| Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk: Metropolitan Vladimir’s Image Has Become an Esceptionally Positive Part of Ukrainian History Source: DECR In an interview with Interfax-Religion the chairman of the Department for External Church Relations Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk spoke of the coming election of the Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, of the steps necessary to resolve the serious political situation in south-east Ukraine, and commented on the decision by the General Synod of the Church of England to ordain women as bishops. – Your Eminence, you represented His Holiness Patriarch Kirill at the funeral of Metropolitan Vladimir of Kiev and All Ukraine. At the beginning of May at passport control in Dnepropetrovsk you were told that you had been denied entry into Ukrainian territory. Did you go through this time without any problems? – This time I crossed the Ukrainian border without obstacles. Petr Alexeyevich Poroshenko saw to this personally. – Could you please share your impressions of your visit to Kiev? – The funeral of His Beatitude Metropolitan Vladimir, for which practically all of the episcopate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church had gathered, took place in a very solemn atmosphere in the Monastery of the Caves in Kiev. Together with the Liturgy it lasted almost seven hours. A great number of people filled the monastery courtyard, everything took place in the open air. This made a majestic impression, which was completely befitting the importance of the man we were accompanying on his final journey. His Beatitude Metropolitan Vladimir was a historical person, an outstanding man. He became head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church at a very difficult turning point for her when within the bosom of the Church a schism had arisen and when the former metropolitan of Kiev Philaret Denisenko attempted to tear the Ukrainian Church from the bosom of the Moscow Patriarchate. The bishops of the Ukrainian Church grouped together and did not allow this to happen. Here we should note merit of the ever-memorable Metropolitan Nikodim of Kharkov who convoked a Council in Kharkov but himself had no claims to become the head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The Council then elected Vladyka Vladimir metropolitan of Kiev, who at that time was carrying out his ministry beyond the Ukraine as metropolitan of Rostov. He viewed this ministry not as an honour but as a cross, and he bore it with dignity for more than twenty years. |
| Metropolitan Hilarion Celebrates the 20th Anniversary of His Episcopal Consecration Source: DECR Photo: mospat.ru January the 14th, 2022, the Feast of the Circumcision of the Lord and the commemoration day of St. Basil the Great, marked the 20th anniversary of the episcopal consecration of Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk. The Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate presided over the festive Divine Liturgy at the church of the Icon of the Mother of God ‘the Joy to All Who Sorrow’ in Moscow. His concelebrants were Metropolitan Dionisy of Voskresensk, chancellor of the Moscow Patriarchate; Metropolitan Niphon of Philippopolis, representative of the Patriarch of Antioch and All the East to the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia; Metropolitan Zinovy of Saransk and Mordovia; Metropolitan Anthony of Chersonesus and Western Europe, Patriarchal Exarch for Western Europe; Metropolitan Leonid of Klin, Patriarchal Exarch for Africa; Archpriest Nikolay Balashov, DECR vice-chairman; Archimandrite Philaret (Bulekov), DECR vice-chairman; Archimandrite Seraphim (Shemyatovsky), representative of the Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia to the Patriarchal See of Moscow; Archpriest Kakhaber Gogotishvili, a cleric of the Georgian Orthodox Church; and the clergy of the church. During the Prayer of Fervent Supplication, prayerful petitions were offered for the deliverance from the coronavirus infection. After the Divine Liturgy, Metropolitan Dionisy of Voskresensk read out a congratulatory message from His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of Metropolitan Hilarion’s episcopal consecration. Then Metropolitan Niphon of Philipoppolis extended congratulations to His Eminence Hilarion on behalf of the representatives of Local Orthodox Church to the Patriarchal See of Moscow. He noted in particular, “In your youth you were given the gift of faith in God. Through the subsequent years, you have lived up to this faith, developing it and bearing in yourself the flame of love for neighbours. In ascending the stairs of the service of the Holy Church and accumulating knowledge and experience in carrying out various tasks, you have discovered how rich the Lord is in His mercy to us in His great love wherewith He loved us (Eph. 2:4). |
| Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk speaks at the opening of the 4th European Orthodox-Catholic forum in Minsk Source: DECR On 2 June 2014, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations (DECR), arrived in Minsk with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia to take part in the 4th European Orthodox-Catholic Forum. Metropolitan Hilarion is accompanied by hieromonk Stefan (Igumnov), DECR secretary for Inter-Christian Relations, and hierodeacon Nikolai (Ono). Upon his arrival in the capital of Belarus, Metropolitan Hilarion visited the Minsk Diocesan Administration and met with Metropolitan Pavel of Minsk and Slutsk, Patriarch Exarch of All Belarus. The 4th European Orthodox-Catholic Forum on ‘Religion and Cultural Pluralism: Challenges for the Christian Churches in Europe’ opened in the conference hall at the Memorial Church of All the Saints in Minsk in the evening of June 2. Taking part in the forum are bishops of the Orthodox and Catholic jurisdictions of Europe, clergymen and theologians. Mr. Leonid Guliako, envoy for religious affairs and nationalities of the Republic of Belarus, read out greetings from the Byelorussian President, Alexander Lukashenko. Metropolitan Philaret (Vakhromeyev), Honourary Exarch of All Belarus, greeted the delegates, noting the importance of the Orthodox-Catholic dialogue, and wished them fruitful work. Metropolitan Gennadios of Sassima (Ecumenical Patriarchate), co-chairmen of the Forum from the Orthodox side, read out greeting from Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople. Message from Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State, with greetings from His Holiness Pope Francis, was read out by Archbishop Claudio Gugerotti, Apostolic Nuncio to Belarus. Metropolitan Pavel of Minsk and Slutsk greeted the participants on behalf of the Russian Orthodox Church. He called the work for the preservation of moral evangelical values a major task of the present state of the Orthodox-Catholic cooperation. The fact of holding the dialogue in Belarus is symbolic, as Belarus has given a traditional example of inter-confessional peace and successful cooperation among representatives of different confessions. |
| Patriarch Kirill Congratulates Metropolitan Hilarion on the 10th Anniversary of His Service as DECR Chairman Source: DECR Photo: mospat.ru On March 31, 2019, the 3d week of the Great Lent, the Sunday of the Adoration of the Cross, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, head of the Moscow Patriarchate department for external church relations (DECR), celebrated the Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great at the Moscow church of Our Lady the Joy to All the Afflicted-in-Bolshaya-Ordynka. The day marked the 10 th anniversary since Metropolitan Hilarion was appointed as head of the DECR. The archpastor was assisted by Metropolitan Niphon of Philippople, representative of the Patriarch of Antioch and All the East; Bishop Dionisiy of Voskresensk, first deputy chancellor of the Moscow Patriarchate; Archpriest Nikolay Balashov and Archimandrite Philaret (Bulekov), DECR vice-chairmen; Archimandrite Seraphim (Shemaytovsky), representative of the Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands of Slovakia; Hegumen Arseny (Sokolov), representative of the Patriarch of Moscow to the Patriarch of Antioch; and other church officials and staff members of the DECR in holy orders. After the Prayer of Fervent Supplication, His Eminence Hilarion lifted up a prayer for peace in Ukraine. After the service, the worshippers venerated the cross taken out to the center of the church. Bishop Dionisiy read out Patriarch Kirill’s message of congratulations to Metropolitan Hilarion: ‘The Most Rev. HILARION Metropolitan of Volokolamsk Chairman Department for External Church Relations Your Eminence, Ten years have passed since by the Holy Synod decision you were appointed as head of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate. I would like to thank you cordially for the help you and your co-workers give me in my hard Primatial ministry. I highly appreciate the contribution made by your synodal department to bearing witness to Christ before the world, to the beauty and truth of the Orthodox faith. |
| 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 Patriarch Kirill Holds Negotiations With Primate of The Malankara Church DECR Communication Service, September 6, 2023. On September 6, after the Divine Liturgy in the Dormition Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin, a grand reception took place in the Patriarchal Chambers of the Kremlin’s Palace of Facets, with negotiations between His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia and Primate of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church of India His Holiness Catholicos Baselios Marthoma Mathews III. Among those present were His Eminence Metropolitan Zachariah Mar Nicholovos of New York; Co-Chairman of the Working Group for the coordination of bilateral relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Malankara Church; His Eminence Metropolitan Yuhanon Mar Chrysostomos of Niranam, secretary of the Holy Synod; His Eminence Metropolitan Yuhanon Mar Demetrios of Delhi, President of the Department of Ecumenical Relations; His Eminence Metropolitan Abraham Mar Stephanos of United Kingdom, Europe and Africa; Very Rev. Philip Thomas Cor Episcopa, Vicar of the Cathedral of St Mary Theotokos, Kuala Lumpur; Principal Secretary to His Holiness Catholicos of Malankara Rev. Fr. Abraham Johns; Priest Trustee, MOSC, Rev. Fr. Saji Varughese; Secretary of the Department of Ecumenical Relations, Member of Bilateral Commission MOSC-ROC Rev. Fr. Aswin Zefrin Fernandis; Secretary to His Holiness Catholicos of Malankara Rev. Fr. Johnson Baiju; Church Association Secretary, MOSC, Mr. Biju Oommen; Working Committee Member, MOSC, Mr. Jacob Mathew; Programme Secretary, International Affairs, MOSC, Mr. Kevin George Koshy. The Russian Orthodox Church was represented at the negotiation by Metropolitan Dionisy of Voskresensk, Chancellor of the Moscow Patriarchate; Metropolitan Leonid of Klin, Patriarchal Exarch for Africa, Co-Chairman of the Working Group for the coordination of bilateral relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Malankara Church; Archimandrite Philaret (Bulekov), DECR Vice Chairman; Hieromonk Stephen (Igumnov), DECR secretary for inter-Christian relations, secretary of the Working Group for the coordination of bilateral relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Malankara Church; Hierodeacon Petr (Akhmatkhanov), DECR staff member. |
| 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 Patriarch Kirill meets with Primate of Malankara Church On September 3, 2019, His Holiness Kirill, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, met with the Catholicos of the East and Metropolitan of Malankara, His Holiness Baselios Mar Thoma Paulose II, at the patriarchal and synodal residence in the St. Daniel Monastery in Moscow. Among those who accompanied the high guest were Metropolitan Zachariah Mar Nikolovos, head of the Malankara Church department for external church relations; Metropolitan Yuhanon Mar Diascoros, secretary of the Malankara Church Holy Synod; Rev. Abraham Thomas, secretary of the Malankara Church department for external church relations; and Rev. Aswin Zefrin Fernandis, head of the Malankara Catholicos’s protocol service; Rev. Jiss Jonson, personal secretary to His Holiness the Catholicos; Mr. Jacob Mathew, member of the Malankara Church Council; Mr. Kevin George Koshi, head of the communication service of the Malankara Church department for external church relations; and Dr Cherian Eapen, a representative of the Malankara diaspora in Russia. Taking part in the meeting from the Russian Orthodox Church were Metropolitan Hilarion, head of the Moscow Patriarchate department for external church relations (DECR); Bishop Dionisy of Voskresensk, deputy chancellor of the Moscow Patriarchate; Archimandrite Philaret (Bulekov), DECR vice-chairman; Hieromonk Stephan Igumnov, DECR secretary for inter-Christian relations; and R. Akhtamkhanov, DECR secretariat for inter-Christian relations. Patriarch Kirill warmly welcome Catholicos Baselios Mar Thoma Paulose II, noting that His Holiness had already been in Moscow in 1988, when he was the youngest bishop of the Malankara Church. He came for the Millennium of the Baptism of Rus’. ‘That event was really a turning point in the life of our Church’, Patriarch Kirill said, ‘With that celebration the era of persecution and oppression by the Soviet power came to an end and new opportunities opened up for us to engage ourselves in the enlightenment of our people and to bear the message of Christ in the vast lands of the then Soviet Union’. The Russian Church has very much changed, in particular in that 30 thousand churches have been restored and built since that time. ‘That is to say, the restoration of church life took place in the territory of the then Soviet Union and was continued in such states as Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Azerbaijan, and the republics of Central Asia and the Baltics’. |
| Metropolitan Nikiphoros: Patriarch Bartholomew’s Actions Have Not Healed Ukrainian Schism but Deepened and Aggravated It Source: DECR Photo: alphanews.live Below is the full text of the memo on the situation in church life in Ukraine drafted by Metropolitan Nikiphoros of Kykkos and Tillyria for the Synod of the Orthodox Church of Cyprus: Your Beatitude, Holy Brothers: Concerning the problem, which has arisen on account of [the need] for autocephaly or not for the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, with humbleness and unpretentiousness, I would like to point out the following: From the very beginning when the question of autocephaly for the Ukrainian Church arose, I was an open proponent of this autocephaly. In various talks on this topic with various persons, church and non-church ones, I supported the point of view that today a practice has been established in fact that each Orthodox and politically independent country should have an autocephalous Church of its own. I believed that the desired autocephaly of the Orthodox Ukrainian Church would not be granted in haste and off-hand but slowly and very carefully, in accordance with the Orthodox tradition, sacred canons, and generally with the nomocanonical law of our Most Holy Orthodox Church. Regrettably, in the whole process of declaring and recognizing the autocephaly of the Orthodox Ukrainian Church, what has prevailed instead of democratic, Orthodox, synodal procedures are not democratic and not conciliar ways of thinking and attitudes, but, I have to note with regret, rather arbitrary and forcible ones. Whereas the All-Holy Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople had recognized and confirmed the deposition and excommunication imposed twenty years ago by the Orthodox Patriarchate of Moscow on Metropolitan Philaret and his proponents who broke away from the Russian Orthodox Church and, more broadly, from the Body of One Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, three years ago, in 2016, as His Beatitude Patriarch Kirill of Moscow underscored in his public interview, during the Synaxis of Primates of Orthodox Churches, the Patriarch of Constantinople promised to His Beatitude the Patriarch of Moscow himself that he would not do it, that is, would not unilaterally grant the status of autocephalous Church to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, especially, to the schismatics, but he did it on no grounds whatsoever declaring the very same Church autocephalous. In addition, which is most sad, twenty years later he himself, contrary to his written agreement with the bans imposed on the sinners, has restored these convicts thus actually refuting himself and restoring those who are deposed and excommunicated from the Russian Orthodox 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 The healing of the schism between the Moscow Patriarchate and the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia as a false analogy in the issue of the Ukrainian schismatics By the bishop of Belgorod Sylvester, auxiliary of the Kiev metropolitanate, rector of the Kiev Theological Seminary and Academy In 2018 the Patriarchate of Constantinople accepted within its jurisdiction Philaret (Denisenko) and Macarius (Maletich) and their followers. In this manner there were received into the Church of Constantinople individuals who had received their ordination while in schism. And at the same time no ordinations were repeated, while all the holy ranks accorded them while they were in schism were recognized by the Patriarchate of Constantinople. By 2019 there was already unfolding within the Orthodox world a discussion on the extent to which this decision by the Patriarchate of Constantinople was in accordance with canonical tradition. Within the discussion special attention was paid to the historical precedents of healing ecclesiastical divisions. In particular, Patriarch Bartholomew in his correspondence with His Beatitude Anastasios, Archbishop of Tirana and All Albania, pointed towards a number of such precedents. Thus, in his letter of 20 th February 2019 Patriarch Bartholomew mentioned the restoration of canonical communion between the Moscow Patriarchate and the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR) in 2007. Patriarch Bartholomew noted that here there were no repeated ordinations of the bishops and priests who had been ordained in the period of the rupture in church relations. Patriarch Bartholomew wrote that the Russian Church “forgave all the members of the ROCOR who had hitherto been in schism. How were they received into communion, through rebaptism or through reordination?” Such references to the overcoming of the division between the Moscow Patriarchate and the ROCOR are typical of the Ukrainian schismatics as well. The Appeal of the Holy Synod and the Episcopate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev Patriarchate to the bishops, clergy and laity of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of 14 th December 2007 mentions the restoration of canonical communion with the ROCOR. In this document the restoration of unity between the Moscow Patriarchate and the ROCOR was viewed as a possible model for the overcoming of the ecclesiastical schism in Ukraine. On 16 th July 2008 in reply to this appeal the Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate indicated the wrongness of drawing an analogy between the ROCOR and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev Patriarchate (UOC KP). Nonetheless, as we see, in 2019 too Patriarch Bartholomew, in justifying his decisions regarding Philaret (Denisenko), made reference to the example of the ROCOR. |
| On February 15, 2016, during his visit to the Republic of Paraguay’s capital Asuncion, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia visited the Russian plot at the central city Recoleta Cemetery, in which Russian émigrés, who joined the Paraguayan Army as volunteers and were killed in the Chaco War (1932-1935), were buried. The primate of the Russian Orthodox Church honored the memory of the dead compatriots and read at the cemetery the prayer for the repose of their souls. Participating in the prayer service were Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, head of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations (DECR), Metropolitan Anthony of Borispol and Brovary, chancellor of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Bishop Peter of Cleveland (Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, ROCOR), Bishop Sergiy of Solnechnogorsk, head of the Moscow Patriarchate Administrative Secretariat, Bishop John of Caracas and South America (ROCOR), Bishop George of Canberra (ROCOR), Bishop Leonid of Argentina and South America, Bishop Nicholas of Manhattan (ROCOR), Bishop Anthony of Bogorodsk, head of the Moscow Patriarchate Office for Institutions Abroad, Archimandrite Philaret (Bulekov), DECR vice-chairman, Archpriest Andrey Milkin, head of the Patriarchal Protocol Service, and the Rev. Maxim Boyarov, rector of the church of All Saints Who Shone Forth in the Russian Land in Buenos Aires. Praying at the service were descendents of first wave Russian émigrés. As a sign of respect for the memory of the Russian soldiers, the Paraguayan Army Guards of Honour clad in the uniform of Chaco War times lined up at the cemetery. Prayers were lifted up for the repose of the souls of " the leaders and soldiers of our Motherland who gave their lives for this country and her people and for all Orthodox Christians buried in this land. " At the Society of Officers building, a meeting took place between His Holiness and compatriots and descendents of Russian émigrés. Participating in the meeting were Metropolitan Hilarion, Russian Ambassador N. Tavdumadze and Russia’s Honorary Consul I. Fleischer-Shevelev. |
| 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 Dostoevsky and the Gospel A lecture by Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations, rector of the Theological Institute of Postgraduate Studies, president of the Scientific and Educational Theological Association, delivered at the National Research University “Moscow Power Engineering Institute” “I am a child of this age, a child of unfaith and doubt, up to this day and even…to the coffin lid… And yet God gives me sometimes moments of perfect peace; at such moments I feel that I love and believe, that I am loved by others; and during such moments I formulated a creed of my own wherein all is clear and holy to me. This creed is as simple as this: I believe that there is nothing and no one more beautiful, deeper, more sympathetic and more reasonable, courageous and more perfect than Christ…” That was what in February 1854 Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky said in his letter to Natalia Dmitrievna Fonvizina, the wife of a Decembrist, who had followed her husband to Siberia. Four years earlier, when Dostoevsky, convicted to penal servitude, shackled, arrived at the Tobolsk prison, she had got permission to see him and other convicted Petrashevtsy. She handed each of them a copy of the Gospel, the only book that the inmates of the penal colony were allowed to have and read. So, writing his letter four years afterwards, having served his sentence of penal servitude and while waiting for the departure to Semipalatinsk for the military service as a common soldier, Dostoevsky was telling Fonvizina about his “creed,” that was not just a read-out fr om her gift-book, but an outcome of his horrible experience gained through suffering. The copy presented to Dostoevsky by Fonvizina was the first edition of the Russian translation of the Gospel done under the leadership of Archbishop Philaret (Drozdov) later to become the Metropolitan of Moscow and Kolomna. The translation came out in 1823, during Emperor Alexander I’s reign, two years before the Decembrists uprising. Before the appearance of the Russian translation, the Gospel had been available only in Slavonic, while the educated class had been using the French version. |
|
|
