ROC hierarch: We can’t change the name of Church for the sake of politics

Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev). Photo: doktorantura.com

On June 6, 2020, in the programme “Church and World” the head of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, stated that the Church could not change its name to suit the political situation, reports the ROC official website.

During the programme, Vladyka was asked why the Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church as an institution is called Moscow while the Patriarch of the ROC is called of Moscow and All Rus’?

According to the questioner, changing the name of the Russian Orthodox Church to “the Patriarchate of All Rus’”, “will more accurately indicate the sphere of responsibility of the Russian Church”, and “in addition, it will be more correct from a political point of view”, as “the term ‘of Moscow’ is annoying to many in Ukraine” .

Answering the question, Metropolitan Hilarion noted that “renaming the Church will not solve the problems that exist in Ukraine today”.

According to him, "in Ukraine there is a political problem, in addition, there is a schism in the country, and therefore there will always be demagogues or political figures who will not be satisfied with a particular name". That is why, Vladyka emphasized, “we cannot change the name of the Church for the sake of the political expediency”.

Metropolitan Hilarion recalled that for several centuries the Russian Church was a single metropolis within the Patriarchate of Constantinople with its center in Kiev, and the head of this metropolis was called the Metropolitan of Kiev and All Rus’.

After the Metropolitan of Kiev and All Rus’, due to political circumstances, first moved to Vladimir and then to Moscow, he continued to bear the title of Metropolitan of Kiev while in Moscow. And only when the Russian Orthodox Church became autocephalous, and then the Patriarchate was recognized in Rus’, the Patriarch bore the title of Moscow, and in Kiev their own separate metropolitan appeared.

Vladyka emphasized that “we greatly value the unity of the Church that we inherited from the baptismal font of St. Prince Vladimir, and if the Patriarch is called of Moscow, he is called so, first of all, because he is the ruling bishop of Moscow,” while “the title ‘of All Rus’ refers not only to Russia but also to historical Rus’".

Earlier, the UOJ wrote that Vladimir Legoyda, head of the Synodal Department for Church Relations with Society and Media of the Moscow Orthodox Patriarchate, noted that the zone of pastoral responsibility of the Russian Orthodox Church includes 16 independent states

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