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An Historic Precedent
(Continued from page 9)
t
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ments, namely, (1) a special educational committee for theological
schools; (2) a department for international church affairs; (3) a business
department; (4) a publication department; (5) a department of pensions.
"The administration of the Russian
Orthodox Church is handled according to the rules adopted by the
Church. It is governed by the Patriarchate together with the Holy Synod
consisting of six members. There are
three permanent members, namely,
the- Metropolitans of Kiev, Leningrad,
ancl Moscow. The other members are
diocesan bishops who take their turns.
There are seventy-two dioceses which
conform to the geographic State administrative districts. Each diocese has
a bishop, who, in certain instances
may be an archbishop or a metropolitan.
Functions of Sobor
"On the most important matters
there is a 'Sobor' (convocation) of the
bishops. In addition, the-re is a national Se)bor which alone has the right
te> e-lfe-et changes in the Constitution
of the Church. The National Sobor
comprises all of the bishops, beside
representatives of the clergy anel the
laity. It elects the Patriarch. Patriarch
Alexei was elected in 1945 on the
death of Patriarch Se'rgei.
"There is in the Soviet Union a
great diversity of churches and religions. These include the Russian
Orthodox, Moslems, Roman Catholics
in Lithuania, Evangelical Lutherans
in Latvia anel Estonia, the Union of
Evangelical Christian-baptists, Ad-
ventists, Methodists, Reformed, Old
Believers, Armenians, ancl Buddhists.
"Representatives of all these religious be)elie-s met in 1951 in Zagorsk.
Notwithstanding the- variety o( religions represented, they all agreed in
se-e-king peace.
"The Russian Church pays homage
to the other churches. It has received
delegations from the- Dutch Church,
several groups from England, a dele-
gatiein from the- Church in Denmark,
also from the- West German Evangelical Church, anel fre)rn the- Quakers in
Britain.
"In the Orthodox Church there is
no centralize-el body for all of the
Orthodox Churches in various countries. There are fourteen auto-
Page 36
cephalous or autonomous Orthodox
Churches. They have a common faith
anel the canons which are accepted
by all. There is a feeling of friendship
between them. The Orthodox Church
does not believe in proselytizing, as it
wishes to avoid arousing the feeling of
hatred between Christians." [Not included are statements made by representatives of the Armenian, Lutheran,
and Baptist churches, which are similar in nature to statements eif the
Orthodox Church.]
The Peace and War Issue
This question occasioned the me)st
vigorous discussion; two sessions were
devoted to it. At the first of these two
Metropolitan Nicolai was the only
Russian churchman present. The
American deputation questioned the
wisdom of this arrangement since
there would be nine American churchmen on one side of the table anel only
one Russian on the other. This arrangement, however, seemed te> be
preferred by the Metropolitan.
"The Russian churches," he said,
"are ready to cooperate with any
movement which can effectively work
for peace. When the World Council
of Churches issued its statement
against atomic war, the Orthodox
Church welce>med it. We have written
to the World Council of Churches proposing that concrete arrangements . . .
be made for a meeting with its representatives. In the United States, many
Protestant clergy raise their voices
against the atom bomb and for disarmament. We welcome such voices.
The Russian Orthodox Church extends
Dr. Eugene Carson
Blake, center, president of the Notional
Council of Churches,
mokes a good-will
presentation to Baltic
clergymen in Moscow. The Lutheran
Archbishops are
Gustov Turs, left, of
Latvia, and John
Kiivit, of Estonia
WIDE ssEElEl.n PHEJTO
its welcome to all who work for
peace."
Dr. Van Kirk presented a paper on
be-half e,l the- deputation. Seven points
were emphasized: (1) peace is the
by-product of truth, freedom, an"
righteousness; (2) steadfast support
for the United Nations; (3) interna-
tiemal negotiation for the- easing of
tensions between the Unite-el States
anel the Soviet Union; (4) support of
efforts for international control of
atomic energy anel multilateral control
of armaments through the United
Nations; (5) support of programs of
economic aid anel technical assistance,
not as hostile- acts against the Soviet
Union but as a humanitarian endeavor; (6) the- establishment and
safeguarding of human rights and
fundamental freedoms; (7) the goal
of autonomy lor subject ami e-olonial
peoples,
Metropolitan Nicolai replied, saying
he- appreciated the- spirit in which Dr.
Van Kirk's paper hael been presented)
ami he- would have il translated into
Russian anil make copies available to
the- Russian conferees for a subsequent
discussion.
* *
-x
At this point the- discussion turned
to tin- question e>f the- relation of the
churches in the- United States to the
peace efforts of the- World Peace
Council, in which Metropolitan Nicolai hail played so important a p-irt-
The Metropolitan was remanded of the
unjustified criticism that hael been
levelcel against tin- American churches
from the platform of the World Peace
Council. One of the- American churchmen saiel that e-e-rtain of these misrepresentations hail been maele- by Met-
ropolitan Nicolai himself. When the
Facts Forum News, December, 1956
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