Archbishop Hilarion of Sydney, the new First Hierarch of the ROCOR
New York, 12 May 2008 (ITAR-Tass):
Archbishop Hilarion Kapral of Sydney, Australia, and New Zealand was elected the First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR). Voting for the office was held Monday at a conference of the ROCOR Council of Bishops in New York. Enthronement of the newly elected First Hierarch is scheduled for this Sunday, 18 May.
His Beatitude Hilarion’s predecessor, Metropolitan Laurus Skurla, died on 16 March at the age of 80. Metropolitan Laurus became the symbol of the reunification of the ROCOR with the Moscow Patriarchate. The event took place on 17 May 2007 when Patriarch Aleksei II of Moscow and all Russia and His Beatitude Laurus signed the Act of Canonical Communion. The document put an end to a split between the two branches of the Russian Church that lasted for almost eight decades.
As ROCOR hierarchs gathered for the session of the Council of Bishops, spokesmen for the Moscow Patriarchate voiced the hope that the newly-elected First Hierarch would continue Metropolitan Laurus’s policy of solidifying the reunification. During the metropolitan’s funeral in Jordanville NY. Archbishop Hilarion said it is necessary to continue moving along the course that the two Churches embarked upon. “Now, thanks to this unity, our Church is growing stronger by the power of God’s mercy”, he said.
The Bylaws of the ROCOR say that its First Hierarch has the title of Metropolitan and is elected by the Council of Bishops for life. Apart from being the chairman of the conferences of the Council of Bishops and the Synod of Archpriests (I did not have access for a Russian original for this, do they mean the Holy Synod?: editor’s note), the ruling metropolitan also takes care of the internal and external affairs of the Church. He has the power to convene the Councils of Bishops and the All-Diaspora Councils where representatives of the laity take part along with the clergy, to compile reports on the situation in ROCOR, to communicate with other autocephalous Orthodox Churches on the issues of church life, to maintain contacts with secular authorities in various countries, and to address ROCOR’s entire congregation with pastoral epistles and moral instructions.
The ROCOR is governed by the Council of Bishops that convenes annually and has the status of the supreme body for issuing edicts, as well as governance, adjudication, and control over activities of the Church. Apart from electing the First Hierarch, the Council also resolves general issues pertaining to the faith, morals, liturgical life, church discipline, educational and missionary activities, and it is also a court of adjudication in the last instance. It handles all affairs related to matters of principle in treating with contemporary schisms and false teachings, and to legal defence of the interests of the ROCOR in the courts and its representation before all other governmental agencies.
ITAR-Tass
http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=12669853&PageNum=0 (in English)
Our Priest sent an email to our Parish sharing:
“All the bishops voted to elect him on the first ballot. There was only one dissenting vote—his own.”
May God grant Metropolitan Hilarion many years!