DIOCESE OF BERLIN AND GERMANY: January 2, 2009
An Open Orthodox Seminar at Holy New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia Cathedral Comes To a Close 

On December 25-27, 2008, Munich’s Holy New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia Cathedral hosted the annual Open Orthodox Seminar, chaired by His Eminence Archbishop Mark of Berlin and Germany. Participating in the event were parishioners of the German parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia. Over recent years, the Holy New Martyrs of Russia were the dominating theme in these seminars, which always elevates knowledge of the lives of these saints among the believers of Russian descent as well as ethnic Germans interested in the history of Russian Orthodox Church in the 20th century. 

This year, Protopriest Georgii Mitrofanov, member of the Synodal Commission of the Canonization of Saints, Master of Theology and professor of St Petersburg Theological Schools, spoke at two sessions.

Fr George’s first speech was titled “Holy Patriarch Tikhon—Confessor of the Faith or Ecclesiastical Politician?” (concurrently translated into German), and raised numerous questions, sparking a discussion which lasted for two days. 

The themes of the lectures are proposed by the event’s participants; the forum covered problems of marriage and family in the modern world (Protopriest Ilja Limberger, Stuttgart), and criticism of several myths of the Apocalypse from the past and present (Protopriest Nikolai Artemoff, Munich).