Orthodox Bloggers say that the Scale of Patriarch Aleksei’s Activities were Truly Universal

Patriarch Aleksei Rediger of Moscow and all the Russias (1929-2008)

Orthodox bloggers on the internet showed their grief over the death of Patriarch Aleksei, and they said that his patriarchal tenure was of universal stature. Philosopher Arkady Maler wrote in his internet-diary, “I am convinced that, de facto, Patriarch Aleksei had consequence for all of us. With his tenure, the Moscow Patriarchate began to play a universal role”. He went on to say, “There is a deep providential meaning in the fact that the last liturgy that the patriarch served was on the feastday of the Presentation of the Mother of God in the Temple, for it was precisely in his time that millions of Russians first went to church”. Science-fiction writer Dmitri Volodikhin noted in his blog, “I sorrow over the death of our patriarch. May God grant the successors of Aleksei the same skill that he had to steer the Church between the rock of Scylla and the whirlpool of Charybdis, not getting Her sucked into the vortex”.

Publicist Egor Kholmogorov in his post on his internet-diary thought that “the true crown of the archpastoral service of His Holiness Aleksei was the reunification of the Russian Church in 2007. Not long before his death, in the summer of 2008, even though he was weakened by infirmity, he was the agent of a totally-surprising miracle in the Ukraine. The Orange régime tried desperately to split the Orthodox away from the MP, inviting Patriarch Bartholomew of the EP for this purpose. The Ukrainian media loudly advertised the visit of the prelate from Istanbul, whilst it was forbidden to even to mention the fact of Patriarch Aleksei’s arrival. Numerous obstacles were placed in his way. This makes all the more striking the fact that crowds of people greeted His Holiness wherever he went”, Mr Kholmogorov emphasised.

Zakhar Mukhin, who is well-known for his stories about run-down Russian villages on “Live-Journal”, wrote, “Those whose eyes were not filled with tears, who accepted the news of the death of the patriarch apathetically, without even mentioning those who maliciously rejoiced at the news… they are not Russians. They may say that they are Russians, but, they are not. Once, my wife and I met the patriarch. In August 2005, we took a drive out to Maloyaroslavets in order to go hiking. We clambered around the slope of a desolate ravine, then, we saw the walls of the St Nicholas Chernoostrozhskoi Monastery. We saw that it had come back to life and it was alive again. I saw some policemen there. In jest, I asked one of the cops if they were waiting for the patriarch. Well… it turned out that they were! Soon, the car with His Holiness drove up. He blessed the people gathered there and went into the monastery to pray. My wife and I were shaken by this totally-unexpected and far-from-coincidental encounter”.

6 December 2008

Interfax-Religion

http://www.interfax-religion.ru/orthodoxy/?act=news&div=27693

Observers Find Symbolism in the Date of the Death of Patriarch Aleksei

Patriarch Aleksei Rediger of Moscow and all the Russias (1929-2008).

Patriarch Aleksei Rediger of Moscow and all the Russias died on the eve of the feastday of St Aleksandr Nevsky, whilst certain important milestones in his biography were connected with this saint, Interfax-Religion reported. Thus, the first responsible task given to the 16-year-old Subdeacon Aleksei in 1945 was to prepare the Cathedral of St Aleksandr Nevsky in Tallinn for its reopening ceremony. Archimandrite Aleksei was consecrated Bishop of Tallinn and all Estonia in that cathedral sixteen years later, in 1961. Then, Bishop Aleksei (the future Patriarch) refused to allow the Soviet government to close St Aleksandr Nevsky Cathedral. Many years later, Aleksei II insisted on returning the relics of St Aleksandr Nevsky from the Museum of Religion to the St Aleksandr Nevsky Lavra, and it became a very important event for the whole Church.

The Union of Orthodox Citizens (SPG) noted that St Aleksandr Nevsky left his mark in history as a “man who struggled for a prostrate Russia, he fought for Orthodoxy, and he won the victory, as he did not allow division in the country and the Church. Thus, His Holiness Patriarch Aleksei did not allow division in the Russian Orthodox Church”, Kirill Frolov, the head of the Moscow division of the SPG, said. Saying that Patriarch Aleksei passed away the day after the feast of the Presentation of the Holy Virgin into the Temple, he stressed that “the whole epoch of Patriarch Aleksei was a presentation of Russia to the Church, and, today, we can say that our First Hierarch brilliantly fulfilled the main mission of his life”.

6 December 2008

Interfax-Religion

http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=5478

Patriarch Aleksei to Be Buried at the Epiphany Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin

Patriarch Aleksei Ridiger of Moscow and all the Russias (1929-2008)

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Patriarch Aleksei Ridiger of Moscow and all the Russias will be buried in the Epiphany Cathedral in Moscow on Tuesday, 9 December, Metropolitan Kirill, the head of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations, said on the television programme Slovo Pastyrya (The Word of the Pastor) broadcast on the Pervy Kanal (First Channel) network on Saturday. Aleksei himself wished to be buried in the Epiphany Cathedral, where he had served the Liturgy for years and where the relics of St Aleksei, the deceased patriarch’s patron saint, are buried, Vladyki Kirill said. One of Patriarch Aleksei’s predecessors, Patriarch Sergei Stragorodsky of Moscow and All Russia (1867-1944, ruled 1943-44, patriarchal locum tenens 1925-43), is also buried in the Epiphany Cathedral, Metropolitan Kirill noted.

On Saturday afternoon, the coffin containing the patriarch’s body shall be brought to the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, which shall open its doors to the public, “so that the people can come and bid farewell to their Patriarch”, according to Metropolitan Kirill. During the night, priests shall read the Gospel and serve a pannikhida, after which, an all-night vigil shall be served. On Sunday morning, all the members of the Holy Synod, including the locum tenens, who shall be named by the Holy Synod by that time, shall serve a Divine Liturgy. The assembled priests of Moscow shall serve a pannikhida near Patriarch Aleksei’s body on Sunday night, and, on Monday morning, another Divine Liturgy shall be served, Metropolitan Kirill said. At 08.00 on Tuesday, one more Divine Liturgy will be served at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, after which, the funeral service will begin. The coffin will be carried in procession around the cathedral, and then the Patriarch shall be buried at the Epiphany Cathedral.

6 December 2008

Interfax-Religion

http://www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=27682

 

The MP Holy Synod Selects Metropolitan Kirill Gundyaev of Smolensk and Kaliningrad as the Patriarchal Locum Tenens

Metropolitan Kirill Gundyaev of Smolensk and Kaliningrad (1946- ), the patriarchal locum tenens. Does this mean that he is out of the running for the post of First Hierarch? The locum tenens is viewed as a “place-holder” until the election. God willing…

At an emergency session today, the Holy Synod of the Moscow Patriarchate chose Metropolitan Kirill Gundyaev of Smolensk and Kaliningrad as the Patriarchal Locum Tenens, or “acting patriarch” from among its six permanent and six rotating members. The Holy Synod and the Locum Tenens must then convene an extraordinary session of the Archpastoral Council. This body, consisting of around 200 members, shall then convene a wider synod of all senior bishops and lay members of the MP and elect a new patriarch within six months of the death of the late patriarch. Meanwhile, the body of Patriarch Aleksei now lies in state inside the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, as thousands of people stream in to pay their last respects to their deceased archpastor. In his will, Patriarch Aleksei said he wished to be buried in the Annunciation side-chapel of the Epiphany Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin, where he conducted his first service as Patriarch 18 years ago, before the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour became Russia’s main church.

As for Metropolitan Kirill, his name is not only well-known throughout Russia, but, in the entire world. At the present time the head of the Department of External Church Relations of the MP, he began his ecclesiastical career in 1965. Then, the 19-year-old Vladimir Gundyaev, who had trained as a cartographic technician, entered the Leningrad Spiritual Seminary. Four years later, he was tonsured into monasticism with the name Kirill. He holds a doctorate in theology, he was the representative of the MP to the World Council of Churches in Geneva, and he is considered both a skilful politician and a smooth orator, which facilitated his participation in many international inter-religious conferences and events. Metropolitan Kirill was one of the active players in the reconciliation between the MP and the ROCOR, which led to the signing of an Act of Canonical Communion between the two churches in May 2007.

During his years of archpastoral service, he visited almost all the regions of the world that had an Orthodox parish, which helped to reunite the Russian people abroad with their Orthodox faith. “The most pressing task for the Church is to foster the retention of Russian Orthodoxy and Russian culture [amongst the Russian diaspora]“, Metropolitan Kirill told Voice of Russia. “The preservation of the unity of our Church is a task of enormous scale and of great consequence. In particular, the discussion deals with the retention of the spiritual-cultural milieu that we could call ‘Russian’ culture. I use this word not in its ethnic connotation, but, in its historical sense. However, this concept is not merely religious and cultural, it also has geopolitical aspects”.

Together with Patriarch Aleksei, Metropolitan Kirill stood for the encouragement of the dialogue between Orthodoxy and the other Christian confessions and world religions, not only in Russia, but, throughout the entire world. For instance, he met Benedict XVI, the Pope of Rome, on numerous occasions. At each of these meetings, the most complex questions facing the Christian churches and their believers were discussed, and many were solved. “This is a most complicated time for all of our churches, and this fact means that we must face many things together”, Metropolitan Kirill emphasised. “There are positive signs from both sides, and, God willing, this could lead to an improvement in the dialogue between our churches. We share a common view on the basic moral and intellectual questions. In this, no separation exists between us. Today, it is vitally-important that the spiritual forces of our two churches, the Orthodox and the Roman Catholic, speak with a united voice before the world”.

Metropolitan Kirill shall govern the MP until there is an official election of a new First Hierarch. According to the nomocanons of the MP, the election must be held within six months of the death of the late patriarch. The precise date of the election shall be fixed only after the burial of Patriarch Aleksei, an event that shall take place on 9 December in the Epiphany Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin.

6 December 2008

Milena Faustova

Voice of Russia World Service

http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=rus&q=92144&cid=434&p=06.12.2008

http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&q=36215&cid=212&p=06.12.2008