The Spiritual Dead-End Path of the Moscow Patriarchate
by Bishop Kyrill of Seattle
of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad
Source: Orthodox Tradition,
Vol. 16 (1999), No. 2, pp. 45-46. Published with permission of the author.
At the present time—a time of
religious decline and of spiritual and moral decadence throughout the whole
world (which is attempting to envelop Russia as well)—, one cannot remain
unconcerned by the spiritual condition of the Russian people. After the
supposed fall of the communist regime, our vision was focused on Russia, with hopes
for her rebirth. But later we discerned the fraud underlying this “fall,” in
which a significant role was played by the perennial enemy of Russia: the West.
Rejoicing with all of our hearts
at the restoration of destroyed Churches and the construction of new ones, and
at the conversion of many people to the Faith, we still see with sorrow that
the path taken by the Moscow Patriarchate has not changed at all, and is, as
before, leading the Russian people to nowhere: into a spiritual dead-end of religious
modernism, compromise, and acquiescence.
Instead of addressing and
resolving all of the canonical and dogmatic questions that led to the division
of the Russian Church, and instead of leading their people to victory over the
powers of evil by pure Orthodoxy and by the truth handed to us by the Fathers,
the Hierarchs of the Moscow Patriarchate are moving farther and farther away
from the Truth, in the direction of the pan-heresy of ecumenism.
From the earliest of times, the
Church of Christ has withstood the trials of various heresies. In the past, the
devil attempted to fight against the truth of Christ with a series of heresies;
now he has gathered together all of the falsehoods of the world in ecumenism.
Here we find ancient Arians, Monophysites, Monothelites, Iconoclasts, and all
sorts of distortions of the Faith by contemporary sects, by non-Christian, and
even by pagan religions.
Ecumenism calls for the removal
of barriers not only between the various Christian confessions, but also
between religions, in order to create a “Great Church,” which would be the
synthesis of all existing churches and religions. At this time, already, there
are joint services being performed with the participation of representatives of
various world religions and confessions. Here are just a few examples of the liturgical
innovations of the ecumenists with which the Moscow Patriarchate has joined:
ritual dances by natives around the Altar Table; the liturgical use of
contemporary rock music; theatrical shows; joint prayer; and even the common
celebration of the “eucharist.”
All of this has shown that the
teaching of the Holy Fathers regarding an ancient axiom, that “the Communion of
the heretics is the food of the demons,’’ has been forgotten. These types of
ecumenical joint activities attempt to destroy the boundaries of the Church of Christ
and lead to the furtherance of religious relativism and the dissemination of
neo-pagan ideas.
The ecumenical movement has grown
to enormous proportions and has engulfed almost all of the Orthodox Churches.
The Russian Orthodox Church Abroad remains one of the few Churches in the whole
world that has not joined the World Council of Churches.
Understanding the nature of the
abyss toward which the Moscow Patriarchate is pulling the faithful people of
Russia, we acknowledge our responsibility before them.
Undoubtedly, there are still
clergy and laity in Russia who are not in agreement with the ecumenical
orientation and compromising ideology of the Moscow Patriarchate. And it is for
that reason that we would like to say to them: “Truth does not permit
disagreement in questions of Faith. Now is the time to turn away from the evil
fruit and to return to the Truth, which was given to us as an inheritance by
the Holy Fathers and Teachers of the Church, which has withstood the fires of
tribulation, and to which the blood and sufferings of the New Martyrs of Russia
have shown witness.’’
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