Analysis by Sergey Bychkov*
Russia's analysts saw this meeting as one more proof of the recognition by the secular authorities of the most developed country in the world, of the Ecumenical Patriarch’s authority, of his primacy in real terms, not just in honor. Until now, Patriarch Bartholomew has been the accepted arbiter of disputes among the Orthodox Churches. No wonder then that the Department of External Church Relations in Moscow (an agency of the Russian Orthodox Church - ROC) decided to play down the visit of Patriarch Bartholomew to the United States and his meeting with the President. A choice which clearly indicates that the bishops in charge of administering ROC’s foreign policy don’t have adequate information about what is happening in the sister Orthodox Churches, especially in the United States, where several branches of Orthodoxy coexist, and failed to grasp the essence of what Bartholomew’s recent visit to the US meant. On the other hand, Russian secular analysts who follow closely world events, were eager to point out this failure of the Department of External Church Relations (DECR).
Much of what is happening today in Russian church life remains a mystery to the Phanar. The new head of the DECR, the young and energetic Archbishop of Volokolamsk Hilarion (Alfeev), closely tracks the steps being taken by Constantinople in Ukraine. Recently, the talks between a delegation of the Ecumenical Patriarchate with the head of the Autocephalous Church in Ukraine, Metropolitan Methodios (Kudryakov), provoked sharp criticism from the DECR. Archbishop Hilarion, in an interview with the Greek Internet portal Romfea.gr said among else: "In the inter-Orthodox dialogue we need to work out a position on the question: how do we, Orthodox Christians, perceive (Constaninople’s) primacy? Is it a primacy of honor? Is it a primacy of power? And what are the prerequisites for this primacy?"
Instead of focusing on the importance of the Patriarchal visit and meeting with President Obama, it seems DECR people are trying to raise contentious issues with Phanar.
Archpriest Maxim Kozlov, a member of ROC’s Synodal Theological Commission, decided to elaborate on Hilarion’s outlook and told news agency RIA-Novosti that if ROC is to be compared with any of the Eastern Patriarchates, it will be clear that the real power of the Russian Church doesn’t only lie on numbers and certainly ROC’s position in the Pentarchy isn’t to be number 5. In other words, Kozlov pointed out that we are big and powerful and we can reshape the Pentarchy system based on new realities and our terms!
Thus far, two ROC representatives have questioned Pentarchy which was formed during the reign of Emperor Justinian in the 5th century AD and according to it there are five Ancient Churches, Constantinople, Rome, Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem. In the DECR reasoning, if you take into consideration numbers, then ROC could claim a place in the Pentarchy, while the Patriarchates of Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem can’t justify their status in the Pentarchy today.
But, were the Church Pentarchy and the Ecumenical Councils formed on a quantitative basis?
Unfortunately, these arguments and attacks on the Phanar often elude the most urgent problem for our Church today - the grave crisis of Orthodoxy. When we say Orthodoxy, we mean the world community of the Apostolic Orthodox Churches which continue to recognize the primacy among equals of the Patriarch of Constantinople.
The crisis faced by the world Orthodoxy didn’t occur yesterday. Thanks to the advancement of modern communications, its reality is obvious even to the staunchest zealots. First of all, it affects the ability to come to an agreement among ourselves on the resolution of the primary tasks put forward by our times. Fragmentation of the Orthodox faithful and baseless arguments about who is closer to the precepts of the Holy Fathers, has brought us to the point that world Orthodoxy is not in a position to convene a Pan-Orthodox Conference, not to mention an Ecumenical Council. Meanwhile, Orthodox Churches in the various countries are riddled with corruption, simony and inertia. Missionary activity has been abandoned, although in recent times we are witnessing a hopeful reversal to this trend in Romania, Serbia and Greece.
Yet the situation of the Orthodox Churches is increasingly perplexing. During a recent trip to Israel and Palestine, I realized that the ancient monasteries, glorious for their Hesychast tradition are being extinct. In the Holy Land, the Monasteries of St. Gerasimos, Saint George Hozevit, another one on the Mount of Temptation and on Mount Thabor, have only three monks! Also, the jewel of the Orthodox world - the Monastery of St. Catherine at the foot of Mount Sinai is fading. This monastery was not affected by the heresy of iconoclasm and retained a striking collection of icons and manuscripts. Isn’t it disheartening that we, the Orthodox, cannot raise the necessary funds for the restoration of the monastery and the preservation of its unique collection?
When it comes to theological thought, things aren’t better. If we attempt to talk about Orthodox Theology today, only Christos Yannaras comes to mind. And that shouldn’t be a surprise. Until now, we haven’t been able to establish a world class institution that could offer state of the art theological education! The level of theological studies has fallen so low that Orthodox representatives are rarely invited to participate in round tables with Roman Catholics or Protestants. There is none to invite!
Phanar can not yet understand that the election of a new patriarch in Moscow has changed not only the domestic but also the foreign policy of the ROC. In the near future, Moscow will be eager to demonstrate to the entire Orthodox world her claim to primacy not only in numbers but also in honor, taking over from Constantinople. However, instead of fighting each other, all Orthodox Churches still need to come up with a realistic alternative to our ultra secularized world. Every Christian is an apostle, called to testify in this cruel world for Christ. It is important to understand that today we can combine our efforts. And only the Ecumenical Patriarch, as in the ancient times, can summon the dispersed Orthodox flock to this Herculian task.
This analysis was written exclusively for NEO magazine. Dr. Sergey Bychkov, besides being a journalist, is a historian of the Russian Church and author of numerous books of the subject.
