Coming soon - reunion of ROCOR with the Church of Russia

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Serge

Coming soon - reunion of ROCOR with the Church of Russia

Post by Serge »

The word is out - things are moving fast. The latest I've heard is the councils of the ROCOR dioceses of Detroit and of Germany/Western Europe have voted unanimously to join the Church of Russia.

In December there will be more meetings - it seems only a matter of time before this separation in the Russian Church, by necessity for 70 years owing to the Communist occupation of Russia, will be over.

What probably will happen is both sides will sign an agreement and for the foreseeable future each will carry on as usual, except they will concelebrate. Multiple bishops in overlapping sees would be tolerated as long as the current hierarchs live.

How a merger might happen will be interesting. It would make sense, since ROCOR has established sees in the US with many congregations, for the few 'indult' MP churches in that country simply to join those dioceses. But when the MP agreed to create the Orthodox Church in America in 1970 it agreed not to expand, not to 'compete' with its daughter church. That's a tough one.

In any event, it really feels like the Soviet regime is gone and a restoration of apostolic church life among the Russians both there and here really can get under way. For which we all can be glad.

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Re: Coming soon - reunion of ROCOR with the Church of Russia

Post by priestmark »

Serge wrote:

The latest I've heard is the councils of the ROCOR dioceses of Detroit and ... have voted unanimously to join the Church of Russia.

Without the spin:

The following resolution was unanimously adopted by all clergy in attendance at a conference in Cleveland.

We the clergy of the Diocese of Chicago & Detroit, gathered together for common prayer and mutual spiritual support, greet our ruling hierarch, His Eminence Archbishop Alypy, on the feast day of St. Sergius of Radonezh, ask his archpastoral blessing, and entreat God that He continue to aid our archpastor in his physical recovery from his unfortunate fall. Our hearts rejoiced at seeing Archbishop Alypy concelebrate the consecration of Bishop Peter, and we hope that he will more and more often be able to serve the Divine Liturgy.

Having learned of the meeting of Metropolitan Laurus and other members of the Synod of Bishops with President Putin of the Russian Federation, we thank God that He has allowed for further fruitful contacts that we hope will lead to an eventual reconciliation in the Russian Orthodox Church. Having once rejoiced at the fall of the Soviet power, and having continued to rejoice at the religious resurrection of the Russian land, we now look for a reconciliation in the Russian Church which is marked by a process which is transparent, deliberate, with milestones clearly defined, and communicated to the faithful in a way that educates them and allays their fears. We trust that our hierarchs will take all steps necessary to proactively overcome all impediments to this reconciliation. We support Metropolitan Laurus and the Synod of Bishops in their cordial response to the invitation of His Holiness Patriarch Aleksey II to visit Russia and continue discussions regarding reconciliation in the Russian Church. We believe, with God’s help, that our hierarchs will make wise decisions that will guide us and all their flock to the haven of our heavenly homeland, and that the present efforts at reconciliation of the two parts of the Russian Church will serve to truly unite us all in a spirit of truth, faith, and love.

conferees as pictured at:
http://www.roca.org/chicagoanddetroit/D ... Medium.JPG

Bishop Peter, of Cleveland, Fr. Peter Burlakov, Fr. Abbot Ioann (Magramm), Fr. John R. Shaw, Fr. Evgeny Grushetsky, Fr. Peter Selenoi, Fr. Paul Bassett, Fr. Anthony Nelson, Fr. John Sykaluk, Fr. Gregory Joyce, Fr. Martin Swanson, Fr. Jeremiah Loch, Fr. Michael Carney, Fr. Victor Boldewskul, Protodeacon John Onopko, Deacon Julian Grachev

(Also pictured, I believe (it has been many years), are the Serbian abbess Mati and priest Gabriel, and ROCOR Subdeacon Joseph McLellan

About a dozen diocesan clergy were not in attendance.

Serge

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Post by Serge »

Father, bless. Many thanks for posting this.

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Seraphim Reeves
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Is this something to exult about, or cry about?

Post by Seraphim Reeves »

"We are one with the Jews, without renouncing Christianity and not in
spite of Christianity, but in the name of and by dint of
Christianity, while the Jews are one with us not in spite of Judaism,
but in the
name of and by dint of true Judaism. We are separated from the Jews
because we are not yet completely Christian, while the Jews are
separated from us because they are not yet completely Jews. For the
fullness of Christianity embraces both itself and Judaism, while the
fullness of Judaism is Christianity - The Jewish people are near to
us in faith. Your law is our law, your prophets are our prophets."

"By our joint efforts we shall build a new society a democratic,
free, open, just society - where Jews would live in security and peace,
in
an atmosphere of friendship, creative brotherhood and the brotherhood
of the children of the one God, the Father of all, the God of your
fathers and of ours
."

Patriarch Alexis II
13 November,1991

Of course, "Patriarch" Alexy II would do well to read the first epistle of St.John, not to mention the Apocalypse of same Apostle...

22 Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.
23 Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also. (1st John 2:22-23)

9 I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan. (Apocalypse of St.John, 2:9)

The miserable state of the Jews since their corporate apostacy, like the wandering of Cain, is due precisely to their loathsome infidelity to the very God (Who became Incarnate some two millenia ago) Who had led them out of Egypt.

9 Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee. (Apocalypse of St.John, 3:9)

It would seem then, that the ecumenistic desire of men like Agent Drozdov ("Patriach Alexy's" KGB codename) to create a civilization where the Jews can escape the infamy of their blasphemy/apostacy, would have to hinge on a belittling of the entire reason why they were viewed with such contempt by the Apostles and Holy Fathers of our Church, including the oft/selectively quoted (but rarely heeded) St.John Chrysostomos.

As for Alexy's past, see the following, just for starters...

http://www.orthodox.net/russia/2000-09- ... times.html

http://www.schwarzreport.org/SchwarzRep ... #patriarch

Then of course, there is the good "Orthodox Christian" Vladimir Putin...

KGB Putin?

More on KGB Putin

(I only bring up the issue of Putin himself, since he is involving himself in the attempted unia of the ROCOR and MP, and because the ROCORites who met with Putin have had nothing but glowing things to say of him)

However, if there were nothing else in all of this that should move us to mourning, it is the following...

"To those who attack the Church of Christ by teaching that Christ's Church is divided into so-called "branches" which differ in doctrine and way of life, or that the Church does not exist visibly, but will be formed in the future when all branches or sects, or denominations, and even religions will be united into one body; and who do not distinguish the priesthood and mysteries of the Church from those of heretics, but say that the baptism and eucharist of heretics is effectual for salvation; therefore, to those who knowingly have communion with these aforementioned heretics or who advocate, disseminate, or defend their new heresy, commonly called ecumenism, under the pretext of brotherly love or the supposed unification of separated Christians, Anathema!" (ROCOR's 1983 Anathema Against Ecumenism)

These are all crimes "world Orthodoxy" as such is guilty of, and unrepentently so. While many now argue this anathema is only of a "local" nature, it's terrifying import for the ROCOR remains unchanged - for it condemns any sort of unia with those who profess the mentioned errors. Well, what would an official, unambiguous union with the MP amount to, if not ROCOR falling under it's own anathema?

Sadly, such has happened already (though with less gusto and fan-fare than the up coming ROCOR/MP merger will have associated with it) with ROCOR's official adoption of the heretical Kyprianite ecclessiology in the mid 90's, and her profession that union was never broken between the ROCOR and the Serbian/Jerusalem Patriarchates in this same period (despite the events of 1965, and the fact that this annunciation of "unbroken relations" needed to be said at all is evidence that such official relations did not remain in tact in the years following '65, save as local abbherations, whose manifestation at those times was itself controversial.)

For Further Reading

Holy Canons Relating to Ecumenism

Canons Pertaining to Baptism

Patriarchal Sigillon of 1583

Seraphim

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Joe Zollars
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coming soon.

Post by Joe Zollars »

coming soon--the Church of the AntiChrist.

Joe Zollars

David1
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Post by David1 »

You know it would be quite amusing if it wasn't so sad that the most vocal outcry against this action is by those are non-Orthodox. Reminds me of a story where a german lutheran lady decided to take up the Jesus Prayer and prayed for many years without a spiritual father. Eventually she drove herself quite mad. Such passionate posting is a sign of spiritual malady. I would urge you to seek out a spiritual father who can help.

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Seraphim Reeves
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For some people...

Post by Seraphim Reeves »

For some people, slander obviously takes the place of rebuttal.

Seraphim

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