Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk spoke in Tokyo at the opening of the conference "Saint Nicholas of Japan and Innocent of Moscow: Culture of the Peoples of Russia, Japan and America"

Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk spoke in Tokyo at the opening of the conference "Saint Nicholas of Japan and Innocent of Moscow: Culture of the Peoples of Russia, Japan and America" Митрополит Волоколамский Иларион выступил в Токио на открытии конференции «Святые Николай Японский и Иннокентий Московский: культура народов России, Японии и Америки» print version November 9, 2017 11:08 November 8, 2017 in the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Japan, an international scientific church-practical conference "Saints Nikolay Japanese and Innocent Moscow: the culture of the peoples of Russia, Japan and America", dedicated to the 220th anniversary of the birth of St. Innocent (Veniaminov), celebrated this year, , Metropolitan of Moscow and Kolomna, Apostle of Siberia and America, spiritual instructor of Equal-to-the-Apostles Nikolai of Japan. The conference was organized by the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation in the framework of the Russian Seasons humanitarian project with the support of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, with the assistance of the Russian diplomatic mission in Japan and the representation in Tokyo of the Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States, compatriots living abroad and internationally humanitarian cooperation (Rossotrudnichestvo). The Conference was addressed by Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to Japan E.V. Afanasyev, who in his greeting noted the importance of this church-science forum, clearly emphasizing the spiritual foundations of Russian-Japanese relations. The report "Equal-to-the-Apostles Nicholas of Japan and Saint Innocent of Moscow - Saints, Connecting Nations", Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk , Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, opened the conference. Addressing the audience, the archpastor stressed: "This meeting provides an opportunity to turn to the spiritual sources of ties between Russia, Japan and America - the countries of the Pacific region, which is based on the Orthodox faith that was brought to this part of the world by Russian missionaries. Our meeting in Japan takes place in the year of the 220th anniversary of the birth of the faithful son of the Russian Orthodox Church, an outstanding missionary, nicknamed for his missionary works by the apostle of Siberia and America, St. Innocent of Moscow. It was St. Innocent, having 40 years of experience in the apostolic ministry, who managed to show Nikolai (Kasatkin), a very young, 24-year-old priest, in which direction to exert efforts, on what to concentrate his works, so that his chosen service to the Japanese people would yield positive results . St. Innocent began his missionary journey in 1823. While still a married priest, John Veniaminov, he was the only one not afraid of the difficulties and, together with his family, went to the far North American continent to educate local residents. And the Lord rewarded him not only with his seven children in the flesh, but also with tens of thousands of spiritual children enlightened by the light of Christ's faith. Preaching among the small nations the Gospel, he simultaneously studied their language and culture, way of life and customs, their religious views. Thus, he created the Aleut alphabet on the basis of the Cyrillic alphabet, compiled and published the first Aleutian alphabet, formulated the basics of the grammar of this language, and translated the Gospel, the catechism and the most common prayers and church songs. After the death of his wife, Archpriest John received in 1840 a monastic vows with the name Innokenty and Bishop's Dignity, continuing to serve the cause of enlightening the peoples of Kamchatka, the Aleutian Islands, North America, Yakutia, Khabarovsk Territory. For almost half a century, Saint Innocent was given to the apostles' feat in the harsh conditions of the North, which is associated with great dangers to life. " Metropolitan Hilarion noted the loyalty of St. Innocent to the missionary vocation for the rest of his life: "He was 70 years old when he was transferred to the Moscow department, but there he did not leave his concern for the mission ... Thanks to the support and care of the saint was established in 1870 and the Japanese an Orthodox spiritual mission led by Archimandrite Nicholas (Kasatkin), the future Equal of the Apostles. In the same year, at the request of Metropolitan Innokentii, the Yakut and Viluysk, Aleut and Alaskan dioceses were opened. Saint Innocent understood the whole need for episcopal ministry for new missionary territories on which the invisible building of the Church of Christ was erected, and therefore advocated the creation of a separate Japanese department and the appointment of Archimandrite Nikolai (Kasatkin) as bishop there, but did not live just a few months before that, having died in 1879 ". Observing the life path of both saints of God, the DECR chairman also noted their contribution to scientific knowledge about the cultures and customs of the countries where the Lord judged them to preach the word of God. "Equal-to-the-Apostles Nikolai wrote in a letter to Saint Innocent that:" For many years I ... was attracted to science by my field; Japanese history and all Japanese literature - absolutely untouched treasures - it is necessary to scoop up whole handfuls, everything will be new, interesting in Europe, and work will not be wasted. " Indeed, the writings of St. Nicholas became a new scientific word in Russian oriental studies and a true bright event in the scientific literature of the time, "the archpastor said. However, the preaching work was an absolute priority, Vladyka Hilarion emphasized: "St. Nicholas exerted every possible and impossible effort for the Japanese to create their own spiritual world, their Church. In this endeavor, the continuity of the missionary school of St. Innocent (Veniaminov), which was distinguished by openness, accessibility, simplicity of communication, softness and tolerance towards people, and the desire to give scope to their creativity and initiative were clearly visible. " Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk ended his speech with the words of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Sergiy (Stragorodsky) , who once served the mission of Orthodoxy in Japan: "Orthodoxy is the most Christianity in its entirety and simplicity ... As a gift of the sky, not of the human mind , it is above the world and is not determined by it, but on the contrary, it wants to rebuild the world. Consequently, even here in the East, Orthodoxy, of course, can enter ... into the national consciousness, how it could enter Europe, and it will also become a true ... Japanese faith, as in Europe it became the faith of the Greek, Russian, etc., - let only its primeval purity is not indignant ". The head of the Japanese Autonomous Orthodox Church, Metropolitan of Tokyo and All Japan Daniel , Archbishop of Sendai Seraphim , Rector of the Nikolo-Ugreshskaya Theological Seminary Hegumen John (Rubin), priests of the Japanese Autonomous Orthodox Church, Moscow Region , St. Petersburg , Kasimovskaya and Rzhevsk dioceses of the Russian Orthodox Church, researchers and teachers of the Institute of the Far East Russian Academy of Sciences, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, Institute of Asian and African Studies of Moscow State University named after MV Lomonosov, the Moscow Conservatory, the St. Petersburg Theological Academy and the Nikolo-Ugresh Seminary. For the participants and guests of the conference was shown the film of Metropolitan Hilarion "Orthodoxy in Japan". The film and its version in Japanese were created with the participation of the charity fund of St. Gregory the Theologian, which provided an opportunity to give each participant of the conference a specially prepared disc with the documentary work of the DECR chairman. Within the framework of the conference, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk presented to the second secretary of the Russian Embassy in Japan, D.N. Shakure is the jubilee medal of the Russian Orthodox Church in honor of the 1000th anniversary of the reign of the Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Duke Vladimir, who was bestowed on him by His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia for assisting the efforts of the Russian Orthodox Church to normalize the position of the Chinese Autonomous Orthodox Church . At the end of the forum, Metropolitan Hilarion, accompanied by Hieromonk Nicholas (Ono) and an employee of the DECR, D.I. Petrovsky visited the church in honor of the prince Alexander Nevsky in Maguro - the metochion of the Russian Orthodox Church in Tokyo. Archpriest Nikolai Katsyuban greeted the archpriest in the church. On the same day, the Ambassador of Russia to Japan, E.V. Afanasyev gave a dinner in honor of the DECR chairman, in which the Metropolitan of Tokyo and the whole of Japan, Daniel, Archbishop of Sendai Seraphim, DA Counselor-Ambassador took part. Birichevsky, Archpriest Nikolai Katsyuban, clergyman of the Resurrection Cathedral in Tokyo, Archimandrite Gerasim (Shevtsov), counselor Yu.V. Saplin-Sila-Novitsky and a member of the DECR, D.I. Petrovsky.