Munich Conference on the History of the Russian Church Abroad: Day 0 and Day 1

I know I have been out of touch. The organization of the conference has consumed me almost completely.

Day 0. Bringing supplies for the conference from St. Job of Pochaev Monastery to Blutenburg Castle, just across the field

On Tuesday, May 5, Day 0, most of the day was spent simply getting oriented at the conference venue and going through the checklist with my tireless counterpart in Germany, Dr. Anastasia Limberger (below). We have been in constant contact over the past year, working together on every aspect of the conference.

Wednesday, May 6, was Day 1—the opening of the conference. Once again, the morning passed in preparations and last-minute coordination. Around three o’clock, the Kursk Root Icon was greeted, and from that moment the conference truly began. The hall seats about 140 people, and it was completely full.

At the beginning of the conference, the choir of the ROCOR’s Munich cathedral of New Martyrs and Confessors, led by its longtime director Vladimir Ciolkovich, sang selections from the Russian émigré church tradition. The choir members performed the entire repertoire by memory.

Choir perfromance

Metropolitan Nicholas’ address

The conference opened with a greeting from His Eminence Metropolitan Nicholas, First Hierarch of the Russian Church Abroad. He spoke about the significance of the German Diocese for the history of the entire Russian Church Abroad, referring, among other things, to his childhood memories of Archbishop Philothei (Narko) of Berlin and Germany in his parish in Trenton.

In his address, Metropolitan Mark, who has been a bishop in the diocese since 1980, emphasized that ROCOR in Germany is not something foreign to the country, but something that has organically grown here and become part of Germany’s religious, historical, and social landscape. One responsibility of ROCOR here, he said, is to build bridges.

Metropolitan Serafim of the Romanian Orthodox Church in Germany also sent greetings on the occasion of the jubilee, which were read by his vicar, Bishop Sofian. In the message, Metropolitan Serafim especially noted how ROCOR succeeded in preserving the Orthodox faith and expressed gratitude to Metropolitan Mark for his deeply theological and pastorally attentive ministry, as well as for the spirit of trust and cooperation between the two jurisdictions.

The secretary of the ROCOR diocese and a member of our organizing committee, Archpriest Nikolai Artemoff, reflected on the different stages in the life of the German Diocese, especially on personalities and events he himself remembered firsthand. He emphasized the diocese’s historical and geographical mission at the “frontlines” of the Russian Church Abroad.

Bishop Job’s keynote speech

Bishop Job of Stuttgart, vicar bishop of the diocese and chairman of the organizing committee, developed a similar theme in his presentation. He spoke of ROCOR’s development within the German “ecosystem,” borrowing a term from botany to describe how flowers adapt to new soil after being replanted.

The conference day ended with a tour of the exhibition, the fruit of many days of work by another tireless member of the organizing committee, Reader Andrei Fastovsky. He organized a very impressive exhibition dedicated to the history and growth of the German Diocese, featuring diagrams and visual materials that helped place the development of the diocese into a broader historical context.