Archbishop Averky on the Third All-Diaspora Church Council (1974)

 

On the day of the significant feast of the Meeting of the Wonderworking Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God—August 26/September 8, 1974—the Third All-Diaspora Council of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia will convene at Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville. A momentous and weighty undertaking for our Church!

The first such Council was held in 1921 in Sremski Karlovci, in the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (later Yugoslavia), and the second was held there in 1938.

This Third Council is being convened under circumstances and conditions far less favorable than those in which the first two were held. Those Councils took place in a brotherly Orthodox country. Our senior hierarchs, who had departed from Russia and who knew and remembered well our former Russian Church, with all Her customs and traditions, were still alive, serving as a living link with Her. Many professors of the Russian Theological Academies, endowed with learning and experience, were also still living. Many still cherished hopes of a speedy return “home”—to a homeland liberated from the yoke of fierce godlessness and reborn to a new and radiant life. Now all this has passed into eternity. Only a few spiritual threads and our common commitment to a sacred ideal still bind us to our former Russian Church.

But be that as it may, our Church Abroad continues to live and to provide spiritual care for Orthodox Russian people scattered throughout the world, despite the lamentable schisms that have arisen in Her midst and all the attempts, in one way or another, to bring Her existence to an end. Therefore, it is our sacred duty to do everything possible to ensure that She may continue to exist in the future, become more firmly established in Her calling, and fulfill more effectively and fruitfully Her proper purpose—the work of ministering to the eternal salvation of the Orthodox Russian people who belong to Her. This naturally includes the missionary task that has fallen to Her lot, since we live not in Orthodox countries, but among those of other faiths.

The principal task of our Church in these evil times is the steadfast and unshakable preservation of the purity of Holy Orthodoxy, amid the general wavering of our age and, at times, open apostasy from the true Orthodox Faith, under the deceitful pretexts of a supposed “Christian love” and the “union of all.” A second task, no less important, is the protection of our Church’s spiritual freedom against every encroachment by Her open and hidden enemies.

We must clearly and unequivocally confess and demonstrate in practice that our Holy Orthodoxy is dearer to us and stands above all else, in its pure form, without any innovations or admixtures of human inventions born of knowledge falsely so called. And therefore, we cherish our communion not with those who merely call themselves “Orthodox,” even though they may bear the highest ecclesiastical titles and ranks, but only with those who, like ourselves, preserve the truth of Holy Orthodoxy pure and uncorrupted, making no compromises whatsoever with those who have betrayed and turned traitor to it—with those who enter into friendly communion with the enemies of Christ the Saviour and His True Church, or who place themselves in spiritual or material dependence upon them, selling their spiritual freedom, for which our Saviour shed His Most Precious Blood upon the Cross (cf. Galatians 5:1; 1 Peter 1:18–19).

This, properly speaking, is the most important thing of all; everything else, according to the word of Christ, shall “be added unto” us (Matthew 6:33).

Why is a Council being convened not of bishops alone, but with the participation of clergy and laity?

According to the canons, the Church of Christ is governed by the bishops, as successors of the Apostles, and no one can deprive the bishops of this right unless and until they themselves have been condemned as heretics and violators of the canons. There can be no question whatsoever of democracy in the Church of Christ, and no member of the clergy or laity has the right to encroach upon the governance of the Church.

But the Church consists not of bishops alone, but also of clergy and believing laity, and it is precisely to the Church in Her entirety that one of Her essential attributes belongs—the attribute of holiness, or infallibility. Our criterion of Truth has always been: “That which has been believed everywhere, always, and by all” (St. Vincent of Lérins). That was acknowledged as Truth which was accepted as Truth by the entire conciliar consciousness of the Church.

And although the Church is governed by bishops alone, we have never had papism, nor papal infallibility, nor the domination inherited in the West from ancient pagan Rome, with its “patricians”—the clergy—and “plebeians”—the laity. In the Body of the Church of Christ, all are equal before God, although they fulfill different functions, as we see in the remarkable teaching of the Holy Apostle Paul concerning the Church of Christ, in which he draws a parallel between the Church and the human body, which has many different members, each performing its own particular function necessary for the well-being of the whole body:

“For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ... If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling? But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased Him. And if they were all one member, where were the body? But now are they many members, yet but one body. And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary”...

“And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.”

“Now ye are the Body of Christ, and members in particular” (1 Corinthians 12:12–27).

Thus, in the Church of Christ, different ranks and positions entail their respective duties of service, and no one should interfere in the ministry of another. But just as in the ordinary human body there is complete harmony in the functioning of all its members, without which the body would be threatened with destruction, so also in the Church of Christ there must be complete oneness of mind and oneness of spirit, to which the Word of God constantly exhorts Christians (cf. Romans 12:16; 16:17–18; 1 Corinthians 1:10–13; Philippians 2:2–3, and other passages).

It is precisely for the sake of strengthening and confirming such oneness of mind and oneness of spirit, and for the purpose of united, harmonious, and coordinated labor for the benefit of the entire Church, that such Councils are convened, with the participation of all members of the Church. And although, we repeat, the Church is governed by the bishops alone, it is nevertheless exceedingly important and beneficial for the bishops themselves to know the dispositions of the clergy and laity, and what they think concerning this or that phenomenon in the life of the Church, so that they may take all this into consideration for the good of the Church and for Her better governance and pastoral care. St. Cyprian of Carthage, acknowledged as a great Father of the Church, who affirmed that “The bishop is in the Church, and the Church in the bishop; and if anyone is not with the bishop, he is not in the Church,” at the same time emphasized that “The Church consists of the bishop, the clergy, and all who stand firm in the Faith,” and wrote to his presbyters and deacons: “From the very beginning of my episcopate, I made it a rule to do nothing on my own judgment alone, without your counsel and without the consent of the people.”

The Word of God and the canons teach us not to disregard even those who are “without,” that is, those who do not belong to the Church at all, even in so important a matter as the election of a new bishop (cf. 1 Timothy 3:7). All the more necessary, therefore, is it for those who stand at the head of ecclesiastical administration to know the opinions and dispositions of the members of the Church and to take them into account, for the sake of peace, oneness of mind, and the good of the entire Church. Clergy and laity, if they are sincerely believing, honest, and prudent people, and moreover endowed with experience, can greatly assist the bishops in the governance of the Church, not by arbitrarily interfering in that governance, but simply by bringing to the bishops’ attention whatever they consider important and necessary for the good of the Church.

This, then, is precisely how true “conciliarity” (sobornost) should be understood. Its foundation lies not in any democratic tendencies, personal ambitions, or self-serving aspirations, but solely in zeal for God and for the good of the Holy Church.

Whatever is truly necessary for the glory of God and the good of the Church must be established and introduced, whether anyone likes it or not.

Whatever causes manifest harm to the Church must be eliminated, likewise regardless of whether anyone finds it pleasing or displeasing.

And only one thing must be borne in mind throughout: in making decisions concerning ecclesiastical affairs and adopting resolutions, there is absolutely no place for, nor can there be any tolerance of, personal passions, subjective prejudices, or the narrow interests of any individual or group. And, of course, there can be no place for the so-called “herd mentality,” so often encountered in secular life, which is always blind.

Everything must be sacrificed for the glory of God, the good of the Holy Church, and the supremely exalted work of the salvation of human souls, without any purely earthly calculations or considerations whatsoever.

The Church of God is a divine institution, not a human one, and everything within Her must be according to God’s will, pure and holy, and directed toward one sacred purpose.

This is what, as we know, all truly believing Orthodox Russian people abroad expect from the Third All-Diaspora Church Council now being convened—those for whom no other genuine treasure remains on earth save our Holy Church!

                                                                                                      

Russian original:

https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Averkij_Taushev/sovremennost-v-svete-slova-bozhija-slova-i-rechi/4_34