Moscow, 27 December 2007 (Interfax):
The Holy Synod of the Moscow Patriarchate decided at its winter session on Thursday to open a department [concerned with] the Chinese Orthodox Autonomous Church (COAC). The decision by the Holy Synod [accentuates] the need to continue the efforts taken by the Department for External Church Relations in its dialogue with the Chinese [authorities] to normalise the situation of Orthodox believers in China. ”Under difficult conditions, many Orthodox believers in China have retained the Christian faith and their canonical ties with their Mother Church, the Moscow Patriarchate”, the session participants said, and their opinion is cited in the final documents [adopted by] the Holy Synod.
The Russian spiritual mission existed in China since 1713 and it was abolished for political reasons in 1954. In 1956, the MP Holy Synod granted autonomy to the COAC and appointed Archimandrite Vasili [to head] the Diocese of Beijing. Following the latter’s death in 1962, the COAC fell into decay. In 1997, the Holy Synod of the Moscow Patriarchate said that, under existing circumstances, Patriarch Aleksei II of Moscow and All Russia would [care] for Orthodox [believers] in China.
Interfax-Religion
