A memoir from 5 years ago:
"As the fifth anniversary of the signing of the Act of Canonical Communion between the two parts of the Russian Orthodox Church approaches, Protopriest Serafim Gan, secretary of two First Hierarches, Metropolitan Laurus and Metropolitan Hilarion, talks about little-known details in the preparation for the ecclesial reconciliation.
"As the fifth anniversary of the signing of the Act of Canonical Communion between the two parts of the Russian Orthodox Church approaches, Protopriest Serafim Gan, secretary of two First Hierarches, Metropolitan Laurus and Metropolitan Hilarion, talks about little-known details in the preparation for the ecclesial reconciliation.
— Fr Serafim, can
you recall when the need for and possibility of the reestablishment of
Eucharistic union between the Church in the Fatherland and Church Abroad began
to be discussed openly?
- Discussions on
the reestablishment of unity within the Russian Orthodox Church began when the
division itself began. On both sides, Orthodox Christians yearned for this, we
strove for this, but serious discussions on unity only began in the mid-1990’s,
when those of us in the diaspora began to notice positive changes in the Church
in Russia. We began then to travel to our historic homeland.
Metropolitan Laurus
had made several pilgrimages to Russia, Ukraine, visiting holy sites, meeting
with clergymen and monastics. He also had meetings—discreet, of course—with
bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church, in particular with his spiritual friend
Metropolitan Onufry of Chernovitsa and Bukovino. And when they would meet, they
did not discuss the situation in Russia, or the division, but talked about
prayer, monasteries, holy sites, all the things that they held dear.
At the beginning of
the new century, church-historical conferences began on an official level with
the participation of clergymen and scholars both from the Russian Church Abroad
and the Moscow Patriarchate. In 2003, President Vladimir Putin offered to meet
with Metropolitan Laurus in New York, at which he passed on an invitation to
the First Hierarch from His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II to visit Russia.
So Metropolitan
Laurus made his first official visit to Russia together with a large delegation
from the Russian diaspora, during which, besides visiting Moscow and St
Petersburg, we went to important holy sites in Ekaterinburg and Kursk. It was
during this visit that the bilateral discussions began.
- Tell us about the
preparations for the first meeting between the two Primates.
- The meeting was
postponed several times. At first it was proposed for January, 2004, but both
hierarchs had other commitments. Then they considered March. But Vladyka
Laurus, for whom Great Lent was especially important, did not wish to travel
then, deciding it would be better to fast properly, greet Pascha and only then,
with renewed strength, make this important visit.
At the outset he
recommended Archbishop Mark of Berlin and Germany and Archbishop Kyrill of San
Francisco and Western America, who participated in a small delegation which had
met with the late Patriarch in November, 2003, and asked that representatives
from every diocese of the Russian Church Abroad be included, and not only
proponents of the reestablishment of Eucharistic communion but even those who
were doubtful of, or even opposed to, unity.
In early 2004,
Vladyka Laurus approved the list and asked me to draft invitations, some of
which were mailed, while others were given to priests in person by the
Metropolitan.
Some were grateful for
the invitation, though one clergyman called me and in an elevated tone declared
“under no circumstances will I go and kiss the hand of a chekist!” Only one
priest declined to go due to his health, others for ideological reasons. One
pastor was very interested in this trip, but feared that his parishioners would
not understand and would condemn him for going.
- How many people
participated in the first official delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church
Outside of Russia?
- The official
delegation, which was to participate in all discussions, included ten persons,
while another fifteen clergymen were in the pilgrimage group which had a
different schedule.
May 12th arrived,
and most of the trip’s US participants gathered in New York. After taking care
of matters at the Synod at around 11 pm, I went home, and Synod staff members
Eugene Grigoriak and Deacon Eugene Kallaur began packing icons with parts of
the relics of St John (Maximovich) of Shanghai, and other gifts.
I remembered a
story told to me by Protopriest Stefan Pavlenko of California about a
conversation which took place long ago, in Belgrade. Fr Stefan’s mother often
helped at the bishops’ refectory at the Russian Holy Trinity Church in that
city, where hierarchs and clergymen often met and ate together.
Once, as she was
setting the table, the late mother of Fr Stefan spoke to a clergyman who was
considered by the local Russians to be prescient (whose name Fr Stefan couldn’t
recall). He pointed a finger at Hiermonk John (Maximovich) and told her: “With
his relics, the Russian people will begin to return to Russia.”
Fr Stefan’s mother
told her son about this not long before her death in the 1980’s as they stood
in the hierarch’s tomb under the Cathedral in San Francisco. This story by the
priest from California warmed my heart; it was a good and reassuring thing to
know that this great holy hierarch of the Russian diaspora was accompanying us
and aiding the work of our Church.
We visited the holy
sites relating to the Holy New Martyrs of Russia and clearly saw that their
podvig was in fact the seed of the renaissance of church life in Russia today;
we were moved by the warmth of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II towards Metropolitan
Laurus and to all of the members of the delegation.
The Patriarch
shared his experiences, and told us about what he had to endure during the
years of Soviet rule. Many truths were spoken during these meetings, and some
of those who participated in this trip were ready to resume prayerful communion
right away. But we left this matter for future discussion, for finalization,
and to make sense of the period in the life of the Church when we were divided.
- Who on the part
of the Church Abroad contributed most to the rapprochement and reunification of
the two parts of the Russian Church?
- That would be
Archbishop Mark of Berlin and Germany, President of the Commission on
Discussions with the Moscow Patriarchate, who in fact led the negotiation
process and manifested the instructions of Metropolitan Laurus; Protopriest
Alexander Lebedeff, Rector of Holy Transfiguration Cathedral in Los Angeles;
Protopriest Nikolai Artemoff, Senior Priest of the Munich Cathedral, and
others.
During the work of
the commissions, we many times turned to our history, to the works and the
positions of the founders of the Russian Church Abroad, its hierarchs, and the
works of the New Martyrs. They all helped us find the correct ecclesiological
path towards unity.
- Fr Serafim, if we
talk about the roles played by Patriarch Alexy II and Metropolitan Laurus,
would it be appropriate in your opinion to use the expression that “their
personalities coincided in history” in the context of the reunification of the
Russian Church?
- My first meeting
with His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II took place in 2000. I traveled to Moscow
from Australia as a clergyman of that diocese. My friend, Fr Joseph
Shaposhnikov, was then the Dean and Sacristan of the Patriarchal Cathedrals in
the Kremlin and oversaw the Patriarchal services held there.
He introduced me to
His Holiness and we were able to discuss a great deal during that meeting. The
Patriarch told me that he hoped that the next First Hierarch of the Russian
Orthodox Church Outside of Russia would be Vladyka Laurus: “He knows Russia, it
will be easy to work with him.”
This was true: the
“old school” was palpable in both church leaders. Of course, I was close to
Metropolitan Laurus and knew that he sensed the weight of responsibility of his
duties.
Both hierarchs had
endured the sorrows of division and both understood that it was necessary to quickly
heal these ecclesial wounds, and both yearned for the wholeness of the Church.
Therefore, in my opinion, by Divine Will, these personalities coincided.
Over a period of
three years, three rounds of discussions were held, and the rite of the signing
of the Act of Canonical Communion was prepared. In December, 2006, the date of
the signing was scheduled for the Paschal period—May, 2007.
- I recall the
fresh May morning with the droplets of rain before Christ the Savior Cathedral,
and the blinding, bright morning on the Sunday after the Ascension in front of
the church in Butovo. Long before Liturgy began, priests from Russia and abroad
were already hearing confessions at analogia placed on the street. And the
inexpressibly huge number of clergymen and pilgrims present from a great
variety of countries, wherever there were Russian parishes.
- We decided to use
the same method employed in 2004, inviting representatives from each diocese.
The official delegation included ten people, and twenty clerical pilgrims.
There were about five hundred pilgrims from the laity! We also invited a choir
assembled from fifty singers from various dioceses.
My matushka and I
assumed the administrative duties for the trip: we had to obtain visas for
everyone, and order tickets. We contacted Aeroflot and chartered a plane for
two hundred people from New York to Moscow. Large groups of pilgrims also came
from Australia and Europe, and all of them needed transportation in Moscow,
tickets to services and other events.
One of our
parishioners hosted a reception for the joint choir after they sang at a
Patriarchal all-night vigil in Bolshoye Vozneseniye Church. Fr Tikhon, Prior of
Sretensky Monastery, organized a huge reception on the monastery grounds. Their
hospitality was astounding. During those days, serving together and communing
of a single Chalice made us forget the years of separation…
- But there were
losses which are still felt today by us all…
- There were people
who loved Metropolitan Laurus and had received a great deal of help from him in
their clerical careers, and it was painful to see them turn away from him, some
even going into schism. Many of them were worthy pastors, and we lost a lot of
good people of the Church, who were deceived, or whose personal gain prompted
them to leave, or those who were simply afraid.
The Russian
Orthodox Church Outside of Russia did not lose its independence with the
signing of the Act of Canonical Communion: we decide our own internal matters,
including management of church property, and we appoint our own hierarchs and
clergymen.
Maybe there are
still things that confuse and alienate people from the Church, but it is only
in the Kingdom of Heaven where everything will be perfect, meanwhile, the
Church is a divine and a human organism: in the Church, one meets with God and
one also sees many human failings. But that fact shouldn’t drive us away.
Let us remember
what the Gospel says: it was neither Jews nor Romans but human passions that
crucified Christ, but the Crucifixion leads eternally towards resurrection. So
one must see Divine allowance in these passions, which leads us also to
renewal.
- We are talking
today on the eve of the departure of the delegation of the Russian Church
Abroad to Moscow to participate in the anniversary celebrations. There will
also be celebrations held abroad…
- This time there
will be a more modestly-sized delegation: Archbishop Mark of Berlin and
Germany, Archbishop Michael of Geneva and Western Europe; Protopriest Alexander
Lebedeff from the US and Protopriest Andrew Phillips of England, and I will go
as Secretary to the First Hierarch, Metropolitan Hilarion, who will head our
delegation.
We are all members
of the working group that continues to discuss matters relating to
strengthening our ecclesial unity. One of the items on our agenda this time
will be the question of ROCOR parishes in Russia. Now there are no more than
ten of them. In accordance with the Act of Canonical Communion, the time has
come for these parishes to merge with the local dioceses where they are
located.
The part of the
Church Abroad which is outside of Russia is preparing a large hierarchal
conference to mark the 5th-anniversary, with the participation of all the
bishops of the united Russian Orthodox Church who serve in the diaspora, and
also hierarchs from Russia. This conference will be held in London in October.
- Fr Serafim,what
does the unity of the Russian Church mean for you personally, and for your
family?
- I have awaited
this since childhood. When I was growing up, I saw that Papa subscribed to
periodicals published both in the diaspora and in Moscow. And I always
wondered: why aren’t we together? I learned from my father that our family
yearned for unity and never condemned those who were on the “other side of the
curtain.”
My
great-grand-uncle, Archbishop Yuvenaly (Kilin) began his hierarchal service in China,
and in 1947 found himself in Russia and was later buried in Izhevsk, at the
altar of the local cathedral. My grandfather, meanwhile, emigrated to Australia
and served as a clergyman there, building a big church dedicated to the
Protection of the Most-Holy Mother of God, and a Russian school and old-age
home.
New Hieromartyr
Andronik of Perm ordained my great-grandfather to the priesthood—Fr Konstantin
Yumin. Archbishop Andronik was killed in 1918, and Fr Konstantin also died in a
concentration camp.
All of our
ancestors desired reunification. And we always strove towards this.
When in 2000, I
prayed during one of the Patriarchal services in Arkhangelsky Cathedral in
Moscow’s Kremlin, I asked the Lord to grant me the opportunity to make some
small contribution in the work of reestablishing unity within the Russian
Church. After I returned to Australia, Vladyka Laurus soon became the
Metropolitan and suggested that I move to America. I saw this as an answer to
my prayers.
For me, the unity
of the Church is the living bond with Russia, her holy sites and New Martyrs.
We always strove to this living bond, and now all we must do is make use of
what God has granted us in response to our prayers."
By Protopriest Serafim Gan
Source: http://www.synod.com/synod/engdocuments/enart_protseraphimgannewmartyrs.html
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