D E P A R T M E N TO F P U B L T C & F O R E I G N R E L A T I O N S of the

SYNODOF BTSHOPS O F T H E R U S S I A N O R T H O D O XC H U R C H O U T S I D E O F R U S S I A

NEWSLETTER #49
January-IvIarch P E R S E C U T T O \ ]O F T H E C H U R C H I N T H E S O V I E T U N I O N The bulletin of the Keston News Service for December of the past year reports that Fr. Gleb Yakunin has been sent into exile to Yakutia, a locaIe of particularly severe climatic condltions, where the ground is covered with snow for eight months out of the year and the temperature falls to -60o C. Fr. Gleb's relatives, who Iive in luloscow,are, f or al l practical purposes, unable to visit him, for they could only reach yakutia having once in Yakustsk, they would have ;ourneyed thousands of miles; to hire a olane to take them to the villaqe nearest Fr. Gleb,s o l a c e o f e x i l e - t h e l ' it 1 - l c v i l l a o e o f T r n i s h k h i . If ihev werF p l a n e , unable to hire a they would have to walk a tremendous distance on foot. Under such conditions the priest must Iive for five years. He has asked that warm cJ-othing be sent him. From the same sources it has become known that Fr. Vladimir Fedorenko has been sentenced to five years' forced labor in a camp in the Ukraine. This Orthodox priest was arrested in his church late in I9BI, and was at,that time cruelly beaten. He has been charged with speculating in icons. Vladimir Poresh, another Orthodox Christian, has been sentenced to an additional three years hard tabor for "instigating disobedience to the orders of administrative personnel in corrective labor facilities." Poresh is one of the founders of the Christian Seminar in Petrograd. He was arrested in I9B0 years hard labor in the camps, to be foland sentenced to flve Iowed by three years internal exile. In L982, however, he was priremoved from his camp and incarcerated in the Chistopol'sk son; and instead of being exiled to some remote place, a new investigation is now being made of his case, the resuLt of which is not yet known.
9 r t 9 j Y v 9 ! 9

l-985

THE GRIEVOUS STATE OF THE LAVRA OF POCHAEV

In its December, 1984, issue, the magazj_ne Possev cites the report of a certain pilgrim who visited Lhe Lavra of Pochaev in the sunmer of 1984. The famous Lavra of the western borderregion of Russia is now on the verge of being closed down by the godless. The cells are empty, since most of the monks have been denied residence permits by the police. LocaI inhabitants told the pilgrim that, beginning with late 1983, the persecution of the Lavra began to intensify, and not only with respect to the monks, but the pilgrims as well. The chief enemy of the Lavra is Lieutenant fvan Morozovsky, who was recently appointed head of the police passport division, and who bursts into church while the services are being conrrrrnt-aA fn ^heck the documents of those attendinq. Morozovskv has twice beaten the Lavra's herdsman unmercifully, demanding that he l-eave the monastery; a third time, the herdsman, just
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-2rereaseo, nao to leave the monastery, although he is a pensj-oner and has nowhere to qo. On Pascha of 1984, Morozovsky conducted a check of the documents of all who were attending services 1n the Cathedral of the Dormition. Beginning with 1984, arI who want to obtain a job as an electrician or even as simple watchmen, must obtain special permisF ^ l ^ ^ ^ ^ , i 1 ^ - l

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for

At night-time, after midnight, militia-men patrot the main monastery living quarters, often in a state of intoxication, sometimes demanding that the monks admit them to their cerls. The monks are not permitted to carry out necessary constructlon or repairs. When bricks were brought to Pochaev for buildinq purposes, they were removed the next day. rn the Rovno District, a detachment of men sent by the authorities also dismantled an entire church in one nightts time.
CONpEMNATTON OF FR. maln PAUL (LYSAK) A foreigner who has returned from Moscow and desires to reanonymous, reports that, during his stay in the city, earry j_n

Da no F, ro - l .r rr ac monk-priest paut (Lysak) , who is highly respected by u s ems , r!' .v s ! r ' lu Christian believers and had lived in Moscow for a consideiable time without a residence permit, was brought to tria1. Relatives and friends were not permitted in courti nevertheless, some i-nformation did reach his weIl-wishers. One of them attempted to force his way into the court-room and was arrested and held for ten davs for "hooIiganism. " Fr. Paulrs cassock was removed and he was dressed in a smock; this was his only clothing apart from his underwear, prior to the trial he was held in'a prison cell which he shared with two murrlororc anrl 'lept between them on the f ]oor. He was accused of "mallcious violation of passport control", 1.e. an extended stay in Moscow without a residence permlt. As is well known, in the Soviet Unin ra in t l vnr l / o s\v snr r r rr d monastery, it is the militia, not the ecclesiastical authorities, who control- residence, At the trial, i n r e s p o n s e t o t h e a c c u s a t i o n s m a d . ea g a i n s t hrm, Fr. Paur said: "r am a monk, and r must live in a monast.iy; but they would not give me a permit to live in any monastery. Intervene in mrr l-rah:lr and r wirl grady go to any monastery whatever." To the questlon as to why Fr. Paul had not worked for a long time, he repried: "when they tonsured me, r was told that my work is to pray. And so I have been working ever since-f pray: O Lord Jesus Chris!, Scn of God, have mercy upon me, a sinnerl" whire saying this, Fr. Paul made the sign of the Cross over himself. He also said to the llT
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As the trial was cow i-ndicated to friends of way whatsoever' even so far grades and other vital data. A certain deaeon sition in favor of Fr. Paul,
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about to begin, the Patriarchate of MosFr. PauI its refusal to codperate in any as sending a transcript of his seminary who, on his own initiative, was immediately expelled
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made a depofrom his monasZagrorsk, out-

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HANGES TN THE STAFF OF THE PATRIARCHATE OF MOSCOW

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resolution

7 lssue of the Keston News Servicers bulletin o f the Patriarchate of Moscow has adopted a on a number o f changes appoilntments o f d i o c e s a n b i s h o p s .
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The February

-3of Vyborg, Rector First to be transferred was Archbishop Kirill nf iho r,oninrl;ad Theological Academy, who is now Archbishop of Smolensk. The is welI known among the people for his piety. Archbishop Kirill .t.honlacinal aeademyowes him much for raising its standards in general. In the opinion of the Keston News Service, he enjoyed not only the The bulletin's resrlect of his colleagues, but of his students as well. g r e a t u n a cceptable to h i m p r e s u m e r e n d e r e d t h a t h i s s u c c e s s e s writers the Soviet authorities. two years ago one of the rectors According to the same report, Iocated on the grounds of the TrinA c a d e m y , l v l o s c o w T h e o l o g i c a l of the
4

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Qoraiqg

Lavra,

whO alsO

won

the

respeCt

and

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Of

hiS

stu-

His successor was a man who lacked any qualifidents, was replaced. p o s i t i o n whatever. f o r h i s cations Archbishop Melkhizedek, Exarch for Western Europe, whose see is in Rertin- has been transferred to the modest city of Sverdlovsk (the
p e r f + 1 r t

at the theological He completed his studies former Ekaterinburg). :n:rlomrli n 1q50 and became a circult priest, many vil lages visiting r n r l t - n r ^ r nt e -A' \ r e r y w h e r e a t t r a c t i n g thanks tO his elOquence admirerS, In 1963, he was tonsured at the Trinity-St. and deep spirituality. two years, consecrated a bishop and, within Sergius Lavra, was rapidly of the Moscow Patriwas sent to Vienna, where he headed the parishes From L97I untiL the present he was archate untiL as late as 1970. ^n arr-hbishoo statroned in Bertin. He is replaced by Archbishop Theoq v s v e i L ! l 4 e r r v r

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said

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Document

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he

who codperate with the authbelongrs to the seconC category of bishops, There out of necessity. s o o n l y o f d o i n g b u t a r e s u s p e c t e d orrties, s o dilih e h a s b e c o m e t h a t t o t h e e f f e c t i n f o r m a t i o n h o w e v e r , is now, a n n f , ' r i + r ' o o p c t l v l a y D a y a nd on t h a t o n r e g i m e t h e t h e w i s h e s o f W f L l r ! s J t o 9Ul.iL-

('l November) he stood with representhe Anniversary of the Revotution g o v e r n m e n t He the parade reviewing stand. o n o f t h e S o v i e t tatives p r i e s t s . t o to d o n a t e } a r g e s u m s r e q u i r i n g h i s f o r w e l l k n o w n is also f o r P e a c e . " the "Fund rumors, Archbishop Chrysostom of According to unsubstantiated Kursk, whom the Furov Document places among the worst bishops of the Patriarchate of Moscow, is being transferred to one of the dioceses j-n Siberia. This is understandable, from the point of view of the godless. Keeing in mind the fact that he was the second deputy to Metropol-itan Nikodim, who then headed the Department of External Aff a ' i r s , h ' i. s l - r a n s f e r t o a r e m o t e p r o v i n c e c a n n o t b e v i e w e d a s o t h e r
! g r 4 v t

than

a falI

into

disfavor

with

the

powers

that

be.

ON THE RETURN OF THE DANILOV MONASTERY-TO THE PATRIARCHATE OF_MOSCOW dt of Moscow announced that, In August of 1983, the Patriarchate t o t u r n h a d a g r e e d g o v e r n m e n t U n i o n o f , t h e S o v i e t t h e r e q u e s t , its monastery founded by the holy for its use the ancient over to it is also considered value, spirltual Prince Daniel which, apart from its now more The Danilov Monastery, a landmark of Russian architecture. is designated as the site of the Chancery of the than 700 years old, r)on^rfment of External of Moscow and a Affairs of the Patriarchate
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hostel for ecumenical guests and banquet hal-Is. However, to speak of it in terms of a "monastery" one must conA certain German reporter for the fine oneself to the remote past. i-t with and illustrated h a s w r i t t e n an article D e r S p i e q e l newspaper From them photographs of the "monastery" he hi-mself took on the site. and walls are partly demolished, it is apparent that the bell-towers ruinatlon. terrible i s i n a s t a t e o f t h e e n t i r e s i t e and the Danilov Monastery was closed down by After the Revolution, were used to house an and subsequentty its buildings the Bolsheviks,

-4.\rnh^n^.'a A D factory, an umbrella delinquents, riSon for juvenile I factory. and a branch of a refrigerator to accordinq before in one of our Newsletters, As we reported walls remain of the we have recej-ved, only half-ruined information of Moscow is;bramonument, which the Patriarchate ancient historical although there are no monks there and it a monastery, zenly calling be brought in. that any witl apparently, is not foreseen, the Pathe Revolution, closed down after Of all the monasteries Sergius of Moscow ha,s gotten only one back: the Trinity:St. triarchate Of the more than 1r 100 T , a r r r a- a n d t h a t f o r p r o p a g a n d a p u r p o s e s .
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monastic communities in Russia, no more than 15 remain open (incIurlino those alonq the western border and in the Baltic Republics).
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THE GRIEVOUS STATE OF THE CHURCHOF GEORGIA Catholicoshas reached the West, addressed to Elias fI, A letter patriarch Shio (Avalishvili) of Georgia, and signed by Metropolitan of Batum a Shemokmeda and Bishop Ambrose (Katamadze) of Nikortsmino, was of this letter the publication Apparently, dated 30 June 1980. of the autocephaly anniversary with the millenial timed to coincide of the Church of Georgia. Ianguage having form, its in a very correct The 1etter rs written yet at the same time of the Orient; characteristrc the flowery quality abuses of his positlon. the Patriarch's it in no wise;ustifj-es begin by describi-ng what responsibiliThe authors of the letter has rvithin the Church, and then proceed to explain the Patriarch ties that the Church of Georgia is in great danger. write Metropol"A very sad and shaneful event has taken place," with homosexuals itan Shio and Bishop Am.brose. "Our Church is filled and, but they occupy 1n it the dominant position an4, not only fulI, sins of Sodomy." openly commi-t their under your open sponsorshrp, that there are oDr it becomes apparent from the letter Further of the Church of hierarchy four homosexual bishops among the current conrr-ri: vost notorious sin is }letropolitan in this for indulging ( M a k h a r a d , z e ), w h o w a s d r i v e n o u t o f the Diocese of SukhumiaNrkoioz Elias appointed by Catholicos and was subsequentty Abkhazia for this brought with The new metropolitan to a see in the Kutaisk District. began to be made against him from him his "l-overs" and soon complaints six such complaints transmitted himself The Catholicos all quarters. r o N / o fr n n o I i f a n N i k o l o z " took The accused lletropol itan f or repty. him, while at *eusr1resl' to seek out those who had complained against gave him the right oil his own authority, the same time the Catholicos, to wear a second panagia. is accused of aJ.lowing his own brothe Cathotics Simultaneously, to and, with his sister, ther to weild the power of a second patriarch the episcopate within The depravity gfovern the Church of Georgia. Usury, embezzlement clergy. is spreading also to the rank-and-file :nri.niqmanaoement have reached the point where, during the six years
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the Catholicos Elias has headed the Church,5,000,000 rubles have been churches funds, while the historic e m b e z z l e d ,f r o m t h e P a t r i a r c h a t e ' s o f G e o r o ' ia a r e c o t l a p s i n q b e c a u s e o f I a c k o f r e n o v a t i o n .
v e v ) j 4 s

alarmed by the moral and Five bishops of the Church of Georgia, Ietter' a joint ruination underway, wrote the Catholicos fi-nancial I9 they were r.aising with Article begging him to compare the questions however, The Catholicos, of the Church of Georgia. of the Constitution much later he ]etter; to this colfective dectinedtorespond at first announced that it would be necessary to discuss the matter with the plenipoteniary he in Moscow. Three days Iater, Affairs, for Religious and had been resolved that everything of the letter the authors told that the homosexuals would be excommunicated from the Church; but five

-5d:rzc been announced that the request of the f ive bishops had not dealt with by the plenipotentlary. that "Since timer" the bishops write, secured "havinq for themqo lrzoQ t7nrlr irm protection, the homosexuals are continuinq their Ir+.ar 'l'ra

terrible deeds and the plundering of their dioceses. t"tetr6politan (Makharadze) even deigns to stoop to hooliganism Nikoloz anb to associ-ating wlth people who speculate in narcotj-cs. Not long ago they took a statement from him in the Kutaisk militia headquarters in connection with the outrage perpetrated upon a female school-teacher; and in possession of a certain Maizer, who llves with him in debauchery, they found a large quantity o f o p j _ u m ." The complaints of these bishops elicited the sharp displeasure of the Catholicos, and, in one case, they were ejected from his office wj-thout ceremony; in another case, they were subjected to abuse in the Patriarchate on the part of several employes, including a woman. At the conclusion presentation, of their the bishops demand that the Patriarch depose four homosexual bishops and send them to a monastery for penance, that he send away atl his relatives from the patri-archate who are not in holy orders, that he remove from the waLls of the Dldubsk Cathedral of the AII-hoIy Theotokos his own protrait and those of his "apostles" and set up icons in their prace. They also want the Patriarch to do penance for his own activities and set up a normal Synod, which woutd guide the church of Georqia out of
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The Keston News Service's bulletln adds to this reporc some further information, that in October of L982, a similar letter was sent to the Catholicos-Patriarch in the name of eighty laymen who al-so insisted that the Patriarch send the homosexuals to monasteries and sard that they had long known of this tribulation in the Church of Georgia, but had kept silence, desiring to uphold the good name of their church in the face of her enemies. "we hope that our peprompt you to act to defend the Church which remains tltion will great even todayr" the authors of the retter conclude. S T A T E M E N T O F P A T R T A R C H D T O D O R U SO F J E R U S A L E M 1n its March 16 butletin, the Ecumenical Press Service reported., on the basis of information received from the Orthodox press in parrs, that Patriarch Diodorus, in an interview he gave, said. that he sees "not the least hope of success in dialogue" wi-th ei-ther Roman CathoIinc nr Analicans. His Beatitude noted further that his earlier comn r a i n r > l ' r n r r +w h a t h e c o n s i d e r s efforts by Roman Catholics to entice people away lrom Orthodoxy has not changed the situation, and that before Christmas Roman Catholics "systematicalJ-y visited Orthodox households" to encourage them to take part in Roman Catholic liturqical celebrations.
^ ^ ^ ^ 1 ^ C .

A11-holy Theotokos, monks of the monastery of Khopovo conducted a solomn nr^'6cciap in which the carried the relics of the holy Great-martyr
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R E T U R N O F T H E R E L I C S O F T H E G R E A T - M A R T Y R T H E O D O R ET H E T Y R O T O K H O P O V O ^ nari^dicaI Fravosf6\z1r'a of the Patriarchate of Serbia, reports nL ,Lh F r-n its-;;E;ffv protection r ' i J = i , " - ; ; ; fu r r s u , n vL ra rs . =a o:s t of the of the

Great-martyr were chanted immediatelv. in the chantinq.

Theodore the Tyro, which had been removed from the monasteiy during World War If and has spent forty-three years in the Yaska Convent. The relics of St. Theodore has been enshrined in the Monasterv si-nce 1555. Nuns of the Yaska Convent accompanied the reliquary, which was borne into the monastery's church; there vespers and matins to the

A choir

of nuns participated

-b-

After the conclusion of the service, the abbot of Khopovo, the Protosyngellos flarion, addressed a panegyric of thanksgiving to the faithful- of the city of frigo for having preserved this great sacred treasure during a period of danger and for so many years. For our Russian people from Belgrade, the Khopovo Monastery is fonoty remembered, for during the years of the emigration the hospitatity of the Church of Serbia placed the monastery at the disposal of the nuns of our Lesna Convent. THE RELICS OF THE HIEROMARTYR CONCERNING COSMAS OF AITOLIA
The newspaper Pravoslavyer periodical drr official of the Patriarchate of Serbia, reporLs in j-ts February I issue that in Al-bania (+18th a rumor has spread that the relics of St. Cosmas of Aitolia cent. ) were there. The Greek government then addressed a request to the government of Albania, asking permission to send a commission to investigate the authenticity of the relics, and should the rumor be found to have merit, to obtain them. About 400,000 Greeks live in southern Albania, but not a single Orthodox bishop 1s there who could undertake the necessary review of the facts. Of aIl the countries of the Communist bloc, Albania is the one most opposed to religion. A11 of its unfortunate citizens are categorically forbidden to manifest their religious feelings in any way whatever. A prison sentence of ten years'duratlon is the penalty for any open show of faith. To the Greeks' amazement, the government of Albania unexpectedly acceded to then and agreed to transfer the relics to the Orthodox in Greece. A greek government official recently visited Albania, and the Greek colonies in particular. The transfer of the relics of St. Cosmas was to have taken place in February. j-n L779, being martyred by the Turks Hieronartyr Cosmas suffered for his preachrng activities. His relics rested in the Monasterv of the A11-holy Theotokos near the city of Berat. H E A D O F T H E A N G L I C A N C H U R C H A G U E S T O F J A T R T A R C H G E R M A NO F S E R B I A the official periodical Glasnik, of the Serbian Orthodox Church (which, 11ke the Journal of the Moscow Patriarchaterreaches America several months ta e, that, dt the invitation of Patri-arch German of Serbia, Archbishop Robert Runcj-e of Canterbury arrived in Belgrade. The head of the Angli-can Communj-onwas accorded an exceptionally warm and honored reception. At the airport, Archbishop Runcie was mol- hrz +lro p=triarch himself, his Synod and the staff of the Patriarchate. Also present to greet him were the President of Parli-ament, the Secretary of the Commission for Religrious Affalrs, and others. The Patriarch and Archbishop Runcie exchanged speeches of greetlng right at the airport. The day foltowing the guest's arrival, offitalks cial were begun between the Orthodox and the Anglicans. The talks were conducted in an amicable tone, despite the fact that the Patriarch noted that the Anglicans were ordaining women to the priesthood and had far from unanimously removed the "FiIioque" clause from the Creed. The Patriarch expressed the opinion that the ordination of women was probably a question of a temporary nature and, thus, in the future would not constitute an obstacle to the establi-shment of closerties with the Anglicans. Archbishop Runcie assured the patriarch that there were no women being ordained in England, and that (N.8.: Archbishop Runcie apparently there would never be. unscrupulouslv miqlerl the patriafth. It is highiy doubtful that he could be una\dare of the mood of his Anglj-cans, who four months earLier, at one nf l-hoir aonassl Conferences, had raised the question of priesthood for

-7women; at that time it turned out that, of 4I bishops, only 6 were opposed; of 131 priests, 9B were opposed; and of 135 laymen, only 19 of priestesses. opposed the ordination For more information, see our article on priestesses among the Anglicans). Women priests, they in Hong Kong, because there are not enough said, were only permitted male priests there. the Patriarch held a l-arge reception Afterwards, in honor of the guest of the Church of Serbia in the Patriarchate headquarters. government bureaucrats High-ranking and the civic administration of Belgrade were present. of the Patriarch with respect to the Anglicans The hospitality disposal the Chape1 of extended so far that he even placed at their the Holy Cross in the Patriarchate their euso they could celebrate Archbishop Runcie served, in the presence of the charistic service. partook of Patriarch and his colleagues, after which the Anglicans their eucharist, as did Presbyterians five people received and others; of confirmatlon according' to the Anglican rite. Later, a recital
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were also Runcie and hls entourage, accompanied by the Patriarch, received by the president of the government and parliament. Archbishop Runcie also visited SchooI, agaln acthe Theological of companj-ed by the Patriarch. The guests were grreeted by a choir Praver in eti despota" and the Lord's students who chanted "Is polla EngIish. (a former Faculty the dean of the Theological Fr. Amphilokhy, of the famous theologian Fr. Justin Popovich) greeted the disciple Anotin:n aotagration with a warm speeCh, in which, amgng other things, in your venerate, he said: Your Gracer w lovingly "Greeting:you, person, the martyr's zea] of Sts. blood of St. Alban, the apostolic Archbishop and Augustine, first of Canterbury, being mindful Patrick gift inspiration from the poetic of at the same time, and deriving the wondrous Shakespeare. " with a Archbishop Runcie responded to the speeches of greeting lengthy speech of his own, in which he pointed out that "The Angliof cans and the Orthodox have much in common in their understanding the role of the Church and the people. People form the Church, but that abuses But we know from our history the Church makes the nation. m^v c'c.lme ahorrt. into the self-enclosed Sometimes the Church maV faII more than to serve nationalism of its own history, starting circle and set the peopl-e. Here the ecumenical- movement can set us ariqht before us a broader horizon of the plans of God, while the heritage divisj-ons exists to incite contemporary antagonism. " of Christian Bidding his guest farewell at a formal banquet, the Patriarch llTho qrrrinn. n -n l -D . =a - -s as r fa n r- aroafai flra ! - ng l ilcrhs n QnatJd * i, v r n e s e r v l c e -' n A v grr'y which His Grace served in our Church of the Holy Cross, the presence people of your religious community, the at it of the distinguished has produced a remarkable impression upon me. communion of them aII, I watched with enthusiam. the conduct of Mr, Scott before communion.
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This was very reassurinq." rnunion on his knees. g a v e gifts to Archbishop Runcie P a t r i a r c h The a number of parting g a v e the Patriarch a donation and his entourage, and Runcie himself of the new wing of the Theological Faculty towards the construction in Be J-grade. This is by f ar not the f irst such ecumenj-cal- encounter organized periodical From the official of the by the Church of Serbia, alas. of North & South America, The Orthodox ObGreek Orthodox Archdiocese (2L Nov. '84) , the World Council of Churches org-an.ized an enserver counter of the Commission on World Mission & Evanselism at the Diocesan

-o6

Center of the Serbian Church near Hildesheim, West Germany. In the course of several days, the Serbian church of the Dormition of the Mother of God was used for daily ecumenical services with the close codperation and support of the host of the meeting, the Serbian Bishop Lavrentlje of Western Europe. A N E WP R E S I D E N T O F T r y E C O U N C I LF O R R E L I G I O U SA F F A T R SI N T H E U . S . S . R . Kuroedov, who has persecuted the Church in Russia for many years, has gone into retirement, apparently because of his advanced age; in hrs place the 50-year old Konstantin Kharchev has been appointed.
MOSCOW P A T R I A R C H A T EA P P O I N T S N E W R E P R E S E N T A T ] V ET O T H E W . C . C

The Orthoisx_ftrsrvg!, periodlcal official of the Greek Archdio;.-.:-__--.:cese in America, reports that the MoscowPatriarchate has appointed as its representative to the World Council of Churches in Geneva Bishop
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who

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barely

thirty-five

years

of

age.

He

now replaces Archpriest VitaIy Borovoi, who has occupied that positi-on since I961. Archpriest Borovoi has been appointed Vice-President of the Patriarchate's Department of External Affairs and has been enrolled among the clergy of the Patriarch's cathedral of the Theophany. ANGLICANPRTESTESSES in Novernber of last year, a General Convention of the Anglican Church took place in England, at which the question of the ordination of women to the priesthood was raised openly for the first time. The rn:-inrif rz nr rhe votes (4I bishops for, 6 against; l3f priests for, 9B against; I35 layrnen for,19 against) decided that it was essential to r=lro cfonc fnrv3;ql the ordination of women to the priesthood. However, r l o c n i r -o e r r n l r a n u r n e r t c a l a d v a n t a g e w i t h r e s p e c t to Conference members who desire the ordination of women, partisans of this outrage maintain that at the next Conference, in 1986, they will scarcely manage to win the two-thirds necessary to enact this resolution, which, in order to become law in England, must pass alI three legislative chambers of
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In passing such a resolution, the Anglican Synod did so against the advice of its own head, Archbishop Robert Runcie, who considered it to be "unwise", atthough he is now convinced that the controversy over the question of the ordination of women has reached its apogee and thatit is inevitable; but he would not like to see it become a reality, having in mind that Anglicans "have a duty not to be seen to ho:nrinn in abrasive and unfraternal disregard of very Iarge Catholic bodies with whom we share the very fundamentals of +-he Faith. . .. " The fact that some Anglican churches ordaj-n women and some do not reflectrs 'la tentativeness about so radical a change which makes it much easier to defend, eXPIaln, and commendto Orthodox and Roman Catholics.... The ordination of women by the Church of England would make the AngIican position considerably more absolute and might undermine this experimental quality," he noted. Archbishop John Habgood of York enunciated his own indecisiveness with regard to the other point of view. He caIled the debates "the
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troduction of this guestion for the conslderation of the Synod "would be a crushing blow to a cause in whlch f believe." The first Anglican woman was ordained in Hong Kong 1n L944 on the pretext that there were not sufficient clergymen after the War; the second was also ordained there, in f971. Ever si-nce women have been ordalned in various countries, wherever there are Anglicans, yet nnt in F'nnr:n{ 1tself. In L975, the General Synod affirmed that "there are no fundamental objections to the ordination of women to the priesthood," yet then, and again in L978, this decision did not become law.

-9N E W . H E A DO F T H E W O R L DC O U N C T L O F C H U R C H E S potter, phillip General Secretary of the World Councit of Churches, by Emilio Castro, is replaced in office has submitted his resiqnation,and but a Catholic, Castro was baptized who was born in Uruguay in L927.
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and parish in Bolivia' f950, he became the pastor of a small- Methodist H e to other South American countrtes. was transferred afterwards French and Spanish fIuently. speaks German, En9lish, as to how he the question given to the pressrto In an interview Castro future' t h e the role of the Orthodox in the W.C.C. in envisioned disi n t h e i r that "The Orthodox ehurches need to be recognized replied i s I t church' Christian as one main branch of the total tinctives a common attitude, one spirituat one family, true that they represent fantasi s that as such they brinq a very oId tradition doctrine-and also W o r l d a n d for the younger churches in the Third useful tically t h e i r t r a d i t ion. for maiy churches in the West who have lost track of ',Although the Orthodox have already assumed a fair participation operiD its day-to-day Committee and other committees, in the Central chalA f u n d a m e n t a l ation the W,C.C. is al-most unavoidably Protestant. the i n m e m b e r s s t a f f us is to get the number of Orthodox lenge before p a r t i c i p a a n d j u s t i c e belonging to thelr W.C.C. to a point that does g r e ater g i v e a u s o n l y I hope that this could not ting in the Council. g r e ater a c r e a t e t o but also help of history, of tradition, apprecration c o u n t r i e s ' to the churches in Muslim sensJ-tivity u*utuness, feeling, represented in all be fulIy O r t h o d ox wilI t h e i s t h a t C r e a m "!1y and at the contributions their bringing areas of the W.C.C.'s Iife, ecumenical t o t a l by the themselves to be penetrated same tirne rrsking encounter. " with intimacy a closer to draw the Orthodox into The attenpt the r o l e i n a c t i v e the promise of a more ecumencrsn using as bait o n the g r e a t s y m p a t h y probably meet with workings of the W.C.C. wiII of Constantinople. part of the Patriarchate The new General Secretary of the W.C.C., according to a report help esin the Washinqton ID.C.] times, "with W.C.C. resuources, will a } l c I n t r re, The Rev. Dr. CarI states everywhere." soCiafist tablish h is t h a t "Under is of the opinion welt-known anti-Communist activist, a nd O r t h o d o x leadershi-p he gives to the Soviet churchmen, the Russian t h e i r b u i t d the support they need as they actively Russian Bapti-sls, holds that Castro Mclntire society." so-called classless socialist
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A DAY OF BRAYER an: published:the (Russian LifP) The newspaper Russkaya Zhiznt nouncementttr!tere@aecfeeathatThursday,}1ay2'waSto in the United States. be kept as a "national- day of prayer" he said: "We are alI the work of God's hands, this, In declaring land, must offer the entire throughout and each of us inaiviaually, prayer unto God." C O N S E C R A T I O NO F ECUI\4ENICAL A, CHAPEL ]N ROME in its JanuarY 3l bulletin The Ecumenical Press Service'reports a chapel dedicated to St. HenrY' that in Rome there has been consecrated The chaPeI is Ioa Bishop of Uppsala martyred in the 12th century. cated in the Church of Santai:Maria sopra Minerva. were Lutheran Archbishop u vllll Deri-ic.inating services in the divine ( Paul) of Finland, as well a) Vikstrdm and Orth,:dox Archbishop Paavali Bishop PauI Verschuren. the Roman Catholic
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_10_ The ecumenical service, apparently composedby Protestants, did not fit at all within an Orthodox framework. I t c o m m e n c e dw i t h a reading from the prophecy of Jeremiah (31: 3l-34); then psram 134
ar*a; which followed a reading from the Epistle to the Ro-

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mans (L2z 1-10). The Gospel according to St. John (16: 23-26) was read in Finnish and ItaIian, after which Archbishop Paul of Finland provided a "meditation." Then, aIl participants in the prayer service read the Nicaean Creed (without the "Filiogue") and followed it immediately with the Lord's Prayer, which Archblshop paul read himsel-f. T h e p r a y e r s e r v i c e c o n c l u d e d w i t h a b l e s s i n g a n d t h e q i nrli nrv nf f i n a l hymn. a After this remarkable service, the participants w e r e rada i rrorl l.rrr the Pope of Rome, who remarked that there had never before been an occasion for the heads of severar different c h u r c h e s f r o m the same country to visit the Vatican.
C O N S E R V A T I V E J U D A I S M P E R M I T S W O M E NT O E N T E R T H E R A B B I N T C A L R A N K S In rnid-February of the current year, the Council of Conservative Rabbis decreed that women could be ordained to the position of rabbi.
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sominrrrz i n \rew York City, but Amy Eilbery is, apparently, the f irst to be ordaj-ned. Rabbi Alexander Shapiro, President of the Rabbinical r - n r r n n iI h:c stated that "f believe that we are about Lo enter into a whole new, rich era. r am extremely happy, and it is my prayer that
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cal rnoment a trme of reconciliation." The decision of the Conservative rabbis was reached onty after ten years of debate. This resolution, however, widened the divergence between Conservative and Orthodox rabbis. Rabbi Hersh Ginsberg, director of the Union of Orthodox Rabbis in the United States & Canada, stated that this decj-sion is i-n no way a "great step" for the Orthodox, because the Conservative and Reform rabbis have long been Ieading thousands of Jews astray. to Jewish lawr" he said, "According "Reform and Conservative men can't even be rabbis, nor can divorces, marriages and conversions performed by them be considered vaIid....They have continually done everything to break down the law, which says that even an Orthodox woman can't be a rabbi. " The question arises.of itself : What exactly are Conservative Jews, then? A NEW COUNCIL FOR ROMAN CATHOLTCS fn late January, the Pope of Rome announced that he intends to convoke a new council in the near future. This council would review the decrees of the Second Vatican Council (L962-I965). As is well lrnnr^rn *hi c ^cuncil introduced major changes in the area of the catechism and the practical Iife of Catholics. (of West Germany) remarked on this Josef Cardinal Ratzinger subject, that at present the spirit of the church has passed from "seIfcrj-ticism to self-destruction.... It is incontestible that this period has been decidedly unfavorable for the Catholic Church." He explained that of themselves the resolutions of Vatican fI were not bad, but that their interpretation and implementation embodied the betief that rra'orrrrhina rr\igfu is new or presumed new't wou]d', always and anyway be better than what already exists." As one might expect, conservativefy disposed Catholics rejoiced

_l1_ at the Pontiff's wish, but Iiberals were terribly disturbed, Conservative Catholic Paul Johnson, who has written two historical works on Dnnoc rnhn Yr.Trr and John paur r, said "one of the purposes of this synod would be to remove some of the dangerous illusj-ons and mythology that have grown up around Vatican ff.,' The Pope has announced that Catholic bishops from alI nations will be present at the councj-l, as well as representatives of the Eastern Orthodox Churches. Vatican officials have been unable, or r n lr y ^ y r ir l r l irnrar r y , f n qr r vv answer the question as to which of the Orthodox would attenfl:the Catholic council. The Pope's conservative intentions, however, could meet significant opposition among the episcopate, although formally a council rm^nd {-lro nr+\6lics is merely an advisory body, and the pope has the riqht to ignore any of its decisions completely. DIAKONIA CEASES PUBLTCAT]ON periodical The Catholic Diakonia, the purpose of which was to l'rrina Arf hnAnl and Catholics closer together wiI I print one issue in 1985 to complete publication for f984, after which it will cease publication, accordingr to its editor, priest the Jesuit George Mahoney. The.cessation of publication of this magazine, which has at times had a harmful effect on poorly informed Orthodox people, is necessitated because of financial difficulties. BAPTIZED BY MISTAKE? The parents of a seven-year old boy Robert Roffman (the Catholic Maria Isabe] Castritlo and the Jew Barry Roffman) divorced in Ftorida. The child stayed at times wj-th his mother, dt times with his father, while the divorce proceedings were underway. At a convenient moment, the CathoLic mother had the child baptized. This subsequently became known to the father. Barry Roffman demanded of the Catholic Archdlocese an immediate annulment of the baptism, on the grounds that his son was raised as a Jew and at the time of his baptism did not understand what was qoins The father's demand was successful. In September of last year, }...^ ,,^,l 1 r . ur e u e ri veLr dn of f icial communi-catlon f rom the Archdiocese, in which he was informed that the baptism was annulled and that "the priest was not aware that the mother had told the child that the baptism would place a shield over him so that he would not go to heII. Nor was he aware that the child considered himself to be Jewish. " The annulment of the baptism was made on orders from Archbishop Edward McCarthy. The priest who baptized the boy stated that he thinks that this is the first case known to him of a baptism being dectared nutl and void. DONATIONS RECEIVED & GRATEFULLY ACKNOWLEDGED

The Department of Public & Foreign Relations of the Synod of Bishops would Iike to thank the following individuals for their generous and much-appreciated support: His Grace, Archbishop Anthony of Q:n nr:nnicnn, Archpriest Valentin Khmelev, O. Illyn, G. petrowsky,
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Makine,

D. Myer,

Archpriest

G. Kravchina.

-L2S T A T E O F T H E S T . N I C H O L A S P A R T S HT N T E H E R A N During his stay in New york, Archimandrite Anthony reporAv lu - hr ar s QJ rrr Lss + u nod of Bishops on the situation of Russian peopte Iiving in rran, who berong to the parish of st. Nichoras in Teneran. As is apparent from his report, the situatlon of Christians in that Iand of fanatic Mosrems has become particularly difficult. A l I w o m e nw i t h o u t e x c e p t l o n m u s t w e a r t h e " c h a r d a " , a floor-length, shroud-like qarment which covers the entire body. A11 teaching (including Catechism) must be conducted in the perci:n 1-nnntra No teachers with such capabili-ties have been found
'l-od A rm q rr avt rnl y cf C u rhr rr i ;fl a os f u ri d , mrSSlonary d ^u ry rn c y !r v ;> o hD e A =l c rocrr'l lf ha r ay a li r r r s- a !E L^lrar

sent textbooks of its own version of the Catechism (not a translation of an existing catechsim) to alI schools. The Catholics have lodged a protest, and the regime has had to withdraw its demand. The Ministry of Religions is appointing MosIem principals to christian schools. rn september of 1983, the Ministry issued a catechism in wh;tch the doctrine of the savior is set forth in accordance with the teaching of the Koran. A translation of the Bible has been made into Persian and printed in Hong Kong, but the regime will not permit it to be distributed in Iran; an atf omnr f n nrrhrisfi a Bjrble in Iran itself have also proved f ruit]-ess. A little chapel belonging to our Church has had to be closed at the demand of the government; the cross atop its dome has been removed. Its icons and everything else possible have been transferred to St. Nicholas church, which, thank God, has not yet been touched In the absence of a resident gather in rector, our faithful church to pray, reading the services psalms, and the typical chanting' as much as they are abte. It has become as dlfficult to leave Iran as it is to leave the Soviet Union. ft is permitted to take out only personal items (clothing, linen, toiletries, etc.). The franis forbid the remova] of money and vatuables. A sizeabre indemnity must be paid for the privilege of leaving. group in Iran is the Armenians, who The largest Christian excite the suspicions of the Irani authorities in particular; for they continue to preach in Armenian, and the regime fears their openly expressed national character.
t / q v f .

SY\IOD BOOKSTORE MOVES The Synod Bookstore, wh:ch has since its inception

c a t e d o n th e th i rd fl o o r of the Synod Bullding, has now m oved to m o r e s p a ci o u s q u a rte rs o n the basement l- evel of the Building. Its b u s i n e s s h o u rs re ma i n u n changed. A cer tain am ount of disor der 1s a n u n a v oi d a b l e cj -rcu msta nce, for which we apol- ogize to those w ho v i s i t u s. We h o p e to h a ve ever ything in or der ver y shor tly.

been lo-