Archimandrite Tikhon Shevkunov (1958- ), superior of the Sretensky Monastery in Moscow, father-confessor to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his family
“How can peoples sharing the same Faith be on opposite sides of the battle-line? Do the First Hierarchs of the Local Orthodox Churches have the right to contradict the rulers of their national governments? Can the Church make a mistake? Can an illiterate person be a good and responsible Christian? Why did holiness become the exception rather than the norm?” These and other questions asked by Boris Klin of Izvestiya were answered by the head of Moscow’s Sretensky Monastery, Archimandrite Tikhon (Shevkunov).
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Boris Klin
Fr Tikhon, the Georgian Orthodox Church publicly supported the bringing of Georgian troops into South Ossetia and the political policy of Mikhail Saakashvili for the “restoration of Georgia’s territorial integrity”. For many people in Russia, this came as a surprise. But, could the Georgian Church do otherwise? Must the national Local Churches always come forward in support of their government in armed conflicts?
Archimandrite Tikhon Shevkunov
No, the Orthodox Church and its First Hierarchs do not always side with their government. The Orthodox Church should come forward on the side of God and the truth. That’s how it was in 1918, when Patriarch Tikhon anathematised the Soviet regime; or, in the 16th century, when Metropolitan Filipp Kolychev was murdered on the order of Ivan Grozny, specifically for his fearless denunciation of the lawless tsar. The Orthodox Church lives by the laws of divine Truth; it has no other laws. Regarding the current situation in the Caucasus, we cannot observe without great sorrow and bitterness how unscrupulous politicians ruthlessly and brutally manipulate an Orthodox people.
Boris Klin
In the case of politicians, it is no surprise. But, how can one understand the stand of the Georgian Church? People are accustomed to hearing, “The Church cannot make a mistake”. Or, are there exceptions?
Archimandrite Tikhon Shevkunov
Individual people, including the highest hierarchs of the Church, can make mistakes; and history often records these sorrowful mistakes. Today, we in Russia may not agree with the announcements of the head of the Georgian Church or with his evaluation of the situation in this conflict. Of course, we certainly understand the conditions he is under, the one-sided and slanted information rampant in the Georgian media, the unprecedented heat of the nationalistic-patriotic rhetoric, and the inferiority complex which cannot help but be present in a country which is paying for the doomed escapade of its leaders. However, we expect that the truth, even if it is bitter, will prevail with time. I am convinced that the relations between our Orthodox peoples will soon revert to the correct Christian path; the potential is great for a strong relationship in future.
Boris Klin
Has it often happened in the history of Orthodoxy that the hierarchy of the Church has bent under pressure from the authorities?
Archimandrite Tikhon Shevkunov
Has it often happened that a commander in war ordered a retreat in order to save his army and country? This is called strategy. But, there is another reaction to external pressure… betrayal. This can include the betrayal of the Faith; it is a completely different matter. In Russian history, I can recall only one First Hierarch of the Church, Metropolitan Isidor, who besmirched his name by betraying the Faith. He was banished from Russia.
Boris Klin
The current aggravation of relations between countries of the West and Russia, does it spring from a difference of ideology or is it an element in a short-lived political and economic competition?
Archimandrite Tikhon Shevkunov
In very many ways, it is a collision of worldviews. The saying, “West is West, East is East, and never the twain shall meet” was made by a man not from Russia or the East, but, by a defender of Western civilisation and the Western imperial view. This is a particular perception that the West has of Russia and the whole Orthodox East.
Boris Klin
But, Orthodox countries such as Bulgaria and Greece have joined NATO….
Archimandrite Tikhon Shevkunov
Grand Prince Nikolai Nikolaevich Enters Trnovo in 1877 (Nikolai Dmitriev-Orenburgsky, 1885)
In World War I, for example, Bulgaria was not on the side of Orthodox Russia. It was the same during World War II. This was so, although, only a few decades earlier, Russian troops won freedom and political independence for Bulgaria with a tremendous sacrifice of their own lives. What can one say? In Orthodox families, it sometimes happens that close relatives behave in an unchristian way. But, this is not the norm; it’s simply a picture of our fallen world.
Boris Klin
Fr Tikhon, the debate over your film about Byzantium has not died down. On the eve of the “Teffi” television awards, TV critics expressed their disapproval of this film. But, as I see it, the discussions often descend into mere historical nitpicking and an analysis of its political associations. If you will permit me, I’d prefer a topic that seems to me more important, the relation of Church and State in Byzantium. Archpriest Alexander Schmemann, in his book The Historical Road of Orthodoxy, remarked that, in the Byzantine era, the Church, having entered into an alliance with the government, became popular amongst the masses. But, her “quality”, so to speak, changed for the worse. Holiness, as the norm of life in the early Christian, apostolic communities, became something of an exception in Byzantium. Did the Church act properly in making concessions to human weaknesses?
Archimandrite Tikhon Shevkunov
Fr Alexander Schmemann’s negative attitude toward symfonia is simply his personal idiosyncrasy. Many great fathers of the Church made a completely different appraisal of the symfonia between Church and state. In symfonia, of course, there are both negative and positive aspects. Between the Orthodox government and the Orthodox Church there was co-operation and concerted creative work. Sometimes, it was at a cost, of course. Does it happen otherwise? Symfonia can be ridiculed, but, we can also see its unquestionable merits.
Of course, the early Christians led a special life. But, to say that holiness then was the norm is possible only in the sense that holiness for the Church is the norm for all times. One shouldn’t idealise this or that historical period, even the period of the early Christian communities. For a more down-to-earth view of that period, it is enough to reread the New Testament Epistles and the book of Revelation.
Boris Klin
You spoke about the great need for books to be written for people who are uninstructed in the Faith. But, to be both baptised and uninstructed… isn’t that a contradiction in terms, an anomaly?
Archimandrite Tikhon Shevkunov
People who are baptised, but, who have not entered into the life of the Church are one of our biggest problems. But, I wouldn’t want to judge hastily about this, or infer, as is often now done, that uncatechised people are inferior Christians, or are not even Christians at all.
Recently, I happened to be in Bulgaria, and I heard there a story from the 18th century. One day, some Turks came to a certain Bulgarian village. They took up residence with a large family of Bulgarians. It was Good Friday. For the Turks, the Bulgarians prepared the accustomed Turkish food, but, the Orthodox family would not eat meat. “Why?” Those uneducated Bulgarian peasants couldn’t explain. They were only able to tell the Turks, “When they celebrate in Church the Resurrection of Christ and bless our decorated eggs, then, we will eat meat”. This did not please the Turks. They tried to get the Bulgarians to eat meat under torture, but, they refused. The men were killed the next day. Their wives were shut up in prison, where they were kept for a full ten years. After this time was up, the women were summoned again and ordered to eat meat during a fast. One woman broke down and converted to Islam. The second woman refused. She remained a Christian, and they killed her.
What is the point here? Was it a concern for ritual convention or did we see a genuine relationship with God present here? From the point of view of some people (not only atheists, but, also some “educated Christians”), this is the irrational zeal of semi-literates, who do not understand the true and vital values behind human life. For others, this is the podvig of true Christians, not denying Christ or their Faith even under torture. The question here, of course, is not about meat.
I would not be too dramatic about the situation with uncatechised people. Of course, glory to God, much is being done, including by our monastery, by our publishing department, to instruct people in the Faith. This is essential. But, if you only knew how many people I have met who are uneducated in religious concepts and who have not taken interminable dilettantish catechetical classes, but, sincerely love God, know Him, and are faithful to Him! The Lord searches for precisely such people.
Boris Klin
Fr Tikhon, some priests say that the hurricane and the financial crisis in America are divine punishment for its actions against Russia. This topic is being discussed so keenly that I can’t help but ask you the question, “Is it really divine punishment?”
Archimandrite Tikhon Shevkunov
To be truthful, I am more interested in whether we are pondering over the causes of our own crises and disasters. That would be more useful and important than pondering over what is happening in places like Honduras or America.
26 September 2008
Izvestiya (Proceedings)
As quoted in Pravoslavie.ru
http://www.pravoslavie.ru/english/7428.htm
http://www.izvestia.ru/obshestvo/article3120944/
Editor’s Note:
Mr Bird reads the riot act to the Pravoslavie.ru translator. Don’t leave anything out the next time!
In the seventh answer of Archimandrite Tikhon, where he speaks of the Bulgarians who were killed by the Turks for refusing to eat meat during a fast, two sentences are missing from the English translation. The omitted portion was, “This did not please the Turks. They tried to get the Bulgarians to eat meat under torture, but, they refused”. This came right before “The men were killed the next day”. Does this merit a Big Green Weenie Award? Perhaps, not. The rest of the translation was competent. However… it could earn a scolding from Mr Bird or a razzing from the San Diego Chicken.
The rubber truly hits the road in answers six and seven. In answer six, Archimandrite Tikhon blows Alexander Schmemann out of the water. He uses a word that can be translated “idiosyncrasy”, and his contempt for that pseudo-scholar is clear and evident. The Pravoslavie translator used “synergy” where “symfonia” would be more accurate. “Synergy” is a more correct rendering of “synergeia”, which is a different concept altogether. Synergy is the cooperation of God and man, whereas symfonia speaks to the relationship of two human institutions, the government and the Church. I argue that this is not a fine distinction.
Archimandrite Tikhon also pours out his scorn on those who idealise the “early church” and are constantly quoting this or that Father to prove their “erudition”. No era of the Church was free of spot and stain; I would make the observation that sinful-ginful humanity has always been bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, and that shocking doings perpetrated by the usual cast of slim shadies went on at all times and in all climes. The recent converts who expatiate on the early church should just shut up and spare us all the grief. If the church has changed since the 4th century, there is probably good reason for it. Our ancestors were NOT stupid; they left us a perfectly-good Church. It is our task to pass it on to the next generation, so they can do likewise…
Archimandrite Tikhon discharges the blunderbuss in answer seven. “But, if you only knew how many people I have met who are uneducated in religious concepts and who have not taken interminable dilettantish catechetical classes, but, sincerely love God, know Him, and are faithful to Him! The Lord searches for precisely such people”.
AMEN! AMEN!! AMEN!!!
God wants Christians who stand tall for the Faith and who know they are “just plain folks”, just as sinful-ginful as the next person. I know about sinful people. I am one… who isn’t? God knows who He is. He does not need someone to define his essence down to the nth degree (such is an impossible fool’s errand, in any case). My advice to all the novices, neophytes, and recent-arrivals is simple. When you enter the church, it is day one. Therefore, concentrate on prayer, good deeds, and the Mysteries. If someone tries to push you into seminary, resist them. If you feel the itch to go to seminary, resist it. Is that all? You bet… it’s enough. God wants a clean heart, not a stuffed head. Archimandrite Tikhon makes that clear, and, for that, he deserves a heart-felt and sincere “Well Done!”
BMD
Voices from Russia 
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