XPICTOC BOCKPECE!
I returned from the Sobor late last night, and since I don't have a laptop computer I did not see anything on the internet for the past week.
Concerning the Resolution that was passed on Thursday, there was surprisingly little disagreement over it.
During the night going into Thursday, I got up and wrote, on the back of an envelope, what came into my head as a suggestion towards the Resolution.
I used the same 5 points as I do for most of my sermons: an introduction (whose content was obvious enough, dictated by the circumstances), then 3 points:
1) There should be reconciliation in the Russian Church,
2) Based strictly on the Canons, Rules and Dogmas of the Orthodox Church,
3) And that all should pray for this.
Conclusion: based on the closing words of the last Paschal Stichera: "And therefore let us say, brethren, to those that hate us: Let us forgive all through the Resurrection, and thus let us cry out: Christ is risen from the dead..."
Then, in the morning, before and after Liturgy, I showed what I had written on the back of that envelope to several of my colleagues including Fr. Alexander Lebedeff, who, it turned out, working overnight with several others had come up with almost the same text, and with the same ending.
The text was then presented to the whole Sobor, and discussion of it began.
After various suggestions and amendments to the first paragraph (the introduction), that paragraph alone was put to the vote: Accepted or not?
So far as I noticed, the 6 votes "against" were the ones to the first paragraph. In fact, I only thought I saw 3 hands raised "against".
The rest of the text was edited and then adopted, paragraph by paragraph. I did not think I saw any hands raised "against" anything further along.
Each time, they would first ask a show of hands "for", then "against", then for any "abstentions". I did not think I saw any abstentions.
After the first draft was corrected, and the second draft presented, it was again dissected phrase by phrase and even word by word.
The first two drafts were handed out, but collected again after being emended, so that no one would circulate texts that had not been adopted by the Sobor.
The third and final draft was read and also handed out. Some people were expecting a third round of corrections and a final vote to approve the text as a whole, but that was not done.
If there had been that final vote on the document as a whole, it would be easier to say whether or not anyone really voted against the complete Resolution. As things stand, we only know that there were a few partial objections.
As to the remarks of Eugene Magerovsky that the text, as adopted by the Sobor, was "against union", I think that simply shows a misunderstanding of terms that had finally been set straight.
What is outlined in the Resolution, is what had been planned all along. The only real dispute was over terminology, style, choice of words.
The paragraph against participation in the WCC is taken quite seriously by the MP, according to an official announcement on their websites, mentioning opposition to the WCC from within the MP itself.
The Divine Liturgy on Friday morning after the Resolution had passed, was wonderfully joyous and really Paschal.
In Christ Fr. John R. Shaw
