A denunciatory appeal of Orthodox priests of Udmurtia to Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church

February 16, 2012 · Analytics, KGB, Orthodoxy, Russia, Russian Orthodox Church, Security Services

Orthodox Priests Have Stopped Commemorating Patriarch Kirill Gundyaev as Their Great Lord and Father Because of His Apostasy from Orthodoxy According to Church Rules

Appeal of the Clergy of the Udmurt Diocese.

To His Holiness, the Most Holy Patriarch
of Moscow and All Russia, Kirill, from the clergy of the Izhevsk and Udmurt
Diocese: Archpriest Sergiy Kondakov, head of the Department for Cooperation with the Armed Forces and Law Enforcement Agencies of the Izhevsk and Udmurt Diocese,
rector of St. Nicholas Church in the village of Zavyalovo, member of the Public Chamber of the Udmurt Republic; Archpriest Mikhail Karpeyev, rector of the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord in the village of Yagul and the Church of St. Basil the Great in the village of Khokhryaki; Priest Alexander Malykh, cleric of the Cathedral of the Holy Right-Believing Prince Alexander Nevsky in the city of Izhevsk, Candidate of Theological Sciences

YOUR HOLINESS!

Aware of our unworthiness, we nonetheless, moved by a sense of concern for our flock and for our own personal spiritual salvation, have decided to write you this open letter.

By God’s mercy and through the prayers of the Holy New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia, godless communism collapsed, and millions of people came into the bosom of our Mother Church. But, with our hand on our praying heart, we must acknowledge that there has been no true spiritual rebirth of the greater part of our people. On the contrary, a great number of our people remain in a state even worse than 20 years ago. Russia is threatened with destruction, the chief cause of which is a spiritual and moral catastrophe. And here it is appropriate to ask: “Is it not because the restoration of Orthodox churches was not accompanied by a rebirth of Russian statehood, army, culture, and family, because the vices connected with 70 years of Bolshevik captivity were not overcome in the very life of the Church?”

Your Holiness, in recent years, alongside a rigid vertical of power in the Church, a missionary work has been built up that painfully reminds us of the “missionary activity” that swept over the West after the Second Vatican Council. What is our “missionary of all Russia” Fr. Andrei Kuraev worth, who with complete impunity jeers at the canons and traditions of the Orthodox Church?

We cannot but be troubled by how easily church awards, orders bearing images of saints, are handed out to representatives of power and business. One cannot help but ask: “What order of the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate would King Herod of Judea have received?” After all, as is known, he labored greatly over the construction and adornment of the Jerusalem Temple.

Unfortunately, cheap methods of pseudo-preaching are becoming almost the norm of church life. Why should we repeat the sad experience of Catholic false missionary work? Yes, “the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.” The people need living preaching. But we do not need pastors who are karatekas, pastors who are football players, pastors who are weightlifters, pastors who are actors, pastors who are rock singers, pastors who are bankers. We vitally need pastors who lay down their lives for the sheep, who bear witness to Christ not only by their word but by their life. Precisely for this reason we need to free ourselves from the web that covered our church life during the years of communist dictatorship.

We earnestly ask you to withdraw the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate from the World Council of Churches. It remains incomprehensible to many why our hierarchy does not dare to take this step, for the entry into the World Council of Churches occurred under pressure and direction from the Khrushchev persecutors, whose chief task was the destruction of Orthodox Russia. Remember the great theologian of the 20th century, the venerable Justin (Popović), who spoke of the canonical impossibility of Orthodox participation in the activities of such organizations as the World Council of Churches and in the ecumenical movement in general.

We earnestly ask that our hierarchy decisively distance itself from the heresy of heresies of the last times – ecumenism. As for those bishops and clergy who, during ecumenical gatherings, took part in common prayers with heretics, let them bring forth repentance, for the Apostolic Canons say: “A bishop, or presbyter, or deacon who has only prayed with heretics shall be excommunicated. If he allows them to act as ministers of the Church, let him be deposed” (Apostolic Canon 45). We resolutely ask that, under the guise of theological discussions and other ecumenical actions, the line directed toward union with the heresy-mired Vatican be stopped.

We earnestly ask that our Russian Orthodox Church and you personally, Your Holiness, defend the holy memory of the Holy Royal Martyrs from the impudent lie that is spread to one degree or another in our country and throughout the world.

We resolutely ask that the shameful practice of blind acquiescence to the authorities and all sorts of flirtation with the fat cats – the citizens of our country – be stopped.

We resolutely ask that you, Your Holiness, see to it that our people see you not only blessing and kissing representatives of the highest authority, but also rebuking them.

We resolutely ask you to help ensure that those clergymen who collaborated with the KGB during the years of the communist dictatorship bring forth repentance before God and the people.

We resolutely ask that an end be put to the outrages of those clergy, including those of very high rank, who indulge in shameful mortal sins. The sin of sodomy, which under the patronage of the secret services was introduced into the milieu of the clergy of the Moscow Patriarchate, unfortunately flourishes, destroying the Church from within.

We resolutely ask that attention be paid to the lives of many rural priests on the brink of poverty, while a considerable part of the clergy, fawned upon by the mighty of this world, wallows in luxury.

We earnestly ask you to also heed the voice of our brothers and sisters who remained with a part of the Russian Church Abroad that did not wish to go along with the reunification with the Moscow Patriarchate. For there is very much that is correct in their criticism. If we listen to it, it will lead to a genuine union of the two branches of the Russian Orthodox Church, based not on compromise, but on the Truth.

We also resolutely ask you to be the first among those who declare that they will not accept the Universal Electronic Card, which poses a threat to our country and people.

Your Holiness, forgive our boldness, but be like the Hieromartyr Patriarch Hermogenes, the Holy Patriarch Tikhon, the Holy Hierarch Mark of Ephesus. Lead our people, who strive to be cleansed of ecumenism, Sergianism, vices and all that hinders us from following Christ and His Most Pure Mother.

But before this, Your Holiness, you must repent personally before God and the church people for these sins. And we, sinful, humbly cease to commemorate you at the divine services, in accordance with the 15th canon of the First-Second Council and the 3rd canon of the Third Ecumenical Council.

He who leads us on the path of apostasy and union with the Papists cannot be our Great Master. He who tramples upon the canons of the Church and the rules of the Holy Fathers cannot be our father.

P. S. We clearly understand, knowing the sad reality of modern Russian life, that after this letter, slander, calumny and persecution will fall upon us. But we, guided by our Christian conscience, cannot act otherwise. And may God help us!

2011, Great Lent, Week of the Veneration of the Cross.

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