Boris and Gleb Would Be Proud

Ed. Note - My contact in the world of Eastern Orthodoxy, known only as The Late Fr. Orestes, submitted this obituary of Patriarch Alexei of Moscow, who died last Friday. Readers will be wise to consider his words carefully, especially the bit about St. Panteleimon. Note also that he refrains from mentioning that the Venetians also led the Fourth Crusade in 1204, which culminated in the capture and sack of Constantinople.

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The death of Patriarch Alexei signals the end of an era for the Russian Orthodox Church. He led the Church in its rebirth following the fall of communism and symbolized what was to be a new chapter in the church’s history following 75 years of persecution under the Communist Regime. Yet, his past was tainted by ties to the former Soviet Government and possibly links with the KGB. For those of you who are real church junkies, you might recall his KGB name as Colonel Drozdov.

His Holiness was born in Riga, Latvia, in 1929. At that time, Latvia was an independent country. His parents were pious Orthodox Christians and raised him in the faith. His Holiness climbed the ecclesial ladder with great speed. Before long, he was the Metropolitan of Leningrad, a rank equal to that of a Cardinal in the Roman Catholic Church. He had some very influential friends at that time as well. The mayor of Leningrad, Boris Yeltsin, was one of them. It was little wonder that Mr. Yeltsin, along with the Holy Spirit, made Alexei’s rise to the Patriarchal Throne inevitable.

Church and state have always been close allies in Russia. For those of you who have read the Chronicles of St. Nestor, and if you doubt their veracity may an icon of St. Panteleimon fall on your head, you will remember it was Vladimir the Great who encouraged his envoys to travel throughout the world searching of the one, true God. They found that God in Constantinople and with this new faith, a future basis by which to declare Russia as the Third Rome.

No matter what you think of His Holiness, he gave his all to the church. He fought tirelessly to have churches reopened, repaired, and returned back to their rightful owner. Young men and women openly embraced the Orthodox faith. Seminaries, monasteries and convents have sprung up throughout this vast country adding thousands to their ranks.

After years of negotiation, he reunited the Church of Russia with the Russian Church Abroad, and made inroads into reuniting the Old Believers with the Church. He worked with other faiths as well, but had little patience with sects and cults. His cautious negotiations with the Roman Catholic Church were especially important as everyone remembers it was the Venetian soldiers who abandoned their post and allowed the Ottoman Turks to breach the walls of Constantinople on 23 May 1453, ushering in a bleak period for Orthodoxy.

He truly loved God and served the liturgy like an angel. I had an opportunity to serve with His Holiness in 1999, and it was one of the most inspirational moments in my life. His kindness and words of encouragement revealed a truly human side to a man who holds as much power as the Tsar, I mean President of Russia.

The next Patriarch of Russia will be elected sometime in May of next year. I’m placing my vote on the young, intelligent, talented, pious, and soft-spoken Bishop of Budapest, Hilarion (Alfeyev). He holds a PhD from Oxford, speaks nearly a dozen languages fluently, and he is a brilliant scholar who can hold his own with either Pope or Patriarch. Whether or not the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church agree with me is the topic of another posting all together.

In the meantime, may God grant eternal rest to the soul of his servant, Alexei, and may his memory be eternal. Vichnaya jemu, pam’jat.