Those who wish to add their name to this letter, send an e-mail to: FRANATOLYTREP@aol.com or trepatschkoj@aol.com |
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An Open Letter From Some Loyal Sons and Daughters of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad Your Eminences: Christ is Risen! Truly He is Risen! We greet you, the honorable Hierarchs of our beloved Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, with the timeless salutation that unites us in the Resurrectional Mystery of Christ, through which our redemption was wrought and our mutual membership in the True Body of Christ was won. It is with this resurrectional unity that we all were invited to participate in the ageless charism of sobornost. Sharing in the dignity of Christ's salvific work, we wish to join our voices in sobornost without the fear of reprisal, as it is a God-given responsibility to do so. It has been an unfortunate happening that when those of us, whether sharing the majority or minority views, have expressed our heartfelt, genuine and loving concerns about the status of our beloved Church Abroad, have been greeted with scornful, degenerative derogation by brother clergy in the struggle for truth. We have seen our attempts at sobornost dismissed as "fanatical diatribe from extremists" who, therefore, have no right to express their concerns and opinions without being abrogated to unimportance and useless voicelessness. We expected the dignity due us from being servants of the Fountain of Grace, Our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ. But what we received was bitter gall. Rather than accepting the fact that some of us were expressing heartbreak over what we perceived as wrongful change in the 80 year direction of our Church, our detractors set about dismantling our statements and opinions with a "fine-toothed nit comb", and by delivering insults and elementary history lessons designed to discredit the originators of the statements. Rather than recognizing the love and sincerity of our actions, we have been questioned from a preconceived notion that we were already guilty of canonical violation of the order of the Russian Orthodox Church because we simply and clearly expressed our concerns. Others have denigrated those who hold the "minority" opinions by pointing to the fact that those expressing their concerns represent "less than 30 percent" of the clergy of a diocese and therefore should be seen as rebellious renegades. But worse, we have been told that it is "none of our business" what our Bishops decided, nor why they did so. This would mean that we are disenfranchised from the Body of Christ, The One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Orthodox Church. This is not sobornost. This is treachery. We come to you, our Archpastors, with this sincere appeal, welling up from the depths of our hearts, that we be heard, not as renegades, but as loyal sons of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad. We make this appeal trusting in your love for us, hopeful that you will consider it without believing that there is some arrogant disobedience being perpetrated by us. We have been confused by the Epistle of the October 2000 Sobor of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad. It has appeared to us that a radical departure from the long-held positions of our church regarding the Moscow Patriarchate has been decided and expressed in the Epistle. It also appears to us to depart from the Sorrowful Epistles of our former first Hierarch, Metropolitan Philaret of Blessed Memory. When we have cited those epistles, we have been corrected and told that they represent the private opinions of Metropolitan Philaret and therefore do not constitute the "official" position of our Church Abroad. The October Epistle also appears to us to depart from the "official" conciliar decisions of our Bishops anathametizing ecumenism and those who participate with ecumenical groups. When we questioned this we were told that we wrongly interpreted the letter to the Serbian Patriarch requesting help in developing potentially unifying relationships with the Moscow Patriarchate. It has appeared to us that our Bishops are requesting the help of "heretics" in uniting with "apostates". But when we asked for clarity in this regard we have encountered denial. We have seen brother clergy suspended from priestly service, being accused of disobedience. We have questioned these decisions, by our Bishops, but have received no answers to them other than a restatement confirming previous decisions to suspend the clergy and being told it was none of our business. We have seen repeated expressions of concern by at least three Bishops of our church, numerous groups of clergy, important numbers of parishes, and a sizable contingent of laity to the October 2000 Epistle, the Letter to the Serbian Patriarch and the subsequent decisions of Synod that reaffirmed the decisions noted. Why have so many drawn the October Epistle, Letter to the Serbian Patriarch and the subsequent decisions into question? Because of an endorsement of the Statement of some of the Clergy of the Canadian Diocese supporting the opinions of Bishop Varnava and Clergy of the Western European Diocese who had been suspended and other Bishops and clergy who have expressed concern, the Dean of Washington and the Southern Deanery wrote an incriminating letter accusing the signatories of violating the canonical order of the Russian Orthodox Church, but couching it in the form of an "official questioning" by "The Dean" as to whether the Canadian Statement was signed by those clergy in question or not. This is an intentional betrayal of confidence and trust launched at clergy who are trying to get answers to questions and who are trying to express their opinions in sobornost. These clergy are neither disloyal nor traitorous as this kind of intentional treachery would imply. If the recent actions of the Sobor and Synod of Bishops of our Church has not been troublesome, then why was it deemed necessary for some of the clergy of the Western American Diocese to issue a statement that seems to counter 80+ years of struggle by the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad? Why was it necessary for some of the Southern Deanery clergy to endorse resolutions directly stemming from the actions cited? So, it is not just the dissenting opinion holders who recognize that a serious problem has been generated by the issuance of the October Epistle and the other actions of the Sobor and Synod. If our understanding of the October 2000 Epistle of the Sobor of Bishops, the Letter to the Serbian Patriarch and the subsequent actions of the Synod of Bishops, is as we perceive them to be, then we are not in agreement with the Epistle, the Letter and the subsequent actions of the Synod. Does this bring condemnation? Or, will it bring a reconsideration of all of the actions? We appeal to you, our Bishops, to reconsider the actions taken thus far. Although our opinions have been seriously trivialized by those who would detract our efforts at sobornost, we are trusting that you, our Bishops, will recognize our heartfelt concerns and our broken-heartedness over the present situation in our beloved Church Abroad and that you will respond favorably to our pleas for clarity and redirection. We ask you, therefore, to nullify all decisions that have so negatively impacted upon our Church and to return to the pre-October Sobor positions of our Church and to begin anew with an attempt to unify our beloved Russian Orthodox Church Abroad. We deem it imperative, at this time, that you, the Bishops, recognize the seriousness of the situation. Do we not find ourselves in close resemblance to the "dwellers of Nineveh"? As those dwellers proceeded, so must we now place upon ourselves a forty-day fast and earnestly pray for repentance of all sins. As they covered their heads with ashes, so must we, likewise, not relinquish our responsibilities and ask our All Forgiving God to enlighten the forlorn, grant the faint hearted strength, and hold steadfast the unwavering convictions of preserving the Truth and Sanctity in our Church Abroad. In closing this sincere appeal, we wish to reiterate our agreement with the appeals and statements of Bishop Varnava and the Clergy of the Western European eparchy. We also wish to express our agreement with the several appeals of Bishop Benjamin and Bishop Agafangel and the various Clergy from their respective Eparchies. Three Bishops, numerous Archpriests, Priests, Protodeacons, Deacons, Subdeacons, Readers, Parishes and Laity have expressed identical concerns. Are we all to be merely suspended and dismissed as disobedient, rebellious renegades-or shouldn't we be seen as loyal sons and daughters of the Church Abroad who are genuinely concerned with the present status of our beloved Church, and who have the canonical responsibility and right to express disagreement with our Bishops without the fear of reprisal? In this, we beseech Your mercy, Our Savior, Jesus Christ, Son of God!!! Signed: Rev. Fr. Anatoly Trepatschko and Matushka Irene Trepatschko Rev. Fr. Seraphim Stephens Rev. Fr. Andrew Kencis Deacon Mark Smith Nicholas Trepatschko John and Nina Trepatschko Renee Torgler Jason and Gabrielle Brewer Gregory A. Ogden Catherine A. Stelmach Peter N. Budzilovich Mikhail Aramburu-Gil Olga Dolskaya Alexandra Jeneaue' George Spruksts Vladimir N. Kozyreff Irina de Pahlen-Goossens Nikola Stepanovich Elena Stepanovich Vladimir Mskhiladze Anna Corbin Joseph Vagnone Vera Vagnone Kyra Vagnone |
