Relevant News – Page 2 – Synodal Secretariat for Inter-Orthodox Relations

Metropolitan Mark of Berlin and Germany meets with His Holiness Patriarch Porfirij of Serbia | Митрополит Берлинский и Германский Марк встретился со Святейшим Патриархом Сербским Порфирием

English:

BELGRADE, 26 November 2021: His Holiness Patriarch Porfirij of Serbia met with His Eminence Metropolitan Mark of Berlin and Germany of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia.

As was noted by His Holiness on his Instagram account: “During the Annunciation feast about 40 years ago at Celije Monastery, as a first-year seminary student, I noticed from afar a hieromonk who appeared at first glance to be very somber. My first impression was confirmed when I learned that this a German citizen named Father Mark of the Russian Church Abroad.

Since then we have met many times. Later, when I became a hierodeacon, I spent a week with him in his monastery in Munich, and today, as I spoke with Metropolitan Mark of Berlin and Germany at Entrance of the Holy Virgin Into the Temple Monastery, I was left with the impression of a broad-minded and kind man, the fruit of decades of life with the Russian people, their spirituality and culture.”

Русский:

С сайта Священного Синода:

БЕЛГРАД: 26 ноября 2021 г.: Как сообщается на странице Святейшего Патриарха Порфирия в Инстаграме, в пятницу, 26 ноября, Его Святейшество
принял митрополита Берлинского и Германского Марка. Встреча прошла в весьма теплой атмосфере.

Из записи Его Святейшества: «На Благовещение лет сорок назад в Желийском монастыре я, будучи первокурсником, смотрел издалека на иеромонаха, иностранца, который мне на первый взгляд показался суровым. Мое первое впечатление подтвердилось информацией о том, что это был немец отец Марк из Русской Зарубежной Церкви. С тех пор, мы встречались много раз. И когда, будучи молодым иеродиаконом, я провел неделю в его монастыре в Мюнхене, и сегодня, когда я разговаривал с митрополитом Берлинским и Германским Марком в Введенском монастыре, я оставил только впечатление широты и доброты, которые являются плодом десятилетий жизни с русскими, их духовностью и культурой».

Relevant News

Greetings from Metropolitan Onuphry of Kiev and All Ukraine to the conference on the 100th anniversary of the Russian Church Abroad

From the website of the Holy Synod:

Kiev, November 22, 2021:

Dear Fathers, Brethren and Sisters,

Greetings on the opening day of this international academic forum dedicated to the centenary of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia.

The tumultuous 20th century with its revolutions and world wars shook up the traditional system of Local Orthodox Churches. One of the particular phenomena that became very widespread as a result of the upheavals pf the 20th century was the large Orthodox diaspora dispersed throughout the world. Today, millions of Orthodox Christians live outside of their traditional homelands in parts of the world where there were traditionally no Local Orthodox Churches. Among these are the countries of Western Europe, North America, Asia, Africa, and Australia. It is beyond dispute that the former peoples of the Russian Empire – Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians – have a special place in the Orthodox diaspora.

The 20th century history of the Russian diaspora is so multifarious that scholars will likely be studying the history of emigre church communities after 1917 for many years to come. Of course, the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia has a special place in this history. Its formation and development in various countries are important parts of church history in the past century. Yet today it is no less (and perhaps more) important to try to understand the identity of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia. As is well known, the hierarchs behind the ROCOR made a quite distinct ideological choice that shaped the ROCOR’s unique character. We must thus pay particular attention to the theological and liturgical legacy of the ROCOR, as well as taking a closer look at the monastic tradition that took shape within it. It is likewise important to trace the trajectories of the lives of the hierarchs who served the Russian Church Abroad. Nowadays, researchers have access to a great number of previously unavailable archival collections. This has rendered it possible to refer to more reliable sources and reevaluate superficial assessments that had been circulating in previous scholarship.

The centenary of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia is a good occasion to think over these and many other questions. In order to study such a phenomenon as the Russian diaspora church from all angles, it is imperative to develop international collaboration among scholars, not to lose sight of the links between times, and to attempt to grasp which parts of the ROCOR’s rich legacy are most important and valuable for us today.

I sincerely wish all those involved a blessed and successful conference, and I hope that the present forum will be an important milestone in the great and important work of studying the historical journey and legacy of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia.

+ Metropolitan Onuphry of Kiev and All Ukraine
Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church

Europe, Relevant News

An interview with the priest of the ROCOR parish in Cannes, regarding the recent decision of the French court and the awaited return of the church building to the ROCOR’s usage | Интервью со священником прихода РПЦЗ в Каннах по поводу недавнего решения французского суда и ожидаемого возвращения храма в пользование РПЦЗ

English:

15 November 2021 (with information from RIA Novosti):

The French court of Grasse recently recognized the Church of the Archangel Michael in Cannes as the property of Russia — a long sought-after step in the process of the building’s eventual return to the usage of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia.

The historical church building was constructed in Cannes in 1894 with donations from the Russian community. Three years later, a four-story house for priests and clergy was built on the territory. With the approval of Emperor Nicholas II, all the parish land and the real estate built on it were taken into the ownership and jurisdiction of the Holy Synod on November 3, 1897 — that is, into the ownership of the Russian Empire.

The church has been for most of its history under the ROCOR, though in 2013, a group of former parishioners undertook a process to come into possession of the building, thereafter deciding to submit to a non-canonical religious organisation with leadership in Ukraine, though later affiliating themselves with the Archdiocese of Parishes of Russian Tradition in Western Europe, then under the Patriarchate of Constantinople. In 2014, Russia received from France the ownership of the Archangel Michael Church; but in the same year, the former head of the Russian Orthodox Cult Association (ACOR), Vladimir Jansen, began a lawsuit against Russia, trying to challenge the ownership of the church.

In an interview with RIA Novosti, the rector of the ROCOR parish of Archangel Michael and representative of the First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia in Cannes, Priest Anthony of Odaisky, noted: ‘When Russia has finally reclaimed the church as its own property, then there will follow the question of its restoration and the normalisation of parish life. We are ready to return to our native church even tomorrow.’

Русский:

15 ноября 2021 г. (по информации РИА Новости):

Французский суд города Грасс недавно признал храм Архангела Михаила в Каннах собственностью России — долгожданный шаг в процессе возможного возвращения здания Русской Православной Церкви Заграницей.

Исторический храм был построен в Каннах в 1894 году на пожертвования русской общины. Спустя три года на территории был построен четырехэтажный дом для священников и духовенства. С одобрения императора Николая II все приходские земли и построенная на них недвижимость 3 ноября 1897 года были переданы в собственность и юрисдикцию Священного Синода, то есть в собственность Российской Империи.

На протяжении большей части своей истории церковь находилась под управлением РПЦЗ, хотя в 2013 году группа бывших прихожан предприняла процесс перевода имущества в личное владение, после чего решила подчиниться неканонической религиозной структуры с управлением на Украине, а затем присоединились к Архиепископии приходов русской традиции в Западной Европе, находившейся в составе Константинопольского Патриархата. В 2014 году Россия получила от Франции в собственность храм Архангела Михаила; но в том же году бывший глава Русской православной культовой ассоциации (АКОР) Владимир Янсен подал иск против России, пытаясь оспорить право собственности на храм.

В интервью РИА Новости настоятель прихода РПЦЗ Архангела Михаила и представитель Первоиерарха Русской Зарубежной Церкви в Каннах, иерей Антоний Одайский подчеркнул: « Когда Россия окончательно вернет храм в свою собственность, тогда встанет вопрос о его восстановлении и нормализации приходской жизни. Мы готовы вернуться в родной храм даже завтра ».