Fr John Salter, Chairman, writes in Chrysostom for Pascha 2010:
Following the death of Patriarch Alexis II the Holy Synod of the Russian
Orthodox Patriarchal Church has elected
Metropolitan Kyril of Smolensk and Kalingrad. The election took place in
the newly built Cathedral of the Saviour, near the Kremlin, which was blown up
in 1931 on Stalin’s orders and a swimming pool built on the site. Its
reappearance may be due to the persistence of Babuska Power, that of the old
ladies, who are a force to be reckoned with in the Russian Church. Today it is
a symbol of the revival of that Church.
Patriarch Kyril has expressed his deep
concern about Church Unity, not necessarily the lack of unity between different
traditions, but the break down of unity in the Ukraine since the collapse of
the Soviet Union. The largest group of Orthodox loyal to Moscow makes up one
third of the entire Patriarchate of Moscow, but some of its churches are closed
and sealed, and there is pressure for it to become autocephalous. Alongside
this there are two other Orthodox jurisdictions, plus the Old Believers with
their seat at Byelo-Krinitza in Bukovina, now in the Southern Ukraine. On top
of this there is the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, which has recently moved
its headquarters from L’viv to Kiev.
Pope Benedict has welcomed the
appointment of Patriarch Kyril, and wrote : “I warmly congratulate you and wish
you every strength and joy in the fulfilment of the great task that lies before
you”. The Apostolic Nuncio to Russia, Archbishop Antonio Mennini, wrote to the Patriarch : “Together with Catholic
communities living in Russia at this solemn hour I am praying to the merciful
God so that He helps you to accept the legacy of the loving memory of Patriarch
Alexy II Your predecessor… In these
years I had a chance to get to know you as a profound theologian striving to revive
the Russian Orthodox tradition after the hardships experienced by the Church in
the 20th century, as well as a visionary pastor working zealously
for the benefit of God’s people and full
of the desire to fulfil Christ’s
commandment, ‘That they may be One’”.