RESPONSE of the COUNCIL OF BISHOPS of the
RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH OUTSIDE OF RUSSIA
to HIS HOLINESS PATRIARCH ALEXY
Your Holiness!
Your letter addressed to the Council of Bishops was
not the first step which expressed your positive
attitude towards the proper normalization of the
relationship of the Russian Orthodox Church of the
Moscow Patriarchate and the Russian Church Abroad.
We accept with gratitude the warm welcome given our
delegation, which visited Moscow in November of this
past year. We thank you also for sending the three
educated and good-willed pastors to the All-Diaspora
Pastoral Conference held in the suburbs of New York,
who related a great deal of important information on
the situation of the Church in Russia in the past and
present.
We hope that these clergymen were able to report to
you the spirit of freedom which is so dear to us, in
which our pastors were bred and which infused our
pastoral conference, headed by twelve bishops of the
Church Abroad. We think that they may also attest to
the fact that, along with the wide scope of opinions
on our relationship, the absolute majority of pastors
admit the vital need to continue the dialog already
begun.
Your combination of cautious action with the earnest
effort to overcome confrontation in the spirit of
brotherly, mutual understanding and Christian love
serves as an example for us. We thank you for you care
in seeing that previous obstacles and
misunderstandings are set aside, in order to open new
paths of relations between the Russian Orthodox people
wherever they may be, for the people have truly been
scattered across the face of the earth. This
scattering has occurred in different periods of time
and in the most varying of circumstances, which leads
to differences in mindset even in our day. But the
Church is strong in the love of Christ to embrace all.
We—Russian Orthodox bishops, the pastors entrusted
with our care, the clergymen and the people—have
always felt this power, we lived in it. Now new
challenges face us. In the contemporary world, civil
borders do not play the same role that they played
even in the recent past. The "iron curtain" fell,
communication is now possible, and families once
divided—seemingly, forever—now have contact with each
other. At the same time, wounds are healing which were
inflicted decades ago.
The tribulations visited upon the Russian Orthodox
people are well known to us. We also saw them
firsthand at the All-Diaspora Pastoral Conference,
when the most wide-ranging points of view were
expressed with frankness and in pain. At the same
time, those of other nations whom the Lord brought to
communion with the Church through the providential
scattering of the Russian people also participate in
this pain from what had occurred. Who will heal us? We
rely on the One Merciful Lord.
Indeed, as you expressed in your Epistle, the
"external ecclesial garment was torn asunder," yet
"the Body of Christ preserved its holy unity." This
truly ecclesiastical unity, preserved in the depths,
must be brought forth by us, for the Body of Christ is
the Church, and the Mystery of all the mysteries is
one—the Body of Christ. We are given this
responsibility: despite all the hindrances we may meet
on the path of overcoming divisions, we must open our
hearts for the acceptance of God’s providence for His
Church.
Moreover, at the same time we look to the struggle of
the Holy New Martyrs of Russia, who lay down their
lives for Christ during the persecution of the Church,
not knowing what will come of this chosen path for
future generations on this earth, for us today; yet
they hoped that they will be heard by the Lord. And
they were! That is why their glorification initiated
that which at one time seemed impossible in light of
countless external obstacles. Now we must fully make
sense of this miracle together. We took from your
Epistle a readiness to continue upon the path of this
miracle of the Russian Church, and, in turn, we attest
to our willingness to travel the path shown to us by
the Lord, who glorified His saints.
Our Council established a committee for the study of
crucial questions alongside a similar committee from
your side. We hope that the meeting of our First
Hierarch Metropolitan Laurus with Your Holiness at the
scheduled time will be the next step in the overcoming
of the obstacles that arose in the church life of the
Orthodox people in recent decades, so that together we
might glorify our Lord Jesus Christ "with one mouth
and one heart," having "abolished in His flesh the
enmity" (Eph. 2:15).
PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL OF BISHOPS
+LAURUS, Metropolitan of Eastern America and New York
First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside
of Russia.
+ALYPY, Archbishop of Chicago and Detroit
+MARK, Archbishop of Berlin, Germany and Great Britain
+HILARION, Archbishop of Sydney, Australia and New
Zealand
+KYRILL, Archbishop of San Francisco and Western
America
+AMBROISE, Bishop of Geneva and Western Europe
+EVTIKHII, Bishop of Ishim and Siberia
+AGATHANGEL, Bishop of Simferopol and Crimea
+ALEXANDER, Bishop of Buenos Aires and South America
+DANIEL, Bishop of Erie
+GABRIEL, Bishop of Manhattan
+MICHAEL, Bishop of Boston
+AGAPIT, Bishop of Stuttgart
+PETER, Bishop of Cleveland