Before His Defection: Fr. Alexander Lebedeff’s Own Condemnations of the Moscow Patriarchate
- Subdeacon Nektarios, M.A.
- 1 hour ago
- 6 min read
By Father Alexander Lebedev (ROCOR-MP)
From: "maura93728" jandmchaplain@aol.com
Subject: [paradosis] No Wiggle Room, No Squirm Room
Date: March 25, 2006 at 12:52:49 AM EST
To: orthodox-tradition@yahoogroups.com
Reply-To: orthodox-tradition@yahoogroups.com
Excerpt from the Chicago Clergy Lenten Resolution: "At the same time, we grieve and pray for those of our brethren who in the light of current events are troubled, and for that reason suffer spiritually."
Excerpt from the Western American Clergy Resolution: "That ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment" (1 Cor. 1:10).
It is obvious that the Metropolitan Laurus–led Synod has not offered any prudent suggestions for those of us who "are troubled by current events," and who are not "in the same mind and judgment." We are unable to accept the necessary capitulation, or to embrace anything Fr. Alexander Lebedeff and Fr. John Shaw and Fr. Peter Perekrestov and Archbishop Kyrill of Western America wrote under what now could be filed under "the times they are a-changing."
Rather than post all of the articles previously written by these clergymen in opposition to the Moscow Patriarchate, why not just read one of Fr. Alexander Lebedeff's typical, no wiggle room, no squirm room, classics for all the ages. If you callously say this 1997 letter is no longer relevant, then you are insulting the intelligence of your opposition (love your enemies). If you felt in the depth of your souls that your capitulation would be met with little opposition, who gave you the right to label us as schismatics as a solution. Would our Saviour have simply cast us aside and tended to the ninety-nine who favor this desire for a "large flock" — "imperfectly joined together!"
Fr. Alexander wrote:
A few comments on this issue, hopefully based not on innuendo, but FACTS. (my emphasis)
It is an indisputable fact that since the time of the October Revolution the Soviet state has attempted to exert control over the Russian Orthodox Church. From the earliest days, clergy were found who would cooperate fully with the Soviet authorities in every way, including reporting the "anti-Soviet" activities of other clergy, which inevitably led to their repression (execution, concentration camp incarceration, or exile). There are documents now published that show that Lenin was very much aware of this and directed his adherents to exploit these "loyal" clergymen in every way possible to further the Soviet regime. Very early on, the Soviet state attempted to form a completely subservient church structure. Its first attempt, the "Living Church," failed when the majority of the faithful simply refused to accept it. The early Soviet state put enormous pressure on St. Patriarch Tikhon, who withstood every effort to compromise the faith. After his death in 1925, the Soviet state created the so-called "Grigorian schism," again a structure that was to be completely subservient. Finally, in 1927, Metropolitan Sergius, the Deputy Locum Tenens, issued his "Declaration," effectively placing the Church in subjugation to the atheist authorities. More than just the words of the Declaration were the problem — Metropolitan Sergius allowed the Soviet authorities to control the election and assignment of bishops and other clergy (something that Patriarch Tikhon absolutely refused to permit), and, what is even worse, he began to openly and unequivocally lie about the true situation of the Church in Russia (starting from the Declaration, in which he actually thanks the Soviet authorities for their benevolent care of the Church and its faithful — at a time when tens of thousands of churches were forcibly closed and tens of thousands of clergy, monks, and nuns had been executed or arrested). His interview (in 1930) with Western correspondents is well known — the interview in which he unequivocally states that there is no and never has been any persecution of the Church by the Soviet state, and that any clergy that had been arrested, tried, and sentenced had been so treated only for their political, not religious, activity.
It is an indisputable fact that the majority of the senior bishops (Metropolitans Kyrill, Agathangel, Peter, Joseph, and Archbishops Seraphim, Thaddeus, and many others) absolutely rejected both the Declaration of Metropolitan Sergius and his authority to make it. The "Synod" that he had personally convened consisted of hand-picked supporters, many of whom had a poor record, including Archbishop Alexis (Simansky), the future Patriarch Alexis I, who, as had Sergius himself, had for a time split away from Patriarch Tikhon and joined with the Renovationists. Others were known to be secret police collaborators. Those who opposed Metropolitan Sergius were severely repressed.
It is an indisputable fact that the Moscow Patriarchate from 1927 to 1990 continued to officially proclaim urbi et orbi that no persecution of the Church had ever taken place. Patriarch Alexis I gave such a funeral tribute to Stalin, thanking him (perhaps the greatest persecutor of the Church since Nero) for his wonderful care for the Church and its faithful, that one has difficulty even reading it.
It is an indisputable fact that since 1927, the Soviet state, through its Council on Religious Affairs, controlled every aspect of Church life, especially the admission of candidates to theological schools (thus ensuring that only the selected and approved got in), the appointment of priests to parishes, and most importantly, the election and appointment of bishops. There is no question that the current Patriarch successfully passed through this selection process and was put on the "fast track" of the most loyal of bishops of the Soviet state-controlled Church, becoming an archbishop and metropolitan at an extremely young age, and given vast authority in the administration of the Church.
It is an indisputable fact that the current Patriarch collaborated with the Soviet authorities in the worst way — he wrote reports to the KGB on other bishops and clergy (including his predecessor, Patriarch Pimen), and fulfilled other operational assignments, as did the other senior bishops of the Moscow Patriarchate. His KGB code name "Drozdov" was not a code name used for someone to be watched — it was a code name for an operative agent who was given and carried out specific assignments.
It is an indisputable fact that the Soviet authorities considered the then Metropolitan Alexis to be in the forefront of its most loyal bishops. See the report to the Council of Ministers by the Deputy Secretary of the Council on Religious Affairs (the "Furov" report), in which the bishops of the Moscow Patriarchate are divided into three categories: those most loyal to the Soviet regime, who actively participate in the control of the clergy by the state; those who tolerate the Soviet authorities but do nothing overt to thwart them in their efforts; and those who attempt to secretly work against the Soviet authorities and resist control by them. Metropolitan Alexis is listed right at the top of the "most loyal" category.
It is an indisputable fact that Patriarch Alexis II gave a speech before the Board of Rabbis in New York, having presented the Chief Rabbi Schneerson with a commemorative cup (chalice?), in which he called the Jewish people "our elder brethren" and stated that Orthodox Christianity and Judaism were basically the same faith.
It has been reported in the Russian press that Patriarch Alexis went to Yakutia (in Siberia) to bless a diamond extraction plant in which the Moscow Patriarchate has a 40 percent share, and that he participated in the blessing of the factory together with a local shaman (witch doctor). This was part of the disclosure that the Moscow Patriarchate has enormous financial interests, including licenses to export huge quantities of oil, and has been importing billions of cigarettes from the West. (A strange concept for a Church structure!)