| The highest governing body of the Russian Orthodox Church will approve a course towards rapprochement with abroad One of the most important tasks of the Russian Orthodox Church in the coming years will be the restoration of the unity of Orthodoxy, divided by the revolution and civil war. This is exactly how Patriarch Alexy II defined the main priorities of the Russian Orthodox Church at the Council of Bishops that opened yesterday in Moscow. According to him, the joint commissions of the Moscow Patriarchate and the Church Abroad have not yet been able to resolve all painful contradictions - in particular, on issues of the relationship between church and state and contacts with non-Orthodox communities and interfaith organizations. There is still no consensus on the status of the Church Abroad in the structure of the Russian Orthodox Church. Nevertheless, Alexy II believes that the work is being carried out successfully and reunification is not far off. “We pin our hopes on a dialogue with the Russian Church Abroad on the restoration of prayerful communication,” the patriarch said.
Without waiting, however, for agreement on one of the controversial issues from colleagues from the Church Abroad, known for their isolation from politics and worldly affairs, the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church nevertheless decided to call on all Orthodox bishops both within the country and beyond its geographical borders to close cooperation with the state . According to him, the situation in modern Russia poses certain and clear tasks for the church. “Sometimes such cooperation is understood as a kind of merging of church and state, which is fundamentally incorrect,” the patriarch clarified. - The Orthodox Church does not seek to obtain state status; its goal is to serve society, and not the state as such. But, of course, the mission of the church is not limited to its social activities.”
Among the main areas of cooperation with the state, the patriarch named “support for national culture, peacemaking, strengthening the spiritual and moral health of individuals and society.” Let us recall that a few days earlier, Alexy II and the heads of other Russian faiths promised at a meeting with Vladimir Putin to combine their efforts and fully assist the president in the development of Russia and, mainly, in the fight against terrorism.
For more systematic work within the Russian Orthodox Church itself, the Patriarch called for the establishment of a church court that would resolve issues related to intra-church life: such as canon law, property disputes, and the dismissal of priests. Let us recall that the idea of creating a system of church courts was first voiced four years ago, at the previous Council of Bishops. Then a separate chapter “Church Courts” was even included in the charter of the Russian Orthodox Church. The Council of 2000 wrote in its resolution that it was necessary to create courts of three levels: diocesan, church-wide and the highest bishop. However, judging by the results of the recent meeting of the Holy Synod, the leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church is not yet ready to implement the judicial system in full. The council participants will be advised to vote for now only for the experiment of introducing a lower court - the diocesan one.
It is noteworthy that over the past four years, the Russian Orthodox Church has managed to significantly increase its flock, and not only within the country. According to Alexy II, today there are 26,590 parishes under the control of the Russian Orthodox Church, of which 12,638 are in Russia, 10,377 in Ukraine, 1319 in Belarus, 1520 in Moldova, 461 in other countries located on the territory of the former USSR, and 275 in non-CIS countries. Kirill VASILENKO |
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