EP and MP at Loggerheads Over Notional all-Orthodox Sobor Proposed for Istanbul

Metropolitan Rastislav Gont of Prešov of the PCČZS/PCČKS (Orthodox Church of Czechia and Slovakia)… the MP insists on the seating of this Church and the OCA… the EP is balking… I wonder why…

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The preparations for the all-Orthodox Sobor proposed for 2016 encountered difficulties. On Thursday, V R Legoida, the head of the MP Synodal Information Department (SINFO), told reporters:

Today, the [MP Holy Synod] expressed concern that there are disagreements in the correspondence between the EP and MP on the impeding preparations for upcoming all-Orthodox Sobor.

In October, Metropolitan Ilarion Alfeyev of Volokolamsk, the head of the MP Synodal Department for External Church Relations (OVTsS), told Interfax-Religion that a meeting is due in January in Istanbul of representatives of the Local Orthodox Churches dedicated to preparing for the proposed all-Orthodox Sobor. However, he pointed up that preparations for the event are far from complete, and even the starting date is still up in the air. There hasn’t been an Ecumenical Council for over a thousand years; the preparations for the proposed Sobor have been underway for more than half a century.

24 December 2015

http://interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=61442

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On Friday, Metropolitan Ilarion Alfeyev of Volokolamsk, the head of the MP Synodal Department for External Church Relations (OVTsS) expressed doubts about the notional all-Orthodox Sobor proposed for Istanbul:

It’s doubtful whether the we can even hold an all-Orthodox Sobor when some Orthodox Churches are in a state of unresolved conflict, and some Orthodox Churches don’t recognise the First Hierarch of the Church of Czechia and Slovakia, not to mention the highly volatile general political situation in the world. However, the MP has always participated and continues to take an active part in preparations for the Sobor, despite the obvious difficulties in preparing for such an event. As for the specific timing of the meeting, I think that it’s premature to talk about it yet.

In 2014, the Orthodox Church decided to convene an all-Orthodox Sobor in 2016 in Istanbul, but it also added a caveat… “if not prevented by any unseen contingency”. Metropolitan Ilarion pointed up:

They thought that they’d be able to edit… and in some cases, completely rewrite… a significant part of the draft documents on the Sobor, many of which had become outdated since their adoption 30 years ago. The work on revising these documents moved very slowly. Consequently, of the eight position papers supposed to bring the Sobor up-to-date, we only agreed on three; work on the rest isn’t yet complete. So far, the Local Churches have no common understanding of what rules the all-Orthodox Sobor will follow, and what should be its agenda. A special commission formed to discuss these issues had to recess without agreement as there was no consensus. Many questions about preparations for the Sobor remain unanswered, even though Patriarch Kirill repeatedly raised them over the past year in his letters to Patriarch Bartholomew.

25 December 2015

http://interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=61464

Interfax-Religion

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Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin Explained His Resignation was Due to Disagreements with Patriarch Kirill

Fr Vsevolod with KPRF leaders (Comrade Zyuganov is directly opposite him)… the Church and the Party are on one wavelength. The Church is compatible with collectivist socialism… not with Republican oligarchic anarchy… fancy that. Note well that VAC issued no criticisms of socialism or of the left in general…

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On Thursday, Archpriest V A Chaplin resigned as head of the MP Synodal Department for the Coordination of Church and Society (OVTsO), explaining it as being due to disagreements with Patriarch Kirill Gundyaev of Moscow and all the Russias:

I spent many years trying to tell His Holiness the Patriarch that the tone in church-state relations are increasingly worsening. We need to speak critically of immoral and unjust actions by the authorities; we need to talk more directly to the people. Besides, we should never have sucked up to anti-Orthodox elements, such as the current Ukrainian government. Generally, we need to speak prophetically, and not to be so fearful of what others think and say; we shouldn’t be afraid to quarrel with the powerful. Furthermore, we take many decisions haphazardly, without consultation with the relevant synodal agencies, hastily, and on the fly. You can’t run things like that. A system that operated in such a way would necessarily end by making mistakes. I warned them many times about this, but no one wanted to hear it. Therefore, I’m convinced that we must reform the Church administration shake up key Church positions. If I were to speak about the general effectiveness of our ecclesial structures, firstly, I’d draw attention to the huge number of sycophant yes-men who surround His Holiness, a veritable state formed without any outside advice.

On Thursday, the MP Holy Synod established a Synodal Department for Church Society and Media Relations (OVTsOS) by merging the MP Synodal Information Department (SINFO) and the OVTsO. The Synod did this “to optimise performance and efficiency, as well as to eliminate redundant processes in our synodal departments”. V R Legoida, the present head of SINFO will head the new body. Fr Vsevolod went on to say:

I never was “married” to this post. I believe that we very effectively carried out the work that we did here; no one ever did as much in our Church. I’m happy to be able to breathe easier; God willing, I’ll now have some free time. I’m a free man now, with much more liberty [to say as I will]. No one took away my position, my opinion, or my right to argue with anyone, whether it be the Patriarch, high government officials, or public media authorities. I will now do so now with full voice. I’ll still be rector of St Nicholas in Tryokh Gorakh, but I’m asking for nothing and expect nothing. They gave me some vague promises of another assignment, but I consider them devious; they only said that to ease my situation. However, in such an affair, it’s better to tell the truth than to wait and wait for a handout.

24 December 2015

Interfax-Religion

http://interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=61445

Editor:

I believe that this is far more complex than it appears at first glance. V R Legoida takes over the day-to-day work of coöperation with the government and media… leaving Fr Vsevolod as free as a bird to comment on the developing situation. VAC is crafty, as is Kirill Mikhailovich. Note well:

Besides, we should never have sucked up to anti-Orthodox elements, such as the current Ukrainian government.

And:

I’m a free man now, with much more liberty [to say as I will]. No one took away my position, my opinion, or my right to argue with anyone, whether it be the Patriarch, high government officials, or public media authorities. I will now do so now with full voice.

I believe that HH and Charlie are up to something. Do stay tuned…

BMD

25 December 2015. Mama Bear Comforts Her Ravaged Cub…

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For 25 years, the Crimea languished under Uniate/crapitalist misrule. Today, the Crimea is recovering from that horror and is rebuilding itself, reunited with its Russian motherland. The Peoples Republics are in the process of extricating themselves from the morass that is American-dominated Banderstan. May the rest of the Ukraine follow suit, and soon…

BMD 

25 December 2015. “Next Year in Kiev”… May the Good Lord Grant Us That!

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Every week brings news of more privation and deprivation in the Uniate-misruled Ukraine. The people won’t stand it forever… not with an alternative system functioning successfully. You may support the Orthodox Peoples Republics or Uniate/American Banderstan. There’s nothing else on offer…

BMD