Synodal Department for External Church Relations
Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, Department for External Church Relations, DECR
Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, up to a year Department for External Church Relations; abbr. - DECR(April 4) - Department of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church. "The Most Important Synodal Institution of the Russian Orthodox Church".
The DECR is accountable to the Patriarch of Moscow and the Holy Synod, who annually approve the program of its activities. The guiding documents for the DECR are the resolutions of the Local and Bishops' Councils of the Russian Orthodox Church, the determinations of the Holy Synod, and the instructions of His Holiness the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia. The DECR Chairman is appointed by the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia and the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church.
story
The building of the Synodal Department for External Church Relations. Moscow, st. Danilovsky Val, 22.
The work to strengthen the Department in - years was carried out by the Council for the Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church under the Council of Ministers of the USSR, "implementing the decision of the Central Committee of the CPSU of July 25, 1960".
The first concern of the new leader was the task of obtaining a building of sufficient volume, which could accommodate the Department, which by this time was literally suffocating in three small rooms in the courtyard of the Patriarchy in Chisty Lane. And Metropolitan Nikodim achieved this. The department was given a mansion on Ryleev Street, close to the residence of His Holiness the Patriarch and the Holy Synod.
- Met. Kirill (Gundyaev)
According to the definition of the Holy Synod of December 16 (March 16, 1961), the chairman of the Department must be in episcopal rank and have the status of a permanent member of the Holy Synod.
treason case
tasks
According to the Charter, approved by the Holy Synod on August 12, “The Department for External Church Relations is a Synodal institution - an executive body of His Holiness the Patriarch and the Holy Synod. As part of its statutory functions, the Department carries out relations of the Russian Orthodox Church with the Local Orthodox Churches, non-Orthodox churches and Christian associations, non-Christian religions, governmental, parliamentary, public organizations and institutions, intergovernmental, religious and public international organizations, secular media, cultural, economic , financial and tourism organizations. The DECR MP, within the limits of its canonical authority, exercises hierarchical, administrative, financial and economic management of dioceses, missions, monasteries, parishes, representative offices and metochions of the Russian Orthodox Church in the far abroad, as well as pastoral care of the metochions of the Local Orthodox Churches on the canonical territory of the Moscow Patriarchate. Within the framework of the DECR MP, the Orthodox Pilgrimage Service operates, carrying out trips of bishops, pastors and children of the Russian Church to the shrines of the far abroad. The department represents the Russian Orthodox Church in its relations with the outside world. The duties of the Department for External Church Relations include informing the Holy Patriarch and the Holy Synod about events and activities taking place outside the Russian Orthodox Church and affecting its interests, preparing drafts of church-wide documents and decisions affecting the sphere of inter-Orthodox, inter-Christian, inter-religious, church-state and church-public relations, as well as other issues within the competence of the Department.
divisions
Secretariats:
Commission for Old Believer parishes and for interaction with the Old Believers ().
Headquarters for humanitarian aid under the DECR.
- economic;
- protocol
- publications (since August 21 of the year);
- foreign institutions (since August 21).
- legal;
- communications (from August 21 of the year);
- Orthodox pilgrimage (also sector) (since August 21).
Auxiliary divisions:
- a group of translators;
- archive;
- office;
- warehouse;
- typewriting bureau;
- expedition.
branches
- Branch in Kiev (since a year), now - Department for External Church Relations of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church;
- Branch in Leningrad (since a year). Head - I. N. Sudosa.
In the second floor. In the 1990s, the Synodal Working Group worked on the basis of the DECR, which developed the draft Fundamentals of the Social Concept of the Russian Orthodox Church.
business
heads of secretariats
- DECR Secretariat for Inter-Orthodox Relations and Missions Abroad of the Russian Orthodox Church - Archimandrite Elisey (Ganaba);
- DECR Secretariat for Inter-Christian Relations - Hieromonk Hilarion (Alfeev);
- DECR Secretariat for Relations between the Church and Society - Priest Vsevolod Chaplin;
- DECR Administrative and Financial Secretariat - A.A. Tyschuk.
employees
mirology
Through the DECR, the Russian Orthodox Church participated in Soviet pacifist propaganda, developed the teaching of world studies, and cooperated with the Christian Peace Conference, the Catholic movement Pax Christi Internationalis.
The DECR took part in organizing conferences in the spirit of the theology of the revolution, in particular, the conference "Religious Figures for Lasting Peace, Disarmament and Just Relations Between Nations" (Moscow, June of the year).
cooperation with globalist organizations
The DECR is the body that organizes the cooperation of the Russian Orthodox Church with international and regional globalist organizations: the UN, UNICEF, the Population Fund, the European Union, etc.
In the Soviet years, the DECR collaborated with communist organizations: the Soviet Committee for the Defense of Peace, the Soviet Committee for European Security and Cooperation, the Soviet Committee for Solidarity with Asian and African Countries, the Union of Soviet Societies for Friendship and Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries, the Soviet Society for Cultural Relations with Compatriots Abroad .
press
events
- The attitude of the Russian Orthodox Church and the authorities in the 20-30s (seminar) (May 27, 2002)
- Give soul to Europe. Mission and Responsibility of the Churches (conference) (May 3, 2006)
- Ethical aspects of banking and the social role of banks: the experience of Russia and Italy (symposium) (October 11, 2010)
- 1st meeting of the Commission for Dialogue between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Assyrian Church of the East 2016 (May 18, 2016)
awards
sources
- Anthony (Melnikov), Met. His Eminence Metropolitan Juvenaly of Krutitsy and Kolomna, Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations, a notice of the start of work of the DECR branch in Leningrad // Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate. - 1979. - No. 10. - S. 5.
- Archbishop Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad - Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate // Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate. - 1990. - No. 3. - S. 16
- Archimandrite Feofan - Deputy Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations // Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate. - 1986. - No. 7. - S. 24.
- On the 70th anniversary of the Department for External Church Relations, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill performed a thanksgiving service at the Trinity Cathedral of the Danilov Monastery // Patriarchy.ru. - 2016. - May 19.
- Visit to the DECR of CEC Secretary General G. Williams 13.XI. 1968 // Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate. - 1968. - No. 12. - S. 7.
- Information from the Department for External Church Relations: at the VIII Assembly of the World Council of Churches // Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate. - 1999. - No. 3. - S. 34-35.
- Information from the Department for External Church Relations: the stay of the delegation of the Moscow Patriarchate at the headquarters of the European Union // Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate. - 1999. - No. 3. - S. 36-38.
- Information from the Department for External Church Relations: a decision has been made to establish an Interreligious Council of the World Council of Churches in Russia // Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate. - 1999. - No. 3. - S. 35.
- Information from the Department for External Church Relations: a meeting of the Interfaith Consultative Committee was held // Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate. - 1999. - No. 3. - S. 39.
- To the 35th anniversary of the Department for External Church Relations // Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate. - 1981. - No. 5. - S. 7.
- On the Appointment of Metropolitan Philaret of Minsk and Belarus, Patriarchal Exarch of Western Europe as Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations // Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate. - 1981. - No. 6. - S. 18-19.
- Kirill (Gundyaev), Met. To the 55th anniversary of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate // Church and Time. - 2001. - No. 3 (16). - S. 7-69.
- International Seminar in Moscow // Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate. - 1991. - No. 9. - S. 52.
- Metropolitan of Tula and Belevsky Juvenaly (for appointment as chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate) // Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate. - 1972. - No. 8. - S. 21-24.
- In the Service of the Church: To the 65th Anniversary of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate. M., 2011.
- Definitions of the Holy Synod 1967.02.07: on the participation of representatives of the Moscow Patriarchate in the work of the World Conference "Church and Society" (Geneva, Switzerland) // Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate. - 1967. - No. 5. - S. 2.
- Definitions of the Holy Synod 1967.04.04: on the stay of the delegation of the Moscow Patriarchate in Germany and on the theological negotiations held between the delegations of the Russian Orthodox Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church // Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate. - 1967. - No. 5. - S. 4.
- Definitions of the Holy Synod 1967.04.04: on the participation of Metropolitan Nikodim of Leningrad and Ladoga in the work of the III Congress of the Peace Movement of the Catholic Clergy of Czechoslovakia //
Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate (DECR MP), spoke in an exclusive interview with RIA Novosti about the main results of the activities of this most important church structure, which celebrated its 70th anniversary the day before.
According to the metropolitan, the external activities of the Russian Church are rooted in ancient times (here, for example, we can recall that in the second half of the 13th century, a diocese was created in the capital of the Golden Horde Khanate, Sarai, which served as a permanent representation of Russia on the territory of the Golden Horde), but only with the creation of the Department in 1946, it acquired the proper system and organization.
“The uniqueness of the DECR in the Soviet period is associated primarily with the unique position in which the Russian Orthodox Church was located, which the Soviet authorities considered a relic of the past harmful to the construction of socialism. their goals - primarily foreign policy and propaganda", - said the head of the DECR MP.
However, the Church outplayed its persecutors precisely in the foreign policy field, thanks to the selfless labors of the leaders and employees of the DECR MP. Metropolitan Nikodim (Rotov) played an outstanding role here. During the reign of Khrushchev, who initiated a new wave of persecution of the Church, Metropolitan Nikodim managed to protect her "from the internal enemy, which was the then godless government." And the whole system of external church relations, built under his personal leadership, helped in this, the source of the agency emphasized.
"The international activity of the Russian Church, carried out by the DECR, was one of the most significant factors that prevented its complete destruction, planned but never carried out by the leadership of the USSR," Metropolitan Hilarion said.
Created in the post-war years for contacts with foreign parishes and dioceses, the department eventually turned into the most important structure of the Moscow Patriarchate, which had no analogues in the breadth and importance of the tasks it solved. And when opportunities arose for the revival of church life, it was the potential of the DECR MP staff that made it possible to take full advantage of these opportunities.
Miropolitan Hilarion called the 20-year "golden age" of the Department the period when it was headed by the current Patriarch Kirill. It was during this period, on his initiative, that work began in the DECR MP, which later became the responsibility of independent synodal institutions: the Department for Religious Education and Catechesis, the Department for Cooperation with the Armed Forces and Law Enforcement Agencies, the Department for Church Relations with Society and the Media, Department of Youth Affairs, Department of Church Charity and Social Service, and Office of Overseas Institutions.
Emphasizing the uniqueness of the activities of the DECR MP, its current head nevertheless pointed out that the department does not have any agenda of its own, which would differ from the agenda of the entire Church.
"The Department is not some kind of wing within the Church, a club of interests: it has no other interests than the interests of the entire Church. The Department works according to a very simple scheme: the hierarchy of the Church, represented by the Holy Patriarch and the Holy Synod, is the customer, while we are the executors. It cannot be otherwise, since the DECR is an official body, fully controlled by the hierarchies," Metropolitan Hilarion said.
Answering the question of what qualities an ecclesiastical diplomat should have - an employee of the DECR MP, the metropolitan noted that he "must, first of all, have sincere faith and be an absolutely ecclesiastical person, that is, always put the interests of the Church above his personal interests."
"A church diplomat is a witness to the surrounding world about the truth of God. A church diplomat, representing the Russian Church in dialogues with other Churches and confessions, is a witness to the truth of Orthodoxy, the purity of tradition, the immutability and immutability of the God-given moral law. He must know Orthodox theology and doctrinal provisions those traditions with representatives of which he has to communicate during inter-church and inter-religious meetings and interviews," said the head of the Department.
At the same time, it must also be remembered that communication involves understanding, which is impossible without a good command of the language of the interlocutor. "Today, the most widely spoken language in the world is English, so knowledge of English, at least colloquial, is a mandatory requirement for a church diplomat. However, in some specialized areas, other languages are needed: for inter-Orthodox contacts - Greek, for contacts with Catholics - Italian. Discussion of complex "Theological issues require knowledge of ancient Greek and Latin, and sometimes rarer languages. By the way, the knowledge of ancient and new languages among graduates of pre-revolutionary seminaries was the norm rather than the exception. I would like to restore this norm," Metropolitan Hilarion noted. Speaking about the nature of the relationship of the ROC with other confessions in Russia and other countries of the canonical presence of the Russian Church, he pointed out that with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Christian denominations that existed in the countries formed on its territory faced the same and very powerful challenges.
"Non-traditional religious groups of a destructive nature have poured in to us from the West; the ideology of moral permissiveness has begun to spread with particular force; the institution of the family has undergone a crisis; a distinct tendency has emerged aimed at undermining the moral foundations of the life of our peoples and pushing religious consciousness to the periphery of public life," he said. Chairman of the DECR MP.
Therefore, in order to coordinate joint activities aimed at countering these challenges and at affirming the ideals of peace, social harmony, and Christian morality, in the mid-1990s, it was decided to create a Christian Interfaith Consultative Committee (CIAC), which included Christian denominations in the former USSR.
According to the metropolitan, interfaith cooperation is developing most actively today in the field of social service, assistance to AIDS patients, drug addicts, and hospice patients. Christian denominations in Russia and neighboring countries participate in many joint programs along this line, including those implemented with state participation.
Referring to the meeting of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia and Pope Francis, which took place in February this year in Havana, the Metropolitan stressed that it was "a truly historic event, the significance of which can hardly be overestimated." In the Cuban capital, for the first time in history, the heads of the two largest Christian communities in the world held a personal conversation, during which in a short time they managed not only to discuss a wide range of issues, but also to adopt a meaningful Joint Statement on topical issues of our time. Among them are the persecution of Christians in the Middle East, the infringement of freedom of conscience in a number of Western countries and the civil conflict in Ukraine. The Metropolitan expressed his conviction that the meeting in Havana has become an important factor in putting these topics on the global agenda and consolidating efforts to resolve existing conflicts.
Noting that the meeting, of course, was not spontaneous and it was preceded by careful preparation, Metropolitan Hilarion emphasized that the very fact of its holding speaks of a very significant positive shift in the history of relations between the two Churches, of their reaching a qualitatively new level.
At the same time, the interlocutor of the agency specifically pointed out that the meeting did not discuss the issues of unification of the Churches or even the convergence of their theological positions. “All the theological and dogmatic differences that exist between Orthodox and Catholics still remain. Of course, they are subject to discussion, but within the framework of the current official Mixed Theological Commission, which, in addition to the Moscow Patriarchate, includes all generally recognized autocephalous Orthodox Churches. For us, they are unacceptable any compromises in matters of dogma," the head of the DECR MP stressed.
At the same time, he also noted that the text of the Joint Declaration, signed in Havana by the patriarch and the pope, condemns the union as a means of reuniting the Catholic West and the Orthodox East. "The Joint Statement of the Patriarch and the Pope clearly states that "the method of" Uniatism "of previous centuries, which involves bringing one community into unity with another by separating it from its church, is not the way to restore unity," the Metropolitan said, recalling that this was also mentioned earlier - for example, in the document of the Mixed Commission on Orthodox-Catholic Dialogue, signed in Balamand in 1993. "However, the Balamand document was not approved by Pope John Paul II at the time. Now, the head of the Roman Catholic Church has directly confirmed what has become obvious not only to the Orthodox, but also to the Catholic participants in the dialogue. I consider this an important achievement," the chairman of the DECR MP concluded.
The response time depends on the dynamics of events.
The Russian Orthodox Church has exhausted the means of ecclesiastical diplomacy in dialogue with the Patriarchate of Constantinople on the Ukrainian issue, and is preparing for retaliatory measures, up to and including breaking communion with the Phanar. Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, stated this in an interview with the Rossiya 24 TV channel.
“To all appearances, the means of church diplomacy have been exhausted for today. You, of course, know that a few days ago Patriarch Kirill undertook a trip to Istanbul with the Patriarch of Constantinople. I must say that outwardly it was quite a civilized, polite and even fraternal conversation. But, unfortunately, the Constantinopolitan side, as can be seen from the actions that followed, not only did not hear our arguments, but also acted, from our point of view, vilely and treacherously. Because they send their exarchs to Kiev without the consent of not only the Moscow Patriarch, but even the Kiev Metropolitan, about whom Patriarch Bartholomew has repeatedly said that the Patriarchate of Constantinople recognizes him as the only canonical head of Orthodoxy in Ukraine,” said Metropolitan Hilarion.
As the head of the DECR MP noted, on September 8, 2018, the Holy Synod did, in the hope that the Phanar will reconsider its decision to grant autocephaly to the Orthodox Church in Ukraine, “and no exarchs will go to Kiev.”
“If the decision is not reviewed, we will be forced to look for retaliatory measures. And now, as part of our Holy Synod, such measures are already being discussed,” said Metropolitan Hilarion.
The hierarch added that different measures may be applied, but it is still premature to announce them, “because at each stage we will leave our partners the opportunity to come to their senses and reconsider their decisions.”
“If Constantinople completes its insidious plan of granting autocephaly, this will mean that some group of schismatics will receive autocephaly. The canonical Church will not accept this autocephaly. We in the Russian Church, of course, do not recognize this autocephaly. And we will have no other choice but to break communion with Constantinople. And this means that the Patriarch of Constantinople will no longer have any right to call himself, as he is doing now, “the head of the 300 million Orthodox population of the planet” – at least half of the Orthodox will not recognize him at all,” Metropolitan Hilarion said.
According to him, the time when these steps will be taken “directly depends on the dynamics of the development of the project to “grant autocephaly”, in other words, to legitimize the Ukrainian schism, which the Ecumenical Patriarchate is currently working on, thereby creating a direct threat to the unity of Orthodoxy in the world” .