| His Holiness Patriarch Kirill Delivers Address at a Meeting of the Supreme Church Council Source: DECR On 26 December 2018, the Supreme Church Council of the Russian Orthodox Church held a regular session in the Hall of the Supreme Church Council of the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow under the chairmanship of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia. His Holiness delivered an opening address. Photo: Oleg Varov/foto.patriarchia.ru I greet all the members of the Supreme Church Council at this year’s last session. Of course, we will discuss the results of the year, but first of all, I would like to cordially greet all of you. And I have to say a few words about the year gone by, which, as we all feel, was very difficult. The situation of our Church in Ukraine is still a source of great tension, a factor affecting the well-being of Orthodox Christians, their spiritual welfare. You are well informed, you know what is going on, what developments – radical, extremely dangerous for the integrity of the Ukrainian people, and not only for our Church – have recently taken place in Kiev following the decision of the Ukrainian parliament requiring to change the name of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. These changes will be followed by repressions, and it is completely obvious that an ultimatum has been presented: if the Church does not change its name, its registration will be cancelled. And if the Church changes its name, then, naturally, an enormous pressure will be exerted on the Ukrainian people, on the public. There is no doubt that acts of violence will be committed to take away church buildings. People in Ukraine are believers, they are Orthodox Christians, firm in faith and emotional, hence there is a risk that the situation concerning the church buildings can escalate into bloody conflicts. Therefore, I ask you to pray even more zealously for peace in the brotherly Ukrainian land and for the preservation of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. As is widely known, what triggered persecutions of the Ukrainian Orthodoxy was the unprecedented decision of Constantinople, going beyond the bounds of any canonical order and therefore criminal, to encroach on the canonical territory of the Ukrainian Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, on the territory of our Church. This encroachment resulted in and was followed by the devastating developments, first of all, the interference of the governmental authorities, also unprecedented. And it occurred in the country which declares its commitment to the European values, one of which is the separation of the Church, of religion, from the state! In violation of this fundamental European value the state in the person of president directly interferes in church administration, one may say, presides at what is called “unification church council” and participates in negotiations with Constantinople on the so-called “tomos,” doing all this in front of TV cameras, in plain view of the whole world. |
| “What therefore God hath joined together, let no man put asunder:” Reflection on Same-Sex Ruling by United States Supreme Court Source: Eastern American Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia On Friday, June 26, 2015, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled same-sex marriage a constitutional right. The Diocesan Council of the Eastern American Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia discussed this ruling and issued a reflection at its summer session on June 30, which was chaired by His Eminence Hilarion, Metropolitan of Eastern America & New York, First Hierarch of the Russian Church Abroad, and attended by His Grace Nicholas, vicar Bishop of Manhattan, and members of the Diocesan Council. Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation. – I Peter 2:11-12 With the legalization of same-sex marriage by the Supreme Court of the United States on June 26, 2015, the situation facing Christians living in America grows more adverse. Our humanistic society makes plain its continued alignment against Christ and His Church. We see in this judicial decision a willingness by both the state and those who support such rulings to deny even the basic principles of Christian moral teaching, even to label these timeless precepts of our Faith “hate.” Sadly, we see among this number fellow Orthodox Christians. St. John the Theologian wrote in apostolic times that “the whole world lieth in evil” (I John 5:19). What, then, can we say about our own world? The modern world beguiles many who call themselves Christian into believing that “love” is the inspiration behind the support of Supreme Court’s decision endorsing same-sex marriage. But in reality the modern world aims at requiring us who follow Christ into pretending that sin does not exist, and that we happily applaud our brothers’ path to perdition. We should not be fooled into calling this “love,” but must see it for what it is. Many will say that as Christians we must not judge, but indeed our Lord tells us to “judge with righteous judgment” (John 7:24), and we must not label sin a virtue. |
| Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church Meets with the Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians Source: DECR Photo: mospat.ru On April 2, 2019, His Holiness Kirill, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, met with the Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos Karekin II of All Armenians, at the patriarchal residence in the St. Daniel Monastery in Moscow. Taking part in the meeting were also Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, head of the Moscow Patriarchate department for external church relations (DECR), Archimandrite Philaret (Bulekov), DECR vice-chairman, Hieromonk Stephan (Igumnov), DECR secretary for inter-Christian relations, Rev. Alexander Volkov, head of the Patriarchal Press Service, and S. Aleferov, DECR staff member. The high guest was accompanied by Archbishop Ezra Nersesian, head of the Russian and Novo-Nakhichevan diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Proto-Archimandrite Shage Ananian, head of the international relations department of the Holy Echmiadzin, Rev. Vagram Melikian, head of the Holy Echmiadzin press office, and Father Anania Tsaturian, secretary to the Patriarch. Welcoming His Holiness Karekin II, Patriarch Kirill said, ‘Whenever we meet, we have an opportunity for a talk about the bilateral relations between our two Churches, which, by God’s mercy, are not darkened by anything and are developing as they should between brothers. We give a high value to the level of the relations established between our two Churches.’ Patriarch Kirill expressed gratitude for the participation of a delegation of the Armenian Apostolic Church in the celebrations devoted to the 10 th anniversary of the 2009 Local Council and for the congratulations on the anniversary of the patriarchal enthronement, noting that in the period since that time, the relations between the two Churches developed further and can be described as very positive. He also extended condolences upon the recent demise of the Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople Mesrob II, 64, who passed away on March 8 after a prolonged disease. |
| Photo: mospat.ru The 4 th Plenary Session of the Commission for Dialogue between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Coptic Church took place from September 19 to 24, in Moscow. The Moscow Patriarchate membership included Bishop Gennady of Kaskelen – co-chairman; Hieromonk Stephen (Igumnov), DECR secretary for inter-Christian relations – secretary; S. G. Alferov, DECR staff. The Coptic side was represented by Metropolitan Serapion of Los Angeles – co-chairman; Bishop Kyrillos, vicar of the Diocese of Los Angeles, rector of the Ss Athanasius and Cyril Seminary in Los Angeles – secretary of the Commission; Hieromonk Dawoud al-Anthony, representative of the Coptic Orthodox Church in Russia; Dr Anton Milad, Patriarchal adviser; Dr Iskhak Ibrahim Agpan, general secretary of the Institute of Coptic Studies. The session was preceded by a meeting of the Commission members with His Holiness Kirill, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, which took place on September 20 at the Supreme Church Council Hall of the Cathedral Church of Christ the Saviour. Metropolitan Serapion thanked the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church for the welcome and made a report on the Commission’s current activity and further plans for its work. His Holiness Patriarch Kirill cordially greeted the guests pointing to the invariably good relations binding the Moscow Patriarchate and the Coptic Church and to the ages-old friendship between the nations of Russia and Egypt. His Holiness made a special mention of the successful work of the Commission and the high significance of its joint projects. Among them are: – Monastic visits and pilgrimage tours; – Bilateral theological consultations on the Joint Commission’s work on theological dialogue between the Orthodox Church and the Oriental Churches; – Joint work to promote pastoral care for the faithful of the two Churches residing in Egypt and Russia; – Academic cooperation between the leading Russian and Coptic theological schools; |
| Romanov family wants new probe into Nicholas II killing/Православие.Ru Romanov family wants new probe into Nicholas II killing Moscow, September 20, 2010 - Interfax The Romanov family is demanding a new criminal case to investigate the killing of Russia's last Tsar and his family. " There needs to be a new criminal case and a new investigator, " Alexander Zakatov, director of the Romanov family chancellery, told Interfax on Monday. " There is a need to make a final decision on who the people whose remains were found in Yekaterinburg were and who is buried in the St. Petersburg Peter and Paul Cathedral. The state, church, and the Romanov family need to reach a single opinion. Russian society should have no doubts about the remains, " Zakatov said. In late August, the Moscow Basmanny Court reversed the decision made by an investigator with the Investigative Committee on January 15, 2009, to close the criminal case on the basis of the Romanov family killing. The Investigative Committee did not contest the decision. On October 1, 2008, the Russian Supreme Court made a decision to rehabilitate Nicholas II and his family. On January 15, 2009, the Investigative Committee issued an order to close the criminal case. The Romanov family disagreed with the Investigative Committee's decision that the Romanovs fell victims of an ordinary crime, saying they were killed on behalf of the state. The Romanov family earlier said it is not ready to recognize the authenticity of the remains believed to be those of the Romanovs, which were found near Yekaterinburg, saying it would be guided by the position of the Russian Orthodox Church on this matter. The Romanovs and people close to them (11 people in total) were shot and killed on a decision made by the Urals Council in the early hours of July 17, 1918. Interfax-Religion 22 сентября 2010 г. ... Предыдущий Следующий Смотри также The Execution of Tsar Nicholas II, 1918 The Execution of Tsar Nicholas II, 1918 The maid carried a pillow. |
| His Holiness Patriarch Kirill chairs session of the Supreme Council of the Russian Orthodox Church Source: DECR On 16 June 2016, a session of the Supreme Church Council of the Russian Orthodox Church began its work at the Hall of the Supreme Church Council at the Church of Christ the Saviour in Moscow under the chairmanship of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia. Photo: http://mospat.ru/ The Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church welcomed the participants and delivered an address on the agenda. The agenda includes issues pertaining to theological education, missionary activity, the work of Sunday schools, of the religious education centers and other institutions for education of children in the basics of the Orthodox faith. ‘I believe that all these issues are very important for the future of the Church and our nation. Most certainly, the Church exerts influence of the spiritual life of the nation. The time in which we live demands the use of different means by which the eternal God-revealed truth can reach the hearts and conscience of our contemporaries while our pious traditions are strictly upheld. ‘Therefore, whatever we are doing and trying to build will be of no value in isolation from our main goal – the salvation of people. Our success or failure can be seen in the family life, in the education of children and young people and their life and, first of all, in human hearts, in how they become more open to receiving God’s grace. ‘The Church should assist people in becoming more sensitive to God’s grace. May God grant that all our efforts help reach this goal,’ His Holiness said. The Supreme Church Council chaired by His Holiness the Patriarch consists of: Metropolitan Varsonofy of St. Petersburg and Ladoga, chancellor of the Moscow Patriarchate; Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Department for External Church Relations; Metropolitan Clement of Kaluga and Borovsk, chairman of the ROC Publishing Council; Metropolitan Ioann of Belgorod and Stary Oskol, chairman of the Synodal Department for Mission; |
| 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 Speech by His Holiness Patriarch Kirill at the session of Supreme Church Council on 11th December 2019 On 11 th December 2019, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia chaired a session of the Supreme Church Council of the Russian Orthodox Church. His Holiness delivered an opening speech. Its text is given below. I greet all the members of the Supreme Church Council. We are holding a session of the Supreme Church Council, the last one this year. In this circle and at this table we are gathering for the last time in 2019, therefore, we can already summarize its results. It was not an easy year – for our Church it was full of ordeals, but at the same time of manifestations of God’s mercy. On the one hand, we have become eyewitnesses of the aftermaths of the violation of the canonical norms; on the other hand, we have contemplated the unity of hierarchs, clergy and laity both within our Church and throughout the Orthodox world, preserving the faith and canonical purity of Orthodoxy. We see that in the Greek church world, within the Churches of Alexandria and Greece, hierarchs, clerics and laypeople clearly expressed their opposition to the trample on the canons. For these people, just like for us, the unity of Churches is the absolute value; they consider it inadmissible to exchange this unity for the sympathy of the mighty of this world; they share the pain of and sympathize with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church jeopardized by the anti-canonical actions of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. Our prayers and efforts were aimed at giving support to our brothers in Ukraine, where by the mercy of God the pressure upon the believers of the canonical Church decreased. The declaration on non-interference in church affairs, issued by President Zelensky, demonstrates that the state authority has now taken the only right position of not interfering in church disputes and not putting pressure on, among others, our canonical Church. |
| Archive His Holiness Patriarch Kirill’s address to the Supreme Church Council on March 18, 2022 18 March 2022 year 13:45 On March 18, 2022, His Holiness Kirill, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, presided over the work of the Supreme Church Council of the Russian Orthodox Church. Opening the meeting, His Holiness addressed himself to the participants with the following introductory remarks: I cordially greet all the members of the Supreme Church Council. After our previous meeting, a long time has passed and a great many events have happened. Today we are to make a number of decisions according to the agenda, but besides that to exchange opinions on the developments, in the first place, on what is happening in Ukraine and how it affects the inter-Orthodox and inter-confessional relations. I will share information about my video meetings with the Pope of Rome and the Archbishop of Canterbury, when we discussed in detail primarily the problems of the security of people in Ukraine, as well as the relations between the Orthodox and Catholics as also linked with the Ukraine issue. All this is important for our relations with the Catholic Church, with the Anglican community and certainly for the Patriarch’s bilateral relations with the Primates of these Churches. I think the meeting, though remote but a real, face-to-face, was positive for both the preservation of good relations between our Churches and for the formation as far as possible a common attitude to the situation in Ukraine. I would also like to say that the events in Ukraine demand that we make not only a serious analysis from the ecclesial perspective, but also our prayers, and to stress once again that the Russian Church, despite the very negative political context, is called today to preserve the spiritual unity of our people - the Russian and Ukrainian peoples - as one nation which has come out of the Kievan baptismal font. Without doubt, this unity is exposed to certain dangers in the situation of hostilities, and if we speak of an external factor, then the internet space, the information space, has also become a battlefield, and in this space there is much disinformation, downright lie, provocative statements, which can arouse negative feelings among people, prevent a speedy resolution of the conflict and reconciliation. |
| Greek Synod Declines to Recognize Ukrainian Schismatics, Refers Issue to Broader Bishops’ Council Source: OrthoChristian Photo: vzcz.church.ua Athens, January 8, 2019 – The Holy Synod of the Greek Orthodox Church met today, taking into consideration Patriarch Bartholomew’s request to His Beatitude Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens to recognize and commemorate the primate of the new Ukrainian nationalist church “Metropolitan” Epiphany Dumenko. However, the Holy Synod did not choose to recognize the new church but rather to pass the issue to the consideration of the supreme administrative body, the broader Bishops’ Council, involving every hierarch of the Greek Orthodox Church, according to the Synod’s official statement . “The Holy Synod decided to refer the issue of the Greek Orthodox Church recognizing the new autocephalous church of Ukraine to the consideration of the holy Bishops’ Council of the Greek Church,” the statement reads. The next session of the Bishops’ Council has not yet been scheduled. The canonical Ukrainian Church’s Department for External Church Relations (DECR) notes that the referral of the issue to the broader Bishops’ Council indicates that the Greek Church is aware of the complexity of the issue, including “Metropolitan” Epiphany’s complete lack of any valid ordination, having grown up in the clerical ranks in the schismatic “Kiev Patriarchate.” The DECR also draws attention to the fact that while Patriarchs Kirill and Bartholomew are referred to as such, Epiphany Dumenko is not referred to in the Greek Church’s statement as “Metropolitan.” Several individual Greek hierarchs have spoken out against the actions of Constantinople and the Ukrainian state over the past several months, including the Metropolitans Nektarios of Corfu, Paxoi, and the Diapontian Islands , Seraphim of Piraeus (and here ), Seraphim of Kythira , and Ambrose of Kalavryta . Code for blog Since you are here… …we do have a small request. More and more people visit Orthodoxy and the World website. However, resources for editorial are scarce. In comparison to some mass media, we do not make paid subscription. It is our deepest belief that preaching Christ for money is wrong. |
| ROCOR Parish Requests Human Rights Organizations and the Press to Investigate Situation in Ukraine The Memorial Church of St. Seraphim of Sarov of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia in Sea Cliff, New Jersey has published an appeal to international human rights organizations to investigate the growing number of human rights violations against the hierarchs, clergy, and faithful of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church under the headship of His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry of Kiev and All Ukraine. The statement of the parish clergy, led by rector Archpriest Serafim Gan, and the parish council is published on the church’s website . The statement reads in full: We, the clergy and members of the parish council of the Church of St. Seraphim of Sarov in Sea Cliff, New York, being loyal citizens of the United States of America who have preserved a love for our heritage and our rich culture, especially respect and honor the unity of the Orthodox Church which serves throughout the territories of the former Russian Empire and former USSR. We hereby appeal to international human rights organizations with a request to investigate the numerous violations of human rights and religious freedom of the clerics and laity of one of the largest Orthodox Churches in the world, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, headed by the Metropolitan of Kiev and all Ukraine Onouphry. We entreat you to exert a constructive influence upon the current situation. We remember the difficult times of persecution during the era of the Soviet Union, which, thank God, have ceased, and so we particularly cherish the freedom of religion which we continue to experience here in America. However, our families, friends, social media, church and secular media report numerous instances of persecution, violations of law by government officials, police, and nationalists who demand the clergy and faithful of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church switch their allegiance to the so called “Orthodox Church of Ukraine”, an association of schismatics not recognized by the Orthodox world at large, and which lacks a legitimately ordained clergy. Furthermore, places of worship of the canonical Church are being seized. Clergy and laity are being interrogated, pressured, slandered and even physically assaulted, and their private quarters, along with other church buildings are subject to searches. In addition, the Verkhovnaya Rada (Supreme Council) of Ukraine passed new legislation (laws 5309 and 4128) that are directed at the dissolution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Such an interference in religious affairs is a blatant violation of the Constitution of Ukraine and the fundamental principles of freedom of conscience. It ignites religious conflict and pushes society away from a peaceful and tranquil life. |
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