All Allegations Against Archimandrite Alexander (Belya) Are Slander
On February 25, 2020, the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR) issued a ruling on its official website of the Eastern American Diocese of ROCOR (dated February 18, 2020) which approved the ungrounded and non-canonical decision of the Diocesan Court of the Eastern American Diocese ROCOR regarding the unlawful “defrocking” of Archimandrite Alexander (Belya).
A brief summary of the origins of the “Case of Archimandrite Alexander (Belya)” is first needed. In December of 2018, at the written request of the First Hierarch, Metropolitan Hilarion of Eastern America and New York, the ROCOR Synod of Bishops elected Archimandrite Alexander (Belya) by a voting majority as a vicar bishop of the East American Diocese. On August 30, 2019, after a multilateral review of this matter, the decision of the ROCOR Synod regarding the election of Fr. Alexander as Bishop of Miami was approved by the Patriarch of Moscow and the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church (Journal No. 106). Metropolitan Hilarion congratulated Archimandrite Alexander on the approval of his election, yet the very next day he declined a meeting with him, under pressure from Bishop Nicholas (Olhovsky) of Manhattan, the Vicar and the Secretary of the Eastern American Diocese and the Vice-Secretary of the ROCOR Synod of Bishops. A more detailed account of the events with the attachment of the copies of the original documents can be found here.
Bishop Nicholas and certain members of the Diocesan Council were probably very concerned that on becoming a bishop Archimandrite Alexander, who is considered an “outsider”, might find evidence of the mismanagement of diocesan money, which has been long suspected within Church circles. This led to the spread of false and slanderous rumors about Archimandrite Alexander by this group. In an effort to completely eliminate his candidacy, they asserted that the ROCOR Synod never considered or approved his election as a bishop and that the First Hierarch never signed such documents. This denial of written proof was later discredited by an examination by handwriting experts who validated the veracity of the Metropolitan Hilaron’s signatures on papers related to this case. The defamation of Archimandrite Alexander had a further purpose however, as it became clear that the group intended to seize and sell the property of the Cathedral of St. Matrona of Moscow in Miami and the stauropegic monastery of St. Nicholas in Fort Meyers, Florida. Based on these false allegations, an attempt was made to suspend Archimandrite Alexander from the management of these institutions. A criminal group (V. Zadorozhnyy, I. Tsybin and I. Babenko) was recruited at the instigation of Bishop Nicholas of Manhattan. These persons spearheaded a rumor campaign to discredit Archimandrite Alexander, creating false stories about him within the monastery and writing slanderous letters and denunciations. As was later determined, based on this fictitious unfounded evidence the Eastern American Diocese issued a decree on September 3, 2019 to remove Archimandrite Alexander (Belya) from all his positions and prohibited him from serving as a clergyman. Archimandrite Alexander attempted to assert his innocence, and refute the fictitious and false nature of the complaints. Metropolitan Hilarion however, would not even meet with him, refusing to hear the explanations and forbidding his parishioners to speak in his defense. You may read on this in more detail by following the link at the end of the text.
On February 18, 2020 the ROCOR Synod announced that the aforementioned investigations and suspensions of Archimandrite Alexander based on the testimonies of V. Zadorozhnyy, I. Tsybin, and I. Babenko, could be accepted. It is unclear how any such statements could have been accepted in the first place given the criminal backgrounds of the sources; Vyacheslav Zadorozhnyy is on federal wanted list in the Russian Federation for financial fraud and Ivan Babenko is fleeing the US authorities for the illegal discharging of a firearm and attempted murder. The accusations and the alleged facts of abuse against Archimandrite Alexander were not confirmed and, as noted in the ruling of the very same Synod of Bishops, “the charges have been dropped”. It is noteworthy that these charges were dropped by Metropolitan Hilarion prior to the ruling on July 8, 2019.
______________________________________________________________________________
HILARION
Metropolitan of Eastern America and New York
First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia
75 E. 93 rd Street, New York, NY 10128 USA Tel.: (917) 848-9706, (917) 543-5199,
Fax: (212) 534-1798
July 8, 2019
#7-16/19
BLESSING
Having reviewed the memorandum of the Archpriest of Florida district Archimandrite Alexander (Belya) regarding the complaint against the Stavropegic Monastery of St. Nicholas in Fort Myers, the Cathedral of St. Matrona of Moscow in Miami and the clergy, we consider the following:
1. The complaints on the part of Vyacheslav Zadorozhnyi, Ivan Tsybin and Ivan Babenko do not make any sense, because they are based on personal fictions rather than on facts. Their actions are not of spiritual benefit, but are aimed at sowing discord among the faithful people by organizing a public campaign to discredit the monastery, the Cathedral and the clergy.
2. I hereby give the blessing to Archimandrite Alexander (Belya) to announce his decision for the settling and final solution in the situation that occurred.
3. If Vyacheslav Zadorozhnyi, Ivan Tsybin and Ivan Babenko do not stop their activity directed against the Church, I hereby give my blessing to petition to court for the protection of honor and dignity.
With love to God,
(round stamp)
Hilarion
Metropolitan of Eastern America and New York,
First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia
K-12
______________________________________________________________________________
Having attested to the unauthorized and fictitious nature of the charges, the Synod and the Metropolitan should have apologized to Archimandrite Alexander and cancelled the unlawfully imposed suspension on him back in July.
Archimandrite Alexander did nothing uncanonical as he had been accepted under the canonical Orthodox jurisdiction of the American Archbishopric of Ecumenical Patriarchate, having in his possession a notarized manumission of the First Hierarch of ROCOR that has been validated by an expert as the signature of Metropolitan Hilarion. Consequently, as a cleric of another Orthodox Church, who transferred with a manumission, all current orders of the ROCOR Synod carry no power. Any new charges thus do not translate into canonical or significant implications for Fr. Alexander. Moreover, such charges lack common sense, while contradicting the Holy Canons of Ecumenical Orthodoxy.
______________________________________________________________________________
HILARION
Metropolitan of Eastern America and New York
First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia
75 E. 93rd Street, New York, NY 10128 USA Tel.: (917) 848-9706, (917) 543-5199,
Fax: (212) 534-1798
October 30, 2017
#10-39/17
ORDER
By determination, our clerics of the following churches of the Eastern American Diocese; the Church of Saint John the Baptist in Brooklyn (New York City), the Cathedral of St. Matrona of Moscow in Dania Beach (the State of Florida) and the Monastery of St. Nicholas in Fort Myers (the State of Florida), by their consent, in case of necessity, have the right of unrestricted transfer from the jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia to any canonical jurisdiction of the Universal Orthodox Church.
This right is not subject to any change, addition or cancellation, is given for the period of 10 years, and is legally entered at the time of signing.
Hilarion
Metropolitan of Eastern America and New York,
First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia
Sworn to before me
This 30th day of October, 2017
stamp: Arthur Arcadian
Notary Public, State of New York
No. 02AR6188567
Qualified in Kings County
Commission Expires 06/09/2020
(signed)
K-5
___________________________________________________________________________
Already on February 24 we became aware of completely different accusations (given that the previous ones were dropped and are no longer pursued) and a concurrently accompanying verdict. Since these new charges are absurd both from the canonical point of view, as well as from the perspective of common sense, we would like to take them apart and to demonstrate their baselessness.
Charges concerning the hotel at the cathedral. It is a common knowledge that hotels are often established along many monasteries as well as cathedral and temples for the use by the pilgrims, who may in equal measure to be both men and women. This is an ancient tradition of Christian hospitality. Kiev-Pechersk and Pochaev lavras, Optina’s Pustyn, Diveyevo and Valaam monasteries, Arizona monastery of St. Anthony and many others. There are several archondarics (hotels) on the Holy Mount Athos next to each monastery and hermitage. There are multiple hotels or lodging rooms for pilgrims at many large abodes in the Local Orthodox Churches. As a rule, for lodging in those hotels or rooms pilgrims leave their donations, which are used for the needs of the monastery or the church. What therefore is the “canonical infraction” for which the ROCOR Synod decided “to defrock” Archimandrite Alexander for creating a hotel next to the church in Miami? In the entire two-thousand-year history of Christianity, this is the first time when such reason is served as justification for “defrocking”!
A far more absurd accusation is that that nuns, female novices and lay women from Ukraine are in residence next to the Cathedral. The residence of nuns next to churches in male monasteries or vice versa is often practiced in all Orthodox Churches, including ROC and ROCOR. There are several examples. St. John the Baptist Orthodox Monastery in Essex (Great Britain), which was founded by Rev. Sofroniy (Sakharov), student of St. Silwan of Athos, has both male and female communities. Similarly, in the St. George Monastery of the Moscow Patriarchate in Gorodnitsya (Zhytomyr Region, Ukraine) there are simultaneously male and female communities that live in the same building and use the same refectory. These are by far not the only examples of mixed cloisters. Bishops’ residences, where archpastors live on permanent basis, nuns and novices are often charged with maintenance of the houses and chambers and are located next to many women’s monasteries. Nuns also lived in the residences of the ever-memorable Patriarchs Alexey and Kirill. Likewise, nuns and women who helped at the ROCOR Synod frequently stayed in their building in Manhattan, which is Metropolitan Hilarion’s residence. In addition, both Metropolitan Hilarion and other hierarchs stay at the hotel of Pokrov monastery in Moscow, containing the relics of St. Matrona of Moscow, where nuns and women stay as well. The home of the Metropolitan of Kiev and All Ukraine, Onufriy, where he holds his permanent residence is situated on the territory of the St. Panteleimon womens’monastery. Hierarchs of the Russian Church Abroad have repeatedly visited Metropolitan Onufriy. Could it be they have forgotten about it? As such, what is Archimandrite Alexander guilty of? What are the motives for twisting the facts, upon which new fictitious allegations with references to irrelevant canons are presented against Fr. Alexander?
It is appropriate to note that during his priestly visits to Florida Metropolitan Hilarion repeatedly stayed at the hotel of the Miami Cathedral and in St. Nicholas monastery, whereby he never found anything objectionable. Quite on contrary, he always praised the abbot, the parishioners and matushkas who expressed genuine hospitality during his visits. Insofar as the nuns and sisters of mercy who permanently inhabit the monastery are concerned, they are arriving to Florida for carrying their novice duties – the incessant reading of Psalter at the Miami Cathedral (the only place in America, where Psalter is read incessantly), which since the Dormition of the Mother of God in 2016 occurred with the blessing of First Hierarch Hilarion and the Metropolitan of Kiev and All Ukraine, Onufriy. There is a letter from the First Hierarch in which he expressed gratitude to Metropolitan Onufriy for his help in organizing such good gesture as the continual reading of the Psalter. Is this what the accusations are presented for? Does the prayer now interfere with or disturb the Russian Church Abroad?
______________________________________________________________________
HILARION
Metropolitan of Eastern America and New York
First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia
75 E. 93rd Street, New York, NY 10128 USA Tel.: (917) 848-9706, (917) 543-5199,
Fax: (212) 534-1798
July 6, 2017
#7-30/17
To His Beatitude,
ONUFRY,
Metropolitan of Kiev and All of Ukraine,
The Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church
Your Beatitude,
On August 28, 2017, on the day of Dormition of the Mother of God, it is exactly one year since the start of the incessant reading of the Psalter at the Cathedral of St. Matrona in Miami, the only place in the US where this is done.
We express our gratitude to You, Your Beatitude, for your blessing, which you offered us in aid of our mutual project of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad.
We also thank Archpriest Roman Baranovskyy, Rector of the Church of St. Michael, the first Metropolitan of Kiev, the confessor of sisterhood of the Martyr Elizabeth in Kiev and the Holy City of Jerusalem, for supporting our project. With Fr. Roman’s cooperation, sisters of mercy are arriving in Miami and carry their duties for the benefit of the believing people.
I wholeheartedly wish you, dear lord, peace, health, and many years of successful service to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and to the Ukrainian people, so let the God come to Your aid.
In the love of God,
Co-prayer of Your Beatitude,
Hilarion
Metropolitan of Eastern America and New York,
First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia
(signed)
______________________________________________________________________
Let us now consider the next charge – about the improper filing of the paperwork for the communities.
In his years of service in Florida Archimandrite Alexander managed to acquire the largest church in the Southeastern coast of the US, which has been proclaimed a cathedral by the order of the First Hierarch. He also managed to revive the monastic life in the St. Nicholas monastery that was on the brink of closure at that time: daily services have been restored, the number of brethren has increased, the buildings of the monastery have been repaired. All these efforts of Archimandrite Alexander were marked by many awards from local Orthodox churches. Metropolitan Hilarion alone bestowed three church orders and the Synodal certificate upon him. Furthermore, the First Hierarch himself twice in 8 years requested His Holiness Patriarch Kirill to award Archimandrite Alexander the orders of Russian Orthodox Church, including one for the 40th Anniversary of the opening of the St. Nicholas Monastery and his efforts in its revival.
______________________________________________________________________
HILARION
Metropolitan of Eastern America and New York
First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia
75 E. 93rd Street, New York, NY 10128 USA Tel.: (917) 848-9706, (917) 543-5199,
Fax: (212) 534-1798
September 5, 2018
#9-17 / 18
To His Holiness,
The Holiest KIRILL,
Patriarch of Moscow and all of Rus’,
The Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church
Your Holiness!
The festivities for the 40th Anniversary of the founding of the Stauropegic men’s monastery of St. Nicholas in the city of Fort Meyers – the oldest and the only Russian monastery in the state to date – will take place on November 17-18, 2018, in Florida.
In light of the circumstances the monastery faced great difficulties in the last decade, and was at one point on the brink of extinction. In 2016, I appointed a new Superior who has an extensive experience in building of churches and the organization of church life in Florida. So, through Archimandrite Alexander (Belya) and his blood brother Ivan Belya’s efforts the monastic life has been restored in 2 years: daily services according to the monastic charter have been reinstated, the church domes have been placed atop, and building repairs and thorough general cleaning of the 6-hectaire territory of the monastery have been completed, etc. Today the monastery already has 7 residents. The prayer lantern has been rekindled, and the monastery filled up with pilgrims and became the spiritual center on only for Russians, but also for Americans, Serbs, Moldovans, Georgians and the Orthodox believers of other ethnicities living in Florida.
In addition, Archimandrite Alexander and Ivan continue the improvement spearheaded through their work at the cathedral of St. Matrona of Moscow in Miami – the largest Orthodox on the Southeastern coast of the US with 1,000-person capacity – as well as giving rise to two parishes in Florida.
I ask Your Eminence to award the industrious Archimandrite Alexander (Belya) and Ivan Belya the orders of the Russian Orthodox Church of venerable Sergius of Radonezh in honor of the 40th Anniversary of the oldest and the only Russian monastery in Florida.
In the love of God,
Hilarion
Metropolitan of Eastern America and New York,
First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia
(signed)
______________________________________________________________________
HILARION
Metropolitan of Eastern America and New York
First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia
75 E. 93rd Street, New York, NY 10128 USA Tel.: (917) 848-9706, (917) 543-5199,
Fax: (212) 534-1798
November 25, 2015
#11-22 / 15
To His Holiness,
The Holiest KIRILL,
Patriarch of Moscow and all of Rus’,
The Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church
Your Holiness!
The festivities for the occasion of the consecration and the opening of the new church in honor of St. Matrona of Moscow will take place in the city of Miami, Florida, on December 12-13, 2015. Today this church is the largest in Florida and is in the top five largest churches in the United States of America.
With our invitation and Your blessing, the Russian Orthodox Church will be represented by Bishop Roman of Rubtsovsk and Aleysk.
I ask Your Eminence to award the brethren-builders of this church as well as the missionaries of this Florida district, the head of the church, Archimandrite Alexander (Belya) and the founder of the church, Ivan Belya, the Order of the Russian Orthodox Church of the Prelate Innocent of Moscow through the head of the official delegation.
In the love of God,
Hilarion
Metropolitan of Eastern America and New York,
First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia
(signed)
______________________________________________________________________
In 2014, the Secretary of the Diocese, Archpriest Serge Lukianov, during his visit of the church of St. Matrona of Moscow remarked with pleasure that the head of the church, Fr. Alexander, was able to set the service and the church life in order in a very short span of time. The efforts of the Warden of the church, Ivan Belya, are in part directed toward the regular issuing of the newspaper, The Orthodox Florida, that is distributed throughout the greater Miami and familiarizes all of its Russian speaking residents with the foundations of the faith, describes the Church holidays and recounts the life stories of the servants of the Lord, focuses on ascetics of piety and so forth.
(https://ru.eadiocese.org/news_170104_63).
Since when are the restoration of the monasteries, the revival of the church life, and the dissemination of Orthodox faith deemed crimes?
Prior to his election as a bishop, Fr. Alexander enjoyed support of the First Hierarch and the Diocesan Council. The Council requested that he take charge of the recently formed Florida district. However, in 2019, following his election, he suddenly fell out of ROCOR’s favor and a group in the Council organized a rumor campaign against him.
The Cathedral of St. Matrona of Moscow and St. Nicholas Monastery are registered in accordance with the Florida state law for non-profit organizations. No breach of the law has ever occurred. Many other church complexes in the US are registered in a similar manner, in strict accordance with the current American legislature. Metropolitan Hilarion understood this in extensive detail from the beginning, as he gave his blessing and consent for it. We note that 90% of all Orthodox churches in the US are self-incorporated. Moreover, the main church of the Russian Orthodox Church, the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow, does not belong to the Moscow Patriarchate, but is rather managed through a fund. The ROCOR church in Geneva also belongs to the fund that locally manages it. There are many more such examples. Thus, under the pretext of the change of ownership, a group in the ROCOR leadership wished to appropriate the property of the cathedral and the monastery, which has unfortunate precedents in the history of Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia. This explains all such complaints and accusations.
Why did Fr. Alexander not grant access to the investigation committee and did not show up to the Diocesan Court hearing? 1. First of all, Fr. Alexander and the parishioners repeatedly attempted to meet with their principal bishop, Metropolitan Hilarion, in order to shed light on the situation. Indeed, his case, as candidate for a bishop, had to be reviewed not by the diocese committee, but the entity that was responsible for his election, that is, the Synod. However, Metropolitan Hilarion declined to meet and hear out Archimandrite Alexander and the parishioners for the clarifications of the matter, refused to review their letters and notes, and issued a ban on communication with him or the Synod regarding this matter. In so doing, the Canons and the principles of congregation in an Orthodox Church were seriously undermined. 2. All indicated that this was a “staged court” that did not wish to know and was apprehensive of the truth. The slander and the confrontational nature of the case, the bias and the reputation for high handedness of the members of the investigating committee all served as evidence to the unlawfulness of the “investigation”, the results of which were predetermined earlier. 3. Knowing of the deliberate and fictitious charges, the decisions, and the real objectives of the emergency summoning of the Council of the Eastern American Diocese on September 3, 2019, were the illegal seizure of the church complexes in Miami. These were intended to be legitimized. Archimandrite Alexander had handed in his transfer request before that, on September 2, 2019, and was canonically accepted as clergy of the American Orthodox Archbishopric of the Ecumenical Patriarchate on the basis of his manumission. Therefore, there was not any need to welcome the committee and attend the court hearing, whose illegitimate verdict had been predetermined.
It must be noted that the unfair pressure and persecution of both hierarchs and clergy in ROCOR can be traced back for decades. They passed judgement on the Bishop of Shanghai and San Francisco, John (Maksimovich), the Archbishop Panteleimon (Rudyk), the Superior Herman (Podmoshensky), and the hieromonk’s associate Serafim (Rose), and others who were baselessly accused. Some were forced to leave the ranks of ROCOR. It is sufficient to recall the recent outrageous incident, when the leadership of the Eastern American Diocese defrocked Fr. Vadim Arfeev. Both his church on Brighton Beach in Brooklyn, along with the house of mercy, were both sold, whereupon the money was suspected of being embezzled (an illegal seizure of the same kind was planned for Miami). In the aftermath of the incident, this case was transferred to the civil court, which the Diocese lost. No one apologized to Vadim and he was never reinstated. The leadership of ROCOR reached the point where they would cancel Sacraments for utterly fictitious reasons. Yet, there is nothing to be surprised about this given that once they re-baptized people, who were initially baptized in the Moscow Patriarchate. Today there are still cases when they re-baptize those who were baptized via incomplete submersion and for many years took communion in Holy Christian Sacraments.
In another court case against Metropolitan Hilarion and the Eastern American Diocese, the Church of St. Nicholas in Red Bank (New Jersey), won an award for damages, which ROCOR has begun paying, as the Diocese leadership was found guilty of the vandalism of the parish.
In this instance it is instructive to recall the following occurrence from the history of the Church. In 1772 the Metropolitan of Rostov, Arseny (Matsyevich, protested against the anti-church reforms of Catherine II, the Holy Synod illegitimately defrocked and imprisoned him. Since then he has become famous and is revered by the Church as a saint. Unfortunately, the history of the Russian Church contains many such occasions when persecutions and punishments of the clergy had an illegal and noncanonical character, as is the case with Archimandrite Alexander (Belya).
This year the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia marks its 100th Anniversary, but one is compelled to admit that its leadership today it is not of the same quality as when it originated. This is not the Church that defended the Orthodox faith and denounced the unlawful acts of atheists and their secret service during all the years of the Communist oppression. This is not the Church that represented the free voice of Patriarch Tikhon’s True Orthodox Church on the Motherland, whose bishops did not accept the apostate Declaration of Metropolitan Sergius (of Stargorod) calling to recognize Soviet power and who, as a result, were subjected to punishments and severe repressions by NKVD/KGB, often imprisoned and shot. The majority of those “acknowledging” pastors and archpastors of the True Church of Christ, notwithstanding all the non-canonical “punishments” and “bans” have been brought to glory in 1981 by the Council of the former true ROCOR, as New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia, and in 2000 were canonized as saints by the Council of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Metropolitan Sergius (of Stargorod), acting through the guidance of the godless secret service agencies, in the 1920s—1930s, has subjected hundreds of the most dignified archpastors and pastors to unfair and unlawful “punishment”. Despite this, the majority of them are revered and honored as saints. Metropolitan Sergius also attempted to subject the entire bishopric of the Russian Church Abroad to punishment for nothing more than their refusal to cooperate with the godless Soviet secret service agencies and to be their undercover agents, thus carrying out their demands. It is precarious to witness that on behalf of once Free Church today the crimes are being committed, as are the imposed unlawful “sanctions”, as it was once done by the atheists toward the ROCOR itself.
The leadership of ROCOR sinned by announcing the “defrocking” of the title that it never imparted onto Archimandrite Alexander. How could one take back what does not belong to them, something they never gave to begin with? Unlawfully announcing the “defrocking” of a clergy of another canonical Orthodox Church that is not subject to their decisions, they thus violate the Holy Canons and intrude by crossing the boundaries of another Local Church, so exposing themselves to canonical sanctions (“you will fall under your own anathema”). How could one strictly formal and false office document could strip Christ’s grace of the Holy Spirit from a pastor, given to him during the Sacrament of Ordination? Do they think that could give orders to the God Himself?
Following the example of Holy New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia, who upon receiving unlawful orders from Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky) to carry out the “sentences” and “privations” have returned those back to the author, we will do the same by sending back the non-canonical and unlawful ruling of ROCOR. As was written by Metropolitan Joseph (Petrovych) of Pertrograd regarding the “sentences” of Metropolitan Sergius and his Synod: “We, given our current circumstances, have no other means other than the decisive withdrawal from it [the Synod] and ignoring its rulings, and let their rulings be absorbed by one all-tolerating paper and all-containing lifeless air, but not the living souls of children of the Church of Christ” (December 25/January 7, 1927/1928).
Regardless of the manner in which the leadership of the Eastern American Diocese would disparage Archimandrite Alexander, many people who were initially confused and embarrassed into leaving the Miami Cathedral in connection with recent events, are already returning today. They have become aware of the situation, asking for their pastor’s forgiveness, and regret witnessing the actions of ROCOR.
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