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RESPONSE
of the COUNCIL OF BISHOPS of the
RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH OUTSIDE OF RUSSIA
to HIS HOLINESS PATRIARCH ALEXY
Your Holiness!
Your letter addressed to the Council of Bishops was not the first
step which expressed your positive attitude towards the proper normalization
of the relationship of the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow
Patriarchate and the Russian Church Abroad.
We accept with gratitude the warm welcome given our delegation,
which visited Moscow in November of this past year. We thank you
also for sending the three educated and good-willed pastors to the
All-Diaspora Pastoral Conference held in the suburbs of New York,
who related a great deal of important information on the situation
of the Church in Russia in the past and present.
We hope that these clergymen were able to report to you the spirit
of freedom which is so dear to us, in which our pastors were bred
and which infused our pastoral conference, headed by twelve bishops
of the Church Abroad. We think that they may also attest to the
fact that, along with the wide scope of opinions on our relationship,
the absolute majority of pastors admit the vital need to continue
the dialog already begun.
Your combination of cautious action with the earnest effort to overcome
confrontation in the spirit of brotherly, mutual understanding and
Christian love serves as an example for us. We thank you for you
care in seeing that previous obstacles and misunderstandings are
set aside, in order to open new paths of relations between the Russian
Orthodox people wherever they may be, for the people have truly
been scattered across the face of the earth. This scattering has
occurred in different periods of time and in the most varying of
circumstances, which leads to differences in mindset even in our
day. But the Church is strong in the love of Christ to embrace
all.
We—Russian Orthodox bishops, the pastors entrusted with our care,
the clergymen and the people—have always felt this power, we lived
in it. Now new challenges face us. In the contemporary world, civil
borders do not play the same role that they played even in the recent
past. The Òiron curtainÓ fell, communication is now possible, and
families once divided—seemingly, forever—now have contact with each
other. At the same time, wounds are healing which were inflicted
decades ago.
The tribulations visited upon the Russian Orthodox people are well
known to us. We also saw them firsthand at the All-Diaspora Pastoral
Conference, when the most wide-ranging points of view were expressed
with frankness and in pain. At the same time, those of other nations
whom the Lord brought to communion with the Church through the providential
scattering of the Russian people also participate in this pain from
what had occurred. Who will heal us? We rely on the One Merciful
Lord.
Indeed, as you expressed in your Epistle, the Òexternal ecclesial
garment was torn asunder,Ó yet Òthe Body of Christ preserved its
holy unity.Ó This truly ecclesiastical unity, preserved in the depths,
must be brought forth by us, for the Body of Christ is the Church,
and the Mystery of all the mysteries is one—the Body of Christ.
We are given this responsibility: despite all the hindrances we
may meet on the path of overcoming divisions, we must open our hearts
for the acceptance of God’s providence for His Church.
Moreover, at the same time we look to the struggle of the Holy New
Martyrs of Russia, who lay down their lives for Christ during the
persecution of the Church, not knowing what will come of this chosen
path for future generations on this earth, for us today; yet they
hoped that they will be heard by the Lord. And they were! That is
why their glorification initiated that which at one time seemed
impossible in light of countless external obstacles. Now we must
fully make sense of this miracle together. We took from your Epistle
a readiness to continue upon the path of this miracle of the Russian
Church, and, in turn, we attest to our willingness to travel the
path shown to us by the Lord, who glorified His saints.
Our Council established a committee for the study of crucial questions
alongside a similar committee from your side. We hope that the meeting
of our First Hierarch Metropolitan Laurus with Your Holiness at
the scheduled time will be the next step in the overcoming of the
obstacles that arose in the church life of the Orthodox people in
recent decades, so that together we might glorify our Lord Jesus
Christ Òwith one mouth and one heart,Ó having Òabolished in His
flesh the enmityÓ (Eph. 2:15).
PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL OF BISHOPS
+LAURUS, Metropolitan of Eastern America and New York
First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia.
+ALYPY, Archbishop of Chicago and Detroit
+MARK, Archbishop of Berlin, Germany and Great Britain
+HILARION, Archbishop of Sydney, Australia and New Zealand
+KYRILL, Archbishop of San Francisco and Western America
+AMBROISE, Bishop of Geneva and Western Europe
+EVTIKHII, Bishop of Ishim and Siberia
+AGATHANGEL, Bishop of Simferopol and Crimea
+ALEXANDER, Bishop of Buenos Aires and South America
+DANIEL, Bishop of Erie
+GABRIEL, Bishop of Manhattan
+MICHAEL, Bishop of Boston
+AGAPIT, Bishop of Stuttgart
+PETER, Bishop of Cleveland
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