Translated material
First Orthodox fast
Russia says goodbye to Patriarch Alexy II
More than five thousand believers gathered on Sunday for the liturgy in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, and many of them had to stand in a four-hour line to get to the service, and this is only a small part of those who came and continue to come to the temple to pray for the repose of the Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Rus', who died suddenly last Friday. The death of the patriarch , who headed the Russian Orthodox Church for 18 years, became the main event not only in the religious, but also in the secular life of Russia. Including the efforts of Alexy II in post-Soviet Russia, the Russian Orthodox Church regained its status as one of the most important public institutions that the authorities today are forced to reckon with, even despite the principle of separation of church and state proclaimed in the country’s Constitution. Without being formally included in the current “table of ranks,” the patriarch nevertheless long ago established himself among the top officials of the Russian state, which was indirectly recognized by the leaders of other religious denominations who responded to the death of Alexy II with both condolences and memorial services.His Holiness the Patriarch served his last service on December 4, on the feast of the Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos - it is significant that on the same day the 91st year passed since the enthronement (election to the patriarchal throne) of St. Tikhon. The fates of the twelfth and fifteenth patriarchs, for all their dissimilarity, have one thing in common: both primates had to take upon themselves the burden of caring for the church in critical eras - at the time of the collapse of state power, in those years when the unity of the church as a community of believers was under threat .
Patriarch Tikhon, canonized, became the first primate of the Russian Orthodox Church after the restoration of the patriarchate in 1917 and the first highest hierarch who had to take blows from the new communist and atheist government. Patriarch Alexy II, elected at the Local Council in 1990, stood at the head of the church on the eve of the collapse of this power, which was followed by the collapse of the Soviet empire.
In modern times, with the universal recognition of the principle of freedom of conscience and the separation of church and state, inter-church and inter-religious contradictions were often used and “spun” by political forces for their own purposes. Therefore, one of the main pastoral merits of Patriarch Alexy is considered to be the preservation of the canonical church unity of the Russian Orthodox Church “above” the borders drawn by politicians in the post-Soviet space. And, of course, in the history of the Russian Orthodox Church, the primacy of Alexy II will be remembered as the time when the long-term schism between the church in the Fatherland and abroad was overcome - the signing last year of the Act on Canonical Communion between the Moscow Patriarchate and the ROCOR was largely the merit of the late primate of the Russian Orthodox Church . The sixteenth patriarch, who will be elected next year at the Local Council, will have to resolve the problems that the church was unable to overcome during the patriarchate of Alexy II - to heal the schisms in Ukraine and Estonia.
Alexy II, in the world Alexy Mikhailovich Ridiger, was himself born outside Russia - in 1929 Tallinn, as now, was the capital of independent Estonia. It is known that the “Estonian canonical question” was one of the stumbling blocks in relations between the Moscow and Constantinople patriarchates - Moscow disputes the legality of the existence of the Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church, which Constantinople took under its protection. But few people know that the father of the future Russian patriarch, Archpriest Mikhail Ridiger, was ordained a priest by Metropolitan Alexander (Paulus) of Tallinn, the same one who later headed the “schismatic” Estonian jurisdiction.
At baptism, Alexey Ridiger was named in honor of Alexy, the man of God, but, taking monastic vows at the Trinity-Sergius Lavra on November 3, 1961, he chose another saint with the same name as his heavenly patron - the Metropolitan of Kyiv and the Saint of Moscow. Saint Alexy remained in the history of the church of the 14th century not only as a great righteous man and an outstanding shepherd, but also as an outstanding diplomat who knew how, as they would say now, to conduct a dialogue with both the Moscow princes and the Horde khans. Alexy II had to take on the same role - not only as a high priest, but also as a mediator in relations between the church, society and the state at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries. “Under his leadership, the Orthodox Church has become one of the authoritative institutions that interact fruitfully with the state,” says President Dmitry Medvedev in an address published in connection with the death of the patriarch. “The Moscow Patriarchate has acquired respect and authority not only in Russia, but also in the international religious community.”
The features that distinguished the Patriarchate of Alexy II were the very active participation of the church in public life and even public politics (it is enough to recall that over the course of 18 years the Russian Orthodox Church adopted its own social doctrine and concept of human rights, formulated its position on almost all issues of public and state life), as well as the active participation of Orthodox hierarchs in interfaith dialogue, was often perceived critically, not only by the laity, but also in church circles. On the one hand, the Orthodox “ultra-Orthodox” accused the church leadership of pandering to the ecumenical movement - they also recalled that His Holiness the Patriarch himself held many posts in the World Council of Churches, and for a quarter of a century was a member of the governing bodies of the Conference of European Churches. On the other hand, many parachurch figures, both right-wing and liberal, reproached the highest hierarchs for never repenting of the “sin of Sergianism” - in collaboration with the communist regime (and from the point of view of some critics - and with any government authority).
The ultimate expression of such sentiments was the recent “rebellion” of the former Bishop of Anadyr and Chukotka Diomede, who began by accusing the hierarchy of “confessing the heretical teaching of ecumenism” and “developing spiritual conciliation, subordinating church authority to secular, often atheistic authorities,” and ended by calling ROC "handmaiden of the Antichrist." Although Diomede was banned from ministry and defrocked, this does not mean that isolationist sentiments disappeared in the church environment and among the laity, the mouthpiece of which was the former Chukchi ruler, and this is another challenge that the successor of Alexy II will have to deal with.
Before the start of the Sunday memorial service in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, who had been elected locum tenens of the patriarchal throne the day before, called on believers to overcome differences. Vladyka Kirill, recalling that the Apostle Paul spoke about a single faith in one of his epistles, emphasized that “the Patriarch was a symbol of our unity.” “Standing at this tomb that is dear to all of us, we must answer the call of the Savior in readiness to preserve unity, fraternal communion, to jointly defend the beauty and strength of our church, so that through this wealth and beauty God’s power may be revealed to all our people,” he addressed the priests and to the laity, Metropolitan of Smolensk and Kaliningrad.
During the lifetime of Alexy II, the influential Metropolitan Kirill was often called one of the most likely candidates to succeed the Patriarch. However, even his special place at the tomb of the deceased primate of the Russian Orthodox Church should not be considered as special preferences in the elections of the first hierarch, which will take place next year. Theoretically, not only authoritative Russian bishops will be able to “run” - for example, Metropolitan Clement of Borovsk and Kaluga or Metropolitan Juvenaly of Kolomna and Krutitsy, but also the hierarchs of the ROCOR, which is sending its delegation to Moscow. It is expected that the head of the foreign church, Metropolitan Hilarion, Archbishop Mark of Berlin and Germany, and Bishop Michael of Geneva and Western Europe will come to the Russian capital.
According to the charter of the Russian Orthodox Church, the new primate of the church will be determined by the Local Council, in which, along with the clergy, lay people - members of church communities - will also participate. The exact date of convening the council will be determined by the Synod, whose extraordinary meeting will be held on December 10, the day after the funeral service and burial of His Holiness the Patriarch in the Epiphany (Elokhovsky) Cathedral in Moscow.