Jubilee of theArgentina and South America diocese

JUBILEE OF THE ARGENTINA AND SOUTH AMERICA DIOCESE

In December 1997, the Argentina and South America diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church solemnly celebrated the 50h anniversary of the Annunciation parish in Buenos Aires which was founded in the post-war years and marked the beginning of a diocese of the Moscow Patriarchate in South America.

The first Orthodox communities appeared in South America in the late 19th century when people from Russia, Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia and the Middle East came to Argentina as emigrants. In 1887 the Orthodox inhabitants of Argentina sent a request to the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church through he Russian General Consulate to send them a priest. The first Orthodox parish with Father Mikhail Ivanov as its rector was established at the Russian diplomatic mission in Buenos Aires in 1888. The Divine services were celebrated in a private house with a mobile iconostasis sent from Madrid. It was in this home chapel that the first Orthodox liturgy and the first baptisms and weddings in the history of South America were celebrated on January 1, 1889.

The construction of an Orthodox church in Buenos Aires was completed in the late 1899 on the funds allocated by the Holy Synod and on donations of the believers from Russia and other countries. It was consecrated in 1901 in the name of the Holy Trinity. Father Constantine Izraztsov became the rector.

The destiny of this church was not easy. In 1926 a peaceful atmosphere in the Holy Trinity parish was disrupted by arbitrary actions of the rector who, together with a small group of his adherents withdrew from the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate and joined the Karlovci Synod Abroad. During the Second World war the position of Constantine Izraztsov was clearly pro-fascist, and for this reason many representatives of emigration left for other jurisdictions. The parishioners of the Holy Trinity church who remained faithful to the Mother Church began to collect money to build a new church.

For the sake of putting the life of the Russian Orthodox parishes in South America in good order His Holiness Patriarch Sergius of Moscow and all Russia at the request of the believers established a hierarchal see in Buenos Aires to which Hegumen Theodore (Tekuchev) was appointed. He was consecrated bishop on 12 December 1943 by Metropolitan Benjamin Fedchenkov, Patriarchal Exarch in America, Bishop Dionysios of the Serbian Orthodox Church in America and Bishop Gerasimos of Chicago, a vicar bishop of the Exarch of the Church of Constantinople.

June of 1947 was marked by the birth of the Orthodox Annunciation community in Buenos-Aires. On the money collected by the believers a house was bought which later was reconstructed into the church dedicated to the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos. In 1948, Orthodox member of the colony in Japeju in the province of Misenos left the Resurrection parish set up by the followers of Father Constantine Izraztsov and joined the Annunciation community in Buenos Aires.

During 50 years of its existence the Argentina diocese of the Moscow Patriarchate has grown and got stronger. Parishes were opened on the territory of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and local people became clergymen.

Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate arrived to the jubilee festivities to the capital of Argentina on 6 December 1997. In the Eseisa airport he was met by Archbishop Platon of Argentina and South America and by V.L.Trudenev, the Ambassador of Russia in Argentina. A Thanksgiving Moleben was celebrated in the Annunciation cathedral where clergymen and believers warmly greeted Metropolitan Kirill.

On 7 December 1997, the festive Divine service which at the Annunciation cathedral was concelebrated by Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, Archbishop Platon, Archpriest Anatoly Topala, Hieromonk Bartholomew (Ovideo), Father George Peri and Deacon Boris Krimko, clergymen of the Argentina diocese. Present at the Divine service were numerous guests and correspondents.

On Monday, December 8, Metropolitan Kirill visited the Holy Trinity church – the first Russian church in Argentina which belongs to the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad.

The same day a reception was given at the Embassy of the Russian Federation attended by Archbishop Ubaldo Calabresi, Nuncio of Vatican in Argentina, and Ambassador Angel Senteno, general secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Cults of Argentina.

Orthodox Christians in Argentina maintain contacts with hierarchy and clergy of the Roman Catholic Church to which the majority of the population of the country belongs. On December 9, Metropolitan Kirill met the Primate of Argentina, Archbishop of Buenos Aires Cardinal Antonio Quarracino whom he greeted on behalf of the Russian Orthodox Church. The hierarchs discussed some questions of bilateral relations.

In the afternoon Metropolitan Kirill continued his acquaintance with the parishes of the Argentina diocese. He visited the church of All Saints Who Shone Forth in the Land of Russian in La Nusa and the church of St.Job of Pochaev in San Martin.

In the Ministry of Foreign Relations, Foreign Trade and Cults, Ambassador Angel Senteno, general secretary for cults, and Jose Camilo Cardoso, head of the department for registration of religious non-Catholic organisations gave an official reception in honour of Metropolitan Kirill, attending which were V.L.Turdenev, Ambassador of Russia, and representatives of religious public.

In the evening a dinner was held in the residence of Metropolitan Gennadios of Buenos Aires who has been the head of the Argentina diocese of the Patriarchate of Constantinople since 1979. Metropolitan Gennadios told about the life of the Greek communities in South America.

On December 10 Metropolitan Kirill met Dr.Saul Carlos Menem, President of Argentina. During a detailed talk they exchanged opinions on the role of religion in the life of people of the two countries. The President listened with much interest to the explanations by Metropolitan Kirill of some provisions of the new Russian law on ‘Freedom of Conscience and on Religious Associations’. In the afternoon a dinner in honour of an important guest from Russia was given at the Argentinean Council for International Relations by its President of the Council Carlos Manuel Muniz. Present were Secretary of the Council Mariano X. de Nevares. During the talk Metropolitan Kirill spoke about the Russian Orthodox Church, the new law on ‘Freedom of Conscience and on Religious Organisations’. The President and the Secretary asked questions about the attitude of the Russian Orthodox Church to the new sects which have appeared recently. The problem of relations with Islam and other aspects of the modern life were also discussed.

In the evening in the ‘Nogaro’ hotel a press conference of Metropolitan Kirill was held at which he answered journalists’ questions.