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The Spring
Session of the Synod of Bishops
The regular session of the Synod of Bishops of the Russian
Orthodox Church Outside of Russia was held on 14-16 May in
New York
The Spring Session of the Synod of Bishops of the Russian
Orthodox Church Outside of Russia was held in the Synodal
building from 14 to 16 May. The Session was attended by the
President of the Synod of Bishops, His Eminence Metropolitan
Laurus and the members of the Synod: Archbishop Mark of Berlin,
Germany and Great Britain, Bishop Kyrill of San Francisco
and Western America and Bishop Gabriel of Manhattan. Besides
the members of the Synod, Bishop Michael of Boston also took
part. All the meetings were held in the presence of the Protectress
of the Russian Diaspora, the Kursk-Root Icon of the Mother
of God.
The main questions on the agenda were: the situation in the
Chicago Diocese relating to the injury of the ruling bishop,
His Eminence Archbishop Alypy; the question of assisting in
the administration of the Western European Diocese in connection
with the state of health of His Grace Bishop Ambroise; the
return from schism of several repentant clergymen and their
reception, and the plan for the creation of a new official
website for the Synod of Bishops.
The Synod of Bishops heard the written reports of Bishop Ambroise
of Geneva and Western Europe on the church life of his diocese
and of Bishop Alexander of Buenos Aires and South America
on the life of that diocese.
Archbishop Mark reported on the state of matters in JerusalemÄduring
Great Lent there were 4 tonsures into monastic orders; the
events relating to the siege of the Church of the Nativity
of Christ in Bethlehem indirectly affect our Russian Ecclesiastical
Mission in Jerusalem; the attitude of the Jerusalem Patriarchate
towards representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside
of Russia are amicable; the situation in Jericho remains unchanged.
Vladyka Metropolitan told the bishops about the Diocesan Meeting
of the Canadian Diocese and on matters pertaining to the Mansonville
schism. The Synod of Bishops also considered the status of
Archbishop Lazar of Odessa and Tambov and Bishop Benjamin
of Chernomoriye and Kuban. The latter through their declaration
distributed through the internet in support of Metropolitan
Vitaly and the Mansonville schism placed themselves outside
of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia. The Synod
of Bishops considers these two bishops as having departed
from the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia and under
suspension in performing their clerical functions until their
repentance.
Bishop Michael is restored in his capacity as representative
for Russia to the Synod of Bishops, with the authority to
archpastorally nourish parishes in Moscow, St. Petersburg,
Voronezh and Kursk, and also to take part in meetings of the
Russian Bishops.
The Synod of Bishops blessed the establishment of a monastic
Brotherhood in honor of St. Ignatii Brianchaninoff in San
Francisco. This Brotherhood will unite monastics who perform
their obedience in the parishes of San FranciscoÄat the present
time there are nine such persons. The Synod of Bishops also
blessed the convening of a Second Conference on the History
of the Russian Church in the XXth c. The First Conference
was held in Hungary, and the second is to be held in Russia.
The Synod of Bishops heard the report on the possibility of
commemorating at divine services all the victims of atheistic
communism. The Synod decreed to make the following addition
to the litany of fervent supplication, after "for the
blessed and ever-memorable and holy Orthodox patriarchs,™
to include "´and for all the Orthodox Christians tortured
and killed by the atheistic authorities"
The Spring Session of the Synod of Bishops ended with the
singing of the Easter megalynarion "Shine, Shine o New
Jerusalem"
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