PERSONAL IMPRESSIONS OF THE IV ALL-DIASPORA COUNCIL, 2 

A draft resolution was put before the delegates, and was gone through line by line, with delegates now more freely suggesting amendments. This led to the drawing up of a second draft, which was subjected to the same treatment. The third draft was considered paragraph by paragraph and each paragraph was voted on, and accepted by a large majority of those present, although the whole resolution was not submitted to a vote.

On Thursday, the excellent letter addressed to the Sobor by the Convent of the Mother of God of Lesna in Normandy, France, was read to the delegates and was received very sympathetically. On this day too, in discussing the loss of young people to the Church, Bishop Evtikhii spoke of the need for the services to be conducted intelligibly, saying that the reading should always be clear, and that the traditional chants, rather than what he called the Italianate music which obscures the words for the sake of the effect, should be promoted, so that the teaching of the Church enshrined in her Liturgy might be imparted to the people.

The last two days of the Council were in fact devoted to pastoral matters, and, on Friday, Fr Andrew Phillips of Felixstowe presented the eighth lecture, “Challenges Facing our Church in the XXI Century.”

On the Saturday, in addition to the scheduled closing of the Council and services, a pannikhida was chanted in church for José Munoz, the custodian of the lost Myron-streaming Icon of the all-holy Theotokos. On this day too, after lunch, Metropolitan Lavr warmly thanked the sisterhood who had provided the delegates with three delicious meals every day. He thanked and blessed them all individually and then had the “Many Years” chanted for them - undoubtedly sung with greater gusto than any other of the prayers that week! On the second Sunday, Pavel Lisitsin from London was among those who received awards after the Divine Liturgy from Metropolitan Lavr.

Our thanks are due to Matushka Masya Kotar who manned the registration table and information centre, and sorted out peoples’ problems, arranging transport for them, etc. Except when, of necessity, she had to be rather stern with a particularly awkward customer, a curmudgeonly cleric from England, she did all this with unflagging goodwill and cheerfulness. Thanks are due to those who drove us to and from the airport, and all who made our stay in San Francisco so worthwhile. Very special thanks are due to Yurii Belanogoff for offering the hospitality of his home to Fr Alexis and Dimitri Popov, the delegates from Britain, and for introducing us to the 92 year-old subdeacon, Andrei, who also served in church on the Saturday and was a delight to meet. By allowing us to stay in his home, Yurii also gave us the opportunity to meet and talk with Bishop Daniel of Erie, the Bishop of the Old Rite within our Church, whose analysis of the problems facing our Church was so clear, forthright and edifying. We are also extremely grateful to Elizabeth Sowter for arranging the flight tickets.

It was something of a disappointment that because the council schedule was so packed, we got to see hardly anything of San Francisco, not even its other holy places - perhaps at the VAll-Diaspora Council this could be remedied.

For sure, there were things to criticise about the Council, - shortcomings were sometimes all too evident, - but the devotion and hard work of the parishioners obviously working behind the scenes to support its work was edifying, and although there was an atmosphere of some suspicion and distrust at the beginning of the Council, working and praying together brought the delegates together. Although, even at the end, all might not have agreed, the thought expressed in the Hierarch’s Epistle was undoubtedly true: “It has become especially clear to us that we were witnesses of the visible influence of the Holy Spirit upon the members of the IV All-Diaspora Council.” And glory be to our God!

A.S.