www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Untie the knot of the ROCOR MP Unification Act

Hutsul posted in Church News:


Here is a very interesting article/ editorial concerning the re- unification of ROCOR with ROC/MP.

It's title is....... MEA CULPA: 2007 Untie the knot of the ROCOR-MP Unification Act.


https://publicorthodoxy.org/2022/04/20/untie-knot-rocor-mp-unification-act/

I was actually a little curious about this myself. A lot Putin apologists, I've noticed, at least in the west, seem to be ROCOR. (That is not to say that most of them are, and of course, the internet being the internet, some views are more common here than in real life). Now, I don't think the article is perfect, by any means (Some of the political comments I disagree with, not about Russia, that I do agree with), but, on the whole, a good explanation kind of what's going on. And I have to agree about Patriarch Kirill not being a Christian leader. As I said before, he seems to care more about being Russian than being Christian.

Please forgive me for again drawing your attention, but I would like to post a follow up to the above "written" editorial. It is a video podcast by a rassaphor nun of ROCOR named Sister Vassa. This particular talk by Sr. Vassa is an appeal to ROCOR to act, once again, as the " free voice of Russian Orthodoxy" and speak the truth about the invasion of Ukraine.

Theophan, I hope you find this link compatable in concept with the first link and keep it in this topic thread. Both of the links have to do with voices within ROCOR that differ with MP stances. Sister Vassa is extraordinary in her honesty, sense of truth and, in my opinion, is a credit to her Church.

Also, Theophan, for some reason I could not copy the link address without including the picture.....

Christ is in our midst!!

Thanks, Hutsul. This is related. The picture is okay.

Bob

Christ is in our midst!!

Powerful. I wonder if Sister Vassa has or will face canonical penalties for this.

Bob

Has she violated some Holy Canon(s) of the Orthodox Church?

Sister Vassa certainly has Orthodox, scholarly credentials. A simple O-Wiki link  verifies that: 

https://orthodoxwiki.org/Vassa_(Larin) 

Will she face penalties?  Who knows. If she does, for doing what? Her "disagreements" are with the politics of the Russian regime. Her "warnings" are about the Church she loves, being dragged into Putin's lies. She is sounding an alarm to her Church, that Russian politics are once again interfering with it, and tainting it. And isn't that why ROCOR came into being? It was the free Russian Orthodox Church in diaspora, seeking haven from political (Soviet) interference and infiltration. (And Sister Vassa subtly reminds us- that haven was found in the "West.")

It is hard to know what to make of this topic. I am on the outside looking in. My understanding of the ties between ROCOR and ROC/ MP are very minimal. I can't even wrap my head around what terms like " semi- autocephaly" really mean.

What I do know is this.......There has been mention of the silence of ROCOR concerning the war in Ukraine. In all fairness to ROCOR, it is good to know that there are voices like the two examples above, and, therefore it is not right to assume ROCOR follows the MP blindly.......

It would be so informing to hear more comments from the inside looking out.

Christ is in our midst!!

Hutsul,

Sister Vassa could be ordered "to be silent" by her monastic superiors, chief of whom is Patriarch Kirill. Her own First Hierarch of ROCOR could also do so. Neither needs a reason to impose silence on someone under his authority. The unspoken reason would be to impose solidarity in the ranks.

Our Churches operate like an army. Once one is in an official position, things change. That's why two former pastors warned me off pursuing the diaconate. Both suggested I was better being able to speak truth to power as a layman.

Dear Theophan,

Having done some brief, somewhat hasty "research" on the internet concerning Sr. Vassa and her year old video, I was unable to find anything concerning any punishment or discipline meted out to her by any of her superiors directly related to her comments in the video. I'll grant you, that doesn't mean it didn't (or won't) happen--it only means I couldn't find it with a relatively superficial search.

Can't help but wonder if we'd even know about it if she were disciplined.

Christ is in our midst!!

J Michael,

I didn't mean to say Sister Vassa would be disciplined or silenced, but my own experience immediately sprang into my thinking once I had finished viewing her video. That said, I don't see any movement by the ROCOR bishops to adopt their former stance of being the "free voice of the Russian Orthodox Church" outside thephysical borders of the country. I also wonder why we have not heard a follow-up to this powerful video statement. Has Sister Vassa "gone underground"? Off the grid?

Forgive me for being a suspicious person, but she is under monastic obedience--not a free spirit.

I think part of the reason that ROCOR is no longer the free voice it once was is that it is now in a position where her bishops, once elected by theri bishops' council here, must be approved by the MP Holy Synod. If I am not mistaken, its First Hierarch is a member of the permanent synod of the MP. They may also be required to receive their chrism form the MP. These things change one's stance and freedom to manuever as one did when these things were not in place.

Here is a website called "Axia Women", that contains a bit about Sister Vassa, dated in April of this year 2023. It seems to me she has postponed her podcasts lately, but I can't be sure.

https://www.axiawomen.org/wow/notable-woman-sister-vassa-larin#:~:text=I%20have%20been%20at%20a,has%20been%20healing%20to%20me.

In her Wikipedia biography, it mentions that "[Sr.] Vassa was eventually enrolled by Archbishop Mark (Arndt) of Berlin and Germany to study Orthodox Theology at the Orthodox Institute of the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Germany."
ROCOR selected a new First Hierarch a year ago, prior to which Archbishop Mark was Locum tenens (temporarily in charge). He had called for the Russians to pull out of Ukraine.
Bishop Nicholas Olhovsky was selected as the new First Hierarch and not Archbishop Mark, who was also a candidate.

It appears that Sr. Vassa is still active on youtube. Her most recent video (this one in Russian) was posted just 2 weeks ago. Here's a link:
https://www.youtube.com/@VassaLarin/videos . Unfortunately, I don't have much free time to devote to them...

Christ is in our midst!

I'm glad Sr. is still able to speak as forcefully as the above video and is still in the good graces of her superiors. Forgive me for being around ecclesiastical politics for too many years and always being suspicious.

Archbishop Mark of Berlin is her superior and he has blessed her ministry.