| Archbishop Mark of Berlin and Germany Issues an Open Letter to the German Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops Source: ROCOR Archbishop Mark of Berlin and Germany, First Vice President of the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia and ruling bishop of the German Diocese, appealed to his brother hierarchs of the German Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in which he objects to the one-sided coverage of events in Ukraine. Vladyka Mark points to the intolerable pressure being exerted upon the traditional Ukrainian Orthodox Church under its canonical leader, His Beatitude Metropolitan Onouphry of Kiev and All Ukraine. The letter also mentions the political pressure being placed on other Local Orthodox Churches. At the same time, the hierarch of the oldest Orthodox diocese in Germany urges open dialog between the members of the Assembly of Bishops in Germany, which has suffered serious harm, as has all of Orthodox Christianity throughout the world, from the unilateral actions of the Constantinople Patriarchate. Vladyka Mark stresses that the Church must not be drawn into the sphere of political conflict and division, which does not serve the matter of peace. Archbishop Mark also mentions the peace-making experience of his own diocese, which made an active contribution towards the overcoming of the old division within the Russian Orthodox Church, which directly contradicts the processes that are in play initiated by the enemies of the Church. Dialog must be held, in his opinion, in the proper way under today’s circumstances, a challenge to the President of the Assembly of Bishops, Metropolitan Augustine, whose signature under the “tomos” is mentioned critically and with sorrow: An open letter to all members of the Assembly of Orthodox Bishops in Germany Munich, January 30/February 12, 2019 The Feast of the Three Hierarchs: John Chrysostom, Gregory the Theologian and Basil the Great Your Eminences and Excellencies: It is with a saddened heart that I, as archbishop of the Russian Orthodox Diocese of Berlin and Germany (ROCOR), take this opportunity to clarify our diocese’s position on the current developments among the Orthodox. |
| Munich: Interview of Archbishop Mark of Berlin and Germany: " Attaining Church Unity is a Spiritual Podvig " Archbishop Mark of Berlin In late December 2005, an Orthodox Conference of the Diocese of Berlin and Germany of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia was held. Sergei Chapnin, Editor-in-Chief of Tserkovnij Vestnik [ " Church Messenger " ], participated in the Conference at the invitation of Archbishop Mark of Berlin and Germany. His Eminence spoke to him of the attitudes in the Russian Church Abroad, and about the work of the Synodal Commission on talks with the Moscow Patriarchate in an interview with Tserkovnyj Vestnik: -Your Eminence, at what stage are the talks between the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia and the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate? Which problems have been resolved and which remain before the Commissions during this period before the convening of the All-Diaspora Council? - The Commissions of each Church examined all the fundamental questions set before us at the meeting of His Eminence Metropolitan Laurus and the delegation of our Church with His Holiness Patriarch Alexy and several members of his Synod. The following problems were on the agenda for years: the glorification of the New Martyrs, the relationship between the Church and state, Orthodoxy and ecumenism. In these areas we managed to achieve a great deal of complicated work. The fundamental positions were often diametrically opposed, but we still found a common tongue. As a whole, the hierarchies of both sides accepted the documents we prepared. I will note: this does not mean that the documents have been adopted by the entire Church, but by the hierarchies. In this regard I can immediately state what the desired conclusion of this process is: we foresee that the All-Diaspora Council will examine these documents and summaries of the work that was done, and only after this will the Council of Bishops make its decisions. Whether they will be adopted in the form we propose or whether changes will be required I cannot predict. |
| The Synodal Residence in New York hosts the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia Source: ROCOR Photo: synod.com On Tuesday, 13 September, 2022, the members of the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, led by His Eminence Metropolitan Mark of Berlin and Germany, celebrated Divine Liturgy at the Synodal Cathedral of Our Lady “of the Sign” in New York City. At the end of divine services, the archpastors performed a moleben for the opening of the Council, invoking the Holy Spirit to help in their work. Attending the Council of Bishops were Metropolitan Mark; His Eminence Archbishop Kyrill of Western America and New York; His Eminence Archbishop Gabriel of Montreal and Canada; His Eminence Archbishop Peter of Chicago and Mid-America; His Grace Bishop John of Caracas and South America; His Grace Bishop Irenei of London and Western Europe; His Grace Bishop Nicholas of Manhattan; His Grace Bishop Theodosius of Seattle; His Grace Bishop Luke of Syracuse; His Grace Bishop Alexander of Vevey and His Grace Bishop Job of Stuttgart. His Grace Bishop George of Canberra participated electronically. After a trapeza luncheon in the large hall of the Synodal Residence, the Council of Bishops opened. During his keynote address, Metropolitan Mark noted: “In very difficult circumstances, we must proceed to elect a new First Hierarch. We are in need of a calm hand to steer the ship of our Church in a storm-tossed sea. For this we require first of all genuine collegiality, through which, after exhaustive deliberation, we will make decisions in the spirit of conciliarity.” Archbishop Kyrill was then elected Vice Chairman, and elected as Secretaries of the Council were Bishop Nicholas, Bishop Theodosius and Bishop Job. Elected as members of the Counting Committee were Bishop Irenei and Bishop Luke. Then, after commemorating the reposed Primates of the Russian Church Abroad in the Cathedral, the hierarchs commenced electing a new First Hierarch. First to vote was Metropolitan Mark, followed by the other members of the Council of Bishops. Having heard the second round of voting, the archpastors exclaimed “Axios” [“he is worthy”] for Bishop Nicholas, after which litanies “for our Master Bishop Nicholas, Elected Primate of the Russian Church Abroad,” followed by the singing of “Many Years.” |
| His Eminence Archbishop Mark (Arndt), First Deputy Hierarch for His Eminence Hilarion, Metropolitan of Eastern America of the Russian Church Abroad and New York, is Overseer of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in the Holy Land and the head of the ROCOR parishes in the British Isles. In the 1990s, Vladyka Mark was the first bishop of the ROCOR who entered into a dialogue with the representatives of the Moscow Patriarchate. His is the chairman of the committee on Church Law at the Inter-Conciliary Assembly. This article provides an overview of the conversation recorded for the portal “Bogoslov.Ru” Deacon Andrei: Your Eminence, to what historic period would you compare what the Russian Church is going though now? And on the same note, how do you think the faithful and especially the clergy should react to the military actions happening in Ukraine? What historic parallels can we pinpoint at the present time regarding what the Russian Church is going through? Archbishop Mark: The Russian Church has always, for many centuries, been compassionate toward what’s been happening in Russian society. Be it internal civil conflicts that took place from the beginning of Kiev’s Rus’ and only calmed down after the Great Prince of Moscow, who appropriated this title, came to power and strengthened the State. Nowadays, as aftermath of the Soviet oppression, we see conflicts happening again. We can’t fully comprehend this, living outside of Russia. D.A.: What kind of attitude should we, living outside of Russia, have toward Russia’s internal and foreign affairs? A.M.: Of course, we should follow what’s going on in Russia, the Church and the society. But first and foremost, we should be concerned with matters of our own salvation and of the faithful around us. D.A.: In your interviews given in Russia you have mentioned that Russia is avoiding facing the reality of its own history of the XX century. It seems that the emigre community is doing well and is not very concerned about it. What common misconceptions among the Russian Church emigration have you noticed? What should we be doing differently? What internal conflicts with our common past do we avoid to talk about? |
| Patriarch Kirill Meets with a Delegation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland Source: DECR On September 5, 2018, His Holiness Kirill, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, met with Archbishop Tapio Luoma of Turku and All Finland and a delegation of the Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Finland at the St. Petersburg diocesan administration in the St. Alexander Nevsky Laura of the Holy Trinity. Welcoming the guests, Patriarch Kirill congratulated Archbishop Tapio Luoma on his election as head of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. ‘We consider your Church and the people who belong to your Church to be our friends’, His Holiness said, ‘Today we mark the 40 th anniversary of the demise of His Eminence Nikodim, remembering, among other things, his contribution and that of Archbishop Martti Simojoki to the establishment of special relations between our Churches. ‘I personally participated in the very first steps undertaken by our Church for mutual rapprochement. I have already recalled on several occasions how Easter was celebrated at the St. Nicholas’s Cathedral in 1966 according to the statute precisely because Metropolitan Nikodim invited Archbishop Martti Simojoki to take part in the procession with the cross. Each year the authorities tried to frustrate the procession by provoking violent clashes; many Orthodox people simply suffered, and now, we managed for the first time to celebrate Pascha peacefully because walking around St. Nicholas’s together with Metropolitan Nikodim was Martti Simojoki. Of course, we remember those remarkable pages in our bilateral relations with gratitude. ‘Today it is not so easy in our relations, not through the fault of the Russian Orthodox Church and, perhaps, not through the fault of the Finnish Lutheran Church. But what is happening in Western Protestantism creates new obstacles for our relations. Nevertheless, we continue to regard you as our privileged partners among all the Protestant churches in the world. I do not know whether it will keep you from steps that make our dialogue difficult, but I wanted to say that. |
| Accept The site uses cookies to help show you the most up-to-date information. By continuing to use the site, you consent to the use of your Metadata and cookies. Cookie policy Metropolitan Hilarion concelebrates with His Beatitude Tikhon, Metropolitan of America and Canada, at St. Nicholas Cathedral in New York On July 10, 2021, with a blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, the chairman of the Department for External Church Relations, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, arrived to the United States of America for a working visit. At the airport of New-York, His Eminence Hilarion was met by general consul of the Russian Federation in New York S. K. Ovsyannikov and clergy of the St. Nicholas Patriarchal Cathedral - Hegumen Nikodim (Balyasnikov), Archpriest Jaroslav Lutoshkin and Rev. Mark Rashkov. On July 11, His Beatitude Tikhon, Archbishop of Washington, Metropolitan of All America and Canada, celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the St. Nicholas Cathedral. Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk concelebrated. Participating in the service were also Rev. Alessandro Margheritino, secretary of the Orthodox Church in America, and the clergy of the cathedral. Addressing Metropolitan Tikhon after the service, His Eminence Hilarion said: “Your Beatitude Tikhon, Archbishop of Washington, though much Metropolitan of All America and Canada! Allow me to extend cordial greetings to you on behalf of His Holiness Kirill, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, at the St. Nicholas Patriarchal Cathedral in New York. On many occasions, you have been a guest of this cathedral - the center of the spiritual and liturgical presence of the Russian Orthodox Church in the American land, but lately the pandemic has prevented you from visiting this church. And today when the pandemic, though weakened, is still there in the American continent, we have an opportunity to give you a cordial welcome here. This trial has fallen to the lot of all the nations in the world. We remember how on the last Pascha many churches in both Russia and here in America were closed for parishioners, though worship services were celebrated and the Bloodless Sacrifice continued to be offered, most people could see it only on the screens of their computers and could not be present at the service in the church. |
| Accept The site uses cookies to help show you the most up-to-date information. By continuing to use the site, you consent to the use of your Metadata and cookies. Cookie policy A number of hierarchs of Local Orthodox Churches announced the creation of an international human rights association DECR Communication Service, 29.12.2023. The international human rights association " The Church against xenophobia and religious discrimination " was established by a number of hierarchs and clergymen of Local Orthodox Churches together with the non-governmental organisations " Public Advocacy " , " VSI Zmogaus teisiu apsauga " and " European institute for religion and law " which all have a consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. The corresponding agreement was signed on 19 December 2023, according to a press release issued by the Geneva Press Club. The creation of a new human rights association was a response to violations of the rights of believers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Ukraine. The coordinating council of the new human rights association included: Metropolitan Theodosius of Cherkassy and Kanev (Ukrainian Orthodox Church); Metropolitan Jonathan of Tulchyn and Bratslav (Ukrainian Orthodox Church); Metropolitan Timothy of Bostra (Orthodox Church of Jerusalem); Archbishop Theodosius of Sebastia (Orthodox Church of Jerusalem); Metropolitan Mark of Berlin and Germany (Russian Orthodox Church Abroad); Metropolitan Gabriel of Lovech (Bulgarian Orthodox Church); Archpriest Demetrius Sidor, rector of the Holy Cross Cathedral in Uzhgorod (Ukrainian Orthodox Church). According to the press release, " religious leaders and human rights activists called on the Ukrainian authorities and President Zelensky to stop violations of the rights of the UOC believers and addressed the UN special mandate holders, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the UN Human Rights Council with statements about the facts of violations of the rights of this organization " . |
| At a time when Britain accuses Russia of “atrocities” in Aleppo, the visit of Patriarch Kirill to London was anything but routine, especially given his recent remarks about a “holy war” in Syria. For more than a decade already, official relations between Russia and the United Kingdom have vacillated between very bad and not so bad, and the long-planned visit by Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church over the past four days occurred during a very bad moment, even by post-Crimea standards. Just days before, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson went as far as calling for rallies outside the Russian Embassy protesting against “atrocities” in Syria . The British cabinet is considering new sanctions against Russia. The Royal Navy is on alert as Russian ships pass by. And the accounts of the state-sponsored RT television network are under threat of being frozen. Against this backdrop, Patriarch Kirill, who, despite the constitutional separation of church and state, enjoys an exceptionally high status in the official Russian hierarchy, made a busy four-day visit to London. Its official purpose was to mark the 300 th anniversary of the Russian Orthodox presence in the British Isles, which dates back to the embassy church set up by Peter the Great. The goal was also to re-consecrate, after a massive and expensive renovation, the Russian Orthodox Dormition Cathedral in Kensington – the seat of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Diocese of Sourozh. But he also had a private audience with Queen Elizabeth and a formal meeting with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby. He also conferred a high Russian Orthodox award on Richard Chartres, the Bishop of London, and gave a press conference clarifying his position on the war in Syria, which he had reportedly described as a “holy war.” The historical context of the visit It was not the first visit by the Patriarch of Moscow to the UK. But even taking into account the long history of the relationship between the Russian Church and the Church of England dating back to the 19 th century, when two non-Roman episcopal imperial churches established a dialogue, they are certainly special occasions. |
| Metropolitan HIlarion of Eastern America and New York: War always leads to more war Source: ROCOR Epistle of the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia. We, the hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, having convened a regular session of the Council of Bishops in the God-preserved city of San Francisco, hereby mark an important spiritual event in Church history. It was here, where by God’s will, the oldest cathedra of the Russian Church Abroad was established, and which is now the last hierarchal cathedra according to the world clock, once occupied by St John, Archbishop of Shanghai and then of San Francisco. We celebrate the 20 th anniversary of his glorification this year . Here also lie the holy relics of St John, here thousands and thousands of pilgrims gather. During these days, the All-Diaspora Russian Orthodox Youth Conference is convening, in which our hierarchs are also participating. Marking this anniversary on Sunday , June16/29, during Divine Liturgy at the Cathedral of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow,” the nominee of the Council of Bishops, Archimandrite Nicholas (Olhovsky), was consecrated to the episcopacy as Vicar of the Eastern American Diocese, with the title of Bishop of Manhattan. The Council of Bishops congratulates His Grace Bishop Nicholas and wishes him Divine aid in his archpastoral service to the Holy Church, and asks the God-loving flock to remember the new Bishop Nicholas in their prayers. St John, the wonderful miracle-worker and Righteous saint of God was fated to become the first glorified Russian saint who shone outside of the borders of Russia, outside the borders of our Fatherland. The Lord manifested through him miracles of healing, here the love-filled heart of St John prayed for us with utter empathy, rejecting no one. The descendant of the southern Russian noble family of the Maximoviches, which had already given Rus a holy hierarch, Metropolitan John of Tobolsk, Vladyka John of Shanghai and San Francisco never forgot his earthly homeland—Kievan Rus. In his childhood and youth, he more than once visited Dormition of the Mother of God Lavra of Svyatogorsk, where in our days, almost within its very walls, blood is spilt by those who die in internecine war. |
| On June 18, 2017, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia met with the delegation of the monks of the Coptic Church at the Red Hall of the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. Photo: http://mospat.ru The delegation will make a pilgrimage to the Orthodox monasteries of Russia in compliance with the decision of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia and His Holiness Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the Holy See of St. Mark. This is a return visit: a delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church made a pilgrimage to the Christian holy sites in Egypt in November 2016. The programme of the pilgrimage of the representatives of the Coptic Church includes visits to the cathedrals of the Moscow Kremlin, the Laura of the Holy Trinity and St. Sergius, the Danilov, Novospassky, Sretensky, Donskoy stavropegic and some other monasteries. On June 18 the delegation attended the Divine service at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. The delegation consists of Bishop Daniel, Abbot of St. Paul monastery; Bishop Epiphanious , Abbot of St. Macarius monastery; Bishop Selwanis, Abbot of St. Pachomius monastery; Bishop Kyrillos, Abbot of St. Menas monastery; Bishop Youstos, Abbot of St. Antony monastery; Bishop Daniel of Maadi, auxiliary bishop of Patriarch Tawadros II; hieromonk Ashia Elbaramosy of St. Mary Baramos monastery; hieromonk Efraim Anba Bishoy of St. Bishoy monastery; hieromonk Sedrak El Syrian of St. Mary el Syrian monastery; hieromonk Sharobiem El Bakhomy of St. Pachomius monastery; and Dr. Anton Milad. Attending the meeting with Patriarch Kirill were Archbishop Feognost of Sergiev Posad, chairman of the Synodal department for monasteries and monasticism; Bishop Paramon of Bronnitsy, administrator of the North and Northwestern vicariates of Moscow; and hieromonk Stefan (Igumnov), secretary for inter-Christian relations of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations. His Holiness Patriarch Kirill greeted members of the delegation, saying that their visit was a great joy. |
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