The Shepherd, April 2009
BISHOP HILARION APPOINTED HEAD OF THE MP’S DEPARTMENT OF EXTERNAL CHURCH RELATIONS
ENI reports from Moscow that His Grace Bishop Hilarion (Alfeyev), who is an Oxford-educated cleric and was sent as an assistant Bishop to London, but “came into conflict there with Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh, a revered leader of the Russian church in Britain, who died in 2003,” has been appointed as head of the Russian Orthodox Church’s Department of External Church Relations. The appointment was made on 31st March at the first meeting of the Church’s Synod of Bishops chaired by His Holiness Patriarch Kirill I since his enthronement in February 2009. As Metropolitan of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, Kirill himself led the DECR for nearly 20 years until he was elected Patriarch on 27th January this year. Bishop Hilarion, who is 42, has a doctorate in philosophy from Oxford, and was also educated as a classical musician and composer. In the 1990s, Hilarion served under Kirill in the external relations department. He has served as the Moscow Patriarchate’s representative to European organizations in Brussels, is a member of the central committee of the World Council of Churches, and also serves as the Russian Church’s bishop of Vienna and Austria.
However, it appears the post he receives is not quite the same as that which the present Patriarch held for so many years before his recent elevation. A posting from Asia News, also from Moscow, reports: “But the department is being gutted, and the management of relations with dioceses, branches, monasteries, and parishes is passing directly under the patriarch’s supervision. For this purpose, the Synod has instituted a secretariat for institutions abroad, which will answer directly to Kirill, while the DECR - according to the minutes of the Synod - will retain only ‘the oversight of institutes that conduct ecclesiastical diplomacy.’ In the wake of the dismantling of the DECR, the meeting last March 31 instituted new dicasteries and offices. Above all, there is the synodal Department for Relations between the Church and Society, which is entrusted with the ‘relationship with the organisms of legislative power, with the political parties, with the labor unions, cultural organizations, and the other institutions of civil society in the canonical territory of the Patriarchate of Moscow.’ …. The radical reshaping of the DECR is interpreted by many as a clear break with the most recent past of the Moscow Church - the department had been created during the Soviet era - and, together with the structural reforms introduced by the Holy Synod, it appears to be a maneuver to concentrate the powers of governance into the hands of the new patriarch.”
ROCA LENTEN CONFERENCE
A CLERGY CONFERENCE (Govenie) was held in St Sergius of Radonezh Church in Spring Valley, NY, between 25th and 27th March. Both Archbishop Andronik of Ottawa and Bishop Joseph of Washington, of the Synod under the presidency of His Eminence Metropolitan Agafangel, were present along with local priests. According to a communique from Fr Andrew Kencis of Ontario: “… In total, including the Bishops, eleven clergy were present. They traveled from all regions of North America. The meeting was small and intimate, giving the clergy a chance to pray quietly, receive confession, and serve with some of their brother clergy without the usual pressures of normal parish situations. The full cycle of Lenten services was served, … Afterwards, a brief casual discussion of some matters that concerned the general life of the Diocese were considered.” Among the most moving things considered was the following - “A general reminder to the clergy to take the time to explain our faith, especially to new people, including even the simple things done during services that make up the richness of Orthodox Worship. This will help them realize that these actions aid them to find that quiet place in their heart, the place where the Lord dwells within us. The past years have distracted us somewhat from this ‘one thing needful’ and it is time to reapply ourselves to this goal as Orthodox Christians.” Fr Andrew concludes: “Even though the meeting was short, considering the entire time spent together, it has proven to be invaluable for the clergy just to be together, pray, confess and take part in general fellowship. We felt grateful to the Bishops for providing us with this truly healing and renewing time. We all departed to our homes and our parishes with new vigor and a renewed commitment.”
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