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leFoREIGN RELATToNS DBPARTMENT


SYNOD OF BISHOPS O F T H E R U S S I A N O R f H O D O X C H U R C HO U T S I D E O F R U S S I A

NEWSLETTER # 45 JuLy-August fg83 CHURCH FROI., T I H E L I F E - O F T H E R U S S T A NO R T H O D O X 9UTSIDE OF RUSSfA 9 * o u n c i1 o f B i s h o p s M e e t s i n , l , I a n s o n v i L I e ' Q u e b . e c From 2-L3 August (N.S.), the Council of Bishops of the Russian OrthSkete in Manodox Church Outside of Russia met in Holy Transflguration B i s h o p s and certain o f C o u n c i t a b o u t t h e P a r t i c u l a r s sonviIle, Quebec. of its acts and declslons will be published in a special supplement to the nevrsletter of the Department of PubIic & Foreign Relations, priest of the of the "OrLlrodox Qhurch ijn America" Enterg J-urisdiction Russian Orthodox Church Outside of -Russia The nr.ie.sl Stephen Romanchak, former rector of the church of St. John refusing to subthe Divine in Monessen, Pennsylvania (near Pittsburgh), m i t t o t h e d e m a n do f t h e " O r t . h o d o x C h u r c h i n A m e r i c a " t o c h a n g e t o t h e papal calendar, has sought refuge under the omophorion of the bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia and has been received into Father .),1r r-hrrrehhv Vladyka Metropolitan and His Grace Btshop Gregory.
I'r.Avv v r r s ! v r r e J u

Si-pnhen anrl his


evi,rrvrr

family,

together

with

his

parifhts

warden and more than

forrtv of his former p3rishioners, has founded a mission, dedicated to St. The Basil the Great, in Belle Vernon, a town not far from Pittsburgh. 1rrn.'nrieqt- his wife and four small children, have established temporary while the parish proceeds with plans for the pur,esidence in a trailer chase of a sizeable piece of property and the erection of a house of wort r ' 4 r v s e ,

Srrr v .

New Old-Ritualist

ig the Russian OrthodoT Church Outside of,Russia OId BeA large group, several hundred families strong, af priestless of their precentor Pimen Simon, has declded Iievers, under the direction to unite with the Russian orthodox Church Outside of Russia. and the resolttThe' r:ro.:pss required considerable time for preparation questions, Thus, besides reaching a decition of guite a few practical sion on the means of receiving so large a group into the Church, it was to transform an Old Believer house of prayer into a tradifirst:rlecssdr! The precentor tional Orthodox church with a sanctuary and altar table. Pimen Simon and his family were united to the Russian Orthodox Church Outwhich was performed by His Grace, Archbishop side of Russia by chrismation, of the precentor Pimen Slmon took place at HoIy Laurus, The ordination during the Apostlesr Fast, and soon afterTrinity Monastery in Jordanville wards, in his own church in Erie, Pennsylvania, he was ordained to the as set forth in ritual in accordance with the ordination holy priesthood, The fast of the Dormition the old, pre-Nikonian prinLed servlce books. of the Old Ritufor the parishioners was used as a period of preparation community to receive the mysteries of chrisrnation and the holy Euchalist hundreds of newly reconciled On the feast of the Dormition itself, arist. Body and Blood of Christ t h u s c o m m u n e do f t h e l i f e - c r e a t i n g Otd Rltualists ror the first A small minorlty of Old Believers refused to follow time, .he call of their precentor and declined to be united to the Russian Orthformer house of prayer, havHowever, their odox Church Outside of Russia. ing been converted into a church suited for Orthodox worship, has nevertheless become the newest parish church in the Church Outside of Russia. The "Orthodox Church in Americar " learnlng that this grouP of Old BeParish
t,^vvv

-2Lievers was seeking unity with the Russian orthodox Church outslde of Russia, made an attempt to dissuade them from such a move. Nevertheless, the Brie community, though it does use English extensively in its Iiturqical services, refqsed to consider joinlng the American l'letropotia. The realization of this joyous event was brought about wiLh the assistance of Archpriest Dimitry Alexandrov and Fr. Theodore yurevich. An OId Believer group of the priested seet, in Australia, is also seeking union with the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia. Break-in at ou-r convent_on the Mount o.f o,rivgs in Jerusalem ^ ran^F+ was received on July 24 of this year, that Sister lrlaria, the porter of the lvlount of OLives Conventr orr returning to her quarters after the liturgy, found that the lock of her door had been broken and that all of her possessiorshad been thrown onto the f1oor. Sister Maria had no money, and none of her modest possessionshad been stolen. Apparently, the intention of the break-in was to frighten the sister and the other monastics. A metal implement was discovered in the ce1l, with which it appears the break-in was accomplished. The police, s u m m o n e di m m e d i a t e l y , arrived at the scene of the crime and dusted for finger prints in the hope of identify-ing the criminat. Sister l"laria, at the desire of the abbess, moved to a less isolated place. Aside from the maj-n convent building, there are many other small cells located within the eonventrs bounds, in which nuns rive. On August 11 a report was received from Jerusalem that the garden of our GethsemaneConvent was deliberately set afire. The conflagration was quickly extinguished, but it has proved impossible to identlfy the arsonr v Y v r e

Ordination

of

Schema-nionk Callinicus

f n J u n e o f t h e c u r r e n t y e a r , S c h e m a - m o n kC a l l i n i c u s (Persides) of the Kellion of the Nativity of the A11-holy Theotokos, a dependency of flra Mnnacrartr 6f Pantocrator on Mount Athos, was ordained first to the rank of hierodeacon by His Grace, Bishop Gregory, and on the following day to the rank of priest, by His Eminence, Metropolitan PhiIaret. It was suggested to Fr. Callinicus that he select an Old Calendarist bishop who would ordain him to the priesthoocl. Intimidated by the pres e n c e o f s e v e r a l O l c l C a l e n d a r i s t G r e e k g r o u p s , s c h e m a - m o n kC a l l i n i c u s a q l r r c r lt - h o n o r r l j s s i o n o f h i s m o n a s t e r y a n d r e c e i v e d t h e i r c o n s e n t t o h i s be:-ng ordained by Metropolitan philaret. "we have given him thrr Monastery's consent and paternal blessing, under the condition that he receive the rank of priest only from your allhonorable hands, bttt under no eircumstances from any Old Calendarist bishop of Greece," prohegumen Euthymius wrote to Metropolitan philaret. Immedlately after his ordination, the newly-ordained Hiero-schemamonk returned to his ketlion on Mount Athos.
r v ! .

RECENT NEWS ON THE CASE OF FR:

GLEB YAKUNIN

fn its August-September issue, the bulletin Reliqion a Atheism in the U.. S.p..B- reports that, according to lnf ormation Archimandrite Grigory, secretary to Metropolitan Jur4enaIy of Krutitsa, visited Fr. Gleb Yakunin in his camp in the Ural l,lountains on orders from the Metqave him Communion, brought him a Bible and had a long converropolitan' sation with him, the content of which no one knows. Archimandrite Grigory told a correspondent of the Soviet news agency TASS that he had gone at the behest of Metropolitan Juvenaly, who had obtained for him special permission from the authorities. "f spent many hours with Fr. Gleb yakui n , " h e s a i d l " I g a v e h i m a B i b l e , a n d a f t e r c o n f e s s i o n a n d C o m m u n i o nw e spoke for a long time about the position of the Russlan orthodox Church t l ^ E r r ! ^ Fr. Gleb Yakunin now finds himself in particularly difficult conditions

-J-

i o r ic h os in V 'e p t D u l -r{E ln ily n in an unheated prison cel1v,'ith a minimum of clothinq. His family is forbidden to vislt hlm or write to him. The International HumanRights Society, centered in Hamburg, Germany, \as received a list from an agency which sends packages into the U.S.S.R. -'he names of twenty-four Soviet citizens appear on tfiis list, who are forbidden to recelve packages of any kind whatever. Among these names appears that of the wife of Fr. GIeb yakunin. western observers call attention to the fact that Metropolitan Juvenaly of Krutitsa & Kolomna vras the hierarch who showed the mbst "care" for Fr' Dimitri Dudko when he was arrested. He later "canre to his senses.,, They also note that while the authorities confiscated Fr. Glebrs Bib1e, 1t ls now being restored to him by the Patriarchate of t4oscow. Foreign correspondents suggest that such "attention" on the part of the patriarc h a t e o f l r { o s c o wc a n b e e x p r a i n e d a s a m e a n g t o a v o l d c r i t i s m at the vanSouverAssemblyof the World Councll of Churches,

C O U N C I LO F ? H E O R T H O D O X CHURCH OF SERBTA In late May of the current year there took place a Council of Bishops of the orthodox Church of Serbia, under the presidency of patriarch German. All bishops took part in the Council, with tlre exception of Bishop christopher of Eastern America & Canada and BishopVasii-ir,iIeof Australia & New Zealand, A11 the bishops delivered reports on their dioceses. From t,hem tt was apparent that "the general situation of the Church is complex and grave.'..The attitude of certain representatives of the regime with regard to the Church does not always agree with the Constitutlon, and there are facts which confirnr that the participation at ecclesiastical festivals ls seen as something negative. Pressure is being brought to bear upon children not to take part in t.he St. Savva festivals and not to attend atechism classes. Property is being confiscated from the Church, which nas been guaranteed it by law. " T h e C o u n c i l h a s f o r m e d a s e p a r a t e C a n a d j - a nc l i o c e s e , t h e c a t h e d r a o f which is in Toronto, and has also approved a constitution for the Diocese of Australia & New Zealand.
Patriarch Iqnatius IV (Hazim) of Antioch in Rome

As the bullet-in of the Vaticanrs Secretariat for the promoting of Christian Uni-ty reports in its january-May issue, patriarch Ignatius fV of Antioch arrived in Rome in May, for a four-day visit. The Patriarch, accompanied by four bishops and two archimandritesr drrived in Rome on Wednesday, 11 t'lay. He was met a.t the airport by Bishop TorrelIa and a group of priests from Lhe Secretariat for the promotion ot Chrj-stian unity. The Secreataria'tts bul]etin emphasizes that there were ttrn.)mpnl-q
, fr .,vrusrruD e \J n y^ qr !f ' tq rr s ri n v rur r ! in ln . rr /u y o f t a n c e "

i a nn -n 'welcome , L=rru r r \ ;1L (r uur distingulshed guest a sincere and brotherly , also in the name of the entire year Church of Rome, f hope that thi; Jubitee .ay contrrbute to hasten the moment of the desired fuII union of all those who believe in Jesus Christ, Son of God incarnate, who died, rose aqain and ascended into heaven l " Thereafter, Cardinal Willebrands "gfave the sj.gn of peace" to the patriarch and his suite. Before the final blessing, the patriarch was invited ]-ond

ment which no Orthodox person who values his Church can dispute. on the day after his arrival, vLz, the Catholic feast oi the Ascension, the Patriarch and his entlre party went to the Basilica of St, peter to be present at the mass served by Pope,John Paul II. At the end of his serlturr/ Ene vope greeted the Patriarch warmly. He said in his speech: rr...I address my respectful and cordia] greeting t.o His Beatitude tgnace fV Hazim, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch, who is in Rome at this time for a series of ecumenical meetings and discussions with the Holy See. fn exllA^ l-r^*^

dUf ing

thiS

ViSit

tO

ROme,

Sgnti-

-4* to go up to the high altar and give the finar bressing of the mass to those who had come to attend the papal mass. T!* popets blessing was qiven immediately thereafter. Then, dt the end of the riturgy, the pope, with the Patriarch at his right, went through the whole Basirica to greet the people. on Frlday, !1ay 13th, the Patriirch was received by the pope in a special audience' At that time there took prace and exchange of gifts and official greetings. on saturday, May 14th, the Patriarch visited the vatican.s secretariat for the Promotion oi christian unity, where he was met by its chairman, cardinal willebrands, r ^ i h oa r s o g r e e i e a h i m w i t h a l e n g t h y s p e e c h futl of expression of hope for the rapid conclusion of a union. Having spent four days in Rome, the Patriarch stirt found tlme to visit an orthodox church; ne attended the arl-night v i g i l a t a Greek orthodox church. Before departing for the airport, the Patriarch made a statement in erabic which was broadcast over the vatrcan radio statr.on: "1 am most happy to be the guest of the Holy raiher, and from the first moment of this visit r have been struck by the ioar* welcome and the sincere feelings expressed by His Holiness and by the faithful o f t h e church of Rome' r thank the Holy Father ror rrav:.ng spoken to the faithfui inout my presence in the Basilica of st. Peter, words that were so sincere and cordial ' His Holiness lnvited me to join him in giving the btessing to the faithfur ' r was moved when the Hoty ralher isred. me to glven 9 . " p L y the blessing first and in mv own Arabic tongue. Alr these affectlonate g estures of the Holy Father moved *" g.*uity. r hope that this will h a v e its influence on arl Christians in such a way that the catholic will realise that the orthodox is his neighbor and vice verse" r have great trust in seelng this sol-idarity and brotherliness realized amongr our faithfur in the East, in seeing thern and. considerlng them as compternentary one to the othrer and not in oppositlon as has happened in the plst.,, IIFTICULTIqS IN JERW In j'ts June 27Lh issue, f -imeMagazine reports that incidents of hooI'iganism are becoming more ana more-Trequent. T h e curprits in these d.isorderly activities are groups of ultra-orthoclox Jews who direct their antrcs against any one, even their fellow Jews, Lf they do not b"toni-io*" thej-r own little sect. They have declared the exist6nce of the state of rsrael to be blasphenry and aya,lt the appearance ,,Messiah',, o f t h e i r w h o will set up his own spiritual kingdom. For this reason, they do not refrain even from patently anti-gov6rnmental activlties. Thus, dt a farewell party in Jerusalem for high school grraduate s enteringr military service, a mob of ultra-orthodox.rewi, armed witn clubs and metil bars, not onry disrupted the festivities, but also partialry destroyed the community center where they were bej-ng herd. Another group of fanatics ransacked an rsraeli census office, claiming that countj-ng peopre violated divine law. At a performance of Handel'i Meq:-g!. by the'utah oratorio society, young hooligans repeatedly interrupted tffi c6ncert with shouts of ,,shame!,,and were removed from the stage by police after they stormed it. when Mayor Teddy K o 1 l e k o f J e r u s a l e m d e n o u n c e c t . . t h gh o o l i e a n i s m a t a r a I l y , a man spit in hrs -f3ce and procraimed that "cod quru-;. the strength ,, to do it. The situation is made more complex by the pt."*i". of severar groups of Hasidim, each of which is headeb by it= own heredi;";; ;;;;;-;r; usu_ ally is 1n bitter opposition to other orthodox groups. Particularly zearous orthodox Jews have a birth- rate three times greater than that of other grroups, and for this r,eason they are taking over wliole areas quite rapidry.' They have ueen tryinq to take over areas near thejr traditionar neighborhooasl offering twice the market varue to entice secular rsraelis to sell their homes, una threatening those who refuse to move' At reast one family has been burned out. t h e i e m i l i t a nt orthodox qroups despise other Jews as compromisers, even if their are orthodox, and

-5secular Israelis they treat as grievous sinners. They do not hide thelr hatred for the small group of Christian clergy. The agressive hostility of the ultra-orthodox has had other sprintering effects on Israeili society. Most of the zealots are Ashkenazim (Jews of European background), while the majority of Israetis are now Sephardim (of Asian or Af'rican origin), who have diflerent customs. Someof those being forced out of the neighborhoods adjacent to those of the ultra-orthodox are also Sephardim. Prime l'linister Begln was reluctant to move against religious rioters, partly because his coalition government needed the votes of the Agudat Isracl D:ri-rr '''hlch is backed by the ultra-orthodox. But the atticks have become so prevalent, and the qovernment feels so secure, that police are now cracking down on the hooligans. obvlousf y distressed, the recently elected Chief Rabbi of the Sepharcl.im Mordecal E11ahu, pleased that Jewish factions "must not exploit each other", and a spokesman for the new Ashkenazi chief Rabbi, ivraham Shapiro, said, "rt is forbidden for one Jew to lift a hand against another Jew.', so far, however, the zealots have listened only to iheir own rabbinicar authorities, who have not publicty denounced the rriolence. ? H E R E S U L T SO . .F T N S U F F I C I E N T R E L I G I O U S U P B R I N G T N G Dr. }Jj1 - l iarn P. wi 1son, a pshychiatrist'who was f ormerly chairman of the biological medicine division at the Duke l"ledicat Center of Duke University, f ) ru t r ms r i i , r lrr l n\ r lr - ]r r rr u !h,: r u carolina, has issued a statement which has provoked stormy reactions from his colleagues. Speaking at a reunion of lhe University-fs Class of 1943, he said: "I know that many persons on the faculty and in the adrninistration wilr say that a spiritual life doesn't make i aifference; but they are wrong. They simply have not examined the evidence. rt takes very little evidence to refute their contentions. " on the-'basis of his treatment of Duke University students for several years' the psychiatrist asserted that the University's low level of religious emphasis shows up in the use of drugs and atcohol and,'relaxed sexr:al mores that lead to a fairly hlqh incidence of abortions among the women." He stated further that "there are many who are riodled with qu1lt after having as many as four abortions durinq thei:: student life at D u k e ," of course, sltch accurate observations have provoked a storm of controversy, and Dr. Dennis CampbelI, dean of the Duke Divinity School, has labe1leci Dr- Wilsonts statements as "absotutely outrageous" and "totally ll r r ^ ^ F o R I N F . A N T SS L A I N r N A B O R T I O N S BErI@gyrcES TLe Her_ald, a Ukrainian newspaper published in Winnlpeg, Canadar rp o r t s i n i t s , J u n e l s t i s s u e that Californj-a Superior Court Judge E1i Chernow has signed an order which would allow a religious burial for 16r390 aborted infants whose corpses were discovered last year. The Los Angeles Superior Court had barred the transfer of the fetuses to a burial site because of controversy over an interfaith memorial servr.ce planned at the site by foes of abortion. T h e W o m e n r sH e a I t h C e n t e r , r:epresent.ed by the Anerican Civil Liberties Union, filed a suit to prevent release of the fetuses to any qroup for on-site religj-ous funeiat services. A non-sectarian cemetery had offereci to provide free burial for the corpses of the infants, bttt the Catholic l,eague for Religious and Civil rights' backed by other Christian and pro-liie groups, said they wanted to pray for the slain babies at the burial pite. The women's gioup said they didn't object to prayers held elsewhere, but a grave-sj-de memoriat service was unconstitutional because the state was involved i-n the burial. The Deputy District Attorney said the state would arrange the burial, but

-6*

the state wourdn't be involved in a separate burial-site service. He c : ia d tu { - lr -r nf 'bwenty ciays D L l rt.i n srr u usting groups t o a p p e a r t h e o pinlon. w hatl u d ever is resotved with regard to the 6ventuar burlal of the more than 16,000 innocent victims, the bodies of 193 of them are being witherd by the county coroner,'j-n that it appears that they ir"-over t w e n t y w e e k s of aqle, the state's legal 11mit tor abortion. prosecutors are still c onsidering criminal charges for the performance of illeqal a b o r t i o n s i n these cases. The problem of the disposal of the corpses of aborted infants is rlsing in various places in the unites states. Thus, the newspaper Morar Mgiority Repor-L reports in its septembei j-ssue that in wichita, K;n;;iit has become known that human remains of aborted fetuses, Iabetled,,biological wastes" by the wesley Medical center, are being incinerated in the same furnace in which tha city incinerates the l:odies of dead anj-mars. "When of the plastic bags ItabeIled "biological wastes,,] broke ? l u open recent]'y, the bodies of several human fetuses fell out ano Lhe worker real Lzed he had been thowing aborted fetuses into the furnace along with dead animafs," ;;l;;;-d;;;; :"19 Joseph schneidler of the pro-Lif. in chicago' Though the wesley Medicar center admitted to h a v i n g d i s p o s e d of fetuses in the furnace for years, city officials. under pressure from the pubric, have now ord.ered the practice discontinued. wichita officials sajd the city would no longer accept any additional f e tal tissues for incineration, and those , r " i n g i n c i n e r a t o r s must find immedihospitars a t e a l t e r n a t i v e m e t h ods. "itv
Iil1_N & ABORTIONS

Bob Greene, a reporter for the Nqw York Daily News, t i o n t o t h e f a c t t h a t a n u m b e r o f h @ u a i n t a n c e w h o s e w i v e s has brought attenor lovers have committed lnfanticide by abortion, b..o*" noticeably more sombre of countenance when remincled of thj-s fact, some even sired tears. Tlr:s interested him considerabry; "n d , r r dh e b e g a n t o d oa r e s e a r c h o n t h e s u b Fie turned for help to a professo:: of sociology 3ect' at Drexer university i-n Philadelphia' Reporter Greene also interviewed hindreds of rnenwhose wrves and girlfiends had had abortions. Professor --Arthur Shostak explained to the reporter that ,,Most of the men r tark to think about the abbrtion years after it is over. They feel sad, they feel curicus, they feel a lot-of things; but usually they have talked to no one about it. rt's a taboo. rt's not accepted for tSem to talk about it. biith the female, the stress ls $o well-known-what it will do to her reputation, what her iamlly's reaction will be, etc. M e n are so used to providing support for femltes d.uring the time of an abortion that no one ever thinks atrout what the men Arrr nn.inn t h i n ko r r t a s j u s r a n c p e r a r ior nh a t . ' l : l ' " ; : " 3 3 ' : 7 l i i i i S l ; ; ; ; t : : l f f : ; - ' 'I'hey think ing' of rt-even if they don't atwavs descrlbe it this wayas a ross of fatherhood." Many of tite men interviewed by hlm broke down and wept' one of the more moving cases occurred when the professor, in corlversation wj-th one such man, mentioned the term ,,fetus.,, With tears in his eyes, he interrupted ',rt', not a fetus werre tarking 11;, ""vi"q, about. f t's my son, He would be ttrree years old now,,, The News a newspaper from wleeling, west virginia, $tg l li e I ,u e reports in its 'lune-?J hi ss that chicago's carciinar iernardin s e r v e d a special m a s s f o r r , 2 a 0 c a t h o l i c s i n h i s r r 6 m ec a i h e d r a l , telling them,,cod roves you as you are.'' T h i s \ ' v a st h e f i r s t such mass cellebrated in chicago. Cardlnal Bernardin, well known for his mod.ernist ienaencres, served such nasses whire stirl archbishop of cincinnati, but little pubricity was glven them. rt is estimated that in America alone there are about eigtit million

-1* cathorics who have terminated their marital cohabitation and, thanks to this, ofl entering a new marriage, have found themselves automatically excommunicated by their church in accordance with Roman catholic 'aw' canon This, however. did not hinder the progressive cardinal f r o m servrnq ^ speclal mass for excommunicate catholics and telling t h e m i n h i s ser* mon that "There is no way r can take from you all the pain and burden of the human conditionBut r can assure you there's a God who loves you.,, The Lord demands only one thing in return-faith and fic1el1ty to Him.,, one Mrs' R o m a n , m a r r i e c l t o a m a n w h o h a d divorced his first lran wife after thirty-fiv e years of wedlock, said that she was very happy w i t h the cardinar's statement, whlch "shows he considers us part of the f1ock.,' Her new husband added that the cardinarrs mass "shoied the church has recognized changes take place. " rl'h. mrnaoine u.s.News & world Rep-ort reports in its Jury 25th lssue r hr : fr q =n nu av u e7 e u u. li ;r r ' r r 1 1 t $ o the observations of- f oreign journatists & r l u n e xpected r and sharp increase in religious strivings and m6vements is taklng prace in China rn Fuzhou, forty-two young chinese are studying to become protestant ministers.' Twice as nlany applicants were turnei ui.y for rack of class'r')^mcn>^a ar; the end of L9B2r dD estimated 200 protistant and 90 Catholic churches had been reopened. Buddhj-sts have begun to admit noviees lnto their monasteries again, and chinese Mosrems have even received government subsidies for religious schools run by rslamic imams. to establish definiie - rt is guite dlfficurt figures as to the number of christians 1n China, for arl retiglons fear that that such might frightcn the regime if a considerable numb6r of berievers was revealed and might result in renewed persecution of religion in general. However, estimates ;uld indicate that there are now no fewer than four mi.rlion christians of various denominations in china. unfortunately, it must be said that the spiritual fruits of Russian orthodox missionaries have utterly perished; reporters make no mention of the existence of orthodox christians or Russian churches. It is noted that in Christian (especially protestant) churches, the Chinese berievers demand long sermons of their pastors. Before, sermons used to take a harf hour on the averag:et now th; people are not satisfied wi-th anythlng less than an hour of pr6aching per service. They want to sing more hymns. Many sit through iwo consecutive services, though the pastors try to discouragre such a practice, to enable more worshippers to .ati-ond The government h a s a p p r o v e d t h e p r i n t i n g of one mirlion Bibles, which w i l l s e l l f o r $ 5 . 6 0 apiece. Keeping in mind that the averaqe salary of a Chinese worker is $45 per month, this is quj.te a hig.h price, yet demand outruns supply. A11 of this does not mean, however, that the atheistic communist party has altered its poricies with regard to reliqion. As western diplomats assess the situatj-on , the government has been led to take such in view of that impossibility of erradicating " ts "p pe =c i a r l y reli.gion at present, e since the youth is manireiting such interest in it; and this notwlthstandlD9, only recall the years of statin's tyranny in t.he u.s.s,R., when the athej-sts ordered a certain n u m b e r o f c h urches opened during world war rr 1n 'change for the people's support in t.he fale of the advance of Hitler,s
.- ,-'ICS .

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Cgf tain

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Buddhism and Taoism are so enqrained. in the life of the Chinese that, 1n the opinion of observers, it would be necessary to destroy completety two whole generations, to erradicate all traces ol those religions in the hearts of the people.

*B*

't"n::::l'u, have sever i:f,J *:flij:Jr"i:'li;tiii;t;:il"ir:* .,#i::.,'*ji:uii"* ffiiitff 3now E;5'3jt;":*i:f "pii"ii*;i:,;"TA;,
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1.'he New york_ba.c-n

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THE FA?E OF ARCHBTSHOP VALERTAN


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-9of Archbishop Valerian (Trifa), flew to tion of American citizenship fsrael late in.JuIy, where he will remain until such time as he prevails government to condemn Trifa as a war crlminal upon the Israell ln Israel itself. Archbishop Valerian, who belongs to the episcopate of the "Orthodox Church in Americdr" heads that churchrs Rumanian diocese. Having lost his American citlzenship, h is subject to but has hitherto deportation, not found a slngle of the world's countries which would consent to aceept him as a permanent resident. As the Jewish Press writes, Dr, Kremer does not agree that, in Archbishop vaferf6-rs-Ease, there is insufflcient evidence to condemn him in the same way as Adolph Eichmann was condemned. However, in private repregovernments express doubt bhat there sentatives of the American and fsraeli are sufficient facts for such a triat. insists that the fsrael sti1l only serious evidence at hand is the inflammatory antisemitic speeches of Trifa, and his membership in the Iron Guard, whi-ch he concealed from the Amerj-can authoritles when applying for citizenship. Df,. Kremer is quite right in considering that, if he succeeds in having Archbishop Valerian extradicted to Israel, such woutd set an slgnificant precedent for future trials of Nazi war criminals. CATHOLTCSIN THE NETHERLANDS The Wanderer, a Catholic newspaper, reports in its July 2lst issue that-caraiiTf willebrands irom-his position is retiiinq as Archbishop of Utrecht and Primate of the Netherlands, but is continuing to head the Vatican's Secretariat for the Promotion of Christian Unity. Cardinal Willebrands successor, Bishop Adrian Simonis of Rotterdarn, is known for his close friendship with the particularly staunch conservative Bishop Jan Gijsen. In appointing the new Dutch Primate, the Pope rgnored the list of candidates prepared by the Utrecirt Metropolltan This new appointChapter. ment has already caused much debate and alarm among modernist groups, In his last appeal to his fIock, Cardinal Wj-llebrands wrote that "This change in Utrecht will be for many of you a surprise and a disappoi-ntment. Many will experience this as painful. I do understand this. I am asking you urgently to meet Msgr. Simonis as my successor with comprehension and support. For him also, this task, which he has accepted in obedience, will be a difficult one." Cardinal WilLebrands has appeared to many to be a moderate who strove to reconcile four "progressive" bishops and two conservatives whom the Pope has also appointed, in the hope that they would be able to oppose the modernist majority Not satisfied of the Dutch epi-scopate. with the result of his ap5loi.ritment which has led to a rif t of two conservatives, not only between the bishops of Holland, but a large portion of the flock a s w e l l , t h e P o p e h a s e v e n s u m r n o n e dt h e w h o l e e p i s c o p a t e t o R o m e f o r a special. conference with him, Tlie new appointment is strengthening At the the conservative side. same time it 1s foreseen that Bishop Zwartkruis of Haarlem will soon re(retirement age for bishops is fixed at 15 years) . Also to be filled tire is the now vacant see of Rotterdam. that Observers are already predicting conservatives will be appointed to fiIl these vacaiicies, and that this will afford the Pope that possibility of straightening out the Dutch hierarchy to such an extent that in 1985 he will be able to speak of making a trip to the Netherlands. srxTH ASSEMBLY O f T H E W O R L pC O U N C I L O F C H U R C H E S r r i V A N C O U V E RC , ANApA Between July 24Lh and August 10th, the Sixth Assembly of the World Council of Churches was hetd in Vancouver, Brltish Columbj,a, Canada. The last such Assembly was held in Nairobi, in 1975.

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Since the W.C.C.,s Assembly in l,g..S, ten new churches have been ted to membership; but at admit_ the iame time five have rithdru*n, declared reasons, and three two for unin prote"t-orr.r the socialistic the organizatiol' activities of of parttcului a"tiiment to the t^'.c.c were the discro-

with r965' the catholics they have not joined its

ou"*i,,.,Jruxp.,t", ;:::i":";:i:i3?l::""3:,,,il:;: if ffi:;,;1,:::"::#:ii}*"' The Roman Catholics were represented


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by if.,iitV delegates. Beglnnlng have cooper"iua. the w,c.e. r dlthough iv - ig t ia -t te s ranks. i l ; ; ; . t h " i r " i o " "d e-ri e were two canadian

' Nlne hundred deregabes with the right to vote uook part in the ver Assembty; they represented vancou_ 301 ',chuiches,, from nlnety of t h e countries' w o rrd,s rn addition to these, tn"t* were no fewer than two thousand

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Despite such a significant number of parti.cipants at the Assembly, one had any ilruslons no about the achieving of unrly-among aIr these disparate groups. The Report of the central committee "while there is continuinq collaboration, to the slxth Assembly states: particularly in areas of study and reflection' efforts c o m m o na c t i o n , h l r g r a r g e r y b e e n unsuccessfur.,, r n t h e s a m e R e p o r t i t i s " ta l s o stated-irrat futt merilersrrlp of the cathotic Church ,'could, not. be u*p""t*a in the near future.,, Archpriest John lteyendorft, u-pi"tnit"nt clergyman of the ,,orthodox church in Americd", wrro it also a r n e m b e r o r the c.nir.r committee of the world council of churches, added, thaf ith. Roman-cuir.,oric church huge an institution is so tnat-if 1r:oi"uJ it would soii-or tar<e ovei il," thing. The w.c.c. represents 400r000,060 Catholic Church has g00,OOOrOO0 crriirtians of various sorts; while the members. Thomas Ryan, associate director of the canadian centre for Ecumenism a n d a R o m a nc a l h : ] i 9 c l t e d a somewhat different opinl0n as ro why the Roman catholic "Ie g;y m crh ic ha n , is not a member. He states that 1ic church sees "itself the cathou" the prace unity arready subsists ln the chureh, " ' whi re "membership ". "" is by in tr,e w."r . rc nationar churches . ,, T h e o r t h o d o x a l s o v i e w t h e m s e t v e sc io lt h e i s n * v . n d r f iru"u-*i"t" unity arready s u b sj - s t s " , b u t , a s e x p l a i n e a uy ni. rre orttrodox churches bec a m e m e m b e r s b e c a u s e o r a d e c l a r a t i o n - i a o p t u a - u vf-I1 . ,t" orthodox in Toronto in 1950' in "which it was specified on the insistence of the orthodox that even the term world council of churches did ;"i-a;;;ippo"" n e cessarily that each member church t."ognize s even the othei *"*1"r" a s c hurehes.,, rt is interesting to nole..that arcnpriest t'teyenaorrr, in his conversation with a eorrespondent of trre lrationlr catrroric Reg:s.!g_r, did not agree with the charges n,!de by t13 iriqLffie the television or proqram mentioned Lo,re.' He said that, @ 1 F r a n d o f t E E E rr . t h i s c r ' t i c l s m w a s " u n f a i r a n d e xu agg'.iituo council of churches, in his opinion, in*rr"r tremendou"ry...,, ,n. *iiiit' herped any terrorists; help movement" gx?Iuding any r.t dld support of vloIence.,, rt 1s surprisinq tnat several Protest3nt religious organizations (among them the salvation Army) have withdrawn thei. *"*u.i"i,ip in in"-w.i.c. because they understoo& *i't-ut onry appears t h e I e a r n e d c l e r i c o f t h e i ' o r t i , o a o * - c rtro urb . te r completery incomprehensible to in areri;;., The ,,o.c.A.,, was represented at the Assembll^bv srx oeregates, headed by Bishop of its Rumanian Diocese. Nathanair rowara the ;;;"luslon of.the session, Metroporltan Theodoslus arrived to greet his representatives. As one world, the officiar perioaiiir of the w.c.c, reports in r_ts lr-rty/eultEI-TEsue, the assembry simuilirr"o,r"ry t o o k p a r t in a two-hour "public manifestaiion" oF-irt" ;',rniveisui rru*.n for peace and justice." At the conclusion of the ne ""in week of "o th assembJ.y,a procession was organized in the evening, "h u"o n J whic wended its way-to-a rarge tent erected

rioi"ltr,.. .o,,nt;i;;; andeven pro_ "..,".u,

-tron the nearby campus of the University of British Columbia. There a "service of prayer for peace and justice" took place. When the prayer service concluded, a "meal of love" was served, in imitation of the aqape meals of the Christlans of the flrst f h e r r C g g p g r rf o o d w a s centuries. simply bread; the drink, "a mixture of milk and honey, recalling both wandering in the wilderness and the hope of a promised land." Afterwards, people remained in the tent "for an all-night vigil, with much silence, some singing, and reminders from time to time of how it goes in terms of peace and justlce in the Pacific, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Easter and Western Europe, the Carribbean, South and North Ameriregions f rom whlch the Assembly participants ca-the come." At daybreak on August 6th, the day when adherents of the New Calendar celebrate the Transfiguration, Archbishop Iakovos served an Orthodox 11turgy. to "show the connection between the terrible brightness of the atom b o m b a n d t h e s p l e n d i d v i s i o n o f t h e O n e W h o mC h r i s t i a n s call Lord, and Who was transfigured on a mountain ln the f'ltddle East two thousand years ago." Apparently no one who approached the chalice was refused Communlonat the Iiturgy of Archbishop Iakovos, including Catholic and Protestant clergymen. The Soviet delegation of the Patriarchate of Moscow was particularly heavily represented. ft was the first time that four Soviet nuns attended such a meeting. This delegation demandedthat the W.C.C. not address the Ietter a book on the sent to lt by Deacon Vladimir Rusak, who has written g r a v e c o n d i t i o n o f t h e C h u r c h u n d e r t h e y o k e o f C o m m u n i s ma n d h a s b e e n rronrirrorrnf xis eccleSiastical pOsition f or doing so. LikeWise, no cOnsidorrl.inn nf nn question unfavorable to Moscowwas permittedr .9. ", i tn i c ai l Soviet agres s-ilo n Afghanistan, even though the Assembly devoted much time to dlscussing the situation in El Sa1vador, Ni.caragua and Chile. Judglng from information printed in the W.C.C.'s own periodical, there were present at various religious eeremonies pagans, fire-worshippers and Hindus, who took part in demonstrative prayer serviceg on the same bases as Christians. Tho nrin^fpls theme of the Vancouver Assembly was "Jesus Christ-the Life of the world." Fr. Tissa Balasuriya, director of the Centre for Society & Religion in Sri Lanka, expounding upon thls theme in an article in One WorI9/ says that Christ "is beyond time and space. Transcendent and universal, Christ in this sense is neither Greek nor Jew, male nor female-and, we might adC, neither Christian nor Zoroastrlan. The cosmic Christ can be identified with the divine in such a way as to be understood as the divine principle In this sense, Chrj-st is readall theists accept. ily understandable as the life of the world, the one who keeps all things
i n hei no the CI.eatOf. "

How sad it is that Churches take part in

at the World Council of the Orthodox representatives thoughts and words. such a collection of heretical

DONATIONS RECEIVED & GRATEFULLY ACKNOWLEDGED

The Department of Public & Foreign Relations wishes to express its gratitude for the aid accorded its Newsletter by: His Eminence, heartfelt Metropolitan Philaret, T. Clader, Archimandrite Mitrofan, !4r. & Mrs, Prok o p c h u k , Y . G a p o n o v a , N . M a n d i e , 1 " 1 r ,& I v 1 r s . G a l i t z i n e , and Fr. B. Kizenko.

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