The Message of His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel Addressed to the Moscow Patriarchate on the Day of the Funerals of Patriarch Alexy II
Message addressed to the Moscow Patriarchate by His Beatitude Daniel, Patriarch of Romania, on the day of the funerals of Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia, Moscow, December 9, 2008:
WISE SHEPHERD IN DIFFICULT TIMES
Patriarch Alexy II (1990-2008)
To His Eminence Kirill,
Metropolitan of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, Patriarchal Locum Tenens and
The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church,
The news of the passing away into eternity of our beloved brother in Christ worthy to remember Alexy II, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia brought grief in the hearts of all those who knew him and appreciated both his steadfastness in the Orthodox faith and his openness towards those of other religious beliefs, his love and wisdom with which he served the Orthodox Church.
First of all, Patriarch Alexy II remains in our memory as a hierarch who confessed the Orthodox faith in the difficult times which the Russian people has gone through all the decades of atheistic communist dictatorship, when the Church was oppressed and marginalised in the society.
From the moment of his election as Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church, in 1990, the wise Patriarch Alexy II understood the necessity to reorganise it in a period of rapid political and social transformations, at a time of passing from communism to a pluralistic society. The competence with which he knew, at the threshold of millennia, to lead the Orthodox Church of Russia – by re-establishing it in its place of honour and by giving back to it a major role in the renewal of the society – deserves the appreciation of the entire Orthodoxy. In this sense, the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, rebuilt during his leadership, remains from now on a central symbol of the archpastoral activity of Patriarch Alexy II and of the pastoral and missionary revival of the Russian Orthodox Church.
At the same time, the worthy to remember Patriarch Alexy II proved to be also a great promoter of inter-Christian cooperation and of interreligious dialogue. His activity within the international ecumenical organisations – the Conference of European Churches, whose president he was for several years – testifies to both his openness towards a better mutual understanding between Christians belonging to various confessions, but also his aspiration for a rapprochement and cooperation between Christian Churches in the contemporary society.
Patriarch Alexy II has also been actively involved in promoting the interreligious and intercultural dialogue, by organising international meetings with the participation of many Heads of Christian Churches and of other religious cults, as it was the case, for instance, with the World Meeting of Religious Leaders, in the year 2006. While being preoccupied with the concerns of the contemporary human being, who is confronted with many challenges of secularisation, the worthy to remember Patriarch Alexy II has brought an important contribution in safeguarding the traditional values of Christian faith and morality.
In these moments of grief which the Russian Orthodox Church and the whole of Orthodoxy are going through, we recall the words of our Saviour Jesus Christ, Who encourages us and strengthens our hope when He says: „He who believes in Me will live, even though he dies” (John 11:25). This belief in the eternal life becomes certitude for us, Christians, because Christ, the Son of God crucified and risen, has brought us from death to life, and to those who had fallen asleep in faith He gives rest, peace and His light. Therefore, we pray Christ the Lord, the Eternal High Priest, to rest the soul of Patriarch Alexy II together with the righteous and the saints, where there is no pain, no grief, no sigh, but everlasting life. May his memory be eternal!
Together with the hierarchs, the clergy and the faithful of the Romanian Orthodox Church we join the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, the clergy and the entire Russian Orthodox people, reassuring all of them of our brotherly love and appreciation and we pray Christ the Lord to guide the Russian Orthodox Church on the path of salvation to the glory of the Most-Holy Trinity and the wellbeing of the whole Orthodoxy.
† Daniel
Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church
WISE SHEPHERD IN DIFFICULT TIMES
Patriarch Alexy II (1990-2008)
To His Eminence Kirill,
Metropolitan of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, Patriarchal Locum Tenens and
The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church,
The news of the passing away into eternity of our beloved brother in Christ worthy to remember Alexy II, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia brought grief in the hearts of all those who knew him and appreciated both his steadfastness in the Orthodox faith and his openness towards those of other religious beliefs, his love and wisdom with which he served the Orthodox Church.
First of all, Patriarch Alexy II remains in our memory as a hierarch who confessed the Orthodox faith in the difficult times which the Russian people has gone through all the decades of atheistic communist dictatorship, when the Church was oppressed and marginalised in the society.
From the moment of his election as Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church, in 1990, the wise Patriarch Alexy II understood the necessity to reorganise it in a period of rapid political and social transformations, at a time of passing from communism to a pluralistic society. The competence with which he knew, at the threshold of millennia, to lead the Orthodox Church of Russia – by re-establishing it in its place of honour and by giving back to it a major role in the renewal of the society – deserves the appreciation of the entire Orthodoxy. In this sense, the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, rebuilt during his leadership, remains from now on a central symbol of the archpastoral activity of Patriarch Alexy II and of the pastoral and missionary revival of the Russian Orthodox Church.
At the same time, the worthy to remember Patriarch Alexy II proved to be also a great promoter of inter-Christian cooperation and of interreligious dialogue. His activity within the international ecumenical organisations – the Conference of European Churches, whose president he was for several years – testifies to both his openness towards a better mutual understanding between Christians belonging to various confessions, but also his aspiration for a rapprochement and cooperation between Christian Churches in the contemporary society.
Patriarch Alexy II has also been actively involved in promoting the interreligious and intercultural dialogue, by organising international meetings with the participation of many Heads of Christian Churches and of other religious cults, as it was the case, for instance, with the World Meeting of Religious Leaders, in the year 2006. While being preoccupied with the concerns of the contemporary human being, who is confronted with many challenges of secularisation, the worthy to remember Patriarch Alexy II has brought an important contribution in safeguarding the traditional values of Christian faith and morality.
In these moments of grief which the Russian Orthodox Church and the whole of Orthodoxy are going through, we recall the words of our Saviour Jesus Christ, Who encourages us and strengthens our hope when He says: „He who believes in Me will live, even though he dies” (John 11:25). This belief in the eternal life becomes certitude for us, Christians, because Christ, the Son of God crucified and risen, has brought us from death to life, and to those who had fallen asleep in faith He gives rest, peace and His light. Therefore, we pray Christ the Lord, the Eternal High Priest, to rest the soul of Patriarch Alexy II together with the righteous and the saints, where there is no pain, no grief, no sigh, but everlasting life. May his memory be eternal!
Together with the hierarchs, the clergy and the faithful of the Romanian Orthodox Church we join the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, the clergy and the entire Russian Orthodox people, reassuring all of them of our brotherly love and appreciation and we pray Christ the Lord to guide the Russian Orthodox Church on the path of salvation to the glory of the Most-Holy Trinity and the wellbeing of the whole Orthodoxy.
† Daniel
Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church
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