| Since 1998 the Polish Church has been led by Metropolitan Sava (Hrycuniak) (b. 1938). In 2013 the membership of the Polish Church was estimated at about 600,000, spread across seven archdioceses, including one in South America centered in Rio de Janeiro. The Czech Republic and Slovakia By 1925, there were two dioceses of Orthodox Christians in Czechoslovakia, both under the authority of the Serbian Orthodox Church. In 1942, during WWII, the especially effective and beloved bishop of the Czech diocese, Bishop Gorazd (Pavlik) (1879–1942), a former Roman Catholic priest, was executed by the German Nazi occupiers, along with hundreds of clergy and laity, and the Czech Orthodox Church was outlawed. Bishop Gorazd was glorified as a New Martyr by the Church in Serbia in 1961. After WWII, the restored Czech diocese, along with the Diocese of Presov in Slovakia, came under the authority of the Church of Russia. In 1951, the Orthodox Church in Czechoslovakia was granted autocephaly by the Church of Russia. This was not recognized by the Patriarchate of Constantinople, but after the fall of Communism and the establishment in 1993 of the separate nations of Slovakia and the Czech Republic, the Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia was recognized as autocephalous by the Ecumenical Patriarchate. This happened in 1998, as a unilateral action taken by the Ecumenical Patriarchate solely on its own accord (i.e., without reference to the previous autocephaly granted by the Church of Russia). In 2013, Metropolitan Christopher (Pulets) (b. 1953) was the ruling hierarch of this Church, having succeeded Metropolitan Nicholas (1927–2006) in 2006. As of 2013 there were 82 parishes in the Czech Republic and 90 in Slovakia. Albania The Albanian Church in the motherland was granted autocephaly in 1937 by the Ecumenical Patriarchate. In 1939, after Fascist Italy occupied the country, an attempt was made to unite the Albanian Orthodox Church with the Church of Rome, but this failed. In 1945, with Albania falling to the Communists, the Church was subject to various forms of persecution. Beginning in 1967, the Communist government of Albania began subjecting the Christians and Muslims to the most intense persecution anywhere, as it tried to establish a completely atheistic state and society. |
| A Twentieth Century Western Orthodox Missionary/Православие.Ru A Twentieth Century Western Orthodox Missionary Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation. Hebrews 13:7 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour. John 12:24-26 St. Gorazd (Pavlik) It is now nearly sixty years since the martyrdom and birth into eternal life of Bishop Gorazd of Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia. In this ever darkening age, the image of this martyred Bishop now shines forth ever brighter. The future Bishop Gorazd (Pavlik) was born on May 26, 1879 in the Moravian town of Hrubavrbka in the Czech Rupublic and was baptised Matthias. After schooling he finished the Roman Catholic theological faculty in Olomouc and was ordained priest. During his studies he had become interested in Orthodox Christianity and the mission of Sts Cyril and Methodius and visited Kiev. With the formation of Czechoslovakia in 1918 and freedom from Austro-Hungarian Catholic tyranny, hundreds of thousands of people left the Catholic Church, among them Matthias Pavlik. Some of these people turned for help to the Serbian Orthodox Church (parts of which had also suffered from the same tyranny ). As a result the Serbian Church consented to consecrate Fr Matthias bishop with the monastic name of Gorazd. When the Serbian Bishop responsible, Bishop Dositheus, made Fr Gorazd an archimandrite in the monastery of Hopovo in Serbia, he uttered the following words: " In history the successor to St. Methodius, the Archbishop of Moravia, was Bishop Gorazd. Through the intrigues of those who hated Orthodoxy, he was chased out of his native land and went to the south Slavs. And in you, Fr Gorazd, the Lord is raising up in Moravia a new Gorazd, the renewer of Orthodoxy amid the Czech people. " |
| Шлепецкий И. Старая вера и уния//Дружно вперед, Прешов. 1965. 6. Шлепецкий И. «Старая вера» и уния на Прешовщине//ЖМП. 1966. 3. Щербей Н. Мармарош и Православие. Ужгород, 1938. Щербей Николай, прот. Краткие данные о возникновении отдельных епархий Православной Церкви в Чехословакии//Ежегодник. Прага, 1960. С. 4876. На чешском и словацком языках Aleš Pavel, Prof. ThDr. Pravoslavná cirkev u nás. Pregl’ad dejinnej cesty. Preloil Mgr. Ján Zozul’ak. Prešov, 1998. Cinek František. К náboenské otázce v prvních letech naší samostatnosti 19181925. Olomouc, 1926. Farský K. Kalous F. eskoslovenský katechismus. Uebnice pro mláde a vící církve eskoslovenské. Píbram, 1922. Gorazd (Pavlik), biskup. О krizi v církvi eskoslovenské. Otázka pravoslavné církve v eskoslovensku. Praha, 1924. Gorazd (Pavlik), biskup. О úkolech a orientaci církve eskoslovenské. Olomouc, 1922. Gorazd (Pavlik), biskup. Pamtní spis о právním postaveni církve pravoslavné v Republice eskoslovenské. Praha, 1932. Grigori Vladimír. Pravoslavná církev ve stát eskoslovenském. Praha, 1928. Hopko V., dr. Greko-katolická církev. Prešov, 1946. Kadlec Jaroslav. Byzantské kestanství и slovanských národ. Praha, 1946. Kadlec Jaroslav. Pehled eských církevních djin. Praha, 1991. Mejhes M. Pravoslavné hnutí na Podkarpatské Rusi//«Sborník». Praha, 1923. Popradov P. Podkarpadské pravoslaví//«Sborník». Bratislava, 1936. Sbory Církve eskoslovenské. Edice Blahoslav, 1953. Šuvarský Jaroslav. Biskup Gorazd. Praha, 1979. Varvínek Vladimír. Církevní misie v djinách Velké Moravy. Praha, 1963. Vopatrný Gorazd. Pravoslavná církev v eskoslovensku v letech 19451951. Brno,1998. История Русской Церкви Макарий (Веретенников), архим. Московские «гости» Дмитрий и Федор Сырковы и святитель Макарий//Богословский вестник 2004. Т. 4. 4. С. 254264 —254— После присоединения к Москве Великого Новгорода князем Иоанном III в 1478 году часть новгородцев была переселена им из Новгорода, а на их место были направлены жители других городов. В Новгороде их называли «московскими гостями», в последующее время они выполняли различные государственно-административные функции. Среди них известна и семья Сырковых. Д.А. Петров так характеризует их деятельность по созиданию храмов: «Привилегированное семейство купцов, получивших к середине века возможность занимать высшие административные должности в Новгороде, превзошло в масштабности своего строительства даже самые аристократические и богатые фамилии Московского государства» 629 . |
| In 1918 the vast majority of the population was Roman Catholic. During World War I, Orthodoxy had been suppressed in the country, and it was also to endure some element of persecution again during World War II. When the Czechoslovakian Orthodox Church was reconstituted in the aftermath of the first war, approximately 40,000 declared themselves and a bishop (Gorazd Pavlik) was appointed for them by the Serbian patriarch. Bishop Pavlik succeeded in rallying together most of the Orthodox faithful under the jurisdictional care of the Serbian patriarch, but in 1942 he and several of his clergy were assassinated by the Nazi invaders. By 1946 the political mantle of the Soviets had fallen over the country, and the patriarch of Moscow acted independently to assume jurisdictional charge of the Czechoslovakian Orthodox. This was one of the reasons the phanar for some time looked askance at the canonical status of the churches of Czechoslovakia and Poland. The concept, and reality, of a separate Czechoslovakian Orthodox Church had been significantly shrunk by the Soviet annexation of much of its former territory in Podcarpatska Rus, but was soon after swollen in 1950 by the supposedly free return to Orthodoxy of the Byzantine-rite Catholics of the diocese of Preshov in Slovakia. These reunited congregations demonstrated their truer sentiment in 1968 when large numbers elected to return to the Roman Catholic eastern- rite communion. In 1951 the patriarchate of Moscow declared the Orthodox Church of Czechoslovakia to be henceforward autocephalous under the guidance of the metropolitan of Prague. Constantinople at first did not accept this status and declared it to be an autonomous church under the jurisdiction of Constantinople. It was not until 1998 that Constantinople recognized the autocephaly. The country separated politically once more into its chief constituent parts, namely the Czech lands and Slovakia, after the collapse of communism in the last decade of the 20th century. Even with this political severing, however, the Orthodox remained united across the national divide. There is a smaller Orthodox presence in Slovakia with 10 parishes and 23,000 faithful; while the Czech Republic has 100 parishes and 51,000 faithful who use the Slavonic rite. The total number of Orthodox in the region amounts to not much more than 74,000 faithful. |
| Шлепецкий И., д-р. «Старая вера» и уния на Пряшевщине//ЖМП. 1966. Щербей Николай. Мармарош и Православие. Ужгород, 1938. Щербей Николай, прот. Краткие данные о возникновении отдельных епархий Православной Церкви в Чехословакии//" Ежегодник». Прага, 1960. На чешском и словацком языках Farski a Kalous. Ceskoslovensky katechismus. Praha, 1924. Gorazd (Pavlik), his. O krizi v cirkvi Ceskoslovenske. Praha, 1924. Corazd, bis. O ukolech a orientaci cirkve Ceskoslovenske. Olomouc, 1922. Grigorovic Vladimir. Pravoslavna cirkev v Republice Ceskoslovenske (druhe opravene vydani). Praha, 1928. Hopko V., dz. Grecko katolicka cirkev. Presov, 1946. Kadlec Jaroslav. Bizantske krestanstvi u slovanskych narodu. Praha, 1946. Mejhes M. Pravoslavne hnuti na Podkarpatske Rusi. «Sbornik». Praha, 1923. Popradov P. Ppdkarpadske pravoslavi. «Sbornik». Bratislava, 1936. Sbory Cirkve Ceskoslovenske. Edice Blahoslav, 1953. Varvinek Vladimir. Cirkevni misie v dejinach Velke Moravy. Praha, 1963. Разнобой в написании Чехословакия (Чехо-Словакия) обусловлен государственными изменениями на территории прежней Чехословацкой Республики. (Прим. ред.) Новак Г., прот. Православная Церковь в ЧССР//Ежегодник Православной Церкви в Чехословакии. 1960. С. 103. Новак Г., прот., д-р. Православие в Чехословакии и «Журнал Московской Патриархии».//ЖМП. 1974. С. 51. Дорофей, Митрополит Пражский и всея Чехословакии. Насильственное введение униив Закарпатье в 1646 —1649 гг. Развитие Православной Церкви до сего дня в Закарпатьеи Чехословакии. Ч. И. Прага, 1966. С.576. Бескид Н. А., д-р. Карпаторусская древность. Ужгород, 1928. С. 107 и 127. Grigomvil Vladimir. Pravoslavna cirkev v Republice Ceskoslovenske. Praha, 1928, Str. 36 Чешское торжество Православия. К. тридцатилетию воссоединения с Православной Церковью первой группы чехов (1 окт. 1870— 1 окт. 1900). СПб., 1901. С. 7—8. См. текст обвинительного акта у Гильфердинга А. Гус и его отношение к ПравославнойЦеркви. СПб., 1893. С. 15—17. |
| Cyril and Methodius Orthodox Cathedral while the Nazis began a furious search for their hideout. After a ferocious gun battle, all of the soldiers were killed in the crypt of the Cathedral. The Nazis then turned their wrath on the leadership of the Orthodox Church: Bishop Gorazd Pavlik with his priests Fathers Vladimir Petrek and Vaclav Cikl were tortured and executed by firing squad. Jan Sonnevend, Vaclav Ornest, and Karen Louda, lay leaders of the Orthodox Cathedral in Prague were likewise subjected to torture and executed by firing squad. Today, at the site of their martyrdom at the Kobylisz Shooting Range, a monument has been erected in their memory and those others who suffered at the hands of the Nazis. Sonnevend’s wife Marie, daughter Ludmilla and her husband along with Father Cikl’s wife Marie were sent to the Mauthausen concentration camp where they were all executed. These news martyrs are known as “The Holy New Martyrs of Bohemia” and are remembered each year on their feastday of September 5. A Just War? The assassination of Reinhard Heydrich raises troubling theological and ethical questions. St. Paul in his epistle to the Romans wrote “Repay no one evil for evil…..Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:21) This Biblical teaching is clear but the question remains: is an act of violence ever permitted to stop greater evils from occurring? Was the act of the Czechoslovak partisans necessary to try to stop the Nazi atrocities against Jews and others? Some theologians and ethicists refer to these questions as the “just war theory”. This theory holds that war is always an evil act to be avoided but there exist exceptions such as to defend the innocent or to prevent greater evils and violence. While the just war theory was proposed by St. Augustine, a 4 th century bishop in North Africa the other Fathers of the early Church agree that war and violence are always evil but at times they are the lesser of greater evils. The Church has always advocated for peace and seeks the peaceful resolution of differences. However throughout history there exist many examples of the unfortunate need for war and acts of violence to protect the innocent and to stop evil. The Church, following the teaching of St. |
| After World War II, however, many of these villages were devastated and the Orthodox Christian population was resettled elsewhere, leaving few Orthodox Christians in those regions. Many of them, we were told, are young and have families, so there is hope that the Church can be revitalized by an entirely new generation. We observed another interesting development. While in North America we have experienced a flight from cities to suburbs, thus generating the planting of many new parishes, in the Czech Republic the opposite is true, with people leaving the suburbs and villages for major cities, primarily to find work. This has necessitated concern for the establishment of new, urban parishes. The major issue the Czech-Slovak Church is facing is a financial one. Every Czech citizen pays a state “church tax.” Citizens designate the religious community to which they wish their tax to be earmarked. Tax income is then used to pay the salaries of the clergy and to keep up the parishes. The government will be eliminating this system during the next year, so the Church will have to examine very closely new ways to fund its mission and outreach, salaries, and properties. Free will giving – something we are quite used to in North America – is a new concept, and they will need to understand financial stewardship in ways we take for granted here. Those with whom we met expressed an intense interest in how we fund and support our parishes and clergy, dioceses, and territorial Church. OCA.ORG: What were some of the highlights of your visit? FR. E: There were several highlights. The first was the Cathedral of Saints Cyril and Methodius in Prague. The cathedral is a national shrine to the victims of the Heydrich terror. During World War II, a Czech team assassinated the SS leader Reynard Heydrich in Prague, in what was known as Operation Anthropoid. They, along with some other special teams, eventually found refuge in the cathedral’s crypt. They were surrounded by Nazis and eventually killed. In further reprisals, two Czech villages were destroyed, with their populations murdered or sent to concentration camps. The World War II-era Orthodox Christian Bishop of Prague, Saint Gorazd Pavlik, was arrested, along with other Orthodox leaders. Offering his life on behalf of his flock, he was executed. We also visited Saint Gorazd’s home in Moravia. It should be noted that, through the efforts of our ecumenical team led by Archpriest Leonid Kishkovsky, funds were sent from non-Church organizations around the world to help build this shrine. |
| La glorificación del escolar Pablo Morosov por haber denunciado a sus propios padres, quienes fueron fusilados por esconder algo de su propia cosecha para que la familia no pereciera de hambre, fue la pauta moral que se infundia a los escolares que llego, hasta erigir a tal Pavlik monumentos por toda Rusia. La Unión Soviética bajo Stalin (Jose Dzhugaschvili, georgiano). Stalin subió al poder al morir Lenin en el año 1924. Primero Stalin se liberó de su rival Trozky, luego lo expulso de Rusia, y posteriormente lo hizo asesinar en Méjico en 1940. Mas adelante en una serie de juicios públicos espurios se liberó de Zinoviev, Bujarin y otros rivales políticos, apartados primero astutamente del poder. La popularidad creciente del líder bolchevique Kirov preocupaba cada vez más a Stalin y él encontró la solución: en 1934 lo mandó secretamente a matar. Al mismo tiempo ordenó una vasta persecución a los supuestos conspiradores asesinos, por ello fueron detenidos y aniquilados decenas de miles de hombres. Simultáneamente promovió el culto a su rival asesinado por «enemigos del pueblo» poblando todo el país con sus estatuas. Las designaciones para cargos relevantes se reservaban para miembros importantes del partido («nomenclatura,» para la cual solo importaba la fidelidad al partido), sin valorar la capacidad administrativa o técnica. Por ejemplo: el dirigente de una usina eléctrica, al cometer graves errores o faltas, podía ser trasladado a dirigir una clínica ginecología o una fabrica de chocolate. En los años 1937–38 tuvo lugar la «purga de Yezhov» (nombre del jefe en este momento da la CHEKA – GPU – NKVD) cuando Stalin hizo liquidar junto con millones de inocentes – científicos, intelectuales, clérigos, a muchisimos de sus colaboradores, – principalmente a la «Guardia de Lenin,» vista por el como principal rival de su poder. Muchos de ellos, casi totalidad de los generales y oficiales de alta graduación profesaban la «revolución permanente.» A estas olas de terror debemos sumar la de Zhdanov (1948). La Gran Enciclopedia Soviética dice: «serán enviados a trabajos correccionales las personas sentenciadas por: a) un tribunal de justicia; b) por decreto de organismo administrativo; c) por un mandamiento público.» Así resulta comprensible la impunidad de semejantes condenas. |
| Dieser Verein wählte ihn am 15.6.1922 zum Seelsorger und Bischof. Dazu war er nicht berechtigt, doch wurde diese Wahl vom Ministerium irrtümlicherweise bestätigt (30.8.1922). Diese «Tschechische orthodoxe Religionsgemeinde» wandte sich an die beiden orthodoxen Patriarchen Dimitrij von Karlowitz (Serbische Orthodoxe Kirche) und Meletios IV. von Konstantinopel mit der Bitte, Savvatij zum Bzu weihen. Doch keiner antwortete. Die Serbische Kirche wollte die Entwicklung in der tschechoslovakischen Kirche abwarten, die seit 25.9.1921 einen von der Serbischen Kirche geweihten В Gorazd (Pavlik) hatte. So wandte sich Savvatij nochmals an Konstantinopel und wurde dort am 4.3.1923 von Patriarch Meletios IV. zum Bischof geweiht und zum Erzbischof von «Prag und der ganzen Tschechoslowakei» bestimmt. Das Erzbistum sollte in drei Eparchien eingeteilt werden: die Prager, die mährische und die karpatho-russische Eparchie. Das vom serbischen Patriarchen Dimitrij gesandte Telegramm an Meletios mit der Warnung vor Spaltung in der tschechischen Orthodoxie traf zu spät ein. В Gorazd, dem im Gegensatz zu der nur wenige Hunderte Gläubige zählenden «Tschechischen orthodoxen Religionsgemeinde» einige Hunderttausende Seelen angehörten, bemühte sich nach seiner Rückkehr von einer Amerikareise um eine Einigung mit EB Savvatij, wobei beide Patriarchate miteingeschaltet waren, doch EB Savvatij blieb hartnäckig. Die serbische Jurisdiktion setzte sich aber mit der Zeit in der ganzen Tschechoslowakei durch, auch in Karpathorußland; nur in Prag blieb eine kleine Gruppe meist russischer Orthodoxer bei EB Savvatij unter der Jurisdiktion von Konstantinopel. Ihre Gottesdienste hielt sie in der St.-Niklas-Kirche am Altstädter Ring. 1939 besuchte EB Savvatij Konstantinopel und den Berg Athos. Am 20.10.1940 konnte er BIlarion (Ogienko) für die Ukrainische Autokephale Orthodoxe Kirche weihen. Unter der nationalsozialistischen Herrschaft mußte EB Savvatij 5 Jahre im Konzentrationslager Dachau verbringen. Trotzdem wurde er nach seiner Rückkehr nach Prag nicht zu Amtshandlungen zugelassen. |
| —For example? —For example, the Roman Patriarchate at first broke off , lost grace, and then fell into heresy and dogmatic distortions. All the sects that fell away from Orthodoxy also came about by way of schism. The main reason for schism is pride, not wanting to be humble, due to personal ambitions or political interests. The holy fathers say, “Whoever desires schism will never see the Heavenly Kingdom.” —In conclusion: What then is the proper relationship between Church and state? —The main manifestation of symphony of Church and state consists in each organization fulfilling its service as best it can, according to the Gospel commandments. So that the government would do its public job, and the Church would do its spiritual work, and so that between them would be a calm, peaceful coexistence without interference in each other’s affairs. One theologian said that symphony comes about when at least two voices are heard. If one voice talks while the other is silent, there can be no symphony. The opposite is also true—if one talks and the other only repeats the first, this is also not symphony. Symphony happens when each one is speaking with its own, free voice. Christianity was established on the territory of modern day Czechia and Slovakia back in the ninth century. The mass baptism of the peoples in Greater Moravia began in 863, from the time that the equal-to-the-apostles brothers Cyril and Methodius arrived in the country. In around 874, the Czech prince Borivoi and his wife Liudmila (+929) received Baptism from St. Methodius, and subsequently established Orthodoxy in Czechia, and ending their lives as martyrs. The Church has its own especially venerated saints: St. John of Czechia (+883), who labored ascetically for forty-two years in reclusion; the martyr Prince Vaclav (Wenceslas) (+929), glorified for his mercy and the building of churches; St. Procopius of Sázava (+1053), a great ascetic who held sacred the ancient inheritance of Sts. Cyril and Methodius. In the twentieth century, Holy Hierarch Gorazd (Pavlik) renewed Orthodoxy in the Czech lands, and died martyrically in 1942 and the hands of the fascists. |
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