- June 1 2007: IS ROCOR BISHOP AGAFANGEL NOW TALKING WITH ROAC METROPOLITAN VALENTINE? +CHURCH NEWS+ conducted the following interview with ROAC Bishop Andrei (Maklakov) regarding this question:
Nathanael Kafner: I have received private information that Bishop Agafangel and Metropolitan Valentine are now communicating with one another. Can you comment on this please?
Bishop Andrei: Let me put it this way. Bishop Agafangel was consecrated by Metropolitan Valentine and the ROAC Synod in the mid 1990's. Thus Vladyka Valentine and Bishop Agafangel know each other quite well. And after all, they reside in close proximity with one another. It should be noted that a former ROCOR parish of the Ishim-Siberia diocese has just gone under Bishop Agafangel's omophorion. They will certainly need help by those who are already versed in dealing with the MP in Russia, namely the ROAC. What many do not realize is that the ROAC has 300 parishes in Russia, 12 Bishops, and a Metropolitan who stood up to the MP 16 years ago. This gives the ROAC a particular advantage for those needing support and bolstering.
Nathanael Kafner: You say that Metropolitan Valentine stood up to the MP 16 years ago?
Bishop Andrei: Metropolitan Valentine did all of the right things back in the early 1990's -- all the things that the ROCOR "Loyal Opposition" have been asking their own people to do! Vladyka Valentine stood up at church at St Constantine & Helen Cathedral one day in 1989 and announced to his parish, "I repent of my involvement with the heretical and schismatic Moscow Patriarchate. I think we should join the ROCOR church." All of his parishioners agreed.
~ Then in 2001, before anyone else had the foresight to see the ROCOR-MP union talks for what it was, Metropolitan Valentine made an appeal to ROCOR parishioners to understand what Laurus was planning to do in his betrayal of the ROCOR.
Nathanael Kafner: Who consecrated Metropolitan Valentine to the episcopacy?
Bishop Andrei: In 1991, in Brussels, Metropolitan Valentine was consecrated by 4 ROCOR Bishops: Varnava; Anthony of Geneva; Mark of Berlin; and Gregory Grabbe. But when Mark of Berlin saw that Metropolitan Valentine would stand in the way of the ROCOR uniting with the MP, he orchestrated an uncanonical “expelling" of the 5 canonical Bishops of the ROAC in 1995. These were Bishops Valentine, Lazarus, Benjamin, Theodore, and Seraphim.
Nathanael Kafner: Where do you see this all headed now, with Bishop Agafangel embarking on establishing a Higher Church Authority, and eventually a full fledged Synod?
Bishop Andrei: Everything is quite precarious and fragile with the attempts of Bishop Agafangel and his followers in trying to pick up the pieces of a shattered ROCOR. Russia is really the scene of action for a continued ROCOR and I am certain that Bishop Agafangel knows this.
~ For it was Bishop Gregory Grabbe who passed the ROCOR torch onto Metropolitan Valentine when he flew to Suzdal in 1995 in protest over the uncanonical "expelling" of the 5 ROAC Bishops by the ROCOR. Metropolitan Valentine and his Synod are stable and know their way around MP territory. What can I say? Bishop Agafangel has his work cut out for him and he knows with whom to consult amongst his neighbors to help solidify his situation.
See The Official ROAC Web Site @ http://www.roacusa.org/directory.html
Nathanael Kafner: See Bishop Gregory Grabbe's Letter of Protest @
For The History Of The ROAC, SEE:
http://www.roacusa.org/1.html