www.byzcath.org Forums News & Events Church News Election of Russian Patriarch

Metropolitan Anthony (Bloom) was a quasi-serious candidate. But he was too old to take on the job, and he knew it, so he did not actually seek election.

Fr. Serge

Why are the British elite reading rags?

A more balanced view of The Economist is at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Economist

"The Economist claims it "is not a chronicle of economics." Rather, it aims "to take part in a severe contest between intelligence, which presses forward, and an unworthy, timid ignorance obstructing our progress." It practices advocacy journalism in taking an editorial stance based on free trade and globalisation. It targets educated readers and boasts an audience containing many influential executives and policy-makers."

http://zik.com.ua/en/news/2008/12/05/161086

Ukrainian bishops can influence election of new Moscow patriarch, but
Sabodan has no chance
December05 2008

The leader of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church Volodymyr (Sabodan)
stands no chance of becoming a new Moscow patriarch. "He cannot be
nominated due to his present status and the state of his health,"
Andry Yurash, an expert on religious issues at Lviv Franko University
told ZIK Dec. 5.

"His nomination is out of the question. No matter how strong the
support of Ukrainian bishops for Sabodan is, they do not make a
majority. In all probability, only Russian religious leaders will be
nominated," Yurash added.

As a new Russian Orthodox Church leader will be elected by the
council of bishops, Ukrainian priests, who make up almost a third of
it, can influence the election.

However, the Ukrainian orthodox clergy is divided over the issue of
the independence of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church from ROC. Some
Ukrainian bishops approve of breaking away from ROC, while others
want to side more openly and closely with ROC. There are some who do
not want any changes of the present status quo.

Without being aware of any of the candidates, the only thing I fear is that I have seen a general pattern of dynamic, strong leaders (mostly archbishops) in Orthodox churches worldwide being followed by weak and almost invisible leaders...

For Russia's sake, and for the sake of world Orthodoxy, which increasingly looks to the Russian church for taking stands against today's immoralities and trends, I pray that another strong, dynamic leader will emerge to inspire the faithful. The era we live in is too precarious and frightening to have to endure invisible, wordless, leaderships.

Forgive me.....

In Christ,
Alice

http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/8198


Speculation about next Russian Orthodox head as Alexei II is buried

By Ecumenical News International
14 Dec 2008

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomeos I of Constantinople and Patriarch Ilia II
of Georgia both served at the funeral of Patriarch Alexei II of the Russian
Orthodox Church in Moscow, a service also attended by President Dmitri A.
Medvedev and Prime Minster Vladimir Putin - writes Sophia Kishkovsky.

Medvedev had declared 9 December a national day of mourning. Patriarch
Alexei died on 5 December 2008 at the age of 79.

The service at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour offered testimony to the
Russian Patriarch as a unifier who brought and held together a church that
had been brutalised during the Soviet era. After the funeral service, Alexei
was taken in a cortege through the Moscow streets and laid to rest at the
Epiphany Cathedral.

Patriarch Ilia, who has been undergoing medical treatment, made his first
visit to Russia since a war between Russia and Georgia in August over the
breakaway region of South Ossetia. At the funeral service, he intoned a
Gospel reading in Georgian, over Alexei's open casket, as Medvedev and Putin
stood close by. Both Alexei and Ilia had appealed for peace as fighting
raged.

Since the fall of the Soviet Union, conflicts have also flared between the
Moscow Patriarchate and the Istanbul-based Ecumenical Patriarchate over
influence in former Soviet territories. Still, Alexei and Bartholomeos
pledged to pursue dialogue after a mid-year meeting in Kiev at celebrations
marking the 1020th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus, which Russian Orthodox
mark as the creation of their church.

A third patriarch, Daniel of Romania, attended the funeral, as did dozens of
other church dignitaries, many vested in Paschal white, as is the custom in
the Orthodox church for clergy funerals.

In a sermon that opened the funeral service, Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk
and Kaliningrad, who is now being discussed as one of the main candidates to
succeed Alexei, spoke of the late patriarch's efforts to overcome
post-Soviet divisions. "[Alexei] always respected the sovereignty of states
on the territory of the former USSR, but understood that these divisions
cannot divide the peoples' unified system of values," said Kirill.

Patriarch Alexei's efforts were devoted towards saving Russia, Kirill said,
but always directed against the use of force. "His Holiness spoke in the
language of eternity, understanding that only love can unite people," said
Kirill.

Kirill was elected locum tenens (interim leader) of the church by a synod of
bishops the day after Alexei's death, something that has increased
speculation about his chances of succeeding Alexei.

Reports that Kirill fainted during the funeral were widely circulated in the
Russian media, but denied by the Moscow Patriarchate, which said that he
felt ill and went to sit down, but had not fainted.

A church council must be convened to elect a new patriarch, and experts on
the Russian Orthodox Church have named several other possible candidates to
succeed Alexei.

Nikolai Mitrokhin, a historian who has written extensively on the Russian
Orthodox Church said that consensus within the church favours Metropolitan
Filaret of Minsk, who leads the Orthodox Church in Belarus, but his age, 73,
and health is a factor against him. Metropolitan Kliment of Kaluga and
Borovsk, the Moscow Patriarchate's property manager, is favoured by
authorities, Mitrokhin told Ecumenical News International.

Kirill, he said, is unpopular within the church, but his chances have
increased somewhat.

"I still think that Kirill's chances are slim. However, with his appointment
as locum tenens they have, clearly, risen greatly - up to about 25 percent,"
said Mitrokhin.





[With acknowledgements to ENI. Ecumenical News <http://www.eni.ch/>
International is jointly sponsored by the World Council of Churches, the
Lutheran World Federation, the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, and the
Conference of European Churches.]

May the Holy Spirit assist the Russian Orthodox Church in choosing a strong and pastoral leader.

This will be a crucial election, as much will ride on the shoulders of the next Patriarch. Much has been made recently of Vladika Metropolitan Vladimir of Kiev. He is only in his early 70's, but he is ill with Parkinson's Disease. Vladika Metropolitan Kirill, the Locus Temens, is, in my opinion, too much of a politician. My vote, which together with $3.84 will buy a cup of coffee, would be for Vladika Metropolitan Onufry of Chernovtsy and Bukovina, for a number of reasons. Firstly, he is a monk first and foremost. He is a native born Ukrainian, and thus could be instrumental into bringing the schismatic KP back into Grace and reunification with the Orthodox Church. He has represented the Church, both in North America and much of the rest of the world, and is familiar with the Church in the diaspora. I have spoken with him several times, and each time I came away impressed and spiritually edified.

[Linked Image]


Alexandr

Alexandr, welcome back!

Yes, the UOC-MP bishops have publicly declared support for Vladimir of Kiev as Patriarch of Moscow.

What do you make of the "candidacies" of Filaret of Minsk and Vikenty of Yekaterinburg?

Metr. Onufry of Chernivsti and Bukovyna is not popular with Ukrainians in Ukraine. Especially in his own eparchy. And that includes clergy too who dislike him.
Unlike Met. Volodymyr (Sabodan) who is popular. But too ill.

Metr. Onufry counld do nothing to bring about a united Orthodox Church in Ukraine.

I doubt a Ukrainian would get elected MP anyway.

By the way when Onufry was born Bukovyna was part of Romania.

Alexandr:

Christ is in our midst!! He is and always will be!!

Let's pray for His Eminence that the Good Lord will heal him and return him to serve the portion of the flock entrusted to him. If we remember the last days of Pope John Paul II, we already have a lesson in how a high placed hierarch can be disabled by this terrible disease and how it affects the Church.

BOB

Vladika Archbishop Vikenty is a wonderful man, and I would unhesitatingly support him. He is very conservative, and has preached a great deal about modesty, chastity, societal problems and education. He regularly hosts a question and answer program on Russian Radio. He was instrumental in the exhumation of the Relics of the Royal Martyrs and has served throughout Russia, usually in the poorest and most undeveloped areas as a missionary. He replaced Archbishop Nikon who was removed under allegations of corruption, and has turned his diocese completely around. He is 55 yo, and was born in Moldova. He is outspoken in his profession of belief, and is considered fearless. He is disliked by the liberal wing of the Church in Russia, and by the pro western movement. He would not receive much support from the St Petersburg/ Moscow bishop-politicians, although he is loved by the populace and is considered the greatest preacher in Russia today.

Vladika Metropolitan Filaret is the Exarch of All Belarus. At 73, he is a bit old. He is well respected in the Church as a theologian, and is a no nonsense type of bishop. But his association with the questionable government of President Lukashenko of Belarus might cast some doubts on his election.

Alexandr

The Russian Church After Alexy II - The Moscow Times
December 10, 2008

By Leonid Sevastyanov - The Moscow Times

The death of Patriarch Alexy II, the spiritual leader of more than 110 million Russian Orthodox Church members, marks the end of an epoch. Alexy led the church through the difficult transition from the end of Soviet regime to an era of greater religious freedom.

Now thoughts are turning to his successor, who will be chosen within six months. Who is likely to replace Alexy, and how will his agenda be different?

Will the new patriarch be a figure like Alexy who straddled two eras, or will he bring the church -- and to a certain degree the entire country -- fully into the 21st century?

The four names being mentioned most often are: Metropolitan Filaret, the patriarchal exarch of Belarus; Metropolitan Yuvenali, the chairman of the canonization commission of the Holy Synod; Metropolitan Kirill, the head of the external relations department of the Moscow Patriarchate; and Metropolitan Kliment, the patriarchate's administrator.

Other candidates may emerge, of course. But it is likely that Alexy's successor will be one of these four -- and even more likely that it will be one of the last two.

Metropolitans Filaret and Yuvenali have only an outside chance, most observers suggest. Filaret, 73, a leading theologian and respected scholar, has been the patriarchal exarch for Belarus since 1989. It is hard to say if this is a negative or positive factor. It would help cement the two countries together, something the Kremlin would clearly like. But on the other, it might offend some in Russia itself who would view him as somehow less Russian because of his Belarussian roots.

Yuvenali, 73, has attracted much attention in recent years for his role in leading the commission on canonization, which among other things has canonized Tsar Nicholas II and others killed by the Soviets.

But a more important qualification is that his metropolitan see includes the parishes and monasteries of the Moscow region. This has brought him into close contact with many post-Soviet leaders as well as making him a true insider in the patriarchate itself.

But Yuvenali has some health problems, which probably means that Alexy's successor will be either Kirill or Kliment. For almost two decades, Kirill, 63, head of the powerful external affairs department of the patriarchate, has been the leading spokesman for the church in Russia and abroad. He has been described as No. 2 in the church hierarchy and the favorite to succeed Alexy. He has his own radio and television programs and has been an active participant in debates over human rights. Kirill rejects the idea that there is such a thing as universal human rights, and he favors instructing Russian schoolchildren in Orthodoxy. And he has not been averse to taking sides in political issues, advocating a more active role for the church in Russia's political and social life.

His high public profile and decisive character has won him accolades. Kirill is thought to be close to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and President Dmitry Medvedev. He is on particularly good terms with Medvedev's religiously active wife, Svetlana. His courage in taking clear positions for so many years has made him popular in the church and Russian society in general.

Kliment has served as church administrator for several years, a key post in controlling the activities of the patriarchate. He has three obvious drawbacks from the point of view of senior churchmen and possibly the political elite as well. First, Kliment does not have a high public profile, and thus he cannot play the kind of role that Alexy did as a church diplomat or a supporter of the regime. Second, his position on many religious questions is far more liberal than Kirill's. For example, he has said he favors teaching Islam in schools that are located in the country's Muslim-dominated regions rather than requiring them to study Orthodoxy. Third, because he is younger than Kirill, Kliment would likely serve as patriarch for a much longer period of time. This causes fear in the hierarchy that Kliment might take the church in new, unexpected directions.

There is at the moment no consensus on who should succeed Alexy, but Kirill's conservative defense of the connection between Russian Orthodoxy and Russian identity may make his candidacy the most attractive to his fellow bishops and to the government as well.

The late Patriarch Alexy died when only 79. Met. Yuvenaly is 73 and has "health problems". Met. Filaret is 73 and has "health problems". Met. Volodomyr is 75 and has Parkinson's disease.

Compared to the Roman College of Cardinals -- replete with cardinals who are active and vigorous until their late 70's and even 80's -- the Russian Holy Synod seems to be a rather sickly group. Is this a reflection of Russia's declining health situation and life expectancy, or is it simply a reflection of a harder and more stressful life for the Metropolitans?

Hmmm. Living in sunny Italy with its pace of life or living in frozen Russia after 8o year of Bolshevism? Which saps your health more?

Fr David Straut

Well, the answer to that is certainly a 'no brainer'...as the saying goes!!

Then again, I understand that many Russians love their icy climate and would not exchange it for another!