Will ROCOR Priests "Commemorate" Alexy II?
Dr. Eugene L. Magerovsky (rocor)
In the Orthodox Liturgy there is a high point in the service known
as the "Grand Entrance". At that point the Gifts are brought out of
the altar and the name of the First Hierarch of the Church is openly
pronounced. "Pominat" is the Russian Church word, meaning "to
pronounce" at the Divine Liturgy, the name of the First Hierarch.
And the majority of Russian ROCOR priests do not want to "pominat."
Alexy II. Let me explain why.
The First Hierarch of the Moscow Patriarchate, Patriarch Alexis II,
is under two "Anathemas" or "curses by the Church". The first was
issued by Patriarch St.Tikhon in 1918 on "all those in Soviet
government and those who deal with them," and the second by a group
of "katakomb" bishops while incarcerated in Siberia in 1937.
These "katacomb" bishops, in following their predecessors, also
anathematized the Soviet regime and "all those who deal with it".
You will remember that the apostate metropolitan Sergei Stragorodsky
had sought in 1927 to gain the Communists favor by allying his
church with the Communist government, thereby bringing St.Tikhon's
anathema upon himself.
Metropolitan Sergei also proclaimed himself to be a locum tenens of
a locum tenens of Patriarch St.Tikhon who had since died. It is he
who also was the first Soviet patriarch, after Stalin established
anew the Moscow Patriarchate in 1943. To date, neither of the two
anathemas have been lifted.
In addition to the question of the anathemas, there exists a serious
question whether the whole MP establishment is really a "church" at
all. The facts are that there has been no government recognized organized
church in what eventually became the Soviet Union from 1918 to 1943.
In 1943 Stalin organized a "church-like" body only because there has
been a strong religious revival on the territories occupied during
World War II by the Germans, which were again coming under his
[Stalin's] control, where countless churches and monasteries
suddenly reappeared.
The first "patriarch" Sergius was appointed by Stalin. The NKVD
which later became the KGB had full control of the "church." Bishops
and lower church officials were Soviet appointed KGB agents and were
given aliases - the alias of the present "Patriarch" is " Drozdov".
It may be as the dewey-eyed idealists claim, that Alexy II has "seen
the light," but the Patriarch, the "dewey-eyed" should be reminded,
has never atoned for his service to the KGB openly and publically.
To recapitulate:
- Alexy II has inherited two public anathemas which hang over him.
- Alexy II is the head of a quasi-church of uncertain and dubious
beginnings,. - Alexy II himself was, if not an "agent", then at least an
"operative" of the KGB.
What else do you need? The evidence is indicting.
Is it, then, small wonder that the majority of Russian ROCOR priests
do not want to "commemorate" (POMINAT’) Alexy II in any way during
the services?
ROCOR Dr. Eugene L. Magerovsky
November 2.15. 2005
ROCOR Scholar Dr. Eugene L Magerovsky, has earned a Ph.D. in
Russian Foreign Affairs (Columbia, 1975). Dr. Magerovsky is now
Vice-President of the Association of Russian-American Scholars. Formerly
of New York and Fordham Universities, he had taught
Russian History and Russian Political Science at the Graduate
School of Georgetown University.
Dr. Eugene L Magerovsky is currently also Vice-President of the
Russian Expert Commission Abroad, an inquiry into the fate of the
remains of the members of the Russian Imperial House murdered by the
Communists on July 17th, 1918, in Ekaterinburg, Russia. He now
resides in Kinnelon, New Jersey, with his family and attends ROCOR's
Novo-Diveevo Church in Spring Valley, New York.
Dr. Eugene L Magerovsky is a frequent contributor to:
"The Metropolitan Memorial Society" - A ROCOR society
dedicated to preventing a PRO MP vote at the ROCOR SOBOR
in May of 2006.
http://www.metanthonymemorial.org/
