The Shepherd, January 2008
NEWS SECTION
ROCA HIERARCHY
WHEN IN MAY 2007, the majority of ROCA hierarchs finalised their rapprochement with the Patriarchate of Moscow, two ROCA bishops dissented from this agreement. One, being elderly and infirm, has remained in retirement. The other, His Grace Bishop Agafangel of Odessa and Tauris, established a Temporary Supreme Ecclesiastical Administration for those ROCA clergy and faithful who in conscience could not accept the premature union. In mid-November, after due discussions and proper Synodal resolutions, Bishop George of Alania and Bishop Ambrose of Methoni of the Greek Orthodox Synod in Resistance visited Odessa, and while there with Bishop Agafangel consecrated two new hierarchs for the Russians who are remaining faithful to the historic path of the Russian Church Abroad. It is estimated that about 70 clergymen formerly attached to the Synod of Metropolitan Lavr have joined Bishop Agafangel. Others have joined the Synod of Archbishop Tikhon or, like us, have joined the SiR.
On Friday 24th November / 7th December, in the Cathedral of St Michael in Odessa, the three hierarchs consecrated Archimandrite Andronik (Kotliarov) as Bishop of Richmond and New York, and on the following day the four consecrated Igumen Sophrony (Musienko) as Bishop of St Petersburg and Northern Russia, thus strengthening the diocesan structure of the faithful segment of the Church Abroad.
Bishop Andronik has been known to our brotherhood and to some of the congregation here for many years. We ask the faithful to remember him and Bishop Sophrony in their prayers as they undertake the most onerous ministry within the Church. At all times and in all places the responsibility of the Bishops and the burden they bear is great, but it will be especially so for these brave men. When a year ago, one of the hierarchs who was advocating the union with Moscow was asked what would happen to those hierarchs who disavowed it and might constitute a continuing ROCA, his response was crystal clear and unambiguous: “We shall annihilate them!” This response itself did very little to allay our fears that Soviet influence had not altogether departed from the post-Soviet Russian Church, and was perhaps more worthy of a wolf than a shepherd, but it does indicate how, for the love of Christ’s flock, Bishops Andronik and Sophrony have exposed themselves to dangers. May the Chief Shepherd Himself guard them, keep them, strengthen them and guide them, and grant them Many Years!
PROFESSOR DAWKINS ANSWERED
IN A SUPERB 39 page article, His Eminence Archbishop Chrysostomos of Etna has made an insightful riposte to Professor Richard Dawkins’ best-seller, “The God Delusion.” The article is published in Volume XXIV, Number 3 issue of “Orthodox Tradition,” which is produced by the Center for Traditionalist Orthodox Studies (CTOS) at Etna. It requires careful reading, and as is the way of things from the States is perhaps a little wordy, but that careful reading will be fully rewarded. Besides the profit derived from the Archbishop’s article itself, it was refreshing to read something by an Orthodox churchman which immediately addresses the things which disturb the religious sensitivities of people in the contemporary world. So often, even when soul-profitting, articles speak of inter-church rivalries, or matters that concern another culture, another place, another time. Dawkins is peddling his soul-destroying ideas right now, in the West, in the society in which we live; His Eminence, like a good physician of souls, has stepped in immediately to offer a spiritual antidote to Dawkins’ poison. For that alone, he deserves our gratitude.
We would suggest to our readers that they subscribe to “Orthodox Tradition.” It appears three times a year, and the subscription rates are: United States $15; Canada $18; Elsewhere $30. The address is: CTOS, P. O. Box 398, Etna, California, 96027-0398, USA. If anyone in Britain would like to subscribe but is put off by the necessity to pay in US funds, we can help them. Send your order and subscription money in the Sterling equivalent payable to Saint Edward Brotherhood at Brookwood, and, as we have a dollars account, we will send CTOS the necessary cheque.
We would also encourage all of you with internet access to visit the Synod in Resistance website regularly: <http://www.synodinresistance.org/index-en.html>. We realise that many “jurisdictional” websites are concerned only with events, receptions, awards, greetings and the like, but the SiR site weekly has postings of edifying articles and spiritual teaching and is well worth visiting frequently.
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