RUSSIA RELIGION NEWS

Russia Religion News Current News Items

---

Official cause of patriarch's death unannounced

PASTOR WHO INCREASED THE FLOCK
Much is mysterious in Patriarch Alexis' death
by Aleksei Golovinsky
Novaia gazeta, 8 December 2008

Alexis II was an important symbol of the signs of the times: ordained under Stalin, became bishop under Khrushchev, metropolitan under Brezhnev, and patriarch under Gorbachev. And he departed in the epoch of Putin.

It was a departure that was not expected by anybody, including the patriarch himself. There is much that is mysterious in this death. At such a time it distracts Orthodox believers from the world crisis, because the interim between patriarchates is held to be a sacred catastrophe. The Russian "vertical" is deprived for a time of its divine support.

The official All Russia Central Institute of Public Opinion reacted to the death of the head of the Russian Orthodox church of the Moscow patriarchate (RPTsMP) with a spare statistical tear. It turns out that under Alexis II, not only did the number of monasteries increase by 30 times and the number of parishes quadrupled, but the flock of RPTsMP tripled in size. That means an absolute majority of our churched compatriots.

However, we will have more time for talking about the religious and political significance of the patriarchate; the patriarchal throne, according to the statute of RPTsMP may be empty for six months. We shall concentrate on the facts accompanying Alexis II's departure from this world itself. More precisely, on how the closest associates of the patriarch informed the world about this sacred event.

So, the facts. The first news about the patriarch's death appeared on the ticker of ITAR-TASS just before noon on 5 December. A few minutes later the heads of the agency in competition with each other began reporting that the patriarch died approximately 10:30 to 11:00 in his suburban residence in Peredelkino, citing the head of the press service of the patriarchate, Fr Vladimir Vigiliansky.  Somewhat later Fr Vladimir corrected the time of deathÑaround 9:00. At first they refused to say anything at all about the causes. Simultaneously both official web sites of RPTsMP were shut down. The reason, according to Fr Vladimir, were hacker attacks; however at the Department of External Church Relations (OVTsS) they said that the site had been blocked by the "controlling agency."

Immediately after the appearance of the news, the second person of the patriarchate, OVTsS chairman Metropolitan Kirill Gundiaev, quickly departed the Hall of Church Councils of the cathedral of Christ the Savior and went to a conference with the higher bishops present in Moscow, including Metropolitan Kliment Kapalin, the chancellor of the patriarchate, and Metropolitan Yuvenaly Poiarkov, administrator of the diocese of the city of Moscow. After this Metropolitan Kirill did not appear in public until the morning of 6 December, just like the other senior bishops. Around 3:00 p.m. the press service of the patriarchate finally specified the cause of death:  "heart failure." However by this time another version had appeared in the news media which was confirmed for the correspondent of Novaia gazeta by a highly placed source in the prosecutor's office:  the death was connected with some mysterious traffic incident.

The patriarchate responded to this version. But in a rather strange way. RIA Novosti published a report that in the evening, that is, 4 December, the patriarch was not involved in any traffic incident. But sources confirmed that he was involved in one in the morning of the fifth. The problem is that the patriarch cannot "just simply" have an accident on the road; his limousine is constantly accompanied by several federal security jeeps (the agency has protected Alexis II since the end of the 90s). At the same time the assistant of Fr Vigiliansky, Deacon Volkov, issued a denial and stated that the patriarch died at 7 in the morning, but he did not say who was the first witness of the death and why recovery efforts failed (a team maintained constant watch in the next room).

Finally, in the evening of the fifth on the Internet there appeared a video of an interview with Fr Vigiliansky, shot against the background of the patriarchal palace in Peredelkino. The head of the press service said that the time of death "is still not known," and that some commission, which was meeting, will establish it.

Despite the patriarchate's hiding all information about the patriarch's health, it has long been known in the church that Alexis II had problems with his heart and with the flow of blood to the brain. Several times he received heart stents at clinics in Germany and Switzerland; in April the patriarch suffered clinical death. In August of this year Alexis received a pacemaker, which was adjusted only in November, after which he was discharged from a German clinic with a positive prognosis. On 30 November a robust patriarch served a liturgy in the cathedral church of Munich and the day before his death, on 4 December, he conducted two large services, a liturgy in the Dormition cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin and a prayer service before the relics of St. Tikhon in the Don monastery. One would not conclude from either the patriarch's appearance or his words that he was bidding farewell to anybody or that he had a premonition of something.

But all of this is, so to speak, materialism. The illness acquired in RPTsMP a mass of pious legends. They began with the appearance to the patriarch of a mysterious elder (tradition maintains that it was St. Feodosy of the Caves) at the altar of the Astrakhan cathedral on 28 November 2002. Witnesses to the vision included several clergy and the patriarch's security guard. What the saint said supposedly so upset Alexis II that he was taken out of the cathedral to a resuscitation unit and then he was taken by special airplane to the Central Hospital Clinic. The patriarch spent more than six months in the hospital. The official diagnosis was "hypertension crisis with elements of dynamic interruption of flow of blood to the brain." After he recovered, the patriarch, who was not inclined to mysticism, said that they had been hallucinations and the patriarchal press service fought against the pious legend, calling it literally "ill-intentioned confusion" and "absurd fabrications." The press service is not inclined to believe in miracles.

According to the statute of RPTsMP, in the period of the interim between patriarchates the church will be administered by a locum tenens of the patriarchal throne (acting patriarch) elected at an extraordinary session of the Synod from among the seven senior bishops. In the recent history of RPTsMP the acting patriarch automatically was elected patriarch. The only exception was the "ultrademocratic" year of 1990, when Alexis II was elected as a compromise figure at a local council by secret ballot after several rounds of votes.

The Kremlin reacted to the sad news in different ways. The president cut short his visit to India, cancelled a visit to Italy, and addressed an open letter to Russians. The prime minister, who was suddenly discovered in Armenia, was not about to interrupt his visit and he confined himself to a modest and formal statement of condolences:  "The patriarch's departure from life is a very tragic and sad occurrence. Alexis II was a genuine patriarch."

And what is yet more important: he was "the image of God on earth," blessing in God's name the dubious initiatives of the authorities (for example, the war in Chechnia), giving them inadequate legitimacy. But then the patriarch demonstratively did not bless the war in Georgia which, of course, provoked a sharp dispute with one of the Beloved Leaders. Although he successfully accomplished the "Russian World" project initiated by Putin through the merger with the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia and the creation on that basis of a far-reaching network of the presence of the Russian federation in the most inaccessible corners of the world.

The chief achievement of Alexis' patriarchate was the maintenance, in principle, of the administrative unity of RPTsMP, whose strength was often tested in Ukraine, Estonia, and many other places. Not being a protégé of either Yeltsin or Putin, the late patriarch maintained the relatively independent positioning of church authority within Russian society. His successor, elected under Kremlin control, will not possess that quality so that, among other things, the future threatens the disruption of the administrative unity of RPTsMP (autocephaly of the Ukrainian church, growth of "alternative" Orthodoxy in Russia itself, and loss of allies among the Slavic churches).

The deceased's political credo was the words of the apostle Paul"  "Let every soul be subject to the higher authorities; for there is no authority except from God and the powers that be are established by God." A German-Estonian aristocrat, Alexis II was able to be himself for the elite. But at the same time, if one believes the institute on public opinion, for the majority of Russians it is with his name that the adherence to the divine light and knowledge of faith in Christ will always be associated.  (tr. by PDS, posted 9 December 2008)

Russian original posted on Portal-credo.ru site, 8 December 2008

PATRIARCH'S HEART
What was the cause of the first prelate's death?
by Galina Bryntseva
Rossiiskaia gazeta, 9 December 2008

An official medical conclusion about the causes of the patriarch's death had still not been given at the time of the printing of this edition of the newspaper. However a number of highly placed representatives of the Moscow patriarchate explained the death of His Holiness by saying that, according to the preliminary version, the cause of Alexis II's death was acute heart failure. In particular, an informed source close to the Moscow patriarchate told Interfax:  "On Friday morning Patriarch Alexis felt ill and emergency care was summoned. Physicians tried to resuscitate the stopped heart but the attempt was unsuccessful and the primate's heart stopped again."

The patriarch's heart had made itself known even earlier. In October 2002 Alexis II felt ill during the celebration of the 400th anniversary of the Astrakhan diocese and he was taken for resuscitation to the city hospital and then transferred to the Central Clinical Hospital of Moscow. At that time physicians managed to stabilize the hierarch's health. In 2004 the patriarch underwent serious heart surgery. And, as a sacristan of the church of the Transfiguration in Peredelkino, located in the immediate vicinity of the patriarchal residence, told a correspondent for the Interfax-Religiia portal, already the day before, on Thursday, His Holiness felt ill:  "His Holiness blessed me silently last evening, as always. It was evident that he felt bad." At the same time the cleric noted that "in recent days the patriarch, even though it was obvious that he felt bad, still conducted services in the cathedral of Christ the Savior, the Don monastery, and the Dormition cathedral of the Kremlin."

As the head of the press service of the Moscow patriarchate, Vladimir Vigiliansky, reported, the official conclusion about the cause of death of the patriarch will be issued by a special medical commission. The Moscow patriarchate denied the rumors that had been circulated that the supposed cause of the death of Patriarch Alexis II of Moscow and all-Rus was a traffic accident the day before. (tr. by PDS, posted 9 December 2008)

Russian original posted on Portal-credo.ru site, 9 December 2008

RUSSIANS BID FAREWELL TO PATRIARCH AT GRAND FUNERAL
by REUTERS, 9 December 2008

Russia bade farewell on Tuesday to Orthodox Patriarch Alexiy II at a grand funeral ceremony at which speakers praised him for reviving the nation's Christian faith after decades of communist atheism.

Streets in central Moscow halted and state television canceled normal programing to broadcast the half-day long tribute to Alexiy, who died on Friday aged 79.

President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, wearing black suits and black ties, arrived with their spouses after nearly three hours of the funeral ceremony had passed. They stood near the patriarch's coffin, holding lighted candles.

"His Holiness always remembered that the Russian Orthodox Church was the only one which preserved the traditions, the memory and the values of holy Rus," Metropolitan Kirill, the Church's interim leader, said in a tribute delivered next to the coffin in the city's Christ the Saviour Cathedral.

The 62-year-old Kirill was helped away by aides at one point and a Kremlin official said he had apparently fainted. The metropolitan later rejoined the funeral.

Orthodox patriarchs and metropolitans (senior bishops) from Russia and abroad stood in the vast cathedral as priests chanted the ancient Divine Liturgy (Byzantine Eucharist).

The presidents of Belarus, Armenia and Serbia, and at least 11 Russian cabinet ministers and top Kremlin officials attended. Cardinal Walter Kasper, head of the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Christian Unity, was also present.

Alexiy's coffin lay draped in a green, red and white shroud on a catafalque amid hundreds of white flowers in the center of the cathedral. At its head was the distinctive Orthodox cross with its extra two bars.

Toward the end of the service, top clergy lined up to file past the coffin and kiss the body farewell. Medvedev and Putin followed. Putin, a former KGB spy, paused by the body, crossing himself twice and bowing his head.

Alexiy's coffin was carried out of the Cathedral over a path of white roses, said to be his favorite flower, to the toll of a somber bell. A black hearse drove through central Moscow to the Epiphany Cathedral, where he was to be laid to rest.

WIDESPREAD PRAISE

"The number of churches multiplied to 30,000 and the number of monasteries to 700 from 18 (under Alexiy)," said Archpriest Dimitry Smirnov, head of the Patriarchy's department for cooperation with the army and law enforcement forces.

"This is a fantastic number, so fantastic it is difficult to believe, but it is true," he said.

Alexiy's opponents say he allowed the church to become a junior partner of the Kremlin when Putin was president, and Alexiy failed to shake off allegations he had links to the Soviet KGB. The church has repeatedly denied this.

Thousands of mourners waited in cold rain outside the vast gold-domed cathedral, reconstructed in the 1990s after being demolished by Soviet leader Josef Stalin.

Thousands more lined the route to the 18th-century blue and gold Epiphany Cathedral. Dozens of funeral wreaths of white roses and red carnations crowded the entrance to the cathedral.

"I feel today that a great saintly man has left us. I hope he will pray for Russia when in heaven. I attended his sermons and he was such an approachable and simple man in his everyday life," pensioner Olga Larchenko said.

Kirill, whose official title is Metropolitan of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, was chosen by a 12-man Holy Synod of top church leaders as interim leader last Saturday.

The Holy Synod will announce on Wednesday the date for convening the Local Council, a large body of the Russian Orthodox Church hierarchy and laity charged with electing the next Patriarch, the 16th since the title began in 1589.  Copyright 2008 Reuters Ltd.

Russia Religion News Current News Items

---

Kirill elected acting patriarch

ACTING PATRIARCH
Outcome of election of patriarch of RPTsMP depends to a great extent on answers to "Ukrainian questions;" one third of delegates to the council will be from Ukraine
by Sergei Ilin
Ukrainskoe pravoslavie
6 December 2008

After the extraordinary session of the Holy Synod of RPTs on 6 December 2008, the principal intrigue of recent years was partially decided: Metropolitan of Smolensk and Kaliningrad Kirill Gundiaev became the locum tenens of the Moscow patriarchal throne [acting patriarch]. This means that of the hypothetical candidates for patriarch, Metropolitan Kirill has become the central figure of the electoral process. If other candidates remain hypothetical up to the opening of the local council, then Master Kirill may officially be considered the pretender to the throne.

On one hand, for him this is an important victory. But on the other, a heavy battle awaits him, whose final outcome nobody can predict.

Undoubtedly Metropolitan Kirill in terms of his abilities, experience, and connections is more suited to the role of both acting patriarch and patriarch of Moscow. But what appears to be an asset in the eyes of some may be a big minus in the eyes of others.

"Outsiders"

There was a joke in soviet times in RPTs for many decades that the words of the apostle Paul that a bishop "must have a good report among outsiders," that is, have a positive public reputation, should be understood as the necessity of having the approval of the supervisory organs of authority. Without the consent of the only party of the time and its special services it was impossible to do a single thing of any serious ecclesiastical significance. And even more so it was impossible to elect the primate of the church. So that only naïve persons can even now believe the legend about a "democratic procedure" in the election of the patriarch of Moscow at the local council of 1990. That one person was the acting patriarch but the patriarch turned out to be another was not evidence of democracy but rather the sign of a debate within the ranks of the soviet leadership.

Church historians of the recent past say that at the beginning of Gorbachev's administration there developed a conflict between the party line and the police line with regard to the church. The new head of the Council for Religious Affairs Kharchev was a party worker and protégé of Yakovlev, Gorbachev's associate and one of the ideologues of "perestroika." Kharchev's goal was a lessening of the police influence on the leadership of the church. And it was this that in the end played a role in the removal of Metropolitan Alexis from the post of chancellor of RPTs.

Later the legend was created that this metropolitan "suffered" for his letter to Gorbachev in which he supposedly defended the interests of the church. Without delving into this interesting story, we will pose just one questionÑjust how did this particular bishop "suffer"? He was not removed from the synod and he united the prestigious Leningrad diocese to the Estonian see. He was removed from his post because he simply could not perform his duties because of a profound conflict with Patriarch Pimen, as the channel of the interests of the security of the state.

It was this conflict of interests of the party and police that led to the unexpected election of Metropolitan Filaret as acting patriarch instead of the intended Alexis. Of course, Metropolitan Filaret was loyal to the state, but that was not enough to become the Moscow patriarch. It is necessary to be not simply loyal but obedientÑto understand that "the party thinks for you." Filaret did not have such qualities. Therefore the mistake at the time of election of the acting patriarch was corrected in the election of the patriarch.

The picture sketched here has a unique reflection in the present Russian reality. In the upcoming election of the patriarch, "outsiders" will play no minor role. And like in 1990, the current "outsiders" are not of one mind and the elected acting patriarch is not considered to be the favorite of the authorities. He is too independent in his thinking and too ambitious. It is no accident that the sharpest point of the "Diomid" scandal, actively displayed in the news media, was aimed at Metropolitan Kirill. Only a naïve person can believe that the reporting about the rebellious bishop on the central Russian television stations and the processions around the cathedral of Christ the Savior by his supporters happened without sanction from "higher ups."

So that the many assets of Metropolitan Kirill as a church figure have become minuses in the eyes of "outsiders." His place is the place of Metropolitan Nikolai Yarushevich and later Metropolitan Nikodim Rotov under Patriarch Alexis I, and the place of the same Nikodim under Patriarch Pimen. It is the place of "number two," but by no means that of "first person" of the patriarchate.

That Kirill is not the favorite of the authorities was especially emphasized by the emergence of the candidacy of Metropolitan Kliment Kapalin seemingly from out of nowhere. Those in the know speak about his long-time and cordial ties with "outsiders." He is little capable of independent activity and this gray metropolitan (not to be confused with the gray cardinal!) is much better suited to the role of "one who reigns but does not rule" as Moscow patriarch. Thus in recent years he has been aggressively promoted for chief positions in the patriarchate.  However this did not help him very much in the election of the acting patriarch. Whether after this the interest in him on the part of "outsiders" remains, time will reveal.

Council

The convocation of a local council in the past ten or so years has seemed to be the most horrible nightmare for the Moscow patriarchate. Although according to the statute this agency of the church was supposed to assemble once in every five years, since 1990 it has not been convened. And in 2000 the rule in the statute was changed. But now it is impossible to get around a council. Its organization and conduct lie directly on the shoulders of the acting patriarch.

Why is a local council so feared in the patriarchate? Because in contrast with the controllable Bishops' Council, the local council is not very predictable. Conservative views, expressed in extreme forms in the deposed Bishop Diomid, are widespread in the Russian church. In contrast to the ecumenical Metropolitan Kirill, the greater part of RPTs is of an isolationist mood. And this conservative isolationism closely overlaps with the current Russian governmental ideology. So that the candidacy of Kirill, which is supported in a narrow circle, may not find approval at the council. After all, for many in RPTs he is an ecumenist and "Nikodimian," which they complained about in the past but even more so now. And if these attitudes can be successfully stirred up by "outsiders," problems for the election of Kirill will be guaranteed.

Now the news media are actively praising the late patriarch for the reunification with ROCOR. The ending of the division of the Russian church was an undoubted good, but one must consider that the conservative delegates from this church will participate for the first time in a local council. For many domestic conservatives they are the personifications of antiecumenism. And their voice will be important in the council.

But all of these problems cannot overshadow the biggest one.

Ukraine

Problems with the church in this independent republic poisoned the patriarchate of the late Alexis. The beginning and the end of his administration turned out to be connected with the Ukrainian church since one of his first and one of his last visits were to Ukraine.

In the first months of his patriarchate, Alexis was forced to consent to the creation of an autonomous structure under the denomination "Ukrainian Orthodox church." After a year this church, through the mouths of its council, requested autocephaly, but it got in response schism and a noisy rebellion upon the removal of its primate. Then in 1992 the problem of Ukraine seemed to be dissipated since Metropolitan Filaret had been removed and UPTs was headed by the more than loyal Metropolitan Vladimir. But throughout the sixteen years of the patriarchate the loyalty of the Ukrainian church was not assured since in 1991 the council and its primate were faced with many questions with regard to the church situation in Ukraine. In the final analysis, the very status of UPTs still has not been confirmed. And the request of the council of UPTs in 1 to 3 November 1991 for autocephaly, whatever has  been said, has been awaiting review by a local council since 1992.

The outcome of the election depends to a great extent on the "Ukrainian questions," since about a third of the delegates of the council will be from Ukraine. Will Metropolitan Kirill be able to set them aside? And what will be the price of support? Nobody knows the answers to these questions.

Result

In the end, the newly elected acting patriarch has a fair chance of becoming the sixteenth patriarch of Moscow. But a multitude of impediments on the path to the desired white cowl are thrown into the bargain. Which may not be to the taste of even such a talented metropolitan as Kirill, who on the day after the death of Patriarch Alexis became for the time being "first person" of the Russian church.  (tr. by PDS, posted 8 December 2008)

posted on Portal-credo.ru site, 7 December 2008

Russia Religion News Current News Items

---

Rules for electing new patriarch

from the Statute of the Russian Orthodox church


Chapter IV: Patriarch of Moscow and all-Rus

13.  In the event of the death of the patriarch of Moscow and all-Rus, or his retirement, or his being under ecclesiastical judgment, or any other reason making it impossible for him to fulfill patriarchal duties, the Holy Synod under the presidency of the senior permanent member of the Holy Synod in terms of time since consecration immediately elects the locum tenens of the patriarchal throne [acting patriarch] from among the permanent members of the Synod.

The procedure of the election of the acting patriarch is established by the Holy Synod.

15.  In the period between patriarchates:

a.  The Russian Orthodox church is administered by the Holy Synod under the chairmanship of the acting patriarch;
b. The name of the acting patriarch is commemorated in the divine liturgy in all churches of the Russian Orthodox church;
c. The acting patriarch fulfills the duties of the patriarch of Moscow and all-Rus as they are laid out in point 7 of part 4 of this statute. . .
d. The metropolitan of Krutitsy and Kolomna assumes independent administration of the diocese of Moscow.

16.  No later than six months after the vacancy of the patriarchal throne, the acting patriarch and the Holy Synod, in accordance with the procedure provided in point 2 of chapter 2 of this statute, convene a local council for the election of the new patriarch of Moscow and all-Rus.

17.  The candidate for patriarch must fulfill the following requirements:
a. be  a bishop of the Russian Orthodox church;
b. possess advanced theological education and worthy experience of diocesan administration, and be distinguished by his commitment to canonical procedures;
c. enjoy a good reputation and the confidence of bishops, clergy, and the people;
d. "have a good reputation with outsiders" (1 Tm. 3.7);
e. be at least 40 years of age.

Chapter II:  Local Council

2.  The time of the convocation of a local council is determined by the Bishops' Council. In exceptional circumstances the local council may be convened by the patriarch of Moscow and all-Rus (or the acting patriarch) and the Holy Synod.

The local council consists of bishops and representatives of the clergy, monks, and laity, in quantity and by procedures determined by the Bishops' Council.

The responsibility for planning the local council lies on the Bishops' Council, which works out and approves preliminarily and conducts the schedule of the local council, the agenda, rules of meeting and the structure of this council, and also makes other decisions bearing on the conduct of the local council.

In the event a local council is convened by the patriarch of Moscow and all-Rus (or acting patriarch), the proposed schedule, agenda, rules of meeting and structure of the local council are approved by the Bishops' Council, whose session must precede the local council.

3. The members of the council are the diocesan and assistant bishops of the Russian Orthodox church, ex officio.

4.  The procedure for the election of delegates to the council from the clergy, monks, and laity, and their number are established by the Bishops' Council.

In exceptional circumstances the procedure for the election of delegates to the council from the clergy, monks, and laity and their number are established by the Holy Synod, with subsequent approval by the Bishops' Council.  (tr. by PDS, posted 5 December 2008)

Russia Religion News Current News Items

---

Metropolitan Vladimir temporary head of Russian Orthodox church

ORTHODOX SYNOD PREPARES FOR EXTRAORDINARY SESSION IN CONNECTION WITH PATRIARCH ALEXIS II'S DEATH
Portal-credo.ru, 5 December 2008

The Synod of the Russian Orthodox church of the Moscow patriarchate (RPTsMP) is preparing for an extraordinary session in Moscow in connection with the death of Patriarch Alexis II. It is expected that it will be held on Saurday, 6 December, RIA Novosti reports.

Patriarch Alexis II of Moscow and all-Rus, headed RPTsMP for 18 years and he died on Friday in the 80th year of his life.

"We await the official communication of the Holy Synod," the director of the communications service of the External Church Relations of the Moscow patriarchate, Fr Mikhail Prokopenko, told RIA Novosti.

On Friday, 5 December, an extraordinary session of those members of the Synod who are in Moscow was held.

According to church rules, it is the Synod that must report the death of a patriarch.

According to the statutes, after the death of the church's primate, the senior bishop in terms of years since consecration becomes the chief person of the church. At the present time that bishop is Metropolitan of Kiev of the Ukrainian Orthodox church of the Moscow patriarchate Vladimir. (tr. by PDS, posted 5 December 2008)

ARCHPRIEST VSEVOLOD CHAPLIN "EXTREMELY VEXED" BY "NAKED LIE" IN NEWS MEDIA THAT SYNOD MEETS TODAY
Portal-credo.ru, 5 December 2008

"I am amazed and extremely annoyed by information which was announced, citing me," Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, vice-chairman of the Department of External Church Relations of the Moscow patriarchate, stated to an Interfax-religion correspondent in the evening of 5 December.

The reason for the "extreme annoyance" was the appearance in a number of news media of news that supposedly already in the afternoon of 5 December an extraordinary session of the Holy Synod of RPTsMP had met in Peredelkino at which the acting patriarch will be elected.

According to Fr Chaplin, "the correspondent who reported about this" had been with him in the Hall of Church Councils of the cathedral of Christ the Savior and "it is unknown where he got this phrase from."

"I did not discuss at all the topic of the Synod session and the election of an acting patriarch with this correspondent," the archpriest stressed.

The representative of OVTsSMP called this news "a naked lie, which is especially amazing on the day when we are mourning the death of His Holiness the patriarch." (tr. by PDS, posted 5 December 2008)


KIEV CAVES MONASTERY BELLS BEGIN TO TOLL IN MOURNING
Metropolitan Vladimir cuts short his visit to Greece
Portal-credo.ru, 5 December 2008

The bells of mourning began to chime on the Grand Belfrey of the Kiev caves lavra of the Ukrainian Orthodox church of the Moscow patriarchate (UPTsMP) at 12:30 Kiev time, a Portal-credo.ru correspondent reports. Thus, the hierarchy of this church, whose religious administrative center is located in the lavra, officially recognized the fact of the death of Patriarch Alexis II of Moscow and all-Rus, which occurred under unannounced circumstances in the morning of 5 December in Moscow.

The primate of UPTsMP and permanent member of the Holy Synod of RPTsMP, Metropolitan of Kiev and all-Ukraine Vladimir Sabodan, is in Greece on an official visit at the time. According to several sources, the sad news reached him on the Holy Mount Athos.

Metropolitan Vladimir immediately cut short his visit to Greece and flew off to Moscow where on the morning of 6 December an extraordinary session of the Holy Synod of RPTsMP will begin, at which an acting patriarch will be elected.

At the present time rumors are circulating in Ukrainian church circles that the immediate cause of the patriarch's death may have been a traffic accident, although Russian authoritiesÑboth ecclesiastical and governmentalÑstill have not decided whether it would be beneficial to publish information about this.  (tr. by PDS, posted 5 December 2008)

ELECTION OF METROPOLITAN OF KIEV VLADIMIR WOULD HELP TO REPAIR CHURCH SCHISM IN UKRAINE
Portal-credo.ru, 5 December 2008

The election of Metropolitan of Kiev and all-Ukraine Vladimir as head of RPTsMP would help to repair the church schism in Ukraine, in the opinion of one of the leaders of the international public organization "Day of the Baptism of Rus," Yury Molchanov, RIA Novosti reports.

"Considering the procedures of administration of the Orthodox church, Metropolitan Vladimir now has the chance to become patriarch of Moscow and all-Rus. Since under the word 'Rus' we also understand Ukraine and Russia and Belarus, this would be a united canonical church. This would be, from my point of view very good for the healing of the schism (of Orthodox churches in Ukraine)," Molchanov said in an interview with RIA Novosti.

"If the primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox church of the Moscow patriarchate should become patriarch, it is possible that the argument of 'muscovite centrality' would be taken away from the nationalistically minded forces. But, of course, everything will be decided by a church Synod; everything will be decided by bishops, since the patriarch is an elected position," he thinks.

The "Day of the Baptism of Rus" international public organizations was created in 2006 and includes leaders of science and arts, representatives of business circles and the public. The organization's basic task was the planning and conduct of the annual "Day of the Baptism of Kievan Rus" holiday.

According to the statute of RPTsMP, only a citizen of Russia can be patriarch, but the head of UPTsMP has Ukrainian citizenship.  (tr. by PDS, posted 5 December 2008)



Russia Religion News Current News Items

---

Death of patriarch reported

PATRIARCH ALEXIS II OF MOSCOW AND ALL-RUS DIES
Portal-credo.ru, 5 December 2008, 12:20 p.m. Moscow time

This was reported several minutes ago to ITAR-TASS by the directory of the press service of the Moscow patriarchate, Archpriest Vladimir Vigiliansky.

"Patriarch Alexis has died. This happened this morning," "Echo of Moscow
 quoted the archpriest's words. He said that details will be provided later.

The head of RPTsMP was 79 years of age and for the past several months he has been in Germany for treatment. However, on 2 December he returned to Moscow and served the liturgy on 4 December in the Dormition cathedral in the Kremlin. Most likely he died in his suburgan residence at Peredelkino. (tr by PDS, posted 5 December 2008)

ALEKSY II, RUSSIAN ORTHODOX PATRIARCH, DIES AT 79
by Clifford J. Levy
New York Times, 6 December 2008

Aleksy II, the Russian Orthodox patriarch who led a revival of the church after the fall of Communism and built close ties to the Kremlin under Vladimir V. Putin, died Friday at his residence in Moscow, news agencies reported.

The patriarch was 79, and the church did not disclose the cause of death. He had long suffered from heart problems.

Aleksy II was named patriarch in 1990, just before the end of the Soviet Union, ascending to the leadership of a church that had often suffered brutal discrimination under the officially atheistic Communists. Under Stalin, many priests were killed or sent to labor camps, and cathedrals were destroyed.

First under President Boris N. Yeltsin and then under Mr. Putin, Mr. YeltsinÕs successor, Aleksy II significantly deepened the role of the church in everyday life -- erecting and restoring cathedrals, introducing Orthodox religious education in public schools and becoming a prominent voice on moral issues. While church attendance has remained low, growing numbers of Russians identify themselves as Russian Orthodox.

At the same time, the patriarch successfully lobbied the government over the last decade to adopt restrictions on other Christian denominations to impede their efforts to attract adherents in Russia. In the 1990s, Protestant and Roman Catholic churches in the West saw Russia as fertile territory and sent missionaries here, spurring a backlash.

Relations between Patriarch Aleksy and the Roman Catholic Church were tense during his tenure over the issue of proselytizing, and as a result, he would not agree to a visit to Russia by Pope John Paul II.

Aleksy II did end another religious dispute, reaching an agreement with the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia to bring the churches closer together. The breakaway church had split in 1927, after the Moscow churchÕs leader declared loyalty to the Communist government.

The agreement was signed in the rebuilt Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow, which Stalin had leveled and later became the site of a swimming pool.

Mr. Yeltsin had an ambivalent relationship with Aleksy II, but Mr. Putin, the former president and current prime minister, worked closely with the patriarch. Mr. Putin talked publicly about his Russian Orthodox faith and sought to enforce laws to maintain the churchÕs dominance in Russia.

The church in turn has championed Mr. Putin. Last year, after Mr. Putin selected his close aide, Dmitri A. Medvedev, as his successor as president, Aleksy II praised the decision on national television.  (posted December 5, 2008)

RUSSIAN PRESIDENT PAYS TRIBUTE TO LATE PATRIARCH

Patriarch of Moscow and All-Russia Aleksiy II was an outstanding spiritual figure whose great personal achievement was the reunification of the Russian Orthodox Church, Russian President Dmitriy Medvedev said on 5 December following the patriarch's death. His statement to the nation was broadcast on Gazprom-owned NTV news.

Medvedev was shown saying: "Dear citizens of Russia,

"Our country, our society has been stricken with great grief: Patriarch of Moscow and All-Russia Aleksiy II has died. He was not only an outstanding religious figure, a genuine spiritual leader, he was a great citizen of Russia, a person in whose fate was reflected all the most trying ordeals of the 20th century. He was a true pastor, who was an example of steadfastness and high-minded human behaviour all his life. He was always with his flock, both in the days of persecution and in the period of restoration of the faith.

"It was precisely with him, with his name, that were associated the revival of the Russian Orthodox Church, the true affirmation of the principles of freedom of conscience and religious freedom, and, of course, civil peace and accord in such a multiethnic, multifaith country as Russia.

"The very scale of the patriarch's personality had a huge influence on the spiritual and moral state of Russian society. He advocated unifying values common to all humankind: humanism, good, and mercy. He called for mutual respect, tolerance and trust between people of various faiths and traditions. He was the initiator of dialogue between churches and peoples, and in word and deed, he served this end: he wisely reconciled differences of opinion and served to unify the whole Russian [Russian: rossiyskaya] nation.

"Under his authority, the Orthodox Church was transformed into an authoritative institution, fruitfully cooperating with the state. The Moscow Patriarchate earned respect and authority not only in Russia, but in the international religious community.

"Since the first days of his patriarchy, Aleksiy II strove to overcome the tragic schism in the Russian Orthodox Church, and to restore it in all its fullness and greatness. It is his great personal achievement that this reunification took place."Selflessly fulfilling his pastoral duty, His Holiness the Patriarch realized his responsibility not only for the church, but for the whole of Russia."We are all deeply mourning his death. This is also a grave loss for me personally. We will always remember his spiritual help, his wisdom and his boundless loyalty to his country and his people. We will always feel his support."May his memory live forever." (posted 5 December 2008)

Source: NTV, Moscow, in Russian 1300 gmt 5 Dec 08


Russia Religion News Current News Items

---