, # 023 , 16 june 1998 ,

Recently in the yard of the Ekaterinburg church school of the Russian Orthodox church theological works of archpriests Alexander Men, Alexander Schmemann, John Meyendorff and Nikolai Afanasiev were burned publicly.

The order for the destruction of the "modernist" works of Orthodox theologians was given by Bishop Nikon Mironov of Ekaterinburg and Verkhotursk. At a session of the ecclesiastical consistory the bishop posed the question of the impermissibility of distribution of "heretical" literature in local churches. Official clerics prompted the bishop that such literature existed directly under his nose, in the library of the local church school, the source of the clergy of the diocese. Bishop Nikon immediately phoned the school and gave the order to conduct an act of public burning of "incorrect" theological works on its campus.

Fulfilling the order of the bishop, works of the library of the church school carried out books of the enumerated authors into the yard, where priests, students, and some who were simply curious had gathered; they threw them into an iron box and solemnly committed them to the flame. It is said that during this some singing resounded. The dean of the churches of the city of Ekaterinburg, Archpriest Nikolai Ladiuk, arrived at this disgraceful "Neanderthal action." Having learned by chance about what was happening in the yard of the church school, reporters from the local television company "Channel Ten" quickly turned to the Ekaterinburg diocesan administration for explanations. But the diocese censor, a certain Fr Avraamy, confirmed the fact of the book burning but categorically refused to be interviewed. In Ekaterinburg diocese only one person was found who had decided to disagree publicly with the tyranny of the bishop. This was Fr Oleg Vokhmianin. Is it any wonder that Bishop Nikon immediately banned him from priestly ministry.

The actions of Bishop Nikon and his assistants stirred up a frenzy among representatives of the "rightist camp" in the Russian Orthodox church. According to the bulletin "Religioznaia zhizn," listeners of the "right" church radio station Radonezh demanded of the Union of Orthodox Citizens (the largest organization of Orthodox laity, which replaced the ill fated Union of Orthodox Brotherhoods) "to defend Bishop Nikon of Ekaterinburg and Verkhotursk from the harsh reaction of the press."

After the first reports of the Ekaterinburg auto-da-fe, appeals and letters arrived at the chancellery of the Moscow patriarchate demanding that an appropriate assessment of the arbitrariness of Bishop Nikon be made. The widow of Fr Alexander Schmemann, mother Juliana, in her letter affirmed that her husband and Fr John Meyendorff "never varied from the teaching of the holy church, being motivated by the desire to enlighten people and draw them to the love of Christ." The son of Fr Alexnader Schmemann, Sergei, recalled: "From many years of experience of life in the Soviet Union I know how many people were inspired and supported by his works. This includes Patriarch Alexis II, who called Fr Schmemann 'my great teacher.'"

Judging from the first response of the Moscow patriarchate, the church leadership is in some confusion and has not decided to make any assessment of the events in Ekaterinburg.

The incident of burning "heretical" books is unprecedented for the Russian church. There is not even a word in Russian that designates such a form of struggle with those who think differently. It is necessary to have recourse to a word borrowed from the medieval European inquisition, "auto-da-fe." Is someone trying to introduce this custom into the Russian land?

Bishop Nikon Mironov belongs to the "young generation" of bishops of the Moscow patriarchate. He is thirty-eight years old, but he was consecrated a bishop only six years ago. The flaming warrior against "heresy" began his church career in 1981 in the capacity of a worker in the Irkutsk diocesan candle factory. The same year the young worker became secretary of the largest Orthodox diocese in the world. In 1993 he was consecrated Bishop of Zadonsk.

The auto-da-fe in Ekaterinburg permits one to draw several conclusions. Intolerance is intensifying in the Russian Orthodox church. Church leaders are paying less and less attention to the opinion of secular society about their actions and particularly to that of the press which they more often are viewing as deliberately hostile to the church. Finally, local bishops are beginning to act ever more independently, ultimately confusing the uninitiated about the real position of the church on any particular question. (tr. by PDS)

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