metropolitan kirill

In an interview posted on the official website of the Russian Orthodox Church (Patriarchia.ru) Metropolitan Jonah discussed the status of the autocephaly of the OCA and Constantinople’s denial of it, as well as offering some new ideas on the future of the OCA. The interview was conducted by journalist Yuri Pushcha.

Highlight:

Puscha: What outcomes do you expect from the forthcoming conference in Cyprus, during which, among other things, the unity of the American Church is to be discussed? Are you counting on the Orthodox Church in America getting a greater measure of understanding of her position by other Local Orthodox Churches?

+Jonah: The Patriarchate of Constantinople, as well as some other Local Orthodox Churches do not recognize our autocephaly. And if they want to make any decisions affecting our life, this is only possible with our consent. Otherwise, it will be a great sin against us.

HT: Orthodox Christians for Accountability

The visit to the Russian Orthodox Church of His Beatitude, Jonah, Archbishop of Washington and New York ended on May 4th.  The Leader of the Orthodox Church in America gave an interview on the outcome of the visit to Patriarchia.ru

Metropolitan Jonah

Puscha: Your Beatitude, your visit to the Russian Orthodox Church is coming to an end. How would you begin summing up the visit,  its essential outcome?

+Jonah: Most important, of course, is a personal contact with Patriarch Kyril and other representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church. In addition, this visit fortified me with grace. I prayed before many sacred sites, visited many monasteries, venerated the relics of many saints.

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An interview published in the Russian language Blagovest-Info on April 28, 2009.

Highlight:

Blagovest-Info: During the six months you have occupied the chair of the Archbishop of Washington, you had to prove yourself a leader unafraid of expressing your stance, even if, to some, it may seem not to be politically correct. Suffice it to recall your recent speech in Dallas. To what extent, in your opinion, should directness and diplomacy be combined among hierarchs?

+Jonah: I think it is time to be direct. We can be politically correct, but we will be buried. Can we afford to play Byzantine political games, in which they simply do not take us into account? And I want my voice to be heard in the upcoming discussions concerning the problem of the Orthodox Diaspora. I do not want to offend anyone – especially the Ecumenical Patriarch, – but I want my Church’s position to be heard and acknowledged. It is essential that we participate in decisions regarding our fate.”

HT: Orthodox Christians for Accountability.

Metropolitan Jonah

His Beatitude, the Archbishop of Washington, Metropolitan of All America and Canada – this is his complete title. But in person, the 49-year-old Bishop Jonah is surprisingly free of ostentation – there are no shadows nor any outward grandeur; he responds to questions – including sharp ones – directly, concretely and honestly. During his first foreign visit as Primate of the OCA Metropolitan Jonah, who was elected to the American cathedra less than six months ago, met in the OCA’s Moscow representation with a correspondent of “Blagovest Info”.

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The ANA-MPA news service is reporting that “the new Patriarch of Moscow, Kyrill will be on a formal visit to the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople at Phanar on July 4-6. Patriarch Kyrill and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople will co-officiate in a mass, while the visiting Patriarch is expected to follow the example of his predecessor and visit Aghia Sophia.”

Here’s a good backgrounder on the tensions that have existed between Moscow and Constantinople for years. The report in AsiaNews was a “table setter” for the Pan-Orthodox Synaxis held in October at the Ecumenical Patriarchate. From the article:

The dispute between Moscow and Constantinople has been going on for some time: first in Rhodes (Greece) in 2007, when Moscow announced it would not take part in the pan-Orthodox Synod in 2008; then in Ravenna when Moscow’s representatives walked out of a conference because they objected to the presence of the Estonian Orthodox Church which Moscow does not recognise.

The confrontation began to ebb when Aleksij II decided to take part in the Kiev festivities.

Since his arrival last Friday Bartholomew made it clear that his trip was not meant to reassert his “supremacy” but only “contribute to the unity of the Ukrainian Church . . . and honour the martyrs of the Holotovol famine of 1932-1933, victims of the atheist fury.”

Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad has been elected head of the Russian Orthodox Church. He will become the 16th Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia.

The International Herald Tribune described him as “an articulate critic of declining moral values in the modern world who has been actively involved in the ecumenical movement and [has] called for the Russian Orthodox Church to step up its outreach in secular society … ” Novosti said the 62-year-old Metropolitan “received 508 votes, and the second candidate, Metropolitan Kliment of Kaluga and Borovsk – 169 votes. A total of 700 ballots were cast in the vote, with 23 recognized as invalid.” He is expected to be enthroned on Sunday and his term of office is lifelong.

The Moscow Times highlighted Metropolitan Kirill’s ecumenical work, noting that he is “an experienced diplomat who has been the church’s point man in often-difficult negotiations with other churches, prompting speculation that he might take steps to improve ties with the Roman Catholic Church, which have been fraught with rivalry for years.” The paper said Kirill seemed to dampen such hopes in an address just before Tuesday’s vote, complaining about Catholic and other missionaries working in Russia.

“We have noted with bitterness that members of the Catholic clergy and monastic orders are among the newly formed enlighteners of Rus,” he said, Interfax reported.

Kirill also criticized “the assault of aggressive Western secularism against Christianity” and “attempts by some Protestant groups to revise the teachings of Christianity and evangelical morality.”

The Times of London said the Metropolitan he has been “tainted by allegations” that he was a KGB agent, codenamed Mikhailov, under the Communist regime. “He became known as the ‘Tobacco Metropolitan’ in the mid1990s when he was embroiled in a scandal over the import and sale of billions of duty-free cigarettes to raise funds for humanitarian aid. Kirill is a charismatic and popular figure in Russia, with a wide following as the presenter of a weekly television programme on religious affairs. He is regarded as a moderniser and the Church’s most able diplomat, having led its powerful department for external relations since 1989.”