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AN INDEPENDENTPUBLICA.TION OF ORTHODOXCHURCH OPINION February,1997

Vol.9;2 {No.58)

Republicationpermitted upon acknowledEementof source

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We aoologizefor any confusioncaused by the mixup in our numberingsystem The numbersin parentheses are correctand consecutivefrom the beginningof the publicationof the Russianversion in 1988. This is the second issueof this year (whichactually corresponds to Volume9 of the Russianversion) and the previousissue was for Jan. of this yearand shouldhave readVol. 9; # 1, the Sept.-Oct.'96, issueshould have been Vol. B;# 6 and Nov.-Dec.'96.issue Vol. 8; # 7 Thus althoughthere ai'eno Englishversions for Vols. 1-8 (up to July-August),to avoidfurther confusion we will numberthe Englishversion exactly as is the Russian.

CHURCHT.IEIVS 639Center Street Oradeil.NJ 07649 -1-

FROMLIFE OF THE RUSSIANORTHODOX CHURCH ABROAD

A ScandalousAgreement by the Chiefsof the REM in Jerusaiemtc Seil OPS JerichoProperty

The Presidentof the JerusalemSection of the OrthodoxPaiestine Soeiety, Bishop Anthony {Grabbe) just recentiy visitedthe hlolyLand in orderto defendsome propei-tyin Jerichoowned by the Societywhich illegailyhad been handed over to some Palestiniansby the Chief the Russian EcclesiastrcalMissicn in Jerusalem,Archirnandrite Theodosios SJhilein Hebronto meet rnrithYasser Arafat he also met with the rnayorof Hebronin the rnunicipalbuilding, Mustafah Natsheh Mistakenlyassumrng that BishopAnthony must be a personof responsibleposition in the Mission(which is a separatelegal entity from the Society),the Mayorvoiced some grievancesin the hope of gaininghis assistance.In this encounterthe mayor made it clear in his bitter complaintsabout the former Chief of the Mission, Theodosiosand the presentChief. Arcnimandrite Bartholomew. that they had agreedto seli severalplots which belong to the EcclesiasticalMission, and now, had not answeredhis letteri"egardrng this verbal agreement. Sincefor some time he had not gotten any responseto his lettersto the previousand presentChiefs of the Mission,the mayor handed BishopAnthony a copy of his letterto ArchimandriteBartholomew and BishopAnthony promisedto forward it to the Synodof Bishops. One can assumethai ArchimandriieBartholomew (noi speakingArabic anci being afraicjof exposingthe secret verbal agreernenttc seil REIVIproperty) was postponingan answer r.rntila suitableti-ansiator wiii be found. Bishop Anthonyreceived an Englishtranslation (in additionto the Arabiciext) of the letterand in fulfillmentof his promiseto the !'nayor,he fon",;ardedthe iettertc the Chanceryof the Syncdof Bishcpsof the ROCA. '1sth, The may,e;'sletter datedJan 1995 in Arabicand June 25th, 1996,in the Englishtranslation reads as follows: (TheEnglrsh transiation is underthe letterheadof the Pontificalinstitute of the NotreDame of JerusalemCenter) To:Archimandriie Bartholomy, Chief of the R E M Greetingsand respect, I referto the repeatedand successrvemeetings wrth Your Excellencywith regardto the leaseof some piecesof land connectedwith your mission,for the establrshmentof someprojects such as 1.The pieceof land adjoiningto the Universityof Hebronpiot # 20i from Parcel# 34403for the establishmentof a cuituraleenter and a museumand a libraryfor a leaseof $40,000,for a periodof 99 years 2. The piece of lanciadjoining io the Monasteryof piot # 97 Parcei# 34405 pari of which is 24 Dunams,to constructa touristrest housefcr receivingguests of the lVlunicipalityfor a ieaseof $100 000 for the periodof 99 years. lVe hopethat Youi'Excellency will agreeto such a deal,with the knowledgeihat these projectswill pi'esei-vethe antiquitiesfound and ivill prevent the atternptof encroachmentcn them and ivill add value and enhance the positionlstatusof the Monasteryand the Oak.of Mamreof our Forefather'A.braham before tne eyes of the pilgrrmsand visitors Yours resoectfully, Mayorof Hebron cc: Mr Ali Alsafarini,Legal Advisor of the R.E.M.

It is commonknowledge in the Near East that when one speaksabout a "lease"of a propertyfor 99 years it meansnothing less than the sale of real estate. Establishmeniof a "cuituralcenter, and a museumancj a iibrary"and aiso a "touristrest house"in immediaie proximityio the Monasieryof the Oak of Mamrequiie obviousiyrnciicaies thai whai is being discussecjis a compiexof iargebuildings foi-which ihe ridiculousiy-low price of Si40.000is beingofferedl Some questionsinevitably arise in connectionv"'ith this: is it possiblethat these illegalacts of both chiefsof the Missionhave been arrangedbehinC the back cf the ROCA S;rncdof Bishcps or do they themseivesnow share the opinionthat any churchowned propertycould (and should)be up for sale and at any price? How can it be that three chiefsof the Missionrn a row couldbe dishonestmen? Nicholasstole money and objectsfrom Mission'smuseum then left for the OCA, ArchimandriteTheodosios (not even being a memberof OPS) quite knowinglyhanded over to Arafat propertyin Jericho(which includedthe Tree of Zaccheas)- who now is in Detroitunder direct obedienceto MetropolitanVitaly : and beganthe talkswith the mayorof Hebronabout sellinga huge piece of Missionproperty. and now. his suecessor,Archimandriie Bartholomew, following in his footsteps,has also agreedto seli the same property whichbelongs to the REM! Havethese chiefs received any moneyfor this sale of Missionproperty? Why duringonly 10 years have there been alreadysix personsin the positionof chief of the Mission,while duringprevious years a chief of ihe Missionheld ihis positionfor roughiy17-18 years? Let us hope that finally the mayor of Hebron will receive an answer to his letter not from Archimandrite Bartholomew,but fromthe Synodof Bishopsl -2-

A SEMINARYCORRESPONDENCE COURSE IN RUSSIA

The Orthodoxbulietin "Vertograd" published in Moscow(from the lurisdiciionof the ROCA)in its issue# 12 (21) reportecithat the correspondencecourse seminary establishecj by ArchbishopMark of Berlin,has been transferredto the supervisionof BishopEutikhy of lshinra. At present,there are 202 studentsenrolled. Of this numbei"oniy 42 registeredfoi" exams. The number of seminarianswho passedmore than 10 exams toials only six individuals. Rather-miserableprogress, considering this institutionis alreadyseveral years oldl

AN AMMING APPEAL

The bulletin"Vertograd" in the same issue# 12 (21) in the sectionentrtled "Documents" published the following appeaifrom the OrthodoxBrotherhood of St. of Pochaevto the RussianBishops Conference of the ROFC, (in the jurisdictionof Synodof Bishopsof the ROCA).

Your Eminences,God lnspiredArchpastors. The OrihocioxBrotherhood of the VenerabieSt Job of Pochaev,fuifiiiing iis ministryin Russiawiih ihe blessing of the Synod of Bishopsof the ROCA and under imnrediatesupervision of ArchbishopLaurus, rs turning to ycr,rr ^-:-^^^^^ ^' gt | ilt tct tuuJ "'i'Lwtu I d I tulrrble.filial request Beingwiinesses of the generalzealous and doubiiesslygi'aced-filled help cf the strugglersfor faith and pietycf cur Holy Church,we petitionYour Erninencesto intercedebefore the Council of Bishopsof the ROCAto considerthe follorvingfor possibleglorrfrcation arnong the hostof : - The Most ReverendArehbishop Theophan (Bystrov) formerly of Poltava,a new R-eciuse,a -of the RoyalMartyrs. who biissfulil,,passed away in 1940in France. - The Mosl ReverendArchbrshop Averky (Taushev)of Syracuse and Trinity. a "Chrysostom"among the Russiansabroad who ieft us, the Christiansof the last times,God-inspired instructions on how one shouldsave oneself and preserveone's fidelity to the true Churchin timesof universalapostacy, -- The venerableFaiher HieromonkSeraphim (Rose) of Plailna. an exceptionalapologete, theologlan and missionary,a humblemonk-ascetic, who by his own exampieshowed contemporary men away to the gracefiiled harbor of the True Churchand aiso provedthe possibilityin our times of foiiowingthe thornypath of asceticporivig [a term rn Russianhagiography which liierallymeans "expioii" or "feat"]by remainingin the "spiritof the ancientfathers." Besidesthe authoritativeand doubtlesslyGod-inspired quality of the writingsof thesepodvtzhitikiof piety, their sanctityis verifiedby numei-ousmiracles, the newsof which increasrnglyappears in ihe churchpress Their sainthoodis so obvicusthat the venerationof those great str-ugglersis spreadingfar beyondborders of the true Churchof Christ-- includingthe Moscow Patriarchateand other renovationist(obnovlenfsy) circles. The works of Ar"chbishopAverky. publishedin Russiain large quantities,of Hier"smonkSeraphim and also the biographyof ArchbishopTheophan, are leadingmany of the Russianpeople towards faith. which by itselfis alreadya greatmiracle. At the same time we observe.however, some alarmingefforts by leadersamong the SergianistChurch [i.e., the MoscowPatriarchatelto make us losecontact with our strugglersof pietyfrom the ROCA,and to presentthings in a way thai those saintsare only accidentlypart of our Church,but were "dissidents"of a sort in her or even did not belongto her. A festiveglorification of them by our Churchwould put an end to these blasphemousinsinuations, and once more wouldtestify to the worldthai true sainthoodis inseparablefrom the true Church,in the bosomof whichthe graceof Holy Spiritpours forih in abuncjance.In this way, the canonisationof thesesaints will becomeone more proofof the truthand saivificnaiure of our Church;one more mightycall io ihe misiedRussian Peopie io returnto its giace-filledbosom so that throughthe prayersof her greatsons they mightfind salvationand rnheriteternal iife. Amen. rc:^^^'r1cr^^+of L9iVr rsul | \cvr of the Churchof Holy Royal Mar-tyrs,Stewai"d of the Brothei'hood,Pi"iest Constantine Tocheny, memberof the clergyof the Churchof the Holy Royal ,member of Boardcf Trusteesof the BrotherhccdPr-iest SergeKiselev; President of the -hood,Alexander Soldatov, and other"s.

It is obviousthat this petition.addressed to the hierarchsof the RussianConference. is submittedby thosewho baseall the sainthoodof assumedsaints entirely on therrwritten works, and in caseof ArchbishopTheophan of Poltava, on even less,because they are nearlynon-existent. ArchbishopTheophan was very troubledby the fact that he was the one who introducedRasputin to the palace of the Tsar the . Very soon after he found himselfoutside Russia, he becameill with paranoia,believing that he was being persecutedfor havingbeen an accomplicern the catastrophicSoviet Revolution In 1925 he left Yugoslavia for Sofia, Bulgaria.and stayeciihere till 1931.almost never venturingio appearanywhere. While he was in Sofia, a young man. AlexanderTaushev got aquaintedwith him and eventuaiiybecame his spirituaison. In 1931 he left for France.believing himself to be pei'secutedby the Masonsfor his supposedlyfrank sermonsagainst them, although abroadno one had heardof them ln 1940Archbishop Theophan died in Paristotally alone. The miracleshe is alleged -J- to have perfomed,it seems,are known only the writersof this appeal and then cnly based on his "life." Theophanstrongly disliked Metropolitan Anthony (Khrapovitzky) and passedthis on to ArchbishopAverky. ArchbishopAverky is the authorof severalvery valuablebooks in a purely Orthodoxvein, but this in no way iestifiesto his personalsainthood nor to any miraciesof whichno one who knewhim weil has ever heard. Ai ihe time of the departureof the Synod of Bishopsfrom Beigradeciuring World War ll, the then ProtosingelosAverky, refused to ^^-.-'rL^ *:-^^"'^'^ ucltty u tg ililtctt/utuu> Kursklcon, which had beenenti'usted to him becausehe had a largequantity of luggageand was afraidit rnightbe lost. ln the 60's, scrrowfully,Archbishop Averky becarne an importantleader of the dernocraticrnutiny (rruhich of lar;neonle anainst the nrrncinlesof hierarchv siaricdin San Franciscoin connectionvrtth buildino tv aq cathedra!vsit t_vt qi there),which passeo also to the east coastof the US We can recalithat dur-ingthe mealsfor all the hierarchsat one of the councilsin Mahopac,New York, (the Synodaiher"mitage) the admirersof ArchbishopAverky broughthim meais speciallyprepared in Sea Cliff and demonstrativelycarried them into ihe dining room, being afraid that otherwisehe might be poisonedas an "zeaiotof Orthodoxy." Those lay-peopleinsisted that no decisionsof the Eishops'Council would be valid,unless they were approvedby them,the laity. At that time,Archbishop Averky expressed strange views that HoiySpirit Himself governs the Churchand thereforeShe doesn'tneed any sortof administraticn. Nevertheless,both of those candidatesfor sainthoodat leastwere withoutdoubt Orthociox,while the personalitv of HieromonkSerapnim Rose raises some doubts. Before convertingto Orthodoxv.Hiermonk Seraphrm triecj out severalreligions and and being an admirerof Unrna L:.^^ and ^.-r UhritesenLi.^^^^.- people io the extent of iearningtheir ianguageto perfection,he irr particularbecame very mueh ;^,,^1.,^.J ..,illr D, .J'.Jl ;^- ti tvutvEU wtU I Duuqt il)ttt. The admlrationfor him in Russiais basedentirely on two books"The Soul afier Death"and "Orthcdox;,,andthe Relroionof the Fritrtre" Whileit iStrUe that thpra ic nnihrnonvertlv ohiectionable in thosebooks rretthe envifOnmentin such Easternphtlosophres as Buddhrsm.Hrndursm and occultismrn spiteof all the effortsof theirformer- victims to get rid of thispoison, rnevrtably leave on theirpsychology a ineradrcabletrace This is truealso of Fr. Seraphim.who" out of lovefor the Chinesepeopie and China,in orderto convertthem to Orthodoxyappiied some Jesuiticai tactics, namely. substitutingChrisiran terminology with Buddhisticconcepis Well educated and seriouslyconvedeci to Orthodoxy Americansin the ChurchAbroad, regai-d Fr Seraphrmwrth susprcion and reservation,although he is popularin the most modernizedOrthodox exarchates of all those in America,that of the AntiochranExarchate, also the OCA and even the "evangelicaiOrthodox " The fact that he has becamepopuiar among the Sergianrstsand even in "renovationisicircles" does no honour to HieromonKSeraphiml influencedby the propagandaof Gieo Podmoshenskyin 1993 a group of acjmirersestabiishecj "The SeraphrmRose Foundation"in orcierio pubiishhis works Pocimoshensky,his former co- brother(nrany yeai's ago defrockedby ArchbishopAnthony of San Franciscofor his connectionwith a sectarianpseudo- Crthodoxgroup) onii,'afew monthsafter his repose publrshedin his Englishmagazine infoi"mation about miracles which supposedlyhappened at his grave. With the passageof time. Podmoshensky'smagazine starteC to promoteeven a covertform of Buddhism.For example.in issue# 187-B{"The Orthodox \A/or-d") on the bottomof the cover,which shows ehinese rnscriptionssurrounding an ieon of the ,the theme of this issue is deserrbedas "AneientChinese Foreshadowingsof Christ." The magazinehas an articlewritien by a HieromonkDamascene which beginswith words: "Christthe EternalTao [a pamphiet]was inspiredby the life of the Chinesescholar Fr SeraphimRose (then knownas EugeneRose) and his teacher,the Taoistphilosopher Gi-ming Shien." On page 66 we find " Jusi as the ancient Greeks had once seen the fulfillmentof their philosophyin the revelationof Christ,so Fr Seraphimrecognized the fulfillmentof the philosophyof Lao Tzu in the ancrentOrthodox Christianity which Greeks (and by extension.the Russians)had preserved". Unfortunateiy.tne membersoi the Brotherhoodof St. Job of Pochaevhave exemplrfiedthe Russiansaying: "Not knowrngthe ford,they feli intothe water." in Englishthis mightbe freelyrendered as, "Lookbefore you ieap."

A DIOCESANMEETING IN MOSCOW

qnaniel In a anclosureto the newspaper"Russkaya Mysl" i"Russian Thought") in the "Tserkovno-obshchestvenii Vestnik"# 6. informatronwas publishedabout a diocesan meeting in Moseow.held on Dec '12, 1996, chaired by PatriarchAlexis and with the participationof ArchbishopSergius Solnechnogorsky who rs directorof the affairsof the MoscowPatriarchate, and also the patriarchalvicars. Metropolitan Pitirim of Voiokolamsk, Job of Odintsovo and Savvaof Krasnogorsk,and also BishopsArsenios of lstrinysk,Tikhon of Bronnitsa,Eugene of Vereisk. The meetingheard a reportof the treasurerabout the financialstanding of the dioceseand also "as usua!,the participantsof the meetingdirecteci the 'saitention to the fact that the sale of candles,rn standsand storesof Patriarchate,undermines the solvencyof Moscowparishes." This time Patriarchordered the sale of candlesoutside :hurches to be stoppeci. Of specialinterest was a speeehby Archpriestilichoias Krechetov,the chairmanof the discipiinarycommittee. rr1rie l^ oirecieo!:-^^3^/ ine.q^ aiiention-+t^^ of the participanisto the activityof some[\4oscow piiesis, who, in his opinion,exceed the iimits of acceptabiedifference of oprnion in the Church by spreadingunorthodox vievvs and leading the faithful to other -4- confessions.Addressing those present,ho offeredto ask His Beatitudeto excommunrcatethe unnamedpriests. who collaboratewith Christianradio broadcasting, by puttingthe matter"toa vote." In repiyto this speechtne Patriarchrightly pointed out that it is a charrman'sprivilege to requesta vote, and at ihe same time he acknowledgeciihai "the addressesof some priesis (in particularGeorge Tchistiakovand Vlacjimir Lapshin)terrci to scandalizethose who are not steady in the faith" Yet" he said, that "in this case, aRy eanonical riieasuresare^-^ uui^.,+ or^l place. but it would be necessaryto talk with those priests and only then take the appropriate measures." The bulletin"Vertograd" in ihe issue# 12 (21) publisheda numberof publicannouncernents of the clergywho participatein this catholrcradio station So, Priest G Tchrstiakov,on Jan 4th. 1996, proclaimedthat: "..Neiiher MetropolitanPhiiaret of Moscow,nor fuletropoiitanInnocent nor the many other brshops.archbishops and metropolitans of our Churchduring the past century,nor any of the priesis,philosophers. theologians, lay pecple ever saicithat the Christiansof otherconfessions are wrong,that the Christiansof otherconfessions are heretics." Abbot InnocentPavlov on January8th, 1996,declared that "the Church-Slavonicianguage is an ecclesiastical nonsense!Do you understand?| saythis as a philologist" PriestViadimir Lapshin on Sept, 1996,expressed a typrcallyProtestant view: ". 1disagree that we haveto be saved,because I am Ceeplyconvinced that Jesus has savedus. Jesusdrd everythingfor our salvation.And we acqurre ihissaivaiion through faiih in JesusChrist " On March 12. the same priest announcedthat, "As far as the Feast of the Entranceof Holy Theotokosis ^^^^^.^^, l^+ ,,^ {-^^l-,!r-, -,-,llni+ +!:a+ rr r^h a,,an+ 6^^+ ^.^h^h1., ^^,,^- h^^^^^^i ^^.{ ^^,,lj ^^+ !.^^^^^ I' u(Jllulil llE,u. ltit uJ lrdllnly dvrlilt tl ldt JuUl l€Vg{lt lilUJL Pi(JLjdlJly ilUVE;l ilcji.jpei IUU dl iU UUL]iU llUL tldPF/tji L But the furthery,'e gc the worse it beccrnes On Oct 27th of the sarneyear, he instructedhis radic listeners."We all defend whateverwe please.but only,not tn Chrrst:r,vhaterrer dogmas or whate,.,ercanons r,vhrchappear to us as absoluteand unalterable Ail of this is nonsense!llTake the canons-- they were acceptedsome one and a half,two milleniaback.. One maynot turn the Churchinto a ghettowith medievai worid-viewsi" Then he advisedthose who were baptizedrn the OrthodoxChurch to iry to fincia place in it in particular,but "if this does not work. and if tociayyou belongto one of the Protestantchurches and all thai surroundsyou there you like and it makesyou feel comfortabie,well, God speed. I beiieve that the Lord has manyways and thai Lord leads us by differentways. Maybeycur path is exactlythere " It is self-evidentthat FatriarchAiexrs has heard,and not for^the first time,about the activityof whole numberof priest-hereticsin his ciiocese,who under his very nose and with his own biessing promote Roman Cathotic and Protesiantpropagancia wiihrn his flock. Since lvioscowPatriarchate pi"iests are accuston'iedto being sub,nrissiveto and having no rightsof beforetheir hierai'chs,one can only admirethe coui'ageof Ai'chpi'restKrechetov. who was noi afi'aidto speakup againstthe heretrcs rn frcnt of the Patriarchhimself and "the rvholehcnorable assemblage." AnC as far as the Patrrarchhimself anC his attendtngbishops go -- hrsposrtron !s \./erypeculrar on the one handhe has to pretendto be a defenderof Orthodoxy, and on the other,as Amerrcanssay "moneytalks " Thrsheretieal radio broadcastrng rs totallysubsidized by Roman Catholicmoney through the "Churcnin NeedFund" which grants every Moscow Patriarchate bishop substantial monetary "assistance"

SUSPENSIONOF ARCHIMANDRITEZINON

The newspaper"The Russian Herald" ("RusskiiVestnik." published in Moscow) in its issue # 49-51, i996 publisheda cjecreefrom ArchbishopEusebius suspending a very renown iconographer(in Russia as well as abroad) archimandriteZinon ArchimandriteZinon himself responded to this decreein an open letterto ArchbishopEusebius, comprising an entirepage of the newspaperwhich v;as published in "RusskayaMysi" # 4153 Alsothe JewishRussian papei' in Nelv Ycrk."Novcye Russkoye Slovc," lrkewise had a lengthyreport on thisstory No doubt ArchrmandriteZinon should be suspendedand trredby an ecclesiasticalcourt for not only allowing Roman Catholicsto serve in the church of his monastery,but also taktng communionfrsm them This is why the ApostolicCanons 1A. 11, 45 mentionedin the decree are quite aporopriate. But ApostoiicCanon 55 directs the depositiona clergymanwho "wouldinsult a bishop." ApostolieCanon 39 statesthat clergyare not to do anythingwithout theirbishop's permission, according to famouscanonists Balsamon and NikodimMilash this refersto the managementof properties" 30 of the Councriof Laodeciaspeaks of the impr-oprietyof clergymenbathing with women! And the 31st ApostolicCanon has in mind clergywho abandontheir bishopto "set up anotheraltar" which ArchimandriteZinon neverdid and, accordingto his letter,did not plan to do. The same can be said aboutthe 1OthCanon of Carthageand lhe 5th of the Councilof Antioch. In his open letterto Archbishop[usebius, ArchimandriteZinon writes:"During our coRversationyou have said that you have no oblectionsto permittingCatholics to serve in the monastery,since such cases have happened numeroustimes and ocuri'edalso in the Trinity-SergievLavra as well as in other monasteries,but ycu were outragedby -5- 'pro-Catholic my takingcommunion with them.You knew perfectlywell about my views.' The case which outragedyou happenedon August1sth 1996" The archbishop'sdecree ts dated Nov. 14th. 1996 What made the archbishopwait for three months before suspendingArchimandrite Zinon? Would ii noi be muchsimpler just to referto ihe 55thApostolic Canon about "insulting a bishop"in orderto have hirnexpelied from his diocese? In our times. probabiyhoping ihat the majorityof iay peopie are unacquainiedwrth "The Pedalion,"the vu,!ry,tq.u,rnnmnilalinn v!nf wq'v"S.nanan, colltefi''iporaryhierarchs (unfcrtunately not excludtngscrne in our cwn ROCA) in their decrees cirinntha nin^nc lit

CONTEMPORARYEASTERN "ORTFIODOX''

The officialVattcan tnformation service "The PontrfrcalCouncii for PromotingChristian Unity" # 91 ('1996/l-li), usualiy receivedvery iaie, publisheci55 paEes of documentaryreports aboui ihe Vaiican'sreiaiions wiih Orthodox Churches.and ali shadesof lvlonophysrteswho cail themseivesOrthodox. Stai"tingwith the reportabout ihe EcumenicalPatriarchate, the Vaticanbulletin siates thai from ..lune27 to 30 '1995. 'During PatriarchBartholomew was in Rcme hrs vrsit.the Patriarchhad three privatemeetings with the Holy

Father"he narticinatedln the Eucharrsticcelebration 'ivIuJlvv.Jnresrded over brr the Pooein St Peter'sBasrlrca and dLrrinowhieh after the proelamaiionof the Gospel rn Latin and Greek tne Patnarchand the Holy Fatherthen togetherrecited the Nicene-ConstantinonoirianCreed in the orrginalGreek and afterthe Mass.ihey together blessed the faithfui" The visit endedwrth the signingof a commondeclaration rn whrchthey thankedthe Lord "for this brotheriy meetingof ours,whtch took piace in his nameand wrth the firm intention of obeyrnghis will that his disciples be one." 'not Then they "gavea posiiiveevaluation of the resuliof the theologrcaldialogue which only preparesway to ' solvingthe existingdifficulties, but henceforthenables Catholrc and Orthodoxto give a commonwitness of faith " ln their deciarationthe and the Patriarchalso referredexplicitiy to the celebrationof the GreatJubilee: "!et us inviteour faithful to makethis spiritual pilgrimage together towarcjs the Jubiiee."they said. The Pairiarch of ierusaiem, Diodcros, probably ihe mosi OrihocioxPatriarch in ihe group of "Orihociox Patriarchs"occupies a specialposition. Duringll4ay" 1994, an ApostolicNuncio and BishopDuprey visited ihe Pati"rarchand were i'eceivedby- him vei'y cordially.The Patriarchexplicitly asked the Cardina!to conveyto the Pcpe hrs gratrtuCefor arrangingthe Fundamental Agreementbetween the Vaticanand stateof lsr^ael,since it benefitedthe Chrrstransrn this area In an unoffieialmanner. the Patrrarchatehas monthly meetrngswith the "three Patriarchs"in Jerusalem, Orthodox.Armenian and Latin. At tnese meetingscommon deelarations are produced,"sometimes simpiy to come tcgetheras brothers" This gives Christiansthe possibilityto speakwith a unitecifront beforethe hostileJews and, in a way, create politicallysympathetic viev,rs abroad. Yet. for this assistancefrom West, the Pati-iarchatewiii have to pay dearly.As is mentionedin the report "Eventhough it is not possibleyet io face explicitlythe problemsthat exist in the relationshipbetween tne Churches the fact that these meetingstake place in a fraternal and open spirit already representsconsiderable progress and giveshope for furthersteps in the future This can be seen rn the developingand growing (not yei oniciai)pantctpation of Greek Orthoooxin ihe week of prayerfor ChristianUnity anclthe presence (receivedwith appiause)of a iVieiropoiitanand an Archimandriteof ihe Greek OrthodoxPairiarchaie at ihe soiemn cpeningof the DiocesanSynod cf ihe CatholicChurch June 3, i995 " Of the recentlyreposed Patriarchof Alexandria.Parthenros. we i'ead that he "on each occasionexpressed 'the veneraticnand fraternitytor,var-ds the Holy Father mentioning oneness'cf Greek orthodoxand Roman Catholic Christians" Patriarchlgnatios lV Hazrmof Antioehiags in no wai/ behindthe others, Catholicsstress their close relations withhim which began, the bulletinstates, in 1991wiih the closerelationship between the AntiochianPatriarchate and the Council of the CatholicPatriarchs of the East. ln September1995 a CatholicOrthodox agreement was drawn up covering up 6 points: mixed marriages,preparation for marriage.first communion,sharing the eucharist,shared cathechesisand antisemitism. "!t is to be hoped that the participationof tvro bishops from the Greek Orthodox Patriarchateof Antioch in the coming Assembly in Lebanonof the Synod Bishopswill contributeto deepeningthe communionbetween our two Churches." Speakingof ihe MoscowPatriarchaie, Catholics mention a whole numberof protestsmade in connectedwith their Uniatepropagancia in Russia,yet aftergiving reports about many conferences and agreements,the bulietingstates that: "in spite of certainresistances and difficultiesthat have not yei disappeai'ed,thei-e can be no doubt that present relationswith ihe Russian CrthodoxChurch are substantiallyimpr"oved That has been possible because the two Churcheshave had the vrillto continuethe biiateraldialogue, also and especiallyvrhere the circumstancesare more -o- difficultand more complex. The recentdocurnents of the wrth regardto the situationin countriesof Eastern Europe.have confirmed the righinessof this attitude." There is valuable informationgiven about the relationshipof the Moscow Patriarchatewith Catholrcsin the builetin"The Centenial"of Feb. 1997, based on a recenrcommunique which stated that "regular bilateralmeetings betweenthe delegatiortsof the Hoiy See ar:d Moscow Patriarchatewere heid on the premisesof the Departmentfor ExiernaiChuich Relaiionsof ihe Paifiarchateon Dec. 17-18.1996." "The delegations."continues the communique, "',vereheaded by MetropolitanKirill cf Srnclensk and CardinalEdward ldris Cassidy,president of the PontificalCouncil for PromotrngChrtstian Unity At tne meeting.which was heldrn atmosphereof opennessand mutualrespect a whole rangeof problemswere discr-rssedconnected with an urgentneed to settlethe maiterof bilateralrelations between the RussianOrthodox and the RomanCatholic Church in the territoryof Russia,Ukraine and Belarus." Afier stressingthe difficultiesconnected with Uniate propagandain Russia,the delegatescame to conclusronthat, "ln order to find a solutionto the problemof rnterconfessionalinstabiiity in the Western Ukraineand Transcarpathia,it was agreed that representativesof Orthodox and Gi'eek-Catholicsin rha region would be invited to meet at an early date vyith delegations."lt wasalso noted. that "a seriousdanger for the internallife of Christiancommunities is beingposed by the appearanceand activrzationof the numerousso-called new reiigiousmovements and sects.. ln this regardboth sides agreedon tne necessityof hoidingan intereonfessionalconference in the nearfuture." The situaiionis not much beiier wrih ihe SerbianPatriarchate either. After refusingio aitend an ecumenicai prayerfor ChristiairUnity in Assisi,becar;se rt was held on the day of the OrthodoxNativity ian 7th in 1992,Patriarch riruiIl^.,f :ir;^ 40iarveJ ijsKuu^^t.^A Ithe Popeto receivehrs delegatronin Rome,which arrived there and was receivedin a separate audience. "More recently."the artrclegoes on to say. "the SerbianOrthodcx Church has taken two major initiatives tcwardsthe CathoiicChurch which should be mentioneciThe first concernsthe precarioussituation of the Cathoiic communrtyrn BanlaLuka and its Bishop.His ExcellencyMsgr. Franjo Komarica, who was visitedby an Or-thodoxBishop in the nameof the Councilof Bishopsof the SerbranOrthooox Church (May 1996)as sign of fraternityand comfortin hrs rsolation." "Andthe second,equally important was the participation,through this PontificalCouncil, of His Excellencylvlsgr Lavrentije,Bishop of Sabac-Valjevo,in the'Pilgrrmageof the EuropeanYouth' rn LorettoSeptember 6-10, 1995. Not only dicjthe Patriarchallow BishopLavrenti.le to acceptthrs invitation,bui ii was the whole episcopategathered at the Council of Bishopsof the Serbian OrthodoxChurch, who decided io send him as representativeof the episcopai organismof the SerbianChurcn" Cathoircsnoie with pleasureihat ihe correspondencebetween Vaiican and the SerbianPairiarchate is a very il ltenstve uile From this published informationii rs obvious thai all the other Orthodox Chui'cheshave more oi' less, nnmnrnmicarrthamcalvgs vv, ' 'H' v, by relationshipswrth the RcmanCatholics and ctherher"etics and evenpagans, as ocurredin Australia(Canbarra) during ecumenical services. This forcesus to finallypose a directquestion. is there left in the world even one OrthodoxPairiarch2

ISRAEL'SPRESIDENT IN VATICAN

As per The New York Times of Feb. 4. 1997.lsrae!'s Presrdent Benlamin l'Jetanyahu whrle in ltaly paid a visit to the Roman pope and used the opportunityto reaffirmthe previousinvitation of Rabin in 1994 to the Pope to visit Jerusaiem.Diplomatic reiations between the Vaticanand lsraelwere establishedin 1993 The pope receivedNetanyahu in a 20 minute audrencewho told him: "We iook forward to receivingyou in ierusaiem,"io whichihe pope respondeci."Gocj biess israel." One of the ma.1orobstacles to the pope'svisit is the issueof the statusof Jerusaiem. The lsraeligovernment ,,ro,r(o.,s(i*cic+r lFra+ +lta(,,e wrtyai+r, we;-ecognisedh as an integi'alwhole as capital.while the pope demands(so far) that Jerusaiem maintainthe statusquc underwhich Chr"istians anC Muslims have equal rights Netanyahusard to the pope that "our positionon Jerusalemis unshakable Jerusaiemhas to stay united We are readyto give guaranteesto Christiansand Muslims,but we do not intendto discussthe crty'spolitical soverergnity " After the president'svisit, the Vaticandeclared, thai "the pope intenselvwatches the events in the Middle East and he hopes that all Jews, Christiansand Muslims,believers and unbelievers-- can create and foster peace,while respectingthe rightsand dignityof everyone."

BRUTALITYOF CROATSIN SERBIA

A bulletin"The Centeniel"of Feb. 1997, states ihat ihe internaiionalHaag Tribunaijudges heard Serbian representativeswho testifiedlo crimescommited by Croats againstOrthodox Serbs in Krajina,where more than 2000 Serbswere killed. The Tribunaiis aboutio completeits hearings. Samewitnesses testified in Belgradein cooperation with the officesof Haag Tribunaland the DocumentaionCenter of Kr"ajina"Veritas." Describingsome details of the brutalityof the Croatsagainst the Serbs,a casefrom Pakostanwas presented,rrhere Tudijman's soldiers play,ed football -7- with the severedhead of DjuroCupic from JagcdinjaGornja. Serbianrepresentatives pfesented more than '150cases cf outrageousbrutality by Croats. Neariyall documentationwas acceptedby the Tribunal. The officiai publicationof Serbian Patriarchate"Pravosiaviije" of January '1 listed details of more than 40 Orthodoxchurches which have been blasphemouslyciesecrated by Croats. In this report it is to be notecjthat the Catholicsrnade sure that holy altarin eaehcl-rurch was crudeiydesecrated fir"st of all. Certainly,it is very comfortingto hear ihai ihe Haag Tribunalhas becomeinvolved in mattersof persecutionof Orthodoxby the RomanCathclics, but it is interestingtc note.that no ono cne in the sc-callededucated Wester"n Wcrld ever uttereda word about the sarneCroais who in the 40's slaughteredsome 800.000Orthodox Serbs only because they were Orthodox

A RECENTLYAPPEARED EPISTLE BY METR PHILARETCONCERNING GRACE IN OTHERJURISDICTIONS

This epistleof Metr.Philai"etVoznesensky (who reposed in 1985),the previousFirst Hierarch of the ROCA,quite unexpectedlywas sent to us by one of cur readers in Russia. We feel that Cesprtethe passage of 18 years its importanceremains undiminished and we were glad to have the opportunityof being remindedof the basicprinciples of the Holy Fathersin regarcio scnismaticsand hereticswhieh were sharedas weli by all the other FtrstHierarchs of the ROCA. Meir Philaretin his ietterciiscusses mainiy ihe diocesesin WesternEurope, bui hrs opinionwas no differenton mattersconcerning the lvloscowPatriarehate which he does not mentionby name simpiybecause, at the time he wrote this ietter,we had no ccntactwith the ihen USSR. We enclosethrs letter as a specia!addendum to this issueof "ChurchNews." Those-,vho v;ish additional copies mA\/ aant-aai rrq 2t 2 reta al 91 a r.nnrr A Letter of MetropolitanPhilaret (Voznesensky) to AbbessMagdalena (Countess Grabbe)' Superiorof the LesnaConvent in France'

November26 / December9,1979

YourReverence,l

I am writing this letteren route- onboardthe oceanbner Orion, which is sailing to Australia.The ship is a ratherlarge one, 42,000tons (that's roughly the size of the Titanic)zand comfortableenough. This momingmy tavelling companion,Protopriest Constantine,3served Liturgy in our cdbin,and I took Communion.We did the same yesterday,it beingthe apodosisof the Feastof the Entry of the Most-holy Theotokos, sinceneither on the actualday of the feast,nor on the day followingdid we manageto serve- theship was continuallytossing. But sinceThursday the oceanhas grown calm, andnow we aresailing peacefully. For a longtime now I have beenwanting to sharesome thoughts of mine with you- on issuesconcerning which we provedto be of differingviews. Of course,I write not in orderto initiatea sharppolemic, but ratheran exchangeof opinions. You mostlikely recallthat, not duringmy lastvisit to the Convent,but duringthe one previousto it, you and I had somewhatof an argumentover the fact that the Conventareceives into its churchthose who, in essence,are followers,members of the formerexarchates, and not of the ChurchAbroad. And conversely,many of our spiritual 'Printed inTserkovnieNovosti (Church News), No. 58, February1997, by MatushkaAnastasia Schatiloff(nde Grabbe), niece of the recipientof this letter.As is evidentfrom the photocopiesof the original,this letterwas typedon both sidesof five sheetsof MetropolitanPhilaret's familiar letterhead bearingthis stylizedCross. (Compare this with his LastMessage to theFlock found in his typewriterafter hisrepose, copies of which weredistributed at his funeral.A reproductionappears in OrthodoxChristian lYitness,Vol. 19,No. 15, 1985,p. 2) The photocopiesalso show that certain personal references have been deletedby havingstrips of papertaped over them, apparentlyby whoeverfirst put the copiesinto circulation,rvhich was not MatushkaAnastasia. Note that these references have only beenmasked, not cut out,which rvould have resulted in lossof texton thereverse side of thesesheets. For the sakeof precision thesedeletions have been noted belorv. I Herethe second half of thesalutation, apparently "Mother Magdalena", has been masked in the photocopy. z Quotationmarks, parentheses,all emphasis,and ellipsis marks are those of Metropolitan Philaret.All bracketedinsertions and footnotes are the translator's. 'Protooriest ConstantineFedorov. a Here'inthe photocopy the name "Lesna" has apparently been masked before the word ttConvent". 'The "TemporaryPatriarchal Russian Orthodox Exarchate",based in Paris,had been formed in l93l when MetropolitanEvlogy (Georgievsky),having already withdrawn from the RussianOrthodox ChurchAbroad, placed himself and his flock underthe jurisdictionof the Patriarchof Constantinople. Althoughthe exarchate itself was abolished in 1965under pressure from Moscow, the presentsuccessors d childrenregularly attend [the churches of] the Parisians,and there they go to confession and receive"Communion"... You pointedout thatthe Conventacts thus for missionarypurposes, in orderto give the erring onesthe opportunityto pray and be sanctifiedby the Mysteries in a true Orthodoxchurch. But to this I will say:that may very well be so,just asthe emissaries of Holy PrinceVladimir attended the GreekOrthodox Church. However... and it's a big "however"! The emissariesof the Princereported to him concerningthe beauty of the OrttrodoxFaith, and the resultwas that boththey andthe Princehimself did not remainin their error,but exchangedpaganism for Christianity.And it seemsclear to me that proper "missionarywork" will existin the Conventonly then,when the Convent,while allowing "them" to visit the church,dX, however,allow them to approachthe Mysteries only upon the condition that, having receivedthe Mysteries from us, they refuse the "Mysteries" performedat the "Rue Daru"6,and in generalin the churchesof the exarchate. Otherwisewhat is the outcome?The outcomeis that everythingwith themis in order,and there is no needfor themto changeor correctanything. And we, by admitting them to the Mysteries and not demandingany integrity or constancyin this regard, confirmthem more stronglyin the convictionthat everythingis fine with them andthat theirpath is thetrue and correct path. At the Third Pan-DiasporaSoborT they startedmaking speeches about how we shouldunite with theParisians and with the AmericanFalse-Autocephalites "in a spirit of love". Love, you see,should unite us, and there is no need to emphasizeour differences.But suchtalk ceasedwhen I citedthe words of oneof the Holy Fatherswhich readthus:if we, supposedlyin the nameof love,so as not to troubleour neighbors,are goingto keepquite about their errorand not explainto themthat they are on a falsepath, then this is not love, but hatred! Does he do well who, upon seeinga blind man approachinga precipice,does not tell him aboutit, so as not to "trouble" him? Is that thenlove? At the latestBishops' Sobor,8 Vladyka Anthony of Genevaebegan to delivera speechin thatvein... He said:as regards Paris, there we havea commonflock (that is, we andthe exarchate). We bothalike service one and the same Orthodox people. At thatpoint I couldnot containmyself and I burstforth with a speech...

MetropolitanEvlogy and his adherentsremain in submissionto theEcumenical Patriarchate as its Russian OrthodoxArchdiocese of WestemEurope. For furtherinformation in Englishon this andother points of recentchurch history touched upon by MetropolitanPhilaret in this letter,see: A Historyof the RussianChurch Abroad: 1917-1971 (Seattle: SaintNectarios Press. 1972). 6 The streeiin Parison which the Churchof AlexanderNevsky, the cathedralof the Evlogians,is located. ' The Third Pan-DiasporaSobor of the RussianOrthodox Church Abroad took placeat Holy TrinityMonastery, Jordanville, N.Y. fromAug. 26lSept. 8 to Sept.6/19,1974. o The previousBishops' Sobor had beenheld in September1978 at Synodheadquarters in New York. e ArchbishopAnthony @artoshevich)of Genevaand Westem Europe.Here in the photocopy "Anthonyof Geneva"has been masked to simplyread: "Vladyka A.". First of all, i pointedout thatwe reallydo havea placewhere we havea flock in conlmonwith otherministers of the OrthodoxChurch. And that is Boston.We haveour parishesthere, and the monasteryof ArchimandritePanteleimonlo is locatedthere too. And it has Greekpractices and Typicon. All the faithful thereattend both one and the otherequally, since that monastery is of ourjurisdiction, is absolutelyOrthodox, and has our Orthodox"spirit", despitethe difference in Typiconand practices. And to whichI thenadded: but tell me,what sort of "commonflock" couldI have with the Parisians,when their head,Archbishop Georgy,rr while passingby our Memorial Churchin Brusselsl2,spits in its directionwith the words - "Ugh, the Karlovcicontagion!".13 This was seen and heard by ourpeople who werepresent there... But the exarchatespits not only uponour churchesbut uponthe ChurchTypicon and the canons.They performweddings there on Saturdays,and generallywhenever you like - just so longas you paythe money.They served a funeralthere for an unbaptizedJew - aswas reported to us with indignationby our "Zarubezhtniki".14What kind of "common flock" could therebe hereand what couldwe havein commonwith them? When I was servingin Brusselsfor the Day of Mouming,lsa certainwoman started to approachthe Holy Cup.I said:ask her whether she went to confession.The answer:"no". "Then you cannotreceive Communion". She began to makea commotion- what is this, all that is neededis a clearconscience, and so forth... But I, I didn'tget into an altercationwith her, but only thoughtto myselfi "Ugh, the exarchatecontagion"... For she was one of the "Parisians". I am accusedof excessivestrictness and of "fanaticism".But I have sufficient basisfor holdingto my point of view, for behindme standgreat authorities, both ancient andcontemporary. I shall beginwith the ancientones. First and foremost- was it, then, in the presentspirit of "condescension"towards those who havebroken away that thesewords werespoken: "but if he neglectto hearthe church, let him beunto thee as an heathenman and a publican"?16We know Who said thesewords. Who then will dare to gainsay Him?... Let us turn to the greatauthorities. Here we havethe hierarchSaint Gregory the Theologian,the incarnationof meeknessand pure Christianlove towards all, and in particulartowards those who havegone astray. However, he franklystates that not every peaceis to be prized,nor is everywar to be feared."There is a shamefulpeace, and there

r0 ArchimandritePanteleimon (Mehopoulos) of Holy TransfigurationMonastery. " ArchbishopGeorge Wagner. '' TheChurch of SaintJob the Much-suffering, consecrated in 1950as a memorialto the marfyred Imperial andto all thosewho had lost their lives at thehands of theCommunists in Russia. ''{amily "The Karlovcischism" was the disparaging term used for theRussian Orthodox Church Abroad by its detractors.The name is derivedfrom the Serbiantown of SremskiKarlovci where the Synodof the ROCAfirst convenedin 1921 andwhere its headquarterswere located until the end of WorldWar IL 'o , Lit.: our "Diaspori1s5"- a colloquialismfor the membersof the ROCA, formedfrom the Russianadjective zarubezhnaya (i.e., 'abroad,in diaspora'),as in ZarubezhnayaTserkov, the Church Abroad. tl Apparentlyluly 4ll7,the anniversaryof theexecution of theImperial family. '" Mt. 18:17. is a goodand praiseworthydivision", says SaintGregory.r7 And the contextof these wordsclearly indicates that he hadin view thosewho had brokenaway - who had gone off into schism. Next is SaintBasil the Great- a manstricter than most. Yet we know that when it wasa questionof a schismthat had only just begunto form, then the hierarchwas in favorof showingthe maximumcondescension and, for the sakeof facilitatingfor the fallen the matterof theirreturn to thefold of the Church,strove in everyway so that the least possibledemands be made upon them as the conditionfor their return. But how drasticallyhe shiftshis positionwhen he speaksof an obstinateand prolongedschism. "Sucha schism",says Saint Basil, "is alreadyin all thingslike unto heresy,and one must treat such schismaticsas one would heretics,not permitting any communionwith them."'". ..t Q Severeand categorical. But evenmore severely and more categoricallyspeaks the third of thesegreat authorities, Saint . It's a pity that I do not havehere at hand with me on the ship his marvelousserrnons, preached precisely conceming schismatics.But I rememberthem well andshall strive to conveythem as accuratelyas posslDre.'-ls SaintJohn Chrysostom begins his talk on schismby citingthe ancienttestimony of thatgreat saint, Hieromartyr Ignatius the God-bearer.Saint Ignatius says that thereis no sinworse than that which brings division into the Church, and he wamsthat this sin is so great,that not eventheblood of martyrdomcanwash it away!20Corroborating this, SaintJohn Chrysostom says: I saythis for thosewho indiscriminatelygo to all churches - bothto oursand to thoseof the schismatics.If they teachdifferently than we do - thenfor thatvery reason, of course,one ought not go to them.But if they teachthe very sameas we do- then all the morecause why one oughtnot to go to them, for here is thesin of lustof authority... Wasit not for this very causethat Evlogy,of sorry memory,broke away and becamea schismaticleader, because he couldnot endurethe seniorityof Metropolitan Anthony?2rAlas, it is so! I recallhow my latefather, Bishop Dmitry, upon returning[to China]from the famous"conference of the four",22for all his customarycaution in

ttsaint Gregorythe TheologianOration 6: 20. Of course,here and elsewherein this letterthe Metropoli^tanis citing the Holy Fathersfrom memory and not giving exact renderings from their works. 'o In like manner,Canon VI of the SecondEcumenical Council readsin part: "We call those heretics...who,though pretending to confessthe soundfaith, have schismaticallyseparated and have gatheredg^ongregations in opposition to ourcanonical bishops." ''For the full text of this andthe subsequentquotations from Saint John Chrysostom,see his: Commentarieson the Epistleto theEphesians, Homily XI. 'o Nicodemusof theHoly Mountain,compiler of theRudder, in turn citesthis passagefrom Saint JohnChrysostom in his own notesto CanonXXXI of theApostolic Canons. SaintCyprian of Carthage,inhis TreatiseI, On the Unityof theChurch: 13, writes: "If suchmen wereevenslaininconfessionoftheChristian name, not evenby theirblood is this stainwashed away... He cannotbe a Martyr. who is not in the Church." '' MetropolitanAnthony (Khrapovitsky)of Kiev, frst Chief Hierarchof the RussianOrthodox ChurchAbroad. " This conferencehad beenarranged through the mediationof PatriarchVamava of Serbia,with the approvalof the other participants,in an attemptto reconcilethese hierarchs and restoreunity to the makingcomments, said in grief: " I did not imaginethat an Orthodoxhierarch could be as 'Metropolitan"'. insincereas this Evlogy,whom onesimply hasno desireto call And BishopNestor,23 who, as a hierarch,received the minutes of theconference, showed them to Fr. Nathaniel.2aThey contained,incidentally, these words of Vladyka Dmitry: "Inasmuchas His BeatitudeEvlogy is today sayingthe exactopposite of what he said yesterday,then I too am forcedtoday to likewisesay the oppositeand I herebydeclare my totaldisagreement with him"... SaintJohn Chrysostom continues: Thou (he is addressinghis interlocutor)sayest, "We areall thesame - theyserve, pray, and teach the Same as we do." Very well -why then are they not with us? One Lord, one Faith,one baptismlz5They have broken away- in thatcase, one of two thingsmust be so:either all is well with us andthey are in poorstraits; or elseall is well with them,and we arein trouble! What do theseclear and categoricalwords of this Holy Fathersignify? They indicatenothing other than that schismis graceless.Christ was not divided,and His graceis one.If oneis to believein the "stateof gace"of schism,then one must either admitthat we do not havegrace - thosewho brokeaway havingtaken it with them; or elseadmitthatthere arcttl)o graces (and obviously two true Churches,for graceis given only in the trueChurch). Continuingto expoundhis thoughts,Saint John Chrysostom finally draws his conclusion-inevitableand incontrovertible: "I do say andaffirmthat schismis just as teniblean evil asheresy." And heresyseparates the humansoul from the Church,from God, - and from salvation. Here are somemore voicesfrom antiquity. of Alexandriasaw the Saviourin a torn robe- the Lord was clutchingit in His hands.The hierarchmade so bold as to inquire:Who has rent Thy garment,O Saviour?There followed the mournful andindignant reply of the Saviour:Arius the madman- he has separatedMy sheep fromMe whichI havepurchased with My blood,..26 In the lives of the saintsit is relatedthat the righteousGregory once had a revelation.He beheldthe future Dread Judgment of Christ.And at thatjudgment the Lord summonedArius to Himselfand threateningly asked him: Am I not the God-manChrist, equalin Divinity to the Fatherand the Holy Spirit?How is it that you reducedM y Divinity to the levelof creationand havebrought this assemblydeceived by you (the followersof Arius)to eternaltorment?...

ROCA.It wasconvened in October1935 in SremskiKarlovci with PatriarchVarnava presiding. The four Russianhierarchs participating were: MetropolitanAnastasy (Gribanovsky, on behalfof the ailing MetropolitanAnthony), Metropolitan Evlogy of WesternEurope, Metropolitan Theophil (Pashkovsky) d America,and Bishop Dmitry of Hailar(Far East). Vladyka Dmitry also acted as secretary for the conference, with CountGeorge Grabbe (the future Bishop Gregory) as his assistant. " BishopNestor (Anisimov) of Kamchatka. '" ArchimandriteNathaniel (Lvov), subsequentlyArchbishop of Vienna. tt Eph.4:5. tu Fiom the Life of SaintPeter, Pope of Alexandria,who is commemoratedon November24. Whatdo thesetenible words tell us?That the heretic leads his followersto eternal torment!...We havealready seen that - not accordingto thepresent spineless reasoning, but accordingto theteachings of the Holy Fathers- schismis just as teniblean evil as heresy,and that obviouslythe end of it will be the same.I do not dareto pronounce judgment on our contemporaryfounder of schism,Metropolitan Evlogy; but I fear for his soul and I fear for all thosewho havebeen deceived by him and his successorsand havebeen carried away into schism. And I cannotunderstand the positiontaken on this issueby the late Vladyka John- a trueminister of Godand a manof God.27Why didn'the "dot the i " from the verybeginning and explain to theEvlogians the total falsehood of theirpath and position? For it is preciselybecause of this,because it wasnot statedat onceand clearly where the truth is and wherefalsehood (for two truths therecannot be), where is white and where black,where light andwhere darkness, which pathis correctand which incorrect- there would not now exist this "inter-jurisdictionalhodgepodge" and the position would be clear.28 That fact, that many from among the "Orthodox" indiscriminately attend whateverchurch, what doesit tell us? Why simply that peopledo not hold the truth dear. For this very reasonthey don't bother giving the matter much thought. "The servicesare identical,everything is the same- what needis there to philosophize?"Or, as our Fr. John Storozhevin Harbin (the last spiritual father of the murderedImperial family), one of the bestpastorsof the Diaspora,used to say with poignantirony: "the bells ring; the popes2eserve; the singingis good - what more do you want?" To which may be added the oh, so familiar:"After all, God is one!"... If only people loved the truth and cherishedit - would they really be content with such indifference?No, and a thousandtimes no! Their soul would ache,and it would not rest contentuntil it had discoveredwhere is the truth, which can only be one - for two truths cannotbe. How correctVladyka Nektary30is when he always afftrms: there is no suchthing as "different jurisdictions"; but there is only the Orthodox Church Abroad, and outsideof her are schismsand heresies. Now I should like to cite a contemporary authority, one not ancient, but an authority before whom we all must bow. This, of course,is that great "Abba of all abbas",His Beatitude,Metropolitan Anthony [I(hrapovitsky]. Vladyka Anthony, when presentingthe 'staff to Abbess Paula,said to her: "Be condescendingto all, know how to conversewith those weak in faith and with scoffers.Behave wisely with heretics,but neveragree with them that they supposedly

"Archbishop John (Maximovich)had beenthe ruling hierarchof the ROCA WesternEuropean Diocesefrom l95l to 1962,with his residencefirst in Parisand then in Brussels.In 1964Archbishop John hadbeen one of two candidatesfor Metropolitanof theChurch Abroad before the Soborelected its youngest member,BishopPhilaret of Australia,to theoffice. Vladyka John was glorified as a saintin 1994. '" Althoughit is clearwhat the Metropolitan intends to sayhere, it appearsthat his thoughtswere flowingmore swiftly than he couldwrite, and thus he seems to havegone on to the secondclause without having completedthe first. The translationreflects the original and nothing of the text has been inadvertentlyomitted here. Pop": colloquialRussian for the simplevillage priest. '"" BishopNektary (Kontsevich) of Seattle. havethe grace of the Holy Spirit;know that the Roman Catholics, the Mohammedans and all otherheretics are without grace."And we havealready seen that the Holy Fathers equateobstinate and prolonged schism with heresy. Consequently?... A quotationfrom a Paschalencyclical of VladykaAnthony's (1934): "Thepresent age is richnot in asceticalfeats of piely andconfession of faith,but in cheating,lies, and deceits.It is noteworthythat severalhierarchs and their flocks,for the most part Russians,have already fallen away from Ecumenicalunity, and to the question:"What dost thou believe?"31,reply with referencesto self-proclaimedheads of all sortsof schismsin Moscow,America, and Western Europe. It is clearthat they have ceasedto believein the unity of theChurch throughout the wholeworld anddo not wish to admitit, attemptingto bearcalmly the refusal of thetrue Church to haverelations with them,and imagining that onecan supposedlysave ones soul evenwithout commturion with Her...Those who havecut themselves off fromHer deprive themselves of the hope of salvation,as the Fathers of the SixthEcumenical Council teach conceming this, having recognizedthe renegades as beingtotally without grace, according to the word of Christ: but if he neglectto hearthe church,let him be unto thee as an heathenman and a publican." "Unfortunately,some Orthodox laymen, even, alas, many priests (and hierarchs) have subjectedthemselves to this state of gracelessness,although still retainingthe outward appearanceof the church servicesnd the apparentperformance of the Mysteries." Ponderthose last words of the greatAbba: the apparentperformance of the Mysteries...What horror! But thesehis wordsconcur totally with my own conviction regardingthe gracelessness and inefficacy of schismaticMysteries. Whenat the SoborI cited thesewords of VladykaAnthony in support of my conviction,the hierarchsreceived them in silence- Vladyka Anthony [of Geneva]32 likewiseheld his peace. While Vladyka Filothei33 thanked me on behalfof theentire Sobor for suchan exceptionallyimportant explanation.3a

Peaceand God's blessing be with you. May the Lord and His Most-pureMother preserveyou and theHoly Conventin healthand prosperity! on oa'u'{?, CP u ot, , .fkrif, " &' f MetropolitanPhilaret

3rThe question solemnly posed to a bishopat hisconsecration, to which he mustreply publicly, declaringhis confessionof the OrthodoxFaith andpledging to upholdthe canonsand teachingsof the Church. " Hereagain in thephotocopy this has been masked to readsimply: "Vladyka A.". " ArchbishopFilothei(Narko) of Berlin. 3oAt thispoiht the bottom half of thefront of thissheet of paperand three-fourths of theback side weretaped over rvith blank white paper in orderto maskthe text when photocopied. The vertical strips of tapeappear distinctly in themargins of thephotocopy. In orderto retainthe Metropolitan's signature, whichstands at thebottom of thereverse side, the sheet was not cut, but merelycovered over. "Enclosure"35

m

This letterhas turned out to be ratherlong. But havingre-read it, I seethat I have not saidall thatI considernecessary to say,and so I addthis enclosure. you, Matushka,have no doubt caughtthe basictrend of my thoughts.I consider - (I speak,of course,only for myself; that the schismatics- Americanand Parisian do not havegrace, for otherwiseone would haveto admitthe absurd:the existenceof several true Churches,which do not recognizeeach other, nor have any spiritual communion amongthemselves.36 This is alreadymanile_stly absurd because the Divine Founderof the church said: "I will build My church",37and not "My churches".I was led to this convictionboth by the wordsof the ancientHoly Fathers(cited by me above)and by the words of Abba Anthony conceriringthe apparernrperformance of the Mysteries among thosewho havebroken away from the true Church.To sucha degreedo I not believein the graceof the schismatics'"manipulations", that in the eventthat I weredying and it wasnecessary to giveme Communion,Iwould receive it neitherfrom the "Parisians"nor from the AmericanFalse-Autocephalites, lest in placeof the Holy MysteriesI should swallowa pieceof breadand some wine. But I haveneglected still to emphasizethat, the situationbeing such, it must be considereda most grievousthing that our "Zarubezhniki"also frequentthe temples3sof

35Merropolitan Philaret himself typed this title at thetop of thisseparate sheet of paper. 'u And ui nithop Gregory(Grabbe) pointed out in anarticle which he wrotenot long before his repose:,,Our previous Bishops; Sbbors nevii r,aisedthe particular question concerning whether or not the Niw Calendaristshave gru... But the fact thatformerly concelebrations with them werenever permifted alreadytestifies with suhrcientclarity that the Church Abroad considered them to bewithout grace." See: TserkovnieNovosti (Church News),No. 40, Sept.-Oct.,1994, pp' 2-4. " Mt. 16:18. 3tThe word employedhere by the Metropolitanis n9t the usualkhram. which can alsobe used (andis so used)for a Christianchurch, but ratherInpishche,which designates a heathentemple only' the schismatics- to "confess"and "commune" there. Of what arethey communing?If the Holy Mysteries,then that meansthat we do not havethe Holy Mysteries,as Saint JohnChrysostom has elucidated so clearly. But if we do havethe Holy Mysteries,then theydo not,and these poor people go therein vain."Apparent" Mysteries, according to the definitionof Abba Anthony- that is what the ministersof the schismoffer to these credulouspeople. I quite understandwhat turmoil it would bring into the lives of those Russian peoplewho believein the exarchateand the falseautocephaly, if that which I havewritten herewere to be published.But will it reallybe betterto remainsilent conceming all this andtake comfort in the "peaceand quiet", as Vladyka Anthony [of Geneva]3ewould have us do?Why, peopleare on a spirituallyfalse path! This is terriffing! And will not the awesomejudgment of Godfall uponour heads, if we do notenlighten our erring brothers? Somemight raise an objectionand say to me: Did not the Third Pan-Diaspora Soboraddress both one and the other,the Parisiansand the Americans,with a call for peaceand unity? Yes, it did addressthem, but it addressedthem not at all aswas needed, andfor thatvery causethis appealproduced no results,or rather,it produceda negative result.I hadbeen certain that suchwould be the result.For we shouldhave told them: you havegone astray, you havefallen away from the Church- strive to return to Her! But theappeal as published speaks to themas if they werewithin the Churchjust as we are,with equalrights and position. Whereas what shouldhave been told them then and therewas: you arenot somesort of "differentjurisdictions"; you aresimply schismatics, andhave no rightswhatsoever... Come to yoursenses and return in repentance! Most likely such an appealwould haveprovoked only an outburstof ragefrom the leadersof the schism (God grant that I am mistaken;but then, we know their attitude).But amongtheir "flock", many,very many may have pondered it overand come to understandthat mattersdo not at all standwell with them,just as the late Sandrik Filatevand many otherswho havebroken with the schismcame to understandafter hearingthe serious and convincing explanations of Fr.Gerasima0. Thequestion might be posed to me:why I didn'tmention at the Soborthat I felt the appealto be inappropriate.I would reply: because I saw the attitudeat the Soborand I fearedan explosionand a possiblecatastrophe. For I had been forewarnedthat the enemiesof the Churchwished to arrangesuch an explosion,in orderto "blow up" the Soborfrom within.Therefore I wascompelled to avoidissues which might have provoked heatedexchanges. I wish to returnto the issueof heresyand schism. His Beatitude,Metropolitan Anthonyasks: is it permissibleto be sternwith heretics,who perhapssincerely believe in the righteousnessof their cause?One must neveridealize heretics, he replies,since the basisfor theirdeparfure is not virtue,but the passionsand sins of pride,obstinacy, and malice.Sternness towards heretics, says Vladyka, is beneficialnot only for the sakeof protectingpeople from theirinfluence, but alsofor theheretics themselves.

'o And againmasked in thephotocopy to read:',Vladyka A.". "" Fr. GerasimRomanov.

9 r9 14 We haveseen that the Holy Fathersequate obstinate schismatics with heretics. .Tt:t Consequently,is it properto coddlethem as, unfortunately, occurs among us? And all thisfor thesake of an evil andfalse "peace"... i. fr :.r If theLord permitsme to live until thenext Bishops' Sobor, at it I shallpose this :F question"point blank".4l 9-, D\F a0 \Ftr F ;r. alongthe left-hand margin, in theMetropolitan's hand:] \.F [Written 'h rr R.h LF P.S.This letterwas completedonboard the ship, but is beingsent only today, De December14127, since I couldnot sendit earlier- the mail system was overloaded srF TP before"Christmas"...42 P\r $5 Rr rQ sit 9N lo ''F {F $sA). xd hP r$ o'Metropolitan t'PrH Philaretwas true to his word.The l98l Bishops'Sobor was convened in New York chieflyto celebratethe officialecclesiastical glorification of the New Marryrsof Russia;therefore $f regularchurchbusinesswaskeptto a minimum. However, the Bishop's Sobor met againin 1983at the Holy TransfigurationSkete, near Mansonville, Quebec, to consider,among other things, the very issues *Fraisedby MetropolitanPhilaret in this letter.The membersof the Soborresolved to solemnlycondemn tP\ promulgated $z |a' andanathematize the heresyof Ecumenism.The text of the Anathema,signed and by the \l fourteenhierarchs present at theSobor, is asfollows: c\ N) TO THOSEwho attackthe Churchof Christby teachingthat Christ's Church is dividedinto so- $. \J ' called"branches" which differin doctrineand way of life, or that the Churchdoes not exist visibly, but ,1,*t will be formedin the funuewhen all "branches"or sectsor denominations,and evenreligions will be unitedinto one body; and who do not distinguishthe priesthood and mysteries of theChurch from those cf theheretics, but saythat the baptismand eucharistofheretics is effectualfor salvation;therefore, to those $'r rvhoknorvingly have communion with thoseaforementioned heretics or who advocate,disseminate, or defendtheir new heresyof Ecumenismunder the pretextof brotherlylove or the supposedunification cf ['.FseparatedChristians: Anathema. Fs For a profoundand sobeting commentary on theROCA Sobor of 1983,and the Anathemaagainst Ecumenism,written by the thenArchbishop Vitaly of Montreal,see: Prwoslavnaya Rus, No. 10, 1983, i.; pp,3-4.ForanEnglishtranslationofVladykaVitaly'sarticle, see:.Orthodox Christiqn lI/itness, Vol. 18, No. l, 1984,pp.2-6. "As canbe seen, the Metropolitanwrote Christmas in English.His ship had dockedin Sydney onDec.T/20.

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