My recollection is that you are thinking of what Fr Pimen Simon said, not what Bp Daniel said.
Video of Bishop Daniel
Please read Fr. Pimen Simon's address to the Sobor in San Francisco - and then pontificate on the origin of the phrase concerning old believers.
You are referring to the statement that Bp Daniel made on the video, which postdates Fr. Simon's theme concerning Old Believers by many, many months. At the time Fr. Simon made that statement and used that theme, Bp. Daniel had already spoken against the union.
The theme, and I would venture the words themselves, are Fr Simon's, not Bp Daniel's.
Not offhand, but it was on one of the official ROCOR websites - either WS or the main one, or the Sobor one- back when they were publishing a lot of pro-union propaganda.
I can't say if it will still be there, as they have of late become very, very careful and spare with archival material, and now that this issue has blown up, it wouldn't surprise me if they hid or removed it.
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Pravoslavnik
- Sr Member
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- Joined: Wed 17 January 2007 9:34 pm
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The New, Improved Bishop Daniel
Any meaningful assessment of Bishop Daniel's honest opinion of the Moscow Patriarchate has to be based on his published statements prior to 2007. The MP-KGB are absolutely masters of recruitment, intimidation, propaganda and disinformation, as a simple reading of The Sword and the Shield clearly documents. What is happening with ROCOR Bishop Daniel this year reminds me very much of what happened to ROCOR Archbishop Kyril (Dmitrieff) of San Francisco in 2000. He suddenly reversed his very clear, previous public statements against unification with the Moscow Patriarchate, and began to issue lengthy, vague works of pro-MP gibberish. At the All Diaspora Conference Archbishop Kyril gave a lengthy, rambling, pro-union speech in which he talked about how wonderful it was to be able to do an internet search in Russia and find references to St. Ignatius Brianchaninov. He interpreted this as a sign of the obvious spiritual reawakening of Russia and the MP...Of course, I don't know exactly how the KGB recruited Archbishop Kyril in 2000 (I heard that he was attacked in his San Francisco apartment in about 2000 and suffered a head injury) or, more recently, Bishop Daniel, but based upon the KGB history with the Church, it is probably a combination of sticks--blackmail, extortion, direct threats against self, family members, or friends--and carrots. What bothers me now is the widespread private and even public denial of KGB activity in the ROCOR-MP by nominal Orthodox Christians.
I see Abp Kyrill as more of an MP "sleeper cell."
He was raised attending MP church, and chose to avoid Jordanville, instead attending seminary outside of ROCOR.
According to what I have read about him, one day suddenly he and his family just "decided," apropos of nothing, that ROCOR would be their church.
What happened in 2000 is that Abp Anthony of San Francsico reposed. Things began to change once he was out of the way.
My personal theory is that this was a coup from within, and many of the players said and did what they needed to in order to advance in the hierarchy and waited patiently until the time was right to pull it off.
It is sad that the illogic, the violent and instant reversals of position, and mysterious happenings in general within ROCOR in the last decade can even provide grist for speculation.