ROCOR leading clergyman urges his fellow servants not to become outcasts in the Orthodox world
http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=2218
New York, November 3, Interfax - The signing of the ‘Act of Canonical Communion’ would ensure the future of the self-governing Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia and place it on ‘a solid canonical foundation.’ Such is the view of Very Rev. Alexander Lebedev, secretary of the ROCOR Commission on the talks with the Moscow Patriarchate.
In an article published on the ROCOR website he noted that the earlier grounds for the ROCOR independent existence cannot be justified at present, when the Church in Russia is free.
Very Rev. Alexander reminded the opponents of reestablishing the unity that the rejection of the Act ‘would mean the total break of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia with all the Local Orthodox Churches, which will then have every reason to deem us schismatics.’
If this occurs, ‘the Serbian Orthodox Church, our last link with the fullness of canonical Orthodoxy, will doubtless refuse communion with us,’ while the Church of Jerusalem may withdraw the blessing for our bishops and priests to serve in the Holy Land.
Rejecting the Act would make us, in the eyes of the Russian Orthodox Church, schismatics, ‘like the followers of Valentin Rusantsov, and will exclude the possibility of participating in the church life of our homeland.’
Very Rev. Alexander thinks that if the Act is not signed, ‘not only the Moscow Patriarchate, but the entire Orthodox world would thereby be convinced that we cannot be dealt with seriously, that we ourselves prefer to be essentially sectarians, torn from the fullness of universal Orthodoxy, and do not wish to be united with our much-suffering Church in the Fatherland and with canonical Orthodoxy.’
All canonical stipulations of the Act ‘must be viewed not as a sign of subjugation; they are normal and necessary elements of the relationship between any self-governing part of a Local Church and her Primate.’ Their observance is ‘ecclesiastically necessary’ in the light of the reestablishment of normal relations with the Church in Russia,’ the ROCOR Commission secretary thinks.
According to him, ‘the adoption of the Act will serve to end the sorrowful division of the Russian Orthodox people. The participation of our clergymen and faithful in the work of the spiritual rebirth of the Russian people will rise to an entirely new level.’
