www.byzcath.org Forums News & Events Church News Patriarch Kirill starts China visit today

Patriarch Kirill starts China visit today

by Nina Achmatova
5/10/2013
http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Patriarch-Kirill-starts-China-visit-today-27884.html

The patriarch's visit is "aimed at further strengthening the friendly relations between China and Russia," the Patriarchate Press Service said. Less than two months ago, Xi Jinping made an "historic" visit to Russia.


Moscow (AsiaNews) - The Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill arrived today in Beijing, the first leg of his official visit to China, which ends June 15.

In the Chinese capital, "The head of the Russian Orthodox Church will meet with government leaders in China, leaders of religious groups, and also with the Chinese officials responsible for religious affairs," the Patriarchate Press Service said.

In addition to celebrating Mass in the Cathedral Pokrovsky in Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang province, where there is a strong Russian presence, Kirill will meet members of the Orthodox community in China at the Russian Embassy compound in Beijing.

In the capital, he will also visit the Church of the Assumption, site of the Museum of the Russian Spiritual Mission to the country.

During the visit, the Chinese edition of a book by Kirill titled Freedom and Responsibility: In Search of Harmony. Human rights and the dignity of the person will be presented. It is published by the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate in association with the Russian-Chinese Business Council.

"The visit of His Holiness the Patriarch is aimed at further strengthening the friendly relations between China and Russia," Interfax-Religion reported, citing the Patriarchate Press Service.

In fact, Orthodoxy plays a special role in the history of their bilateral relations. Orthodox clergymen have been in China since 1685 as part of the Russian Orthodox Mission to that country and have done a lot to bring Russia and China closer" (see overview of the history of the Orthodox Mission).

Kirill's visit comes less than two months after China's new leader, Xi Jinping, held his maiden foreign trip as president of the People's Republic to Russia, on 22-24 March of this year.

For analysts, this is a significant choice because it shows that Beijing wants good relations with Moscow to contain US power in the Asia-Pacific region.

The two countries see eye to eye on several major international issues (Syria, Iran, North Korea) and have boosted cooperation in trade (more than US$ 80 billion in 2012) and energy (Russia's oil giant Rosneft signed a deal with China's CNPC to double oil supplies).

When Russian President Putin met with Xi, he said, "We are working together, helping to shape a new, more just world order, ensure peace and security, defend basic principles of international law".

In China, 15,000 Orthodox believers are waiting for a pastor (overview)

The pastoral activity of the Russian Orthodox Church in China dates back to the 17th century, when Rev Maxim Leontiev arrived in Beijing. The Russian Spiritual Mission was established in 1713, and by 1949 could boast of more than 100 churches.

In 1956, the Holy Synod granted autonomy to China's Orthodox Church, but the Cultural Revolution wiped out all prelates and priests alike.

Since the death of Simeon, Bishop of Shanghai, in 1965, the local church has not had any a high-ranking representative. In 1997, the Synod of the Russian Church decided to reassert its jurisdiction in China.

At present, China's Orthodox Church has up to 15,000 members. Most of them live in Heilongjiang Province (Harbin), Inner Mongolia (Labdarin), Xinjiang (Kulj and Urumqi), Beijing and Shanghai. However, there are no priests (the last one died in 2003) to serve the faithful who are reduced to meeting on rare occasions on Sundays.

A group of Orthodox Chinese are studying at Sretenskaya Theological Academy in Moscow and at the Academy of St Petersburg with the intention of returning to China.

For the main celebrations of Christmas and Easter, Russian priests conduct services inside Russia's embassy and consulates.

by coïncidence, i am in Peking and shall be attending DL tomorrow served by His Holiness!

i just realised the article has a few errors, so here are some bits of additional info.

1) there are 2 native clergy left: Priest Michael Li and Protodeacon Evangel Lu, both in Shanghai, but with no church and they are forbidden by the government to serve.


2) the Chinese Orthodox are almost entirely deprived of the sacraments, and aren't even permitted reader services, normally. they have to beg the government for permission to even have reader services at Pascha and Nativity, permission that is granted once every few years or so.

3) there is one functioning church in Mainland China - the Dormition parish of Pkeing, but it is within the grounds of the Russian embassy so Chinese citizens are unable to attend. there is also an MP priest conducting services at the Russian consulate in Shanghai.

4) from time to time, clergy of the region will make quiet mission trips to the Chinese Orthodox in ways which the authorities would not approve. i trust you can all read between the lines there.

Big surprise.

I have not yet seen a post from Tomassus that would NOT be an online article from some unreputable source. I already commented on another article referenced by Tomassus and authored by the same "Nina Achmatova" from "asianews" which provided as its source the name of a newspaper that does not exist - or, rather, is a mesh of the names of two different newspapers.

I'd turn to other information resources than Tomassus's links.

update: as of Saturday night, the Chinese Dept of Religious Affairs is pressuring the Russian Embassy to forbid citizens of the PRC from attending the Patriarchal Liturgy in Peking.

most of the more fervent Chinese Orthodox plan to go down to Shanghai or up to Harbin, where there will also be Patriarchal Liturgies.

some pics of the Peking church around Vigil time a little earlier this evening:

http://instagram.com/p/ZKuiYcteSe/
http://instagram.com/p/ZKv-JHteTq/
http://instagram.com/p/ZKzfOlteWm/

this is the outdoor altar being prepared:

https://twitter.com/infernoxv/status/333180494571266048/photo/1

Mariya,

Can I suggest a dose of charity on your part? Tomassus bothered to post an article that he read - he didn't write it.

While Asianews isn't my favorite source of information, it is a reputable news source and not infrequently offers information regarding events that are not well-covered, if at all, in other English-language media.

Feel free to peruse newsfeeds and contribute links to other, better, information resources. If you want to critique the quality of the reporting in a news piece, feel free to do so as well, but knock off slamming another member's effort to apprise us of news about which we might not otherwise be aware.

The points that my friend and brother, Ed, raises are accurate but, with one exception, they're really clarifications - 'additional info', as he phrased it - since most touch on points that the article didn't address - and most are facts of which many of us are aware. The one exception was the author's statement that the Chinese Orthodox have no priests - and even that is somewhat correct, in that they have no functioning clergy available to them.

As regards her statement that the last one died in 2003, that's a pretty common belief. I suspect that Ed and other old-timers here will recollect that a decade ago we were exhorted to


on the occasion of the repose, at 80 years of age, of the Archpriest Alexander Du Lifu, may his memory be eternal. At that time it was widely reported that Archpriest Alexander was believed to be, not only the last Orthodox priest in Beijing, but in all of China. Were it not that Ed has occasion to travel to China from time to time, it's unlikely that we'd know any different today since it's not exactly a society from which religious news is often forthcoming.

For the Repose of the Archpriest Alexander

Last Orthodox Priest in Peking Dies

Many years,

Neil

Liturgy was quite spectacular in the usual way - the MP always puts on a good show, so to speak.

i went into the area for Liturgy, unsure if my Chinese Orthodox friends would be allowed in. after a while i saw the the Chinese Orthodox began coming in, a great joy. there were perhaps less than 30 present at liturgy- the really active ones are the converts, as the Albazinians descendants are by and large not really interested in religion (much like the nominally Muslim Hui minority).

http://t.co/J9Ubd0G9QV
http://t.co/XdlcKPBp4R

more pictures from the liturgy here: http://www.patriarchia.ru/db/text/2965109.html

the Gospel was proclaimed in Slavonic and Mandarin, and the sermon was in both Russian and Mandarin. i was most tickled to realise that the bible edition used for the Gospel reading was a Catholic one (Catholics and Protestants use different words for 'God').

at Communion-time, none of the Chinese Orthodox went up to receive initially, as none had been able to go to confession, but the Patriarch gave them a general absolution and ordered them to approach the chalice, which they did with tears.

there was a private meeting of the Chinese Orthodox with the Patriarch, and as i have a Chinese face, my Chinese Orthodox friends pulled me along saying 'oh come on, you know you want to, and who'd know the difference if you just spoke Chinese?', so i did.

pictures here: http://www.patriarchia.ru/db/text/2965400.html
i shall be cheeky and point out i am here, behind the elderly gentleman: http://p2.patriarchia.ru/2013/05/12/1237007736/2NOV_2554.jpg

Patriarch Kirill expressed his admiration for the Albazinians present (about 10 of them), and how they managed to keep the faith for decades with barely any priestly support. they in return said they considered their Orthodox faith a key part of their identity.

an elderly gentleman made a present of three copies of a photoalbum of 'Albazinians in China' - pictures of religious activities, wedding pictures, babies being baptized and so on - all three copies were done by hand, with pasted photographs and handwritten captions.

the daughter of the late Archpriest Alexander Du thanked the Russian church for their support and begged the patriarch's prayers for her father's repose.

at the end of the audience, the patriarch handed out an icon of the Resurrection and a Chinese-language edition of his book 'Freedom & Responsibility': http://t.co/axiRLiIQIu

there was a photo-op, naturally. http://p2.patriarchia.ru/2013/05/12/1237007726/2NOV_2715.jpg

what's the situation for the future? there are two Chinese-nationality students in the seminaries in Russia (i forget which) and are due for ordination soonish. the Chinese government has given permission for them to return to minister to the Chinese Orthodox - likely in Harbin and Labdarin, where there are functioning churches.

a church in Peking for the Chinese Orthodox at the moment is difficult as there is neither a church building (apart from the one in the Russian Embassy) nor a large enough community, and the community has to be sustainable.

having been popping in and out of China for the last 15 years or so, i am aware that this situation is already a huge improvement from what was before. God willing, this will continue to improve. they need our prayers very much.

Christ is risen!

Thanks for the info.

Ed,

Thanks very much for the great details and the photo - especially the one of yourself, my friend

Prayers for our Orthodox brethren in China, that they may soon be allowed to once again openly practice their faith.

Many years,

Neil

Patriarch Kirill calls for recognition of Orthodox Church in China, but is silent on religious freedom

by Nina Achmatova
5/14/2013
http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Patriarch-Kirill-calls-for-recognition-of-Orthodox-Church-in-China,-but-is-silent-on-religious-freedom-27912.html

In Russia, commentators and analysts ponder the meaning of the Orthodox leader’s mission to the People's Republic. For some it is one step in the Kremlin's foreign policy, which aims to strengthen a renewed geopolitical alliance with China. For others, the goal is only pastoral: the Orthodox Church needs restructuring.


Moscow (AsiaNews) - "Is it acceptable from a moral point of view, to ask for the official recognition of Orthodox Christianity in China and keep quiet about the thousands of victims of religious persecution in this country?". This is one of the most frequently asked questions, these days, on Internet sites and blogs of religious information in Russia, that are following the "historic" visit of the Patriarch of Moscow, Kirill, to the People's Republic of China, which will end on May 15 . The leader of the Russian Orthodox Church has already met with Chinese President Xi Jinping and with the leaders of local Christian communities and of the Chinese Department of Religious Affairs. He hopes that Beijing will grant Orthodox Christianity (after Catholicism, Protestantism, Islam, Buddhism and Taoism) the status of "recognized religion" by the government. But he has thus far remained silent about the plight of religious freedom in the country. Indeed, he has recognized as interlocutors, the very institutions that are responsible for this repressive policy, inviting them to join efforts to "strengthen the moral values ​​in the world."

No one expected something different. For many commentators, Kirill's visit has a more political-diplomatic character than pastoral. The tones were cordial and open for what Xi himself termed the "first visit by a head of the Russian Orthodox Church and a Russian religious leader." The mission of the Patriarch follows another "historic" event: the visit to Moscow in March, of the newly elected Chinese president, on his first trip abroad and clear signal of a renewed resolve to strengthen bilateral relations between the two neighbors. And to cement an alliance geopolitics, which finds its lynch pin in the common objective of limiting U.S. influence in the Asia-Pacific region. In this context, a more structured orthodoxy obedient to Moscow - according to some analysts - would mean for Beijing the possibility of forming a sort of " visible spiritual opposition" to Western Christianity, traditionally associated with the Vatican and the United States.

The Russian Orthodox Church, moreover, could also represent a "middleman" useful - others point out - in dialogue with the Kremlin. Beijing recognize the Moscow Patriarchate as an important actor in Russian foreign policy, with close connections to the corridors of power. The same Xi invited Kirill to "play a greater role" in cementing the relationship between the two nations.

Russian commentators are divided. For the director of radio Kommersant, Konstantin von Eggert, the Patriarch's visit to China, "undoubtedly has a political significance." "Behind it all - the columnist, told AsiaNews - is the concept of Russkiy Mir (Russian World): strengthening, that is, the presence of the Russian people and culture in the world." "This is real 'soft power' - he added- every one of the Patriarch's actions abroad seem more like political propaganda, and not of a spiritual and pastoral nature."

Even Andrei Zolotov - director of the news website Russia Profile and expert on religious matters - in Russia Church and State promote an often agreed foreign policy. He said, however, the Patriarchate remains an independent institution. "Sometimes the priorities of the state coincide with those of the Church. Sometimes - he admits - the Church influences the state, as in the case of inclusion in the political agenda of issues such as the fight against 'Christian-phobia' and the persecution of Christians ". Despite this - adds the expert, contacted by AsiaNews - Kirill's visit to China "has a much more spiritual significance than political." "The Orthodox Church has huge problems in the country - he explains - the church hierarchy needs to be completely reconstituted." For fifty years bishops, priests and parishes are lacking. According to him, the presence of Kirill in China (where he celebrated the Divine Liturgy in Beijing, and at the chapel in the Russian Embassy in Harbin, the central place of worship for the Orthodox community) will be relief and aid to Chinese faithful (about 15 thousand). According to Zolotov, the Patriarch's visit to the Church of Shanghai will be of particular significance. St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco, one of the twentieth century's most revered Orthodox saints, worked here.