The Patriarch rules!

The Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church that met yesterday, the first held by the new Patriarch Kirill, focused mainly on personnel changes. There were no surprises: leadership positions were occupied mainly by people from the team of the former metropolitan, now Patriarch Kirill.

The Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate was headed by Bishop Hilarion of Vienna, who is now being transferred to Moscow from Vienna, where he was the representative of the Russian Orthodox Church to European international organizations. From now on, the relations of the Russian Orthodox Church with these organizations will be managed by priest Anthony Ilyin, a former subordinate of Bishop Hilarion, secretary of the representative office. And the former deputy chairman of the DECR, Bishop Mark of Yegoryevsk, was appointed secretary of the Moscow Patriarchate for foreign institutions. For Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, Bishop Kirill’s right hand in the DECR, a new division has been created in the structure of church administration - the Department for Relations between Church and Society.

Another new division - the information department - will be headed by Vladimir Legoyda, editor-in-chief of the Orthodox magazine “for doubters” “Thomas”. “This has never happened before in our Church; the laity did not manage synodal departments,” priest Vladimir Vigilyansky, head of the press service of the Moscow Patriarchate, told reporters about this.

The head of the Department of Religious Education and Catechesis has been replaced: instead of the rector of the Russian Orthodox University. John the Theologian, Archimandrite John (Ekonomtsev), he became the administrator of the patriarchal parishes in the USA, Bishop Mercury of Zaraisk.

“Thus, the Synod satisfied the corresponding request of the current head of the department, Archimandrite John,” Interfax-Religion comments on the event. A polite formula to cover up patriarchal displeasure.

To an even greater extent, it concerns the resignation from office of the manager of the Moscow Patriarchate of Metropolitan Clement, the main rival of Metropolitan Kirill in the recent patriarchal elections. His request was also “satisfied”, expressing “gratitude for his labors.”

Metropolitan Clement was appointed head of the Publishing Department of the Russian Orthodox Church. The previous head of the Publishing Department, Archpriest Vladimir Silovyov, retained the leadership of the publishing house of the Moscow Patriarchate.

Archbishop of Mordovian and Saransk Barsanuphius became the acting administrator. In addition, financial and economic management is being revived in the structure of the Moscow Patriarchate. The head of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem, Archimandrite Tikhon (Zaitsev), was appointed its leader.

From non-personnel decisions:

— to begin preparations for the formation of the Inter-Council Presence, a permanent advisory body, where the necessary issues of church life could receive a church-wide discussion. Why create a Commission for the preparation of the Inter-Council Presence, which will be responsible for developing the draft Regulations on the Inter-Council Presence of the Russian Orthodox Church, as well as proposals for the composition and agenda of the Presence. The commission will be headed by Patriarch Kirill himself, but in addition to the highest church bureaucracy, it will include such famous Moscow priests as Vladislav Tsypin, Maxim Kozlov and others. At the beginning of the year, there were talks about creating a special platform for discussions of the laity, something like a church Public Chamber. So far there is no sign of laity in the Commission, but an agenda for a “church-wide discussion” is already being developed.

— create a Church and Public Council for protection against the threat of alcohol. The governor of the Moscow Sretensky Monastery, Archimandrite Tikhon (Shevkunov), and the writer Valentin Rasputin have been nominated as co-chairs of the council. The council was created ostensibly to coordinate the efforts of church and secular initiatives, but its composition, where for one member truly involved in the problem (such as Archpriest Alexander Talko, head of the center for the rehabilitation of drug and alcohol addicts in Vladivostok), there are at least five wedding generals such as Deacon Kuraev and Yuri Solomin, speaks of rather show-window and presentational tasks.

— on the basis of a branch of the graduate school of the Moscow Theological Academy (formerly a graduate school at the DECR) to create a church-wide graduate school in order to improve the educational level and the level of special training of managerial and church-diplomatic personnel. Patriarch Kirill will assume the duties of chairman of the Supervisory Board of the graduate school, and the new chairman of the DECR, Bishop Hilarion, now of Volokolamsk, has been approved as its rector. By order of the Patriarch, a special working group will develop Regulations on church-wide postgraduate study, its program and curriculum. It’s a pity, of course, that graduate school is primarily organized for the cultivation of the church bureaucracy (although the church certainly needs competent management personnel), but let’s hope that something will be given to mere mortals.