DEPARTMENTOF PUBLIC & FOREIGNRELATIONS of the SYNODOF BISHOPS OF TFIE RUSSIAN ORTHODOXCHURCH OUTSIDE OF RUSSIA NEWSLETTER#]O May, 1980 FROMT}IE LTFE OF T}IE RUSSIAN ORTHODOXCHURCH OUTSIDE OF RUSSIA T}IE RETIJRNOF TFIE METROPOLITAN His Eminence, Metropolitan Phifaret, First Hierarch of the Russj-an Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, has returned to New York after an extended stay in Australia, where he participated i-n diocesan solemnities marking various anniversaries. His Eminencers return fl icrht r^,qe r^,iffuesf, incident and he was greeted at the airport by IJic Ancna Dishon eLpttv y Gresorv-vr v6vr qrrs rlvluugf wrrv qriu laitw nf , J t and utrmber ofuI the clersvv+vr 6J and Io,I vJ \JI the area. A GRIEVOUSLOSS FOR T}IE RUSSIAII ORTHODOXCHURCH OUTSIDE OF RUSSIA wr.rT\- rryr.A*-.i'1 r-L L+./, uf the current year, Serge Yakovlevi-ch Semenenko,the most outstanding of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia's benefactors, repOsed in New York of a disease of the liver. Mr. Semenenkowas born in Odessa 1n 1903, and there became acquain- ted with the late Metropolitan Anastassy, who was a close friend. of hiq ner.onf c ond often visited them.vrrvul . Onvrr comnletinsvvutyrv e!fr6 hiSrrr ed.ucation in 1924, Mr. Semenenkoreceived a position in b OanXl for which he re- ceived a salary of $25.00 per week.but his brilllant financj_al ab- ilities very quickly earned him promotions. In its April 28 issue, the New York Times newspaper printed a lengthy obituary on him, in whicffithat,inf1nanc1a]-circres,SergeS-emenenkoen. rrdoctortt inrrorl tho 'vtlr.onsf,sfion of being a fOr ailing corporations, skillful-ly placing them on a flrm footing again. When the SSmodof Bishops arrived i-n America in 1950 and establ-ishd.d itself in a temporary residence in the country resort of Mahopak, N.Y. r oh a piece of property donated to our Church by the tate Prlnce S. Belosselsky, Metropol-itan Anastassy found the slte to be too far removed from the center of the emigration, and thus it becarne neces- sary to transfer ourselves to New York City. With the assistance of Prince Belosselsky and a number of kind peopler we managed to pur- chase a small residence on the city'sttWest Side.r'' But the church there was too smal-l-, even though the two largest rooms had been set ccirla fnn i+' L e, thereerrul v vYqu qIpV IlIaUlf MgfrV DPqWEsntce IUIfor" theVrlv was also insufficient c'lvrvr erEvrs6J U It- iv- ins ouarters and for the chancerv. 0n l-earning that Metropolitan Anastassy had arri-ved 1n New York, Mr. Semenenkovislted him several times; one day he sald that he consid- ered the building unsuitabl-e as a center for the Church Outsid.e of Russia and that it was essential- to acquire a more suitable site. He then offered financial assistance in procuring the necessary building. Affo' a l nn"' search, a beautiful- mansion was found. in one of the best neighborhoods of the city, at the corner of Park Avenue and gJrd St. This lt{r. Senenenko not onl-v purchased.with his own money, but al-so nr^orrirlerl r^rith the alteratibns needed to convert the baliroom lnto a nhrrnnh *lra ^onstruction , wrfv v of a stairway lead.ing to the church from the courtyard, as wel-l- as many other inteinal altJrations need.ed to trans- -z- form what had been a one-famlly mansion into a center which would serve the needs of the Russian Church. The funeral- servj-ce for the late Serge Semenenkowas eel etrretcri hrrvr Hi s Emi ncnco a'ehhi qhnn rri +.i.'- ;t -';-;::---;;;;^**;^.-'*" arrp lurrrrstrusr Gr vrrvrurrvp HiS GfaCe, BiShOp LaUfUS "italy, and. HIS- Graeeqve - Ri shon ul , rrf DrrLrp Gfvr v6vregorv- J , wiwr thur- si rr nr.i oqiq. onnnol ohncl-i_- * _*..9. n A consider- qble portion of the service was conducted- in English, for the bene- fit of l4r. SemenenkoIs wldowrs non-Russian relalives. Unfortunately, His Emi-nence,the Metropolitan, was unable to arrive in time. The funeral sermon was del-j_vered by Bishop Gregory. fn accordance wlth the familyrs wishes, the time of the funeral was not announced in the Russi-an-lAnmrarre ntrwspapers, and thus onl-y a handful- of people who round--oui"Eir"-ii*" of the servi-ce by accident came to pray for their benefactor. Tlra I or-a Qonns Yakovlevich was d.istinguished. by an extraord.inary personal modesty, and in no way did he call attention to the trb- movrdn:rq crrnnnl"f he had given the Church. Thanks to Serge Semenenko, our Russian Orthodox Church Outsld.e of Russla is in possession of a buildine the like of which not one of the other Orthodox churches in New york, including the weal_thv Greek Exarchate, can boast. The Synodal R.esldence, on the initiative of th_ecity authorities, has becomea registered rand.mark, i.e. a 'i ho notab]-e sisht i n ni irr andqrrs thrnrrohorriwrrr vqbrrvq v fvrrv ho 1rA2ya qaf fho y.onrrocfgqLlc'D t J vqr , I utlg J- u of a number of museumsand individual_ groups- of those interesfed in art, the cathedral and at times the l-oiler church are viewed by hun- dfedS Of tOUriefc. r^rhn rFo qiven exnlanatiOnS and. an aCCOUnt Of-the history or ou""i;";;; ;;;"ii;; ;f;5-iliutior'" betweenit rr and the nf ho' ir rn'ic'! isl i 3ns, Students from ed-ucational institutions who are taking courses i-n architecture also inspect the residence. Yet to preserve in proper condltion this gift of Serge Semenenko can be accompllshed only through the efforts of the membersof our church, of course, principally by way of moneys bequeathed it in the wil-ls of various pious people. AN IMPORTANTADMISSION BY TFM ATFEISTS The H.erald_o{ Ihe. Rysgia+, Christiar} Mgvemen! (J/vestnik Russkogo Khris- tj-anskogotia+*oEo-Elznenra/ Dvizhenia) in:-n itsrrs@i; issue #11O,v, -t/published a document of ex- nonrinnar i--crtancevqrrvv vrr errv p vq 9g glfg q on the state ofuJ the RussiantLLf,DDIqll ChurchutlLf,I urr atv }Jrnresent- vugrrv_ a document which had been received bv +1,. ^ edi-tors. The report of the Council- for Religious Affairs of the Orthodox Church to members of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the So- viet Union, over the signature of V. Furov, deputy chairman of the Council-, presents an extraordlnarily dark picture of the life of the Russi.an Church. It is apparent therefrom that the ensl-avement of the entj-re Russian Church by the godless has reached. a degree so inten- sive as to be unimagined i-n even the most pessimlstic prognoses. rrthe Th" godless now admit that now synod is controll-ed by the Council- (for Religious Affairs of the-Orthodox Church-heieafter qimn1rr'ofonned to asrrthe Counciltr). The Council_ al_one is respon- sible for the selection and appointment of its permanent members, and the candidacies of the interi-m members are also subject to the arTnr"nrro]nr rls Council officials. The agend.a of each Council ses- sion is discussed beforehand by Patriarch Pimen and by the -discus-permanent Councll members with the Council l-eadeirship in the Council sions. The same applies to the conclusj-ve rrResolutions of the Sacred Srmod. '1 -3- rrA sustained and lnexorable control over the activity of the Synod i9 exerted by the Council- official-s who carry out systematic educa- tional- work with the members of the Synod, concluding confid.ential- agreements with them and shaping their patriotic attitude and views, thereby, in turn, the Council official-s excercise a necessary in- fl-uence over the entire episcopate. rt '6Os fn the there were seventy-three dioceses in the Russian Church; but by 1974, only sixty-seven of them remained, i.e. six less. In this same period of time, the number of priests and deacons diminished b_y_2,473r_i:e., by nearly 3O%. Everywheie an acute lack of clergy is felt which is not compensated by new appoj-ntments of the few semin- arj-ans who graduate. There are now 5 ,994. As the godless themsel-vesbear witness, prior to 1975 atl- of 7 ,062 churches were registered (as comparedto the 64,000 in existence be- fore the Revolution). Their actual- number now, after another five years of the persecution of reli-gion, a1as, it is impossible to sa1r, hrrt i+ ic lrorrslld vv Y doubt that even this wretched total of churches for all of Russia coul-d onty decrease. The persecutors of the Church have divided the entire episcopate lnto three qualitative groups: -\ jnrr ^+^ 'r ^.-^1+-- 1l. ) ILUIlrr6F?rrI IIIvfh'i era-r:hsq- who. wi tl^ r\nrr--1 gOdl / vllJ vvr.ll-J-L(i UV f !/yd,f Uy tOvv theerrv Evsrur eSS regime, rrare fuIIy aware of the state's policy of not expanding rel- ioinn enrl tho role of the Church in society and,thuS, they are not very anxious to expand the lnfluence of Orthodoxy among the populace. rr "l The fol owi ncr hi shons ayae I i stp| hrr tho on|l oqq es, ho1 nnc.i nc f n +].' ------r- o------ --ruIrBrlIB uu l,lll-S category: Patriarch Pimen: Metropolitans: Afexis of Tallin, Juvenaly ^f n'i T^-n*1^ ^f ^"1*.?_af vrof T1r urutr- A - uvrSercr,, \JMrEDDd. tJ UDYPII U-L fl-Lll.l.a 2. Ar-ohr^rivrrvlo.s,hnnq I trrnNlikndim !,urur t 6ypiti_rim t nf Khrnlrnrr Of Volokol_amsk, Meliton of Tikhvin, Jonathan of T annl-rr Ki shinerr- Cregnrv Of M1J423|arrn uvvrr vJ v!of vlrrfrSimferno-l vr yv! I qrruenri ulurrvyRi chnn rt!\lIi g[- n"roq nf Donn J "- t r v r 1rr , as wel,l_ as Metropolitan seraphim of Kru-citsa.