Pastoral meeting at the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA

The clergy of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA held a pastoral meeting on June 27, 2006, in Passaic, NJ. It was chaired by Bishop Merkury of Zaraisk, administrator of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA. Present at the meeting were also members of the bishops’ council, church committees and parishioners.

Bishop Mercury made a key report describing in detail the celebrations held in June in Moscow to mark an anniversary of the enthronement of Patriarch Alexy, the ceremony of bringing St. John the Baptist’s right hand to Russia, and the celebrations to mark the 60^th anniversary of the Department for External Church Relations. His made a brief review of the history of the DECR and spoke about the current activities of the Department.

His next point was the continued dialogue between the Moscow Patriarchate and the Russian Church Outside Russia, the results of the work carried out by the Moscow Patriarchate and the Russian Church Outside Russia negotiation commissions and prospects for the restoration of full communion between them. He noted that the problems arising in the inter-Orthodox dialogue in North America were characteristic of the world Orthodox community.

The participants dwelt at length on the possible causes of crisis in the Russian Orthodox Diocese of Sourozh. After a discussion, they adopted unanimously the following statement:

‘We, pastors and laity who have gathered together at Sts Peter and Paul’s church in Passaic, NJ, under the chairmanship of the Right Reverend Merkury, Bishop of Zaraisk and Administrator of the Patriarchal Parishes, have considered various problems of church life.

With regard to the situation in the Diocese of Sourozh, we fully support the position of the Supreme Church Authority that the violations of the Holy Apostolic rules and canonical norms, which were committed there, are inadmissible.

We reaffirm that in a spirit of openness and love we accept all the national church traditions inherent in our Patriarchal Parishes if they do not contradict Holy Scripture and the Holy Tradition.

With love we remind the faithful of the need to observe the Canons and Decrees of the holy Apostles, as they constitute the unshakable foundation of the cause of our salvation in the fold of the Holy Church of Christ.

Again and again, in face of the secular world, we urge all parishioners and friends of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA to maintain peace and mutual love, patience and humbleness commanded to us by the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to withstand the ruinous influence of self-importance and willful passions which can plunge people in the temptation and lure of taking hasty decisions and uttering all-considered words.

We reaffirm out filial commitment and love to the whole of our Mother Russian Orthodox Church and our Great Master and Father, His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia. We pray to our Savior asking Him to heal the strife and misunderstanding, ‘to make our life peaceful and to save our souls’.

In conclusion of the conference, Bishop Mercury answered numerous questions from participants.

From the website of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA