Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk: The Ukrainian Tomos reflected the papal aspirations of Constantinople

Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk: The Ukrainian Tomos reflected the papal aspirations of Constantinople Митрополит Волоколамский Иларион: В украинском «томосе» получили отражение папистские устремления Константинополя print version January 23, 2019 10:28 On January 19, 2019, on the Russia-24 channel on Saturdays and Sundays, the chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s department for external church relations , Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, answered the questions of the leading television channel Ekaterina Gracheva . E. Gracheva : Hello! This is the “Church and Peace” program, in which we talk with the chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk. Hello, lord! Metropolitan Hilarion : Hello, Catherine! Hello, dear brothers and sisters! E. Gracheva : Vladyka, this weekend will be almost a month since the terrible tragedy that happened in Magnitogorsk - an explosion in a residential building that claimed dozens of lives. Does our Church somehow participate in the fate of the victims and in the fate of the relatives of the victims of this tragedy? Metropolitan Hilarion : From the very beginning, our Church took a lively and effective part in the fate of those who suffered from this explosion. Immediately after the tragedy, the Church began to assist the victims. Bishop Innocent of Magnitogorsk assembled the abbot of all the churches of the city, created a church operational headquarters, left for the place of the tragedy, priests arrived there. First of all, they helped in what is so necessary - in the psychological rehabilitation of people, because for those who have lost their loved ones, this is a very difficult, very scary moment. And here it is important that the priest is there so that he can find some right words so that he can instill hope in people. In addition, the Church helps a lot and those who were hospitalized as a result of house collapse. Our clergy provide all possible assistance that can be provided to people affected in this terrible tragedy. E. Gracheva : Lord, our program is released in the days when we celebrate the baptism of the Lord. Even unbelievers in our country know about this holiday, and even those who do not go to churches do not miss the opportunity to dip a hole. Is it true that the baptismal water is so life-giving that it washes away sins even from such people? Metropolitan Hilarion : The water of baptism by itself cannot wash away sins if a person does not go to confession, if he does not partake, does not participate in church life. And in general, such an attitude towards holy water is dangerous, which suggests that it has some kind of "magical" action - supposedly you can not go to church, you can not believe in God, you can not do good deeds, but if you stock up with holy water, then everything will be fine . It does not happen. There is no magic, amulets, talismans or conspiracies in the Church. The church, above all, involves conscious participation in the sacraments, in worship. The consecration of water is an annual rite, which is performed primarily in memory of the Baptism of the Lord. According to the tradition in our country, despite the cold, the water under the ice is consecrated, and then people go there. By itself, this custom has nothing to do with the Church. The church has never invited people to plunge into the hole. This can be done by people, of course, to whom this allows health. You can not abuse this. It is impossible, as doctors say, to plunge into the hole in people who have heart disease or some other disease - this is a big stress for the body. I myself plunge into the ice-hole annually, and not only at Baptism. I know that in itself it has a healing effect on the body. But nothing magical happens here and there can be no absolution here either. Therefore, one should not overestimate the importance of immersion in the hole. As for the holy water - if believers take it inside or sprinkle it on their dwellings, then through this they receive the blessing of God. E. Gracheva : Lord, there are many myths about baptismal water. For example, that it acquires other properties, does not freeze, does not “bloom”. The water of the Epiphany froze at me and “blossomed”. So I had the “wrong” water? Or maybe I'm a big sinner? Metropolitan Hilarion : The Epiphany water, over which the rite of consecration has been accomplished, retains the chemical properties of water, therefore, of course, it can freeze and deteriorate. A significant part of the myths that the water of the Epiphany acquires other properties, for example, it cannot “bloom”, is not based on reality. At the same time, the experience of many people shows that this water costs throughout the year and does not deteriorate. The fact that Epiphany water freezes is an obvious fact. When I served in Lithuania as a priest, I had a parish where there was no heating. And if on the street minus 20, then inside the temple in which I served, it was also minus 20. I had baptismal water, which, of course, froze and turned into ice. When I took communion from the cup, I could not tear it from my lips, because it was frozen to my lips. Therefore, a significant part of these myths, of course, is not based on reality, although, I repeat, the experience of many people shows that the water of baptism stands throughout the year and does not deteriorate. E. Gracheva : Vladyka, in our last program you spoke about the events of January 5 - giving autocephaly to the Ukrainian church, but did not affect the content of the “Thomos” itself. In general, is the text of this “tomos” available? What does it contain? Metropolitan Hilarion : This text has been published. I have his translation in my hands. This text speaks of the establishment of an autocephalous church in Ukraine, but it provides for so many restrictions that it cannot be called a true autocephaly. For example, a new church structure cannot establish bishops or establish congregations outside the country; already existing foreign communities are being subordinated to Constantinople; the possibility of Ukrainian bishops and clergy to appeal against the Patriarch of Constantinople, who takes the canonical responsibility to take peremptory judicial decisions for bishops and other clergy of this supposedly independent church, is being consolidated. Just imagine, if such restrictions were imposed on the Russian Church. By the way, Constantinople tried to impose such restrictions on us. So, we should have about a thousand of our parishes in the diaspora simply to lose or give to Constantinople simply because the Patriarch of Constantinople is so eager. Or, say, some father was guilty, the bishop banned him, and he appeals to the Patriarch of Constantinople. The Patriarch of Constantinople makes a judgment and it is considered mandatory for the Russian Church. This is not an autocephaly. E. Gracheva : That is, translating into simple language, if Ukrainians living outside the country in France, in the USA, in other countries of the world want to take communion, to be baptized, to get married, they will still go to the canonical Church of the Moscow Patriarchate? Metropolitan Hilarion : Yes. In fact, this will mean that the faithful Ukrainians, as is happening now, will go to the churches of the Russian Orthodox Church in the diaspora. In our parishes in the diaspora a significant number of believers, and in many parishes most of the believers are Ukrainians, Moldovans, they are not Russians. Also in the "tomos" it is said that "the autocephalous church of Ukraine recognizes as its head the Most Holy Apostolic and Patriarchal Ecumenical Throne". This actually means that for this Ukrainian church structure the Patriarch of Constantinople will perform the same function that the Pope performs for the Catholic Church. As a matter of fact, the papal aspirations of Constantinople are spelled out here, which they have already repeatedly voiced, but are not recognized by any of the Local Churches. Now, a structure has been created in Ukraine by Constantinople, which will be forced to recognize these papal claims, because it was only under these conditions that she was able to get a “tomos about autocephaly”. E. Gracheva : You speak the language of a church diplomat. I will now read out a sharper definition of what is happening in Ukraine. These are the words of the Serbian Orthodox Church : "The chauvinists-russophobes, led by corrupt politicians, while" assisting "the Uniates and, unfortunately, with the illegal complicity of the Constantinople Patriarchate, deepened and expanded the existing schisms." This is a reaction to the provision of autocephaly to Ukraine. What is the reaction of other Local Orthodox Churches to this event? Metropolitan Hilarion : The Serbian Orthodox Church took a very clear position, and in the message of the entire episcopate of the Serbian Church there was a very clear non-recognition of the actions of Constantinople to legalize the Ukrainian schism. You can also recall the statements of individual hierarchs, for example, the Metropolitan of Montenegrin Amphilochius , Bishop Iriney Bachsky, who quite clearly assessed the actions of the Patriarchate of Constantinople as inadmissible. The Patriarch of Antioch, responding to the letter of the Patriarch of Constantinople, said: “From your letter it appears that you decided to continue the process of giving autocephaly <...> Therefore, we urge you not to take any decisions that are not worth the consensus of the Autocephalous Orthodox Churches, because it is unwise to stop the split at the cost of unity of the Orthodox world. " The Patriarch of Constantinople did not heed the admonition of his Antiochian colleague. Metropolitan of Warsaw and all of Poland Sawa , expressing the position of the Polish Orthodox Church , expressed an unequivocal rejection of what was done by Constantinople in Ukraine. Therefore, of course, in the Local Churches there is growing dissatisfaction with what the Patriarch of Constantinople has done. E. Gracheva : You say that discontent is growing among believers and Orthodox people. But I can also say that, probably, misunderstanding is also growing among the unchurched people. What kind of war is going on between the Patriarchs? After all, the granting of autocephaly to the Ukrainian church became possible due to different interpretations of the same sacred texts, canons. And Kiev put a lot of intellectual effort in order to find the necessary interpretations and formulations. How should an unchurched person now relate to sacred texts, if, according to their interpretation, even the clergy lacked unity? Metropolitan Hilarion : I think that it will be very difficult for an unchurched person to understand all this. But after all, even the interpretation of civil laws is not always the same for different people or different warring parties. And here we are dealing with an attempt to completely artificially interpret some of the rules that were adopted by the Ecumenical Councils and concerned the prerogatives of the Patriarch of Constantinople exclusively within its own jurisdiction. Now the Patriarch of Constantinople has decided to interpret these rules broadly as referring to the whole world, to the entire diaspora. Now they are being imposed on this new Ukrainian structure, since it was only under these conditions that it was able to get the so-called autocephaly. But, I repeat, she did not receive a real autocephaly. In recent months, Constantinople has repeatedly voiced the idea that every Local Church should exist within the boundaries within which it is recognized by the Patriarchate of Constantinople. At the same time, at the moment of recognition of the Russian Orthodox Church by the Patriarchate of Constantinople, its geographical boundaries included only the Moscow principality. According to the logic of Constantinople, the further expansion of the Moscow Patriarchate is interpreted almost as lawless expansion. There was a Moscow principality, then it developed, then Russia acquired more and more new territories. So, our Church should not have gone beyond the limits of the Moscow principality, should not have been engaged in missionary activities, and she had to keep the boundaries in which she received any papers from Constantinople? This is such an absurd idea, it is so contrary to the very nature of the Church that even seriously discussing it is not possible. For over 300 years, it was the united Russian Orthodox Church that was engaged in missionary and educational activities in the territory of Ukraine. And the Patriarchate of Constantinople, creating a new structure on the territory of Ukraine, encroached, among other things, on many territories that did not belong to the Kiev Metropolitanate, which was independent of Moscow, which it created five centuries ago. E. Gracheva : At the end of 2018, the State Duma adopted the “Law on the Protection of Animals from Cruel Treatment”. Lord, are you familiar with the text of this law? According to the canons of the Church, what rights do animals have? Metropolitan Hilarion : The church was created for people, but this does not mean that it has never dealt with animals. Recently, a group of artists sent a letter expressing gratitude to Patriarch Kirill and Metropolitan Juvenal , who heads the Moscow Regional Diocese , for caring for animals. In particular, zoodefenders had in mind shelters for homeless animals, which are organized at temples near Moscow. We told about one of these shelters in our program. Therefore, for believers, the fate of animals is not indifferent, and the Church also takes care of them. E. Grachev : Lord, amended the "Law on anti-terrorism activities." The legislative initiative involves, in particular, the formulation of requirements for the anti-terrorist protection of religious organizations. What do these amendments to the law mean and how will they be applied in practice? Metropolitan Hilarion : As far as I know, it is assumed that each religious object will be examined in terms of the possible consequences of a terrorist act. Each such object will be assigned one of three categories. The first category is temples and other religious sites, where in the event of a terrorist attack more than a thousand people can become victims, that is, these are the largest churches, monasteries, and mosques. The second and third categories are temples that accommodate fewer people. Any measures aimed at protecting people from terrorism are now in demand and necessary, because terrorism is the plague of the 21st century, with which everyone must fight, including through legislative means. We must create such a situation in the country for all believers and non-believers in order to minimize the damage that terrorists can do to people. In the second part of the program, Metropolitan Hilarion answered TV viewers questions that came to the website of the Church and Peace program. Question : In the Gospel there are lines "and the enemies of man are his own ones." Explain what is in this passage? Metropolitan Hilarion : These words were spoken by the Lord Jesus Christ when He warned His disciples about the difficulties they might encounter. Literally, these words are borrowed from the book of the Prophet Micah from chapter 7, which says: “For the son dishonors the father, the daughter rebel against the mother, the daughter in law against her mother-in-law; His enemies are his household ”(Micah 7: 6). Christ rephrased the words of the prophet, speaking first of all about the situation in which people who converted to Christianity, His teachings, could find themselves, if their relatives rebel against their choice. In such a situation, in principle, anyone can be: parents can be against the choice of their children, the husband can be against the choice made by the wife, or children can be against the choice of parents. In this situation, the Lord says that loyalty to our neighbors, we must always prefer loyalty to Christ, that is, in the first place always put love for Him. We can also recall that Christ Himself, when he went out to preach, when he began to gather around Himself the disciples and people who were possessed by various diseases, possessed with demons, and so on began to gather around Him, experienced some resistance from His relatives. In the Gospel of Mark it is even said that “His neighbors went to take Him, for they said that He went out of himself” (Mark 3:21). That is, in other words, they thought that He was crazy. And Jesus Christ repeatedly said that one of His followers might be in a similar situation.