The Moscow Patriarchate and The Russian Church Abroad: The Way to Unity
An exclusive interview with Metropolitan Kirill, Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate.
The Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian Church Abroad, with parishes mostly in the U.S. and Canada, will unite in Moscow on May 17. Your Eminence, what is the meaning of this event?
In the 1920s, some bishops and parishes of the Russian Church Abroad broke off with the hierarchy of the Russian Church. They said they didn’t want any relations with atheistic Russian authorities, who hampered free activity of the Church. That is why the government of the Church Abroad for a time seemed to break off administrative relations with the Patriarchal See in Moscow “until the godless regime collapses,” as the current Constitution of the Church Abroad states. However, there was a long time to wait. The foreign part of the Russian Church was called the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia. It was formed in Serbia, and its center was moved from Sremski Karlovci to New York after World War II.
Eighty years passed. The militant godless regime collapsed, and the Church in Russia finally gained freedom. The martyrs of the era of persecution were glorified as saints. It took a few years to restore or build anew thousands of churches, hundreds of monasteries, dozens of theological schools. The Church got access to the mass media and after decades of forced silence could freely talk with her people. The Church got an opportunity to assess the experience of the Church in the 20th century with all honesty. The Church has developed new relations with the state – relations of free partnership and cooperation in what both sides consider useful for the country, while refraining from interfering into each other’s activity.
The process of comprehending the historical experience of the Church and expressing it, including the years of totalitarian regime, was mostly accomplished by the adoption of the “Foundations of Social Concept of the Russian Orthodox Church” at the Bishops’ Council in Moscow in 2000. The document clearly states what the Church considers appropriate and inappropriate in her relations with the authorities, society, the world of science and culture, the military and the mass media.
The time came when even those Orthodox believers in the West, who were skeptical about events in the post-Soviet Russia, could clearly see the revival of Church life there and the return of people to their parents’ faith. Yet those who considered themselves custodians of the Russian religious tradition that was being trampled in their homeland kept aloof. But there were more and more voices heard saying the same: There are no more reasons to be divided. So, dialogue between the Moscow Patriarchate and the Russian Church Abroad has begun. It was difficult but honest, and God has helped us to reach unity in opinions concerning the life of the Church in the modern world. Now we can count the days before the solemn expression of our unity in the joint Liturgy.
How did this dialogue begin and develop? What kind of difficulties did it encounter?
Soon after his election to the Patriarchal See in 1990, Alexy II wrote in an open letter to representatives of the Church Abroad: “The external chains of aggressive atheism that tied us for many years have collapsed. We are free now, and this provides a basis for a dialogue. We are determined to resolve all perplexing problems preventing us from praying in the same sanctuary.” This call from the then-USSR was not heard at once. It was repeated many times; most important, many representatives of the Church Abroad got personally acquainted with the real situation of Orthodoxy in the new Russia. And, the ice was broken. When the First Hierarch, Metropolitan Laurus, and other hierarchs of the Church Abroad met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in New York in September 2003, they could satisfy themselves there was no more “godless regime” in Russia.
During this meeting, President Putin invited Metropolitan Laurus to visit Russia on his own behalf and on behalf of Patriarch Alexy, who wrote a letter with a renewed proposal to begin a brotherly dialogue.
This visit took place in May 2004, a very special meeting after many years of estrangement. We understood then that unity was possible. One could vividly see that when the delegation of the Church Abroad attended the Patriarchal Liturgy annually celebrated in Butovo, where thousands and thousands of innocent victims were executed. We prayed over the remains of our martyrs for the first time together.
Were there other problems to be resolved?
Yes, the situation was not so simple. The disagreements of many years have made themselves felt. Many people who lived abroad were unfamiliar with the church life in the homeland and got used to thinking of the Church as a servant of the godless state that was betraying the purity of faith through close contacts with the non-Orthodox world. Besides that, there were some practical problems. For instance, since the 1990s the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia had begun to establish its own dioceses in Russia, a parallel structure to the existing dioceses of the Russian Orthodox Church.
The two commissions began to work together in May 2004 and had eight meetings since then. They worked out a common approach to the relations between the Church and the State, and those of Orthodoxy with other confessions. They have elaborated a canonical form of full unity, with inner self-governance being retained for each establishment. We believed it necessary to proceed from a respect for historical reality so that the Church Abroad could avoid “breaking” its administrative system.
Sometimes at the beginning, the members of the commissions formed the impression that they spoke in different languages. Sometimes the dialogue reached a deadlock, and it seemed that there was no way out. Yet, God’s grace helps people in their infirmities. Finally, common language has been found.
Certainly, Patriarch Alexy and Metropolitan Laurus, and the Synods in Moscow and New York have kept up with the work of the commissions, giving interim appreciation and sometimes offering improvement. The ROC Bishops’ Council in Moscow in 2004 and the ROCOR All-Diaspora Council in San Francisco in 2006 gave a “go” to the movement toward unity. And here we are.
What will happen in Moscow on May 17?
On 17 May, His Holiness Patriarch Alexy and Metropolitan Laurus will sign an “Act on Canonical Communion” that establishes canonical standards of relations between the Churches in the homeland and abroad. The ceremony will take place in the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow. After that, we shall celebrate the Divine Liturgy together for the first time after 80 years of estrangement.
Hundreds of our compatriots from abroad will come to Moscow to take part in the event. America, Australia, Europe – the entire world of Russian Diaspora will be represented in Moscow.
I believe that this day will mark the end of the history of civil war in Russia.
This would be the most important step to finally overcoming the heritage of the godless regime. At present we know for sure that our nation is one despite all political divisions.
By Sergey Chirkin
