Vienna & Austria did not attend; Bishop Nicander of Sao Paolo & Brazil was not in attendence for other reasons. The Council opened with a solemn moleben before the miraculous Kursk- Dnnf iann 'fter +vvrr t s, which its sessions began. At the beginning of the Coun- cilrs deliberations, there arrived also the myrrh-streaming lveron icon of the !{other of Gocl, which immediately filled the whole spacious premises with sweet fragrance. AII of the bishops submitted reports on the state of their diocese, and thereafter followed reports on various subjects associated with the life of the Church. Among the niore significant resolutions of the Councll were the following: l-. ) For practical consj.derations "to entrust the administration of the Russian Orthodox parish of St. Nicholas in Rome to His Grace, Archbishop Anthony of Geneva & Western Europe. " 2.) fn connection with the petition of the Conqress of Russian Amerlcans "to approve the undertaking of cotlecting funds to construct a special bell tower in Holy Trinity Monastery and to hang a large bell therein on the occasion of the millenial anniversary of the Baptism of Rus'." 3. ) ON CHURCHSCHOOLS '(1.) Teaching children the Law of God is one of the chief pastoral tasks on all levels: diocesan, parish, and fam11y. " (2.) Rectors should instruct parents and encourage themr so that du- ring pregnancy mothers should be particularly attentive in prayer and fre- quently resort to confession and Communion; and after the birth and bap- tism of their children, they bri-nq them often to Communion. Parents should *7-*

see that thelr children's rooms have holy icons ano are n6t ciecorateci wlth f oolish pictures, but rather with Orthociox religious j.maqes, As early as possible ' parents should accustom their child::en to rnorning and evenrngi I-r}^AVFrq :nrl I v!srur.r urru uo signi.ng themselves with the cross. For pre-school childr:en r-I:iF .i-LS i*xa-!- rmporcant that their parents bake them to cLrurch, where il-rey wilt be able I to see their p;:rent.s own piet.y. It is useful to subscribe to a cfiurch-oriented magazine for children.- (3 " ' ) Rectors are obi.iged to organize ti-re Russian churcir instruction of the children and younq peopte in their parishes. rf the number of children in the parish is too small for the formation of a formal school, Lhey should come to an agreenent on the most convenient means of teachinq t-LLe chi ldren the Russ-ian ranguage / prayers.lncl the liflw of God Snal l schc;ols " of f rom three to six stuclr:nt.s can neverthel.ess complete tfie f u I t cc)llrse of instructron in the Law of God, Russ j-an Laneu.aqe, ancl history and i;i:ographyr €IllPloying the exi.stinq proqrams ancl instructronal. materials cjven in tire absence of t::,lined teachers. 1n these casesr do assoctation with the nearest welI-established church school, ancl instructiorr and the administration of exanj.natic;ns in accor:dance with it-s program, Ls recomm.-Jri- decl" There are cases of isolated incliv-tcluals who come to school. t"wrce ;1 j/t)ar to take examrnat.ions . Usua I 1y their resul ts are higher than t5e av- eraqe school leve]- (4. " ) As tire exarnples of large parlshes irave shown, r-he construction of schooi bui ldings with hal l-s enhances the entire l if e of the pari-sh. The schools bccome c-'etrters of parish lj-fe and unite the youl-rg 5-,eopte and atlults. jrt rnstruction such schooLs niust be as strict as possiblb, wrth p::ecise adherenc€i to the schedule. Then the young peo;:le have a ni.ot:escr* ic,us attitude toward the ir education . (5. " ) Apart f rom the School Administration at the Syr:oC, it is cles1r- able to form sim.ilar adnrinistrations iri the clioceses. firro,:gh them the w:.)r:k of the schools can be fac-i-Iitatco ancl -i.nstructiorral n,;tteri-als can i:tl iound for thein. Through then rectors can obtaj-n sanpie proqrans, dd- dresses f rom which te>:tbocks rnay be ordcrcci, and topics f or competitrve essays. j,ons Diocesan Adminj-strat L-an assemble peclagogical co;if Lrences f o:: rrrnroconl-:ritrag of the various schools. Such ardministrations have denron- strated their usef ulness rn the Eastern Arnerican Dioce:;e. (6. " ) Arnong the respon:iilrllrtres of L.freSynod's Inspecto; of ScSools .Ls the or:ganization of furthe;: elforts Lo cievetop tlre best prograrns anrl l-c'vthnnlec e^r vrhich it is :bo','r: :1I neceEis;ary to r:ol.lect exampres of al l e::ist-i-ng textbooks and estaDirsn a commLssiorr t"o stuciy thern utra serect f.hose which can be rcconnr:niecl f or reprinting.,' 'i. ) With regaro t.o thc ol;csi1-i-onof radio broaclcasts in Itlrssia rn the name ,,to of the Russian Church outsice of llussia, the Councj l. l:esclve<-l thank Arnhl-l -I^^^ r--r /lrcrrDl-snopanthony of Geneva for his lnitj-ati.ve, anC Cetcrmines to ornrridr. hrm with worldwii.e support ancl assistance in thls rmportant task, ,' j 5. Answering a guestion as to the perrnissibi.Iity of servinq the Liturgy presanctified ',theii of Lhe CifLs in the eveni_nq, Gr.aces, the members of the Council, do not object to this/ providir.rg that the celebrant ancl Lhe 'c corrununlcantsf ast beginning with twe lve o lock the previous niglit . " \r,i. i I.7ivYrLIr t-h ) regard to olir ,altit,ude toward the Patriarchate of Moscow, the fol- 1or*inq resolution was adopteci: j "The servj-1e pos tlon takeln by the P;rtrj-archate ol l"loscow in relatior: to the atheistic, Communist regime has had an r":ns,vojdatrle effecb upon a1I of chr:rch lif e in the U. S. S.R. "A particularly blasphemous manifestation of thi,s unnatural accomocla- ticn of the Church to the goclless has been'sirown by the patriarchate of Moscow in its order to serve pannikhidas Irequiem se-r:vj-ces] for Brez,hnet/, *3-

an avowed enemy of al.1 faith, wltose activity patriarch pimen has blas* phemously referred to as 'God-pleasing.' Ftrthermore, it was ordered that he not be referred to as'servant of cod'at such requiem services, thus underscoring the fact. that he was a stranqei l;-G-"4:- nornrru., no mat.rer the manner in which he was re,ferrr:rt {- prayerrhat rhis rejecte,3r'?jiiil"3;utli"il;o:i.[.:.;:';::"i:;rl::t Kingtdornof God, i-e- in ll".no the very serving of requien servlces itself there lay an internal contradiction ana falsehood. on the other hand, this act was also heretical, for it expressed the notion-uni*C"a that a man may be accepteci in the Kingdom of God who rejects that xi-ngoom Himself . None of those who took part in the requiem servicei coulcl entertain such a belief. Thprafnrorrrs!strv!E7 +.l-ur)€ir services for Brezhnev were acts of hypocrisy and falsehocd, into which the entire hierarchy, crergy an

"(2. Certain litanies, and a sermon in two languages' il ? The reading of the Epistle and Gospel in two languages. tl The intontng of certain exclamations ' I in the tr In case of need, the celebration of the entire service local Ianguage on certain daYs. candidates for the B. Deliberating On the question of the preparation of ) to priesthood and [i"," diff iCulties sometimes encountered in sending such of study at HoIy Trinity Seminary, the Council adopted the suggestiott prepare com- Bishop Gregory to asi the administration of the Seminary to order plete"sets of textbooks, so that the diocesan administrations might the supervl- them and candidates might undergo the course of study under at each sion of their diocesan bishops , fot which courses may be organized cathedral. may be on a wedding ban- g. ) To the question as to what restrictions there quet when marriages are performed on Wednesdaysor Fridays, the Council the Russian resolved "to exptiin that we cannot alter the aneient rules of permitted-to be cele- Church with reglrd to the days on which ma.rriages are food at the brated; but it would be well if on suclt days there were lenten wedding banquet. " of Churches, I0. ) With regard to the Sixth AssembIy of the World Council resolution was held in Vancouver, British Columbia, ianada, the following adopteC: has ',The Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russi.a, like al l Orthodox, only one true-church on from of old believed that the Lord has establj-shed 'the Of carthdge, earth, which is, in the words of canon 68 of the CounciL Paul confesses ont-y Mother of 6f,tistians', and in harmony with the Apostle 'one (Eqh. 4:5). that there ls Lord, one faith/ one baptism' take part in "The Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia does not to present the world councit of churches, inasr,uch as the latter attempts a amalgamation as some sorr of Christian unity that which in fact is merely another' It of various dogmaLic opinionswhich differ profoundly one from political aims also cannot agtee to the utilization of christtanity for in directed under the consiclerable rnf Iuence of the U'S'S'R', supposedly opposition to Communist aq- +-hnJ,IotilEhrfr^ v!nr ngssg, toward rernoving any sort of Ltlu Y deprivation ression, whj-ch everywhere entails the persecutj"on of religion, of citizens' peaceful lives' fn vl-af fropdnm-gvsvrLrt terroriim,E and the disruption contribute rnoney with the name of this false peace, the christian churches which terrorist organizations are subsidized' to ,,Atheistic Communism in Russia, beginning with IgL'7, has led Itfre to the closure of a slaughterl of millions of vrctims for their faj-th and countless multitude of churches. recently been ,,The actions of the 9iorld Council of Churches, as has aS yet free world with the same trib- uvurtnr.rrmon1-ed- urrrerr uvu t f.hreaten the rest of the

nlations-qrse!vr.vt in the event of the victory of Communism' "29 J:LY/lI August 1983." the followlng l-r.) with regard to the report of the Finance commission, resolution was adoPted: ,,Having familiarized itself in detail with the work of the Synod of that its Bishops and its economic position, the council of'Bishops sees current needs' sources of income have hitherto been insuffi-cient to meet its In view thereof, the Council of Bishops decrees: and ,,(1. To take up a col-lection in all the parishes of our Church ) for to pl6fi."fr in aII ecclesiastical magazines an appeal simultaneously ' for the general renovation.of the Synodal Residence Buirding contributions par- ',(2.) To send to all parishes in North America decrees that all the synod candle ishes are obligated to purchase candles exclusively from -5-

Works. Those parishes which do not purchase theircandles at alI, or only buy them in part, from the Synod Candle Works, must contribute three per- cent of their income from the sale of candles. "(3.) To remind lour institutionsJ about the tax in benefit of the Synod, in the amount of $20.00, on each new grave in a1I cemeteries belonq- ing to our Church. "(4.) To exact a duty on all doeuments issued in all the parishes of our Church, authenticating them with a speclal stamp in the amount of $2.00 "(5.) To exact, in benefit of the Synod, 20%of the fees charged in each divorce case processed in the various dioceses. "(6.) AII publishing concerns of our Church are obliged to provide the Synod Bookstore wj.th ten copies of each new book, magazine or paper icon." f2.) Resolution on the Elevation of the Spiritual Level of the Flock: "(1.) Annualty to convoke pastoral conferences in each dj,ocese; and this year, dt such a conference, to inform the pastors of the resolutions of this Council of Bishops. " (2.) To convoke youth conferences whlch are likewise and in general for aI1 of the flock. Not only to deliver lectures at these conierences, with which the organizers Iof such conferences] are too often carried away, but to draw attention to questions which ought to be raised; for many of the faithful have stored up in their hearts many guestions, for whlch they have been unable to obtain orthodox answers. Conferences should have more the eharacter of prayerful pilgrimages than mere conventions. "(3.) To introduce into the divine services the teachings of the holy f:rhorc flro lives of the saints, Iaccounts of] miraculous events, and to distribute leaflets on such subjects "(4.) To renind all, by a special instruction or epistle or sermon, of the proscri.ption in the sacred Scrlptures of the Old and New Testaments and the Ecumenical Councl1s, regardlng the prohibition of men wearing wo- men's clothing and womenwearing men's clothingr €xplaining in detail the reasons for this prohibition and the ultimate opposrtion to God, the Cre- ator of all order, lnherent in the violation of these ru1es. "(5.) To remlnd everyone with precision and in detall as to why it i-s essential to fast, presenting the teaching on fasting not only as absti- nence' but as a means of bringing man closer to God. In the same sense, always to speak of prayer and confession. " (6 ' ) To remind all pastors that during their vrsits to the homes of 1-ha €i'i +hrrlr they should avoid all worldly topics, arld strive ever to speak of things spirituat. " (7. ) To publish the commentaries of St. Theophylactus Ithe BulgarianJ on the holy Gospel and the Epistles." 13. ) The of Bishop Innocent (petrov) nrz roc^rttlign 9f the Counci] of Bishops, dated B/2I August, there took nl aao i n f r'raSkete of the Transf iguration, in Mansonville, the consecra- tion of Archimandrite fnnocent (petrov) as bishop of Asuncion, vicar for the Diocese of Argentina. His Grace, Bishop Innocent (formerly the wid- owed archpriest John Petrov) was consecrated by their Graces, Archbishops Athanasius, and Laurus. 14. ) On the basis of the statement of His Grace, Archbishop Seraphim of Caracas as to his inability to administer his diocese any more,