RUSSIA RELIGION NEWS
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For more than six months a criminal case that was opened regarding the commission of swindling of especially great proportions has been in the hands of the Investigative Department of the northern administrative district of the city of Moscow. The target of the criminal infringement was the building of around 2,570 square meters belonging to the Moscow United Methodist Church located at 30a Koptevskaia street.
In September of last year the general director of the "Gempiko" all-Russian public organization, a certain Mr. N.I. Liss, asserted a right to the building occupied by the church and he presented a certificate on the building that was registered on 12 September in the Moscow Committee of Registration. However the church had never made any deal for giving up the building and it has all the necessary documents regarding ownership of this building. On 26 September "Gempiko" sold the building to the "Khant" all-Russian public organization.
During the course of the investigation it was established that documentsÊ granting rights had been drawn up and signed in the name of the church by persons who did not belong to it and who had no relationship to the church. According to the conclusion of criminal experts, these document were certified using a counterfeit seal.
Last week the members of the church submitted a collective complaint to the prosecutor of the city of Moscow in which they request that the investigation of the case be speeded up, including the seizure of all financial economic documentation of "Khant" organization and revealing its owners. This has not been done as of today. The church's attorney, Anatoly Pchelintsev, submitted such a petition back at the beginning of April, since in his opinion there are adequate bases to suggest the joint criminal intent of the owners "Gempiko" and "Khant."
In the opinion of the Slavic Legal Center, in the years to come one should expect such criminal infringements on church property. This is explained, on one hand, by the fact that the market in immovable property is already established and divided among economic subjects. On the other hand, religious organizations, unlike commercial structures, are physically defenseless, more trusting and, consequently, more vulnerable. (tr. by PDS, posted 8 July 2003)
Russia Religion News Current News Items
Russian President Vladimir Putin declared that "it is necessary to combat by special means uniting the efforts of all states those who try to use any bases, including religious bases, for achieving their primarily political goals."
However, the Russian leader declared in an interview with Malaysian reporters, "we will not be able to do this effectively if we do not understand, properly speaking, the roots of this dangerous phenomenon of the present day--terrorism," "NEWSru.com" reports, citing ITAR-TASS. In Putin's opinion, the roots are "poverty, inequality of different strata of society and of different states, unresolved conflicts." "Thus it is necessary, of course, to combat immediately manifestations of terror, the terrorists themselves, and terrorist organizations, but if we do not want simply to be engaged in plucking the fruits from the tree of terrorism, we must get to the roots," he stressed.
The Russian president noted, "we are people in the first place and then we are representatives of different religions and confessions, people of different skin colors, and the like," and thus "we should leave in the past, and I hope that this already has happened, the division of people into first and second class, into white and black, into Muslim and Christian, and we should simply learn to respect one another and to respect one another's interests."ÊÊ (tr. by PDS, posted 8 July 2003)
Russia Religion News Current News Items
Ceremonies devoted to the Kalinova miracle were conducted in Vinnitsa diocese, the press service of the Ukrainian Orthodox church of the Moscow patriarchate reported. A procession of the cross began with a solemn prayer service in Vinnitsa in which thousands of pilgrims from all regions of Ukraine, Russia, and abroad participated. The worship service was led by Metropolitan Makary of Vinnitsa and Mogilev-Podolsk. Orthodox priests of the Podolsk territory served with him.
Then the procession of the cross went to the city of Kalinovka. At this place eighty years ago the famous Kalinova miracle was displayed: blood flowed from a crucifix that had been hit by a bullet shot by a Red Army soldier. Since that time this spot on which the cross was erected has been especially respected by Orthodox Christians.
According to the estimate of law enforcement officials, more than 11,000 persons participated in the procession. The procession of the cross ended at 11:00 p.m. with an all-night vigil and divine liturgy that lasted until 6:00 a.m.
In July 1923 two soldiers returning from the civil war were riding in a cart from the Kalinovka station to the village of Salnik in Vinnitsa district. At a bend in the road stood a wooden cross. According to tradition, it had been erected on the grave of three merchants who were killed here by robbers in 1918. The cross was a local shrine and pilgrims came to it annually and held prayer services, "Zvezda Rozhdestva" reports.
One of the drunken soldiers shot at this cross and hit an icon on it which portrayed the crucifixion and the bullet went through the right shoulder of the Savior. Blood flowed from the wound. The peasant who was driving the soldiers described this to his fellow villagers. The report of this miracle took foot throughout the village and clergy arrived and began round-the-clock services. Blood oozed out of the wooden cross and from the icon itself. By the second day processions of the cross led by priests were coming from the surrounding villages.
The soldier who had shot the icon was obviously a local, because he stood with his mother throughout the course of a month near the cross and asked people to pray that the Lord would forgive him for this great sin. After a week Orthodox from far off places, Kiev, Volynia, Galicia, were coming to the cross. Many even came by train from Poland, but soldiers surrounded the train cars and did not let the pilgrims out. People prayed in the train cars. Processions of the cross arrived from the Kiev caves lavra and monks came from Pochaev. More than 100 priests served at the shrine for several days.
The Podolsk provincial executive committee created a commission that was supposed to refute the miracle. But one of its members, a feldsher named Murovany, confirmed that it was blood that was flowing from the cross. For this he was shot. Such a fate was suffered by many priests who served at the cross.Ê (tr. by PDS, posted 8 July 2003)
ESTONIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH DISCOVERS SAINT'S RELICS
Novosti russkoi
pravoslavnoi tserkvi, 8 July 2003
On 2 July 2003 the relics of the holy martyr Sergius Florinsky, presbyter of Rakvere, were ceremonially exposed. This, by God's mercy, was the first discovery of relics of a holy martyr in Estonia. The sacred remains of the holy martyr Sergius will subsequently be placed in a sarcophagus which in the future will be set up for devout veneration in the church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Mother of God in Rakvere.
Archpriest Sergius Florinsky was a military chaplain. His last place of service was the military hospital in Rakvere. When the city came under the control of bolsheviks in December 1918, Father Sergius was shot along with eighty other city residents for refusal to renounce their faith in Christ. After the bolsheviks departed from Rakvere, parishioners identified the priest's body in the common grave and reburied him near the altar of the cemetery church.
On 17 July 2002 the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox church canonized the holy martyr Sergius as one of the new martyrs and confessors. By order of His Holiness Patriarch Alexis II of Moscow and all-Rus of 22 July 2002, the date of 18 November/1 December was established for commemoration of the synaxis of Estonian saints.
Commenting on this important event in the life of the Estonian Orthodox church, its primate Metropolitan Kornily noted the generous attitude and help on the part of local authorities and expressed special gratitude to Rakvere Mayor Andres Yaadl. (tr. by PDS, posted 8 July 2003)
LIFE OF HOLY MARTYR ARCHPRIEST SERGIUS FLORINSKY
Molodezh Estonii/Portal-credo.ru,
8 July 2003
Archpriest Sergius Florinsky was born in the ancient city of Suzdal on 4 March 1873 in the family of a priest. Upon graduation in 1893 from the Vladimir seminary he took a position as a teacher and in 1900 he was appointed priest in the 151st infantry of the Piatigorsk regiment in Grodno province. Formed on 28 November 1863, the 151st distinguished itself in the Russo-Turkish war of 1877-1878 and was awarded the St. George banner with the inscription "For seizure of Kars 6 November 1877." With the start of the Russo-Japanese war of 1904-1905 Father Sergius and the soldiers of his regiment spent almost a year in the active army. His ministry at the front was marked by two awards, the order of St. Anna, 3rd degree, and the memorial bronze medal on an Alexander-George ribbon.
It should be noted that the duties of a chaplain were not confined to performing worship services. At times chaplains were part of the attacks along with the troops, but carrying a holy cross instead of a weapon, and at the time of disaster they did not abandon their charges, remaining on sinking ships along with the wounded and dying. When World War I began in 1914 Archpriest Sergius and his regiment were sent to the front. And here he was given awards, the order of St. Anna, 3rd degree, St. Vladimir, 4th degree, and a gold pectoral cross on a St. George. After the February revolution of 1917 the conditions for military chaplains become very difficult. The indifference and blasphemy of those around them gave rise to a feeling of uselessness. The danger of death was a threat not so much from the bullets and shells of the enemy as from their own soldiers stirred up by revolutionary propaganda. And in the regiment where Fr Sergius served things were no better. On 22 June 1917 Fr Sergius was transferred to be chaplain in the 29th field hospital, which at that time was located in Estonia in the city of Rakvere and occupied the building of the city hospital.
In the hospital, as in his previous place of ministry, Fr Sergius quickly won the hearts of all associates in the hospital with his abilities as a pastor and a man. When six months after his appointment, in January 1918, the order from the people's commissariat came for dismissal of all clergy from the military, the hospital committee raised a decisive protest against this resolution of the new government and decided to keep Fr Sergius in service at the hospital "by the will of the entire staff of employees."
Father Sergius did not have long to serve in the hospital. In February 1918, due to the final dissolution of the Russian army and the unprecedented advance of German troops into the depths of Russia, Estonia was occupied by German forces and an occupation regime was established. On 22 March the hospital was disbanded and Fr Sergius was left in a foreign country without means of support. The situation got still worse because the new government, which had taken control over all Orthodox clergy in the Baltic region, did not give permission for Fr Sergius to leave the country for his homeland, even after he had been relieved of his duties.
When the Estland Labor Commune took power, on 19 December 1918 Archpriest Sergius Florinsky was arrested as a representative of the old reactionary regime along with many other residents of Rakvere from the most diverse strata of society.
The investigation of Fr Sergius' case was brief as was the trial that found him guilty. At the end of his one brief interrogation, the text of which occupied only one page of handwriting, Archpriest Sergiue Florinsky declared: "I think one thing; my crime is that I am a priest, which I acknowledge by my signature." On 26 December the commission issued the order to shoot him. The execution was conducted in the Palermo woods where now there is a memorial stone to all who were shot at that time.
After the bolsheviks left, all those who had been shot were reburied. Archpriest Sergius Florinsky was buried in the city cemetery on the east side of the Orthodox chapel, around which priests serving in the church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Mother of God in Rakvere were buried.
The relics of Fr Sergius, who was canonized by the Russian Orthodox church,
will be venerated in the church of the Nativity of the Mother of God in the
Estonian city of Rakvere. Archpriest Sergius was enrolled in the list of
martyrs by the bishops' council of the Russian Orthodox church in August
2000 along with other new martyrs and confessors of the Russian land. (tr.
by PDS, posted 8 July 2003)
EIGHTY YEARS AGO HOLY MARTYR ILARION RECONSECRATED CHURCH OF THE PRESENTATION
MONASTERY AFTER EXPELLING RENOVATIONISTS
by Dmitry Safonov
Pravoslavie.ru/Portal-credo.ru, 7 July 2003
On 27 June 1923 Patriarch Tikhon was released from prison confinement in
the Lubianka prison. A new stage in his activity began directed primarily
to the elimination of the renovationist schism.
One of the patriarch's closest associates in this period was Bishop Ilarion
Troitsky. Troitsky, whose secular name was Vladimir Alexeevich, was born
in 1886. On 5 July 1913 he was elevated to the rank of archimandrite and
professor of the Moscow Ecclesiastical Academy. In 1919 he was arrested and
was in the Butyrka prison in Moscow from 10 March to 7 June 1919. On 25 May
1920 Patriarch Tikhon installed him bishop of Vereisk, a vicariate of the
Moscow diocese. On 24 May 1920 in the Trinity church of the patriarchal annex
in Moscow, at the time of his nomination to the episcopate made by His Holiness
Patriarch Tikhon, Archimandrite Ilarion said:Ê "Previously I have been reading
books; now I have to read human hearts, these most wise and often entirely
incomprehensible writings. Then I was writing with ink on paper; from now
on I have to write with grace the image of God on human souls. Previously
I taught; from now on I have to lead people to salvation. Previously I was
able to remain under a bushel; now you have placed me on the church's candlestick.
Previously I could hide from people and be in sweet oblivion; from now I
must illumine people with the light of good deeds. With all my soul I loved
the academic life, separated from the world, suspended over the world, in
solitude like in the wilderness. Now you have completely removed the hope
of returning to this wilderness again. A bishop must always be in the whirlpool
of human life. Around him is a dailythrong of people which can be called
daily pressure upon me (2 Cor 11.18); he must be all things to all people
(1 Cor 9.22), a slave to all (1 Cor 9.19), weak for the weak (1 Cor 9.22),
invalid with the invalid (2 Cor 11.29), consoling some, instructing others,
and even accusing others (Tim 1.9).Ê Having become accustomed to my former
ministry and loving it with all my soul, I feared the bishopric, and I always
said a great deal against my bishopric. Now I stand before you, archpastor,
having received your calling and I will not say anything against it because
my hope in the Lord is firm. I now see clearly that the need for workers
in God's field is great and I firmly know now that God's will rules the church
and bishops are established in the church not without God's will." In accordance
with these words, Bishop Ilarion firmly and courageously performed his episcopal
ministry. In 1921 he was implicated in the so-called "Chief museum" case,
but he was not arrested at the time.
Real trials began for the holy prelate Ilarion in 1922. The occasion for
the persecution of Patriarch Tikhon and his associates, including Bishop
Ilarion, was his alleged call for resistance to the confiscation of church
treasures. In addition, this was connected with the renovationist church
organized by the GPU as an alternative to Patriarch Tikhon.
The decree about confiscation of church treasures effectively removed the
church from participation in organizing the surrender of the treasures and
it forbade the replacement of the valuable items that had a liturgical use
with a quantity of silver and gold of equal value. The actions of the authorities
evoked Patriarch Tikhon's extreme perplexity and in a letter to M.I. Kalinin
of 25 February 1922 he called the government to rescind its decision that
was fraught with unpredictable consequences. The government understood that
it was the patriarch as head of the church who was the main impediment to
the break up of the church organization. Therefore the main thrust was directed
against the patriarch. The GPU followed the activity of the patriarch and
his associates closely. Thus, at a conference at GPU on 8 March 1922 it was
said "the apparatus of the clergy headed by Tikhon is spreading its work
ever more widely."
All actions of the clergy condemning the confiscation were stored in the
information files of GPU. They were collected in the Information Department
and in the Sixth Department of Secret Department of GPU.Ê These could be
files for one or for several days. For example, one of them contains a report
about a sermon by Bishop Ilarion that in the opinion of the Chekists was
aimed against the confiscation. In the file sent to Secret Department Director
Samsonov was a report about a meeting of the church deans of the city of
Moscow on 28 February conducted by Metropolitan Nikandr at which he called
for "being on guard." All this could not help but disturb the authorities.
At this time great attention was being paid to the church and in the decisive
days of March the Politburo turned to the church question at just about every
one of its sessions, two or three times a week, and sometimes during breaks
between sessions there was a polling of members of the Politburo.Ê Here the
strategic plans of Lenin and Trotsky were discussed, justifying the atheist
practices and repressive tactics and the membership of the repressive commissions
and committee created for the break up of the church--methods of conspiracy,
concealing the real goals of their activity, and the deception of public
opinion in the West. The chief instigator and inspiration of the antichurch
campaign was L.D. Trotsky. By 12 March 1922 Trotsky effectively established
his intent to create schism in the church when he indicated the necessity
of including in the membership of Aid for the Starving the "soviet" portion
of the clergy. However the chief signal of the government's shift to decisive
action against the church was the well-known letter by Lenin of 19 March
1922 in which he wrote, in particular: "We must give the most decisive and
relentless battle against the Black Hundredist clergy and treat its resistance
with such brutality that they will not forget it for several decades. . .
the more representatives of the reactions clergy . . . that we manage to
shoot over this, the better." These fearsome threats of an irrational man
also fell upon the holy prelate Ilarion.
After reviewing this statement on 22 March, the Politburo on Trotsky's suggestion
decided to postpone these brutal measures for some time, without rejecting
them: "Recognize the arrest of the synod and patriarch as necessary, but
not right away but in approximately 10 to 15 days."Ê It was proposed to use
this time for "zealous" antichurch agitation. However GPU began the arrests
of members of the synod on the very same day, 22 March 1922. In the file
of Patriarch Tikhon there is a "List of persons subject to removal by the
Sixth Department," to which the closest aides of the patriarch were taken:
Metropolitan Nikandr, Bishop Ilarion, the patriarch's cellmate Yakov Polozov,
the priest Ilya Gromoglasov, Archpriest Alexander Khotovitsky, and Archpresbyter
Nikolai Liubimov. This same document contains the motives for the arrests.
Thus Metropolitan Nikandr is accused of "organizing illegal meetings of clergy
and stirring up the masses at these meetings for the purpose of acting against
the authorities," and Bishop Ilarion is accused of "organizing disputes on
religious topics with the goal of discrediting soviet rule." On 22 March
1922 Bishop Ilarion was arrested in his apartment (Building 9, apt. 1, Sretenka
street). In the record of the interrogation conducted at the Lubianka on
24 March, Bishop Ilarion wrote with his own hand the scope of his responsibilities
at the time of his arrest: "The responsibilities of my ministry here in Moscow
are varied. The most substantive of them are attendance at the Trinity annex
upon instructions from the senior bishops, church services, and the like.
I have had occasion to speak frequently at debates." On 22 June 1922 Bishop
Ilarion was subjected to administrative exile to Arkhangelsk for a term of
one year. He spent his exile along with Metropolitan Serafim Chichagov. During
his exile the GPU frequently subjected his apartment to searches in order
to find letters that were brought to him from Moscow by people coming to
see him. On 30 June 1923 the Arkhangelsk provincial department of GPU decided
to release Bishop Ilarion from under guard. The conclusion of the case says:
"Troitsky is quite far from recognition of VTsU (the renovationist Supreme
Church Administration--D.S.)" However the conclusion also says that cases
of "antisoviet activity" by Bishop Ilarion have not been proven completely
and therefore it was decided "to cease making a public investigation on this
case and to release the detained Troitsky from under guard." The notes say
that "Troitsky is being detained in the casemate of the Arkhangelsk department
of GPU."
In all probability Bishop Ilarion arrived back in Moscow on 5 July 1923 and
he immediately went to Patriarch Tikhon's residence in the Don monastery.
From this time up until his final arrest in November 1923, Bishop Ilarion
was the closest aide to His Holiness. It was to him the patriarch entrusted
the chief task--elimination of the renovationist schism. The first step on
this path was the reconsecration of the cathedral in the Presentation monastery,
where followers of one of the leaders of renovationism, "Metropolitan" Antonin
Granovsky, had been located since 1922.
Antonin's name is notorious in connection with the campaign for confiscation
of church treasures conducted by the soviet regime in February to May 1922.
On 23 March 1922, that is, the day after Bishop Ilarion's arrest, Antonin
gave an interview to the "Izvestiia" newspaper in which he stated his disagreement
with the position on this question of the holy prelate Tikhon. On 28 March
1922 Antonin received an invitation to take part in the work of the government's
Central Commission for Aid to the Starving ["Pomgol"] as a "loyal priest."
On 29 April 1922 he participated as an expert in the Moscow trial of clergy
and laity accused of "resistance" to the confiscation of church treasures.
Antonin's speech, demanding the unconditional transfer of all valuables,
including eucharistic vessels, was viewed by the church public as the reason
for the execution of a death sentence for eleven defendants. It is obvious
that during the time under consideration as well as later Antonin undertook
his actions in coordination with E.A. Tuchkov, the chief of the Sixth (antichurch)
Department of the Secret Department of GPU.
On 13 May 1922 Antonin joined the group of the so-called "progressive clergy,"
whose leaders were Archpriest A.I. Vvedensky and the priest V.D. Krasnitsky,
and he signed along with them a proclamation containing accusations against
Patriarch Tikhon of "church destruction" and demanding the "immediate convocation
of a local council" for prosecuting him. In this way the foundation for the
so-called renovationist schism was laid. On 19 May 1922 Antonin, supported
by Tuchkov, occupied the head of the self-proclaimed Supreme Church Administration
(VTsU) that gave to the schism its culminating form. At the same time Antonin
remained unchanged in his opposition to Krasnitsky and the "Living Church"
group of white clergy that he led; it played the leading role in the schism
in June 1922 to April 1923. On 6 August 1922 Antonin was appointed by VTsU
to the Moscow see with the title of "Archbishop of Krutitsy," and on 20 August
1922 he assumed the title "Metropolitan of Moscow and all-Russia." On 24
August 1922 he stood at the head of the "Union of Church Regeneration," a
renovationist grouping in opposition to the conditionally clerical Living
Church that sought to get lay support. On 22 September 1922 Antonin declared
his rupture with the Living Church and departure from VTsU, although in October
1922 he again returned to his post as its chairman when it was reorganized
on coalition principles, including representatives of the Living Church,
Union of Church Regeneration, and the newly formed grouping called "Union
of Congregations of the Ancient Apostolic Church" (CODATs), headed by A.I.
Vvedensky. At the renovationist "Second local council of the Russian Orthodox
church" (Moscow, 29 April to 9 May 1923) Antonin was elected its honorary
chairman. At the same time the true leadership of the "council" was carried
out by Vvedensky and Krasnitsky. On 8 May 1923 he joined the Supreme Church
Council (VTsS), elected by the council as its chairman. But by 24 June 1923,
as a result of the sharp conflict with members of VSTs, mainly with Krasnitsky,
he was dismissed from all posts he occupied and sent into retirement.
This was preceded by the publication in Izvestiia on 17 May 1923 of a declaration
by Antonin, "ABC of church reform," that became a programmatic document of
STsV. It is interesting to note that a month before the schism among the
renovationists, Bishop Ilarion, who personally knew the true nature of the
renovationists, had predicted it, which is stated in the conclusion to the
case on 30 June 1923. Bishop Ilarion expressed this in a conversation with
one layman who was with him in exile and who informed the GPU of it.
On 26 June 1923 began the period of "autocephaly" of the existence of STsV,
headed by Antonin. This schismatic grouping was small, comprising only several
hundred adherents. Its center was the cathedral in the Zaikonospassky monastery
in Moscow and there were adherents of STsV in Leningrad, Kharkov, and Vladimir
dioceses. The distinctive of this group was the conduct of radical liturgical
reform. Besides the introduction of a translation into Russian of the liturgy
prepared by the renovationists and of the Gregorian calendar, Antonin moved
the altar from the sanctuary into the middle of the church. He began conducting
the liturgy that he had composed and published, "edited in accordance with
texts of the ancient liturgy." As an advocate of "a diverse liturgical life
for the church," he actively "improvised" in this sphere; for example, he
introduced into the liturgical texts verses of modern poets. Antonin and
his minions conducted such "liturgies" in the Presentation monastery; even
such leaders of the renovationist movement as Vvedenskyand Krasnitsky did
not go so far as this distortion of the liturgy.
Therefore Bishop Ilarion began the elimination of the renovationist contagion
with the Presentation monastery that had been seized by Antonin's followers.
In addition, this ancient cloister in the center of Moscow was especially
dear to the heart of the holy prelate. It was here that Ilarion began his
overt activity in 1923 of eliminating the schism. By the afternoon of 5 July,
on the eve of the feast of the Presentation of the Vladimir Mother of God
icon, announcements of the following form appeared on the streets of Moscow:Ê
"On 23 June (old style, D.S.) on the day of the Vladimir Mother of God icon
the divine liturgy will be conducted by His Holiness Tikhon, patriarch of
Moscow and all-Russia, with concelebrants Archbishop Tikhon of Uralsk, Bishop
Ilarion, Bishop Gury, and Archbishop Parfely. The vigil at 6:00 p.m. on the
eve will be conducted by His Eminence Bishop Ilarion." One of these announcements
was torn down by a GPU agent and is preserved in the investigative file of
Patriarch Tikhon.
On the eve of the holiday in honor of the Vladimir Mother of God icon Bishop
Ilarion consecrated the cathedral of the Presentation monastery. Such a consecration
is conducted in the event of the pollution of a church, since the bishop
considered the renovationist "liturgies" to be thus polluting. To assess
the significance of this event one must recall that at this time the majority
of churches adhered to the renovationists as did around half of the bishops
and tens of thousands of priests. Bishop Ilarion stated with all clarity
that renovationism was not simply a schism in the church; it was a pollutant
before God. This sobered up very many people and after this renovationist
bishops and priests by the hundreds wound their way to Patriarch Tikhon and
Archbishop Ilarion in the Don monastery in order to repent and return to
the church of Christ. By the fall of 1923 an enormous number of former renovationist
bishops and priests had made repentance and returned to the church, and the
influence of the renovationist centers was substantially weakened.
At every liturgy by Bishop Ilarion one or several GPU agents were present
who then composed reports for their commanders. Several such documents are
preserved in the investigation file of Patriarch Tikhon. Thanks to these
documents we know several details of the liturgies Ilarion conducted in Presentation
monastery. One of the reports says that Bishop Ilarion "delivered a sermon
in which he appealed to clergy who had gone into renovationist groups to
repent publicly in the church; otherwise he forbids them to serve in the
sanctuary. The clergy in attendance publicly repented and Ilarion purified
the church from the pollution of the heretics." The author of the report
characterizes the bishop himself as "the most famous preacher who in his
abilities surpasses the famous preacher Khrapovitsky (Metropolitan Antony).
Ilarion enjoys enormous popularity among believers and love for his sermons
that are saturated with the purest Tikhonism." Another GPU agent reports
that he estimated that more than 1,000 were present at the liturgy so that
the people filled not only the church but also the monastery courtyard.
On 6 July the bishop participated in a divine liturgy in the same monastery
along with Patriarch Tikhon and delivered a strong speech directed against
the renovationists, which agitated the latter a great deal. Thus, Krasnitsky
in his letter to GPU of 9 July wrote: "I urgently ask you to give attention
to the extremely provocative counterrevolutionary activity of the Tikhonite
essence of Ilarion who on 6 July preached at the Presentation monastery and
delivered such a pogromist speech that within the crowd and the courtyard
and on the streets physical attacks were conducted and the affair ended in
arrests. In the past ten days Tikhonites have become insolent, they conduct
themselves defiantly, and they are ready to start beating; and this mood
that is definitely pogromist and clearly antisoviet is being created by him,
by Bishop Ilarion. If his clearly counterrevolutionary activity is not ended,
then public disorders and the beating of renovationist churchmen will be
inescapable."
According to the information of the reports of these same GPU agents, the
divine liturgy on 6 July was conducted according to the Paschal text, it
began at 10:00 a.m., and ended only at 6:00 p.m. the service was conducted
not only in the church but also in the yard, because the church could not
accommodate all attendees. A motion picture was made at the time of the liturgy.
At the time of the sermon, Patriarch Tikhon called the former Antonine "hosts"
of the monastery "self-called." The patriarch asked the people which church
they were for. "For the old church. Away with the self-called Antonines!"
was the answer. It was also reported that several "comrades" in caps tried
to enter the church during the liturgy "but the public began whispering 'communist,'
and there were cases where the caps were torn off their heads." The reports
say that at the time of the divine liturgy there were men, women, and children
present, and many were not able to get into the church "and because of this
crowds were standing in the garden of the monastery around the church. The
liturgy was conducted by some other priest in the garden." At the time of
the liturgy, the deacon commemorated Patriarch Tikhon and sang "Many years"
for him. Before communing the laity Bishop Ilarion delivered a sermon which
was devoted to the Vladimir Mother of God icon and the schism in the church.
The holy prelate spoke about the graceless schism and called schismatics
to repentance. During the bishop's sermon there were shouts from the crowd
"we stand for the old church!" Many were crying. After the liturgy, Patriarch
Tikhon delivered a sermon, but according to testimony of eyewitnesses he
spoke about the Vladimir Mother of God icon. After this the patriarch exited
the church and began blessing the people; this occurred for three hours on
end. After this "the crowd practically carried him in its arms along the
Lubianka, where he got into a coach waiting for him and he rode in the direction
of Lubianka Square."
It was on 6 July 1923 that the patriarch announced the elevation of Bishop
Ilarion to the rank of archbishop. It is necessary to point out the mistaken
opinion of Archpriest Vinogradov, who in his recollections of Patriarch Tikhon
states that Ilarion was only a bishop and never was consecrated an archbishop.
"At the moment of his last arrest, in the fall of 1923, His Eminence Ilarion
was, undoubtedly, only a bishop." This opinion is refuted by a multitude
of sources, first of all by materials in the investigative file of Archbishop
Ilarion, where during interrogations and arrest in the fall of 1923 he was
called archbishop in the questionnaire of the detainee, the order to take
him to trial, and the arrest warrant, and in addition he is called archbishop
in the letter he wrote with Archbishop Serafim and Archbishop Tikhon to the
renovationist Evdokim, in the reports of Tuchkov, and in the request for
his release which Patriarch Tikhon wrote, and also a number of other documents.
In all documents before 6 July 1923 he is called bishop.
Also on this day Patriarch Tikhon announced that Archbishop Ilarion was appointed
superior of the Presentation monastery, where the Lord ordained for his holy
relics to be kept. And today every one of us can, just as 80 years ago, on
5 July 1923 at the time of the consecration of the church of the Presentation
monastery, receive consecration from the holy prelate Ilarion. Therefore
hundreds and thousands of believers every day come to the Presentation cloister
in order to venerate the holy relics of the holy martyr.Ê (tr. by PDS, posted
8 July
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In the conference hall of the Zaporozhe diocesan administration an expanded session of the Department for Religious Education and Catechesis along with the Academic Methodological Council of the Zaporozhe District Institute for Continuing Education of Teachers (ZOIUP) was held under the leadership of Archbishop Vasily of Zaporozhe and Melitopol, the press service of the Ukrainian Orthodox church of the Moscow patriarchate reported. The curriculum of the "Fundamentals of Orthodox Culture" was presented for discussion; it will serve as the basis for introducing the elective subject into the schools of Zaporozhe.
The methodological materials undergirding the course have been adjusted for all age categories, beginning from the preparatory groups of nursery schools up to the pupils of the older classes and Poltava Technical University. The curriculum was adopted by a majority of votes.
The commission ordered the development of a curriculum for courses for training Orthodox teachers for teaching "Fundamentals of Orthodox Culture" at the campus of the Zaporozhe District Institute that will incorporate the clergy of the Zaporozhe diocese. At the same time work will be undertaken for publishing a "Fundamentals of Orthodox Culture" textbook.
In his concluding speech Archbishop Vasily expressed the hope that a good beginning in the work of the spiritual enlightenment of children in time will produce its fruits in the moral and ethnical development of our society and establishment of Ukrainian statehood. (tr. by PDS, posted 8 July 2003)
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