A Great Day for the Church
On the feast of the Ascension, the Russian
Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR) was reunited with the Russian Orthodox
Church (often referred to as the Moscow Patriarchate or MP). The creation of a
separate body was necessary in the early days of the Bolshevik regime, as the
Bolsheviks were busily selling U.S. property in the interest of generating much
needed cash.At any rate, by the time
of the fall of Communism the two bodies had grown apart. The Patriarch and many
bishops were either accused of or actually guilty of (I'm not in any position to
assign guilt to anyone) collusion with the Communists. This and other issues of
human weakness seemed to make it unlikely that the two groups would ever
reunite, even though there were no doctrinal issues separating
them.However, God is everywhere
present, and He would not permit this to remain. For what may be the first time
in history, two separated Churches overcame their political differences and
reunited as they should(unlike other reunifications I've witnessed, where
theological differences exist, yet are ignored. This is not true unity). Fr.
John Whiteford has a series of postings at his blog on the trip to Moscow for the
reunification. There are also other entries covering the history of the Church,
and a sad, yet reassuring video on the destruction of Christ the Saviour
Cathedral in Moscow by Stalin. Sad, because you watch the Church being
demolished. Reassuring, because Stalin and Communism failed, and the Cathedral
has been rebuilt. Glory to God.
Posted: Thursday - May 31, 2007 at 09:09 AM
