By Sergey Bychkov

Last December, a seven day pilgrimage of the Russian Orthodox Church to holy Christian sites in Asia Minor (Turkey) was concluded. It was a group of 71 pilgrims headed by Moscow Patriarchate’s Secretary on Overseas Parishes, Bishop Mark of Egorevsk. It would be naive to think that the leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) and its Department of External Church Relations (DECR) did not watch or hear about the program. Especially since so many Russians were in Turkey!

On December 19th, at the original Church of St. Nicholas, in the historic city of Myra (Demre-Turkey), Bishop Mark officiated at the Divine Liturgy. About the same time, at the Patriarchal Cathedral of St. George in Constantinople (Istanbul), His All Holiness Bartholomew sang a prayer together with priests of the ROC. The seven days pilgrimage ended on the 21st of December.

Such eloquent silence is evidence that the leadership of DECR either had nothing to say or that the work of this synod establishment is paralyzed by the recent restructuring. The strangest thing is that consultations of the DECR, headed by Archbishop Hilarion, with representatives of the Ecumenical Patriarch on the forthcoming Pan-Orthodox Council in Chambésy, continue!

On the official Russian Church websites we are informed of the new musical pieces composed by Hilarion and being presented here and there but there is an absolute silence on the most important events in the life of Orthodoxy. Why?

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Dr. Sergey Bychkov, a journalist, is a historian of the Russian Orthodox Church and author of numerous books on the subject.