His Holiness Patriarch Alexy speaks on burning issues in church-society relations
27.08.2002 · English, Архив 2002
HIS HOLINESS PATRIARCH ALEXY SPEAKS ON BURNING ISSUES IN CHURCH-SOCIETY RELATIONS
Answering journalists’ questions during his visit to the diocese of St. Petersburg and to Valamo, His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia fulminated the Satanists who desecrated the Orthodox church of God’s Prophet Elijah in Haifa, Israel. The Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church expressed the conviction that the forces of evil, who are served by those who desecrate Christian shrines, could be rebuffed only by common efforts.
The First Hierarch of the Russian Church also spoke about the change of passports and the census – the problems which disturb some people in Russia. He noted that the attempts to present these national programs as something apocalyptic were aimed at sowing false doubts and encouraging harmful prejudices unworthy of Christians. He reminded his listeners that the Gospel refers to a census in the Roman Empire. It was for the census that the Most Holy Mother of God together with Joseph went from Nazareth to Bethlehem where Divine Infant Jesus was born.
His Holiness also expressed bewilderment over the reluctance of some believers to obtain new passports, saying, “Do these people treasure old passports with their hammer and sickle much more than the new ones with their double-headed eagle and St. George the Victorer one the cover?”
Journalists asked Patriarch Alexy about his attitude to the upsurge of public interest in the fate of the last Russian autocrat. His Holiness reminded them that there were at least thirteen pseudo-Anastasias who allegedly escaped the Bolshevik bullets. Those who have organized the campaign to recognize another “Princess” Anastasia Romanova have as their aim to tempt those who cherish the memory of the Imperial Family, he believes.
His Holiness described the calls to canonize Czar Ioann the Terrible and Gregory Rasputin as an attempt to divide the people of God. “It is impossible to glorify murderers and their victims at the same time. If the Czar Ioann the Terrible were canonized, then St. Philip of Moscow, who was ordered by Maliuta Skuratov to be strangled, would have to be de-canonized”, he said.
It is even more impossible to speak about the canonization of Gregory Rasputin, who, though he could relieve the suffering of the heir from a serious disease, compromised the Imperial Family by his behavior, His Holiness believes. “I do not see any grounds for reviewing the role of Rasputin in the history of the Russian State”, he said.
His Holiness the Patriarch also expressed his opinion concerning the spreading practice of veneration of people who have not been glorified by the Church as saints. His Holiness believes that events should not be anticipated. Before beginning to distribute the icons of non-canonized people to believers, it is necessary to wait till the Church Plenitude speaks on this problem.
The Primate also expressed his attitude to a possible transfer of the remains of Empress Maria Fyodorovna, Alexander III’s widow and the passion-bearer Czar Nicholas II’s mother, from Denmark to St. Petersburg for reburial. Several years ago, the head of the Imperial House, Nicholas Romanov, made this request to the leaders of the Russian State.
In the first place, it should be found out whether Maria Fyodorovna, who lived long years in emigration, wanted to be buried in Russia, His Holiness believes. At the same time, His Holiness noted that many Russians, who were forced to emigrate due to the Bolshevik revolution and civil war, wanted to find their last repose in their native land.
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