Russian Orthodox church reunites after 80-year rift
Pastor Dale Morgan
Russian Orthodox church reunites after 80-year rift*
By Olesya Dmitracova
Reuters
Thursday, May 17, 2007; 11:28 AM
MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Russian Orthodox Church healed an 80-year rift on
Thursday when a rival faction set up in the West by monarchists fleeing
the Soviet Union restored ties with the mother church in a lavish
cathedral ceremony.
The leaders of the two Orthodox factions signed a reunification document
as bells rang out from Moscow's Cathedral of Christ the Savior and
bearded priests chanted and crossed themselves.
President Vladimir Putin attended the ceremony, another move by Russia
to reconnect with its pre-Soviet past and lay to rest the ghosts of
revolution and state-sponsored atheism.
"The split in the church was the result of a deep political crisis in
Russian society," Putin said after kissing an Orthodox icon in the
gold-domed cathedral, rebuilt in the 1990s after the original was blown
up under Stalin's rule.
"The restoration of church unity is an important condition for
rediscovering the lost unity of Russian people."
A spy in Communist times, Putin has openly demonstrated his Orthodox
faith since becoming president in 2000 and enjoys close relations with
Patriarch Alexiy II, head of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Wearing a bright green flowing robe with red and white stripes, Alexiy
signed the document with Metropolitan Laurus, the New York-based leader
of the Orthodox Church Abroad in front of church dignitaries and distant
relatives of the last Tsar.
White Russian exiles who supported Tsar Nicholas II and opposed the
communists set up the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR)
after losing the 1920s civil war. They set up a headquarters in Serbia
but later moved to New York.
ROCOR has dioceses in parts of the United States, Germany, Britain,
Australasia, Ukraine and Russia.
"I congratulate everybody on this joyous occasion," said Metropolitan
Laurus in a low, mumbled voice.
'GODLESS' COMMUNISTS
Alexiy II said this was a historic day. "A day of bringing together the
resettled children of our motherland and Church," he told the audience
in a powerful voice.
Hundreds of believers queued in the rain to enter the cathedral.
"We're all together now, I've a great feeling about today," 39-year-old
Russian emigre Andrei Subbotin, who moved to Canada, said as he waited.
The document signed on Thursday establishes "canonical Communion,"
meaning the two churches recognize each other's religious hierarchies
and celebrations and the Orthodox Church Abroad will accept the final
authority of Moscow-based Alexiy.
ROCOR will retain its separate organization, administration and property
portfolio under the agreement.
The Russian Orthodox Church abroad cut ties with the Orthodox hierarchy
in Russia in 1927 because it said they had fallen under the influence of
the "godless" Bolsheviks.
On Saturday the two church leaders will consecrate a new church in
southern Moscow on a site where communists murdered priests and monarchists.
Some of ROCOR's members say they will leave the church because of the
reunification, believing the church in Moscow has been irredeemably
tarnished by its association with the communists and continuing
closeness to the government.