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Episcopal Delegation to Soviet Union Discovers New Life and Hope in Churches

Episcopal News Service. August 18, 1989 [89130]

Barbara Braver

NEW YORK (DPS, Aug. 18) -- Churches closed for decades are reopening, crosses are more visible, and long silent bells ring the call to worship. In the wake of glasnost and perestroika these are a few signs of new life and hope in the churches of the Soviet Union during this first year of the second millennium of Christianity in Russia.

Presiding Bishop Edmond L. Browning had an opportunity to learn first-hand of these developments, and to witness to the solidarity of Episcopalians and other Anglicans with Christians in the Soviet Union, during a five-city trip from July 27-August 6. He made the trip at the invitation of Patriarch Pimen of Moscow and All Russia, immediately after a ten-day meeting of the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches in Moscow.

"Because of all the changes they are now experiencing," the Presiding Bishop said, "this is a particularly important time for us to show our support for our Christian brothers and sisters in the Soviet Union. That was the chief purpose of our trip."

Accompanying the Presiding Bishop were his wife Patti; the Rev. William A. Norgren, Ecumenical Officer for the Episcopal Church; the Rev. Patrick Mauney, Deputy for Anglican Relations; the Rev. Dr. J. Robert Wright, professor of church history at the General Theological Seminary in New York; and Barbara Braver, Information Officer for the Office of The Presiding Bishop.

The Department of External Church Relations of the Russian Orthodox Church arranged a full and comprehensive itinerary for the delegation. The trip began and ended in the Soviet capital, with visits to Kiev in the Ukraine, Tbilisi in Georgia, Yerevan in Armenia, and Riga in Latvia. In each city the Presiding Bishop had discussions with church leaders, visited churches and other religious sites, and had the opportunity for informal exchanges with numerous of the faithful.

A magnificent three-hour liturgy on the Eve of St. Vladimir's Day was a highlight of the time in Kiev. It was in that city, just 1001 years ago, that baptisms were held in the River Dnieper, as Prince Vladimir brought Christianity to his realm. This "Baptism of Rus" was celebrated last summer as Christians from around the world gathered in the Soviet Union and rejoiced, not only at that historic event but at the new freedoms it represented.

Bishop Browning was introduced to worshipers in the packed cathedral and told them, through a translator, of the bonds Anglicans feel with them.

Also in Kiev, the group visited one of the most holy sites in all Russia, the Monastery of the Caves. For decades a museum, the property was returned to the Russian Orthodox Church in 1988 and restoration is underway.

Aided by the flickering light of candles, modern pilgrims slowly file past caskets, containing the bones of many saints, and through three small churches, made by the monks for their liturgies. Now, numerous faithful walk through the caves, venerate the relics, and celebrate the liturgy with the monks each morning at 5:30.

In these caves one can still see the tiny enclosures, scarcely big enough to stand up or lie down in, where monks centuries ago isolated themselves, subsisting only on water and altar bread, for a life of reading and prayer. One monk is recorded as living for 20 years in such a cell.

On leaving the caves Bishop Browning said a prayer of thanks for the witness of the monks, and for the opportunity to share in the lives of the saints. There, as everywhere, he was welcomed with enthusiasm, affection, and tears of joy.

Difficult days in Georgia

The visit to Tbilisi, Georgia, was hosted by Ilia II, the Catholicos Patriarch of the Orthodox Church of Georgia. "We have had troubles recently, so we are especially glad that you are with us," he said. "We need the witness of other Christian people."

The Patriarch referred to the April witness for independence in Tbilisi, during which demonstrators were gassed and killed. In a marked change from the former policy of official silence on such events, this incident was openly discussed at the meeting of the Supreme Soviet and is under investigation.

There are now approximately 200 "working" churches in the independent Georgian Orthodox Church. Of these 109 have opened in the last year. Eight have opened in Tbilisi, though the oldest church there, built in the seventh century, is an art museum.

"Mostly young people come to church," the Patriarch explained, saying that the church, the people and the nation have always stood together. "We continue that tradition now." The church is seen as having preserved the nation in the past, surrounded by and frequently encroached upon by other faiths and cultures.

"Our century is a critical one," Patriarch Ilia said. "Things could be done wrong and then not be able to be corrected. These are difficult days and the main response needs to be taken by the church. Without a right spirit, the achievements of science and technology can be turned the wrong way. The mission of the church today is lofty and difficult. We are to teach our people in a spirit of love for one another."

Both the Presiding Bishop and the Patriarch referred to the fact that, even when their two nations were not on friendly terms, their churches have always enjoyed cordial relations.

Armenia rebuilds after earthquake

From Tbilisi, the group made a five-hour car trip south through the mountains to Armenia, in a convey led by a police escort to ease passage through security checkpoints. The route took them through the center of the area devastated by the earthquake of December 7. With great sadness they could see the crumbled remains of the town of Spitak, which lies near the center of the damage. Of the people who now walk through these shattered towns, there is no one who has not lost someone close to them. Those who have not lost their homes share them with the homeless.

While guests in Armenia of His Holiness Vasken I, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, they met Archbishop Narek Shakaran, whose diocese bore the major force of the quake. His diocese lost 20,000 people. "We have felt the prayers, as well as the aid, of the Christian community in the United States," he said. Bishop Browning presented a check for $280,000 for earthquake relief from the Presiding Bishop's Fund for World Relief.

Armenia was the first whole nation to become Christian and Armenians take pride in this heritage. It is said that only this faith, by which their souls are fed, could help the nation to endure, as it has, tragedy after tragedy, wars and massacres, as well as natural disasters.

The Baltic states of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, are also enjoying new freedoms as a result of recent decisions by the Soviets to grant them cultural and economic autonomy and limited democracy.

The time in Riga allowed for meetings with leaders of the Lutheran Church, which is the dominant denomination in that Baltic republic. The Latvian Reformation took place in the 1620s and the history of the Lutheran Church is closely intertwined with the history of the Latvian people.

A delegation of Lutherans met with the Episcopal Church group in the Lutheran headquarters on the second floor of an apartment building. With a portrait of Martin Luther looking on, Archbishop Karlis Gailitis, who will be consecrated on September 3, described something of what the new days have brought to their church. The archbishop said that in the last two years the options have increased tremendously. "We have much greater freedom. Now we are allowed to publish a church newspaper and also to open Sunday schools to work with children and teenagers. This was unthinkable three years ago."

The Lutheran Church also suffers from a clergy shortage, with only 90 pastors for 215 parishes. The seminary, formerly only taught by correspondence, now offers an intensive six-month course and has 23 resident students with 40 students studying by correspondence.

William Norgren briefly described the current relationship between the Episcopal Church and Lutheran churches, explaining that they have taken hopeful steps toward deeper unity.

Russian Church adjusts to new freedoms

These are heady times in the Soviet Union, and most particularly for believers. During some 70 years of crushing and sometimes violent repression, including the period under Stalin when the church was systematically persecuted, the Russian Orthodox Church went from being moral and cultural force in the nation to a nearly invisible remnant. Now, glasnost and perestroika have taken on a particular meaning for the Russian Orthodox and other Christians in the Soviet Union as the old laws prohibiting religious freedom are gradually being modified.

Metropolitan Filaret of Kiev, who met with the Browning party, said he believes that the state hopes the church will help in the process of moral and social revival. For that reason, the church is given a broad access to the media and more freedom to share the faith.

The new freedoms have presented enormous challenges to the churches. In the Ukraine, for example, there are 5,000 Orthodox congregations, more than 2,000 opened within the last 18 months. "Perestroika for us," said the Metropolitan of Kiev, "means repairing and replacing churches."

Along with the logistics of building repair and replacement, the new congregations also need clergy. There is a critical clergy shortage at present and all of the churches are struggling to find ways to meet it. One measure is to ordain priests when they are part way through their theological studies. The new priests then continue with studies, sometimes by correspondence. New seminaries are opening and there is tremendous pressure to publish Christian literature, both for clergy and laity.

During the final days in Moscow, Bishop Browning and the party met for ecumenical conversations with members of the Russian Orthodox Church. Three topics were discussed: current status of the Anglican/Orthodox dialogue; ecclesiology, in particular perceptions of the ministry of a bishop in the two churches; and the life of each church within its nation.

Following the day-long session, the two churches issued a communique in which they pointed to the cooperation over the years of the Episcopal Church and the patriarchal parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church in the United States.

The conversations on the ministry of a bishop took place within the context of a discussion on ecclesiology and focused on the reasons that have led the Episcopal Church to proceed with the ordination of women to the priesthood and episcopate. The Episcopal Church group explained how their concept of "historic episcopate" allows for this, and the Russian Orthodox explained why they disagree. Both groups agreed that the subject of ecclesiology must be more fully pursued in Anglican/Orthodox Joint Doctrinal Commission, so that the issues of unity and full communion are advanced.

One concrete result of the Moscow discussions was the agreement to establish a joint committee consisting of three persons from each church to monitor relations between the two churches and to generate suggestions for future action. Bishop Browning will appoint the three members from the Episcopal Church and expects that the first meeting could be early next year.

"The committee will work with other USA churches and the Europe/USSR Committee of the National Council of Churches," said William Norgren, Ecumenical Officer of the Episcopal Church. He pointed out that the committee is another step in the long relationship between the two churches that goes back to initial contact on the West Coast in the mid-19th century.

Browning is the third Presiding Bishop to make an official visit to the Soviet Union, in what Norgren describes as "an important part of a continuing ecumenical sequence."

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