NEWS SECTION, 1

6th MEETING OF THE RAPPROCHEMENT COMMISSIONS

On 17th February, the sixth working meeting of the Commissions of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad and of the Moscow Patriarchate opened at Holy Virgin Protection Church in Nyack, NY. Participating in this meeting were all the members of the two Commissions with the exception of His Grace Bishop Ambroise of Vevey, who had recently undergone a serious operation. It was agreed that Priest Serafim Gan, Secretary of the First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, would participate in the meetings.

With the blessing of His Eminence Metropolitan Lavr, the Kursk- Root Icon of the Mother of God was brought to Nyack by Archimandrite Luke of Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville for the opening of the meetings. After praying before this holy icon, the members of both Commissions commenced their joint work. The blessed presence of the miracle-working Icon aided in the fruitful work of the Commissions. On February 18, the Commission members prayed at Divine Liturgy at St Sergius of Radonezh Chapel at the Synodal Building in New York. The Commission members then continued their work in the Synodal Hall. Bishop Gabriel participated in one of the meetings. On Sunday, 19th February, Archbishop Innokenty, the President of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Commission, officiated at Divine Liturgy at St Nicholas Patriarchal Cathedral in New York, along with his Commission members and the Cathedral’s clergymen. The President of the ROCA Commission, Archbishop Mark of Berlin & Germany, performed Divine Liturgy at St Seraphim Church in Sea Cliff, NY, along with the members of his Commission and the parish and visiting clergymen. Archimandrite Tikhon (Shevkunov) prayed at this service. Afterwards, a memorial trapeza in honour of the late Bishop Mitrofan (Znosko-Borovsky, +2002) was held, after which Archbishop Mark and Archimandrite Tikhon led a discussion in the parish hall and answered parishioners’ questions. That evening, the members of the Commissions were received by His Eminence Metropolitan Lavr at the Synod of Bishops. During these meetings, which concluded on 20th February, the Commissions continued their discussion of the matters set before them.

In connection with the multitude of requests by the parishioners of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad to publish more detailed information on the progress of the talks and on the decisions regarding the reestablishment of the unity of the Russian Church, the Commissions proposed a series of measures intended to better inform the flocks. On 21st February, the members of the Commissions visited Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville. After Divine Liturgy, a round table was held at Holy Trinity Seminary Hall, where the progress of the talks was discussed. The members of the Commissions answered numerous questions posed by teachers and students and the monastic brethren. The paragraphs above are slightly abridged from the posting on the official ROCA Synodal website. The Blagovest Info Website was a little more forthcoming about the content of the discussions, and reports:

“‘The basic task of this encounter was the modification of the documents and the precise definition of the conditions for full canonical contact between the Russian Church Abroad and the Moscow Patriarchate’, the secretary of the Commission of Moscow Patriarchate, Archpriest Nikolai Balashov, reported to Interfaks. According to him, also discussed at the session were the ‘elaboration of pastoral interaction abroad and the elimination of obstacles to further rapprochement of the Church Abroad with the Church in the fatherland’”

CRIMES OF TOTALITARIAN REGIMES CONDEMNED

AT THE WINTER SESSION of PACE, the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly, which opened on 23rd January, the need to condemn the crimes of totalitarian regimes was addressed and appropriate resolutions and recommendations were drafted. However, in speaking of the human rights violations of the Communist regimes, the drafts failed to make a single reference to the persecution of believers and the attempts by communist regimes to eradicate religion. This was brought to the attention of the gathering by the representative of the Moscow Patriarchate in Strasbourg, Hegoumen Philaret (Bulekov) in a letter to PACE President, René van der Linden. He wrote: “It is no secret indeed that believers, especially clergy including monastics, were far from the least oppressed ‘categories’ of citizens. In a quantitative sense, Orthodox Christians were affected most of all as followers of a majority Church, but in its persecution against believers as such, the repressive state machine did not spare others either. Persecution including imprisonment, exile, execution, disability was suffered….”