Bishops’ Council of the Russian Orthodox Church October 3 - 8, 2004
The Sacred Council of the Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church, which took place at the Church of Christ the Saviour in Moscow and St. Sergius’s Laura of the Holy Trinity from October 3 to 8, 2004, addresses the Plenitude of our Church with the words of the Apostle: ’Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord’ (2 Pet. 1:2).
By God’s grace the Council has completed its work, and now we lift up to the Lord our prayers that He may grant us strength to fulfil the conciliar decisions. We call the pastors, our co-workers in the field of Christ, and together with them all the God-loving Orthodox Christians to further labour. Together with the Apostle we call upon you, ’Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong’(1 Cor. 16:13).
The hard years of totalitarian atheism that subjected the faith of Christ to direct and open persecution are now in the past. The trial by violence has been replaced by the temptation by freedom, and we note with bitterness that society seems unable to withstand it.
Today we have also new foes, more guileful, disguised and crafty, but no less dangerous than atheism. It is the cult of luxury, consumerism, comfort, pleasures involving sometimes moral laxity. It is the escape of the young and active people into the world of narcotic illusions, ’virtual’ reality and gambling and ’intellectual’ games. It is inter-ethnic, social, political and even internal church discord exhausting the spiritual strength of the people.
We are especially concerned for the spreading of secularism in today’s society, which wishes to build life without God. Man who, being created in the image and after the likeness of God, originally had the highest dignity, but was damaged by sin, is declared the measure of everything.
Secularism is not something new, but only today, in the era of globalization, it has become a universal force claiming to express the interests of all humanity from universal positions. The system of public relations is built today in such a way that religion remains only a private affair. Under the pretext of protection of human rights, what protected is sin introduced in life as a morbid norm. Attempts are made to oust the Church from various spheres of the life of society and state.
We cannot agree with this. What is needed for the good of both state and society is to enhance the presence of Orthodoxy in all areas of social life. The Orthodox worldview should enjoy at least the same rights as the secular vision of the world does. Religious values should be taken into account in carrying out any social projects affecting the interest of a great number of people.
Believers should have the right to teach their children in public schools without fear that the non-religious picture of the world will be imposed on them as ’the only scientific one’. In fulfilling their duty to defend the Motherland and in working in industry, governmental bodies, various public and private organizations, the believing citizens want to be sure that their religious convictions are taken into account in everyday practice and safeguarded by law.
Unfortunately, the destruction of the moral traditions of our people is carried out in many ways through the mass media, especially television. Practice has shown that attempts at legislative regulation in this area are met with serious opposition. The situation may change if the journalists assume moral obligations before society for the contents of their work. The participation of Orthodox clergy in television and radio programs and the publication of materials expressing the church position on topical issues of today should become regular.
We state again that if social provisions do not take into account religious norms they lose the right to unanimous public recognition. It is clear today that the propagation of only one system of values in the world is only a repetition of the already familiar totalitarian practice that contradicts the spirit of Christian freedom and an attempt to cut out the world according to one pattern and to deprive it of the beauty and diversity given by the Creator.
What we as members of the Church can set against this godless onslaught? How can we help the world as it moves rapidly towards self-destruction in an endless pursuit of meeting ever new needs without noticing how destructive this path is?
To be Orthodox today one needs, just as in all times, to live according to the commandments of Christ, to be rooted in the church teaching and to bear witness to one’s faith through deeds. We should remain the light to the world and the salt of the earth, so that many people ’may without the word be won’ for Christ, seeing ’your chaste conversation coupled with fear’(1 Pet. 3:1-2). May the life of zealots of devotion, whom this Council has glorified as saints venerated by the whole Church, be examples for us. Among them is St. Afanasy of Vysotsk, the Righteous Warrior Feodor (Admiral Ushakov), St. Zosima (Verkhovsky), St. Pimen of Ugresh, St. Alexandra of Diveyevo, Blessed Paraskeva of Diveyevo and Blessed Matrona of Moscow.
The Sacred Council of the Bishops calls the people of God to unity, missionary work and holiness of life. We address ourselves to you with words of consolation and hope: ’Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you’(2 Cor. 13:11).
Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia
Members of the Holy Synod:
Metropolitan Vladimir of Kiev and All Ukraine
Metropolitan Vladimir of St. Petersburg and Ladoga
Metropolitan Filaret of Slutsk and Minsk, Patriarchal Exarch for All Belarus
Metropolitan Juvenaly of Krutitsy and Kolomna
Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, chairman of the Department for External Church Relations
Metropolitan Vladimir of Kishinev and All Moldova
Metropolitan Vladimir of Tashkent and Central Asia
Archbishop Anastasy of Kazan and Tatarstan
Archbishop Sergiy of Samara and Syzran
Archbishop Dimitry of Vitebsk and Orsha
Bishop Daniel of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk and the Kurils
Metropolitan Clement of Kaluga and Borovsk, Chancellor of the Moscow Patriarchate
