Hilarion Alfeev Dashevsky. Curious information about Metropolitan Hilarion, who said here the other day that it turns out - evia1

14.10.2019

Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk (Alfeev Grigory Valerievich), Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate.

Born July 24, 1966 in Moscow. From 1973 to 1984 he studied at the Moscow Secondary Special Musical School. Gnesins in the class of violin and composition. From the age of 15 he served in the church, subdeacon under Metropolitan Pitirim (Nechaev) and worked as a freelancer in the Publishing Department of the Moscow Patriarchate. In 1984, after graduating from school, he entered the composition department of the Moscow State Conservatory. In 1984-86 he served in the army.

In January 1987, at his own request, he left his studies at the Moscow Conservatory and entered the Vilna Holy Spirit Monastery as a novice. He served as rector of rural churches in Lithuania, then was rector of the Annunciation Cathedral in Kaunas.

He graduated in absentia from the Moscow Theological Seminary and the Moscow Theological Academy with a degree in theology. In 1993 he graduated from the postgraduate course of the Moscow Academy of Sciences. In 1991-1993 taught at the Moscow Theological Seminary and Academy, at the Orthodox St. Tikhon Theological Institute and at the Russian Orthodox University of St. John the Theologian.

In 1993, he was sent for an internship at Oxford University, where he worked on his doctoral dissertation on the topic "St. Simeon the New Theologian and Orthodox Tradition", combining his studies with service in the parishes of the Sourozh diocese. In 1995 he graduated from Oxford University with a Ph.D. Since 1995, he has worked in the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate. He read courses of lectures at St. Vladimir's Theological Seminary in New York (USA) and at the Theological Faculty of the University of Cambridge (UK). Doctor of Theology at the St. Sergius Orthodox Theological Institute in Paris, Privatdozent of the Theological Faculty of the University of Friborg (Switzerland) in the Department of Dogmatic Theology.

January 14, 2002 In Moscow, in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, he was ordained a bishop and sent to serve in England. In July 2002, he was appointed head of the Representative Office of the Russian Orthodox Church with European international organizations (Belgium). In May 2003, he was appointed Bishop of Vienna and Austria with the assignment of the temporary administration of the Budapest and Hungarian diocese and with the retention of the position of Representative of the Russian Orthodox Church to European international organizations in Brussels.

On March 31, 2009, Bishop Hilarion was appointed Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, a permanent member of the Holy Synod with the title Bishop of Volokolamsk. On April 20, 2009, he was elevated to the rank of metropolitan.

On February 1, 2010, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia elevated Hilarion to the rank of Metropolitan.

Hilarion - Rector of the general church postgraduate education, created with the aim of raising the educational level and the level of special training of managerial and ecclesiastical-diplomatic personnel of the Moscow Patriarchate. Rector of the temple icons Mother of God"Joy of All Who Sorrow" on the street. Bolshaya Ordynka in Moscow. With the blessing of His Holiness the Patriarch and the Holy Synod, Metropolitan Hilarion carries out numerous church-wide obediences, representing the Russian Orthodox Church at various international and inter-Christian forums.

Author of more than 600 publications, including monographs on patristics, dogmatic theology and church history, as well as translations of the works of the Church Fathers from Greek and Syriac. The works of Metropolitan Hilarion have been translated into English, French, German, Italian, Greek, Serbian, Bulgarian, Romanian, Hungarian, Finnish, Swedish, Dutch, Polish, Japanese, Chinese and other languages.

He is the author of a number of musical works, including "Divine Liturgy" and "All-Night Vigil" for unaccompanied choir, "Matthew Passion" for soloists, choir and orchestra, "Christmas Oratorio" for soloists, boys' choir, mixed choir and symphony orchestra.

And then I came across an interesting piece of material about this comrade-in-arms of Patriarch Kirill.
Here is the material:

Who is Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeev)?

Five days ago, I accidentally (??) came across a brightly colorful high-quality photograph of a high-ranking, and at the same time very odious character (see below), which, upon closer inspection, literally SHOCKED me.

For two days I could not calm down, the same thought was spinning in my head: “Well, how is it? .. how is it ?? .. HOW IS IT ??!!! !! To say that I was amazed literally before our eyes by the prophecies of the Holy Fathers coming true, it means to say nothing...

No, I already knew a lot about this mega-promoted (and hyped!) character in our Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate in recent times (sic!) So for the first time, this black-and-white photograph made me think very seriously about the role of this hierarch(h)ka in our Mother Church low quality in the Spirit of a Christian newspaper, which I then subscribed to:

This, in every sense, eloquently denouncing the deeply legendary Agent of Influence of the Vatican (this is at least), the Uniate crypto-Catholic archbishop introduced into the ROC MP and strongly promoted upward by powerful anti-Russian and anti-Orthodox forces, is a photograph in which Hilarion (Alfeev) was photographed in an outstanding with head vestments, was found by me here:

Meet! Hilarion Alfeev - Honorary Prelate and Secret Uniate Cardinal-Archbishop for Crypto-Catholics of the Byzantine Rite in Russia.

Honorary prelate of His Holiness (lat. Praelatus Honorarius Sanctitatis Suae) - Monsignor Hilarion Alfeev, in person!

Apostolic protonate de numero

(Higher Prelates of the Roman Curia and Protonotary Apostolic de numero)

“Soutane (French soutane, Italian sottana - skirt, cassock), upper long clothes Catholic clergy, worn outside of worship. The color of the cassock depends on the hierarchical position of the clergyman: the priest - black, the bishop - purple, the cardinal - purple, the pope - white color", (Catholic Encyclopedia).

ferraiolo (cloak)

“... the highest of the three honorary titles possible for the diocesan clergy is the title of freelance Apostolic protonotary, (…) the next in rank is the title of Honorary Prelate of His Holiness. Both of these titles give their holders the right to be called "monsignors" and use special vestments - a purple cassock with a purple sash and horseskin and a black biretta with a black pompom - for worship, a black cassock with a red edging and a purple sash - at other times. Freelance Apostolic Protonotaries (but not Honorary Prelates) may also optionally wear a purple ferraiolo (cloak)." ()

Purple for Catholics

Meeting of the 68th Assembly of the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI)

Who still believes that this is a skillful photoshop, I suggest that you familiarize yourself with the original image of maximum quality (click on photo - ed. ):

By the way, the EXIF metadata of this photograph (more on this, for example, and ) report that the picture was taken on 10/26/2012 12:05:17 PM, i.e. less than 3.5 years ago.

And yet yes. If the photo was taken in October 2012, and the current Pope Francis I was elected on March 13, 2013, then Metropolitan Cardinal (albeit freelance) Hilarion could well participate in the election of the current head of the Vatican, Francis I:

Theologian, patrologist, church historian, composer. Author of monographs on the life and teachings of the Church Fathers, translations from Greek and Syriac, works on dogmatic theology, and numerous publications in periodicals. Author of musical works of chamber and oratorio genre.

Name day - June 6 (by Julian calendar), on the day of remembrance of St. Hilarion the New († 845)

Biography

Education, ordination, the beginning of church service

From 1973 to 1984 he studied at the Moscow Secondary Special Musical School. Gnesins in the class of violin and composition. At the age of 15, he entered the Church of the Resurrection of the Word at the Assumption Vrazhek (Moscow) as a reader; in his later words, since that time "the Church has been the main content of my life." Since 1983, he served as subdeacon under Metropolitan Pitirim (Nechaev) of Volokolamsk and Yuryevsk and worked as a freelancer in the Publishing Department of the Moscow Patriarchate.

In 1984, after graduating from school, he entered the composition department of the Moscow State Conservatory. He studied in the class of Alexei Alexandrovich Nikolaev.

In 1984-1986 he served in Soviet army as a musician in a brass band.

In January 1987, at his own request, he left his studies at the Moscow Conservatory and entered the Vilna Holy Spirit Monastery as a novice.

On June 19, 1987, he was tonsured a monk in the cathedral of the Vilna Holy Spirit Monastery, and on June 21, in the same cathedral, he was ordained a hierodeacon by Archbishop Victorin (Belyaev) of Vilna and Lithuania.

August 19, 1987 in Prechistensky cathedral Vilnius was ordained a hieromonk by Archbishop Anatoly (Kuznetsov) of Ufa and Sterlitamak with the blessing of Archbishop Viktorin of Vilna and Lithuania.

In 1988-1990 he served as rector of churches in the city of Telsiai, p. Kolainiai and s. Tituvenai of the Vilna and Lithuanian diocese. In 1990 he was appointed rector of the Annunciation Cathedral in Kaunas.

In 1990, as an elected delegate from the clergy of the Vilna and Lithuanian diocese, he participated in the Local Council in June 1990, which elected Metropolitan Alexy (Ridiger) of Leningrad as Patriarch. On June 8, he delivered a speech on relations with ROCOR.

In 1989 he graduated in absentia from the Moscow Theological Seminary, and in 1991 from the Moscow Theological Academy with a degree in theology. In 1993, he completed his postgraduate studies at the MDA.

In 1991-1993 he taught homiletics, Holy Bible New Testament, dogmatic theology and the Greek language in MDAiS. In 1992-1993 he taught the New Testament at the Orthodox St. Tikhon Theological Institute and patrology at the Russian Orthodox University of St. John the Theologian.

In 1993, he was sent for an internship at the University of Oxford, where, under the guidance of Bishop Kallistos of Diokleia, he worked on a doctoral dissertation on the topic "St. Simeon the New Theologian and Orthodox Tradition", studied the Syriac language under the guidance of Professor Sebastian Brock, combining his studies with service in the parishes of the Diocese of Sourozh . In 1995 he graduated from the University of Oxford with a Ph.D.

Since 1995, he worked in the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, since August 1997 as Secretary for Inter-Christian Relations.

In 1995-1997 he taught pathology at the Smolensk and Kaluga Theological Seminaries. In 1996 he read a course of lectures on dogmatic theology at St. Herman's Orthodox Theological Seminary in Alaska (USA).

From January 1996 he was a member of the clergy of the church of St. vmts. Catherine on Vspolye in Moscow (Metochion of the Orthodox Church in America).

From 1996 to 2004 he was a member of the Synodal Theological Commission of the Russian Orthodox Church.

In 1997-1999 he lectured on dogmatic theology at St. Vladimir's Theological Seminary in New York (USA) and on the mystical theology of the Eastern Church at the Faculty of Theology of the University of Cambridge (UK).

In 1999, he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Theology by the St. Sergius Orthodox Theological Institute in Paris.

In 1999-2000, he hosted the daily television program "Peace to your home" on the 3rd television channel.

In 1999-2002 he continued to publish articles and books, including fundamental research in two volumes “The Sacred Mystery of the Church. Introduction to the history and problems of the imyaslav disputes.

On Easter 2000, in the Trinity Church in Khoroshevo, Metropolitan Kirill (Gundyaev) of Smolensk and Kaliningrad was elevated to the rank of abbot.

Bishopric

By the decision of the Holy Synod of December 27, 2001, hegumen Hilarion (Alfeev), upon being elevated to the rank of archimandrite, was determined to be Bishop of Kerch, Vicar of the Diocese of Sourozh.

On Christmas Day 2002, in the Smolensk Cathedral, Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad was elevated to the rank of archimandrite.

January 14, 2002 in Moscow, in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, consecrated bishop; the consecration was performed by Patriarch Alexy, co-served by ten archpastors.

Shortly after the arrival in the Sourozh diocese in early 2002 of the ruling bishop of the diocese, Metropolitan Anthony (Bloom), Bishop Hilarion of Kerch, appointed vicar, an extremely sharp conflict arose in the diocese around the figure of the new vicar. Party dissatisfied with the activities of Bishop. Hilarion was headed by a senior vicar - Bishop Vasily (Osborne).

On May 19, 2002, he criticized the actions of Bishop Hilarion in his open Address ruling bishop Metropolitan Anthony. Appeal reported that Bishop Hilarion has 3 months to “discover the essence of the Sourozh diocese and form an opinion about whether or not he is ready to continue in the spirit and in accordance with the ideals that we have developed over the course of 53 years. If he is not sure, and we are not sure, then we, by common agreement, will part»; it also said of Bishop Hilarion: “He has many gifts that I have never had and never will have. He is young, he is strong, he is a doctor of divinity, he has written several highly acclaimed theological books, and he can make a very significant contribution - but only if we form a team and stand united.”

Bishop Hilarion issued a response Statement, which denied the accusations brought against him and actually condemned the liturgical practice that had developed in the London Cathedral of the diocese.

As a result of irreconcilable opposition, Bishop Hilarion was recalled from the diocese in July of that year; by decision of the Synod title Kerch was adopted by the oldest vicar of the diocese, Archbishop Anatoly (Kuznetsov).

By the decision of the Holy Synod of July 17, 2002, he was appointed Bishop of Podolsk, vicar of the Moscow diocese, head of the Representation of the Russian Orthodox Church to European international organizations. While in this position, he is actively information activity by issuing the Europaica e-newsletter in English, French and German, as well as a Russian-language supplement to this bulletin "Orthodoxy in Europe" .

Regularly participates in meetings of the EU leadership with the religious leaders of Europe. During these meetings indicates that tolerance should extend to all traditional religions Europe: "In citing Islamophobia and anti-Semitism as examples of lack of tolerance, political leaders in Europe often forget about the various manifestations of Christianophobia and anti-Christianity." According to the bishop, “two thousand years of Christianity cannot be erased from the history of Europe. The denial of the Christian roots of Europe is unacceptable. But the importance of Christianity is not limited to history. Christianity remains the most important spiritual and moral component of European identity.”

He criticizes "militant secularism", calling on European Christians to engage in dialogue with representatives of secular humanism on the issue of spiritual and moral values. According to the bishop, "the explosiveness of today's intercivilizational situation" is largely due to the fact that "Western liberal-humanistic ideology, based on the idea of its own universality, imposes itself on those people who were brought up in other spiritual and moral traditions and have other value orientations" . In this situation, "religious people need to realize the special responsibility that is entrusted to them, and enter into a dialogue with the secular worldview, but if dialogue with it is impossible, then openly oppose it."

The guests of the Brussels office of the Russian Orthodox Church during the time it was headed by Bishop Hilarion were Queen Paola of Belgium, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia I.S. Ivanov, Primate of the Autonomous Orthodox Church of Finland Archbishop Lev, Head of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland Archbishop Jukka Paarma, Archbishop of Prague and the Czech Lands Christopher.

By the decision of the Holy Synod of May 7, 2003, he was appointed Bishop of Vienna and Austria with the assignment of the temporary administration of the Budapest and Hungarian diocese and with the preservation of the position of Representative of the Russian Orthodox Church to European international organizations in Brussels.

In 2003, large-scale restoration work began at the St. Nicholas Cathedral in Vienna. May 24, 2007 the Cathedral was visited by the President Russian Federation V. V. Putin. The guests of the cathedral were also Archbishop of Vienna Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, Archbishop of Prague and the Czech Lands Christopher, Chairman of the National Assembly of Austria Andreas Kohl.

In 2004, a major overhaul of the church in the name of St. Lazarus of the Four Days in Vienna began and in 2006 was completed.

On October 13, 2004, the trial on the ownership of the Holy Assumption Cathedral in Budapest was completed. In the period from 2003 to 2006, the cathedral was repeatedly visited by the highest officials of the Russian state, including Prime Ministers M. Kasyanov and M. Fradkov. On March 1, 2006, Vladimir Putin visited the cathedral. The result of this visit was the decision of the Hungarian authorities to overhaul the cathedral.

He advocated the use of the Russian language in Orthodox worship, stating that he considers the rejection of Church Slavonic unacceptable:

Between the "man in the street" and the Orthodox Church there are many barriers - linguistic, cultural, psychological and others. And we, the clergy, do very little to help a person overcome these barriers.<…>In our foreign dioceses, many parishioners, and especially their children, not only do not understand the Slavic language, but also poorly understand Russian. The issue of accessibility, intelligibility of worship is very acute.<…>I think that the rejection of the Slavic language and the translation of the entire service into Russian is unacceptable. However, some parts of the service are quite acceptable to read in Russian. For example, the psalms, the Apostle and the Gospel.

In July 2008, after the imposition of bans on Bishop Diomede (Dzyuban) by the hierarchy of the Russian Orthodox Church, he sharply criticized the latter.

After Metropolitan German was removed from the post of Primate of the Orthodox Church in America on September 4, 2008, in October of the same year, the candidacy of Bishop Hilarion (Alfeev) for the post of Primate of the OCA was proposed by several of its clergy. The reasons that prompted the clerics of the OCA to nominate Bishop Hilarion as a candidate are listed in an article by the former rector of St. Vladimir’s Seminary, Protopresbyter Thomas Hopko, in whose opinion Bishop Hilarion is “young, brave, smart, educated and tested”, “he has an impeccable reputation as an obedient hieromonk and hierarch . He has an excellent reputation as a pastor, teacher, preacher and confessor. He has extensive experience in international activities Orthodox Church. He speaks fluent English and several other languages. He is respected inside and outside the Orthodox Church, even by those who disagree with his ideas and actions.”

The nomination of Bishop Hilarion caused controversy within the OCA due to his being a hierarch of the Moscow Patriarchate and due to his conflict with the ruling bishop of the Diocese of Sourozh in 2002. In a letter to the Office of the OCA dated November 6, 2008, Bishop Hilarion announced that he was refusing to be nominated because he believed that the OCA should be headed by an American. The leadership of the Moscow Patriarchate supported the position of Bishop Hilarion.

On March 31, 2009, by the decision of the Holy Synod, he was released from the administration of the Vienna-Austrian and Hungarian dioceses and was appointed Bishop of Volokolamsk, Vicar of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate and a permanent member of the Holy Synod ex officio. In connection with his appointment, he was also relieved of his post as head of the Representation of the Moscow Patriarchate to European International Organizations in Brussels.

Since March 31, 2009 - Rector of the All-Church Postgraduate and Doctoral Studies of the Moscow Patriarchate.

Since April 14, 2009 - rector of the Moscow church in honor of the icon of the Mother of God "Joy of All Who Sorrow" (Transfiguration of the Lord) on Bolshaya Ordynka.

On April 20, 2009, "in connection with his appointment to a post involving constant participation in the work of the Holy Synod, and for diligent service to the Church of God," he was elevated to the rank of archbishop by Patriarch Kirill.

Since May 28, 2009 - Member of the Council for Interaction with Religious Associations under the President of the Russian Federation

Since July 27, 2009 - included in the Inter-Council Presence of the Russian Orthodox Church and its presidium.

Since November 11, 2009 - member of the Russian part of the organizing committee for the Year of Russian Culture and the Russian Language in the Italian Republic and the Year of Italian Culture and the Italian Language in the Russian Federation.

Since January 29, 2010 - Chairman of the Commission of the Inter-Council Presence of the Russian Orthodox Church on issues of attitude towards heterodoxy and other religions and Deputy Chairman of the Commission of the Inter-Council Presence of the Russian Orthodox Church on countering church schisms and overcoming them

On February 1, 2010, "in consideration of the zealous service to the Church of God and in connection with the appointment of the chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate - a permanent member of the Holy Synod" was elevated by Patriarch Kirill to the rank of metropolitan.

Foreign policy activity

Represents the Russian Orthodox Church at various international and inter-Christian forums: he is a member of the Executive and Central Committees of the World Council of Churches, the Presidium of the Theological Commission of the WCC "Faith and Church Order", the Permanent Commission for Dialogue between the Orthodox Churches and the Roman Catholic Church, the Permanent Commission for Dialogue between Orthodox Churches and the Anglican Church.

September 29, 2006 called for the creation of an Orthodox-Catholic alliance to protect traditional Christianity in Europe. According to the bishop, today it is becoming increasingly difficult to talk about Christianity as a single system of values shared by all Christians of the world: the gulf between "traditionalists" and "liberals" is steadily widening. In this situation, according to the bishop, it is necessary to consolidate the efforts of those Churches that consider themselves "Churches of Tradition", that is, Catholics and Orthodox, including the so-called. "pre-Chalcedonian" ancient Eastern Churches. “I am not talking now about the serious dogmatic disagreements that exist between these Churches and which should be discussed within the framework of bilateral dialogues. I am talking about the need to conclude a strategic alliance between these Churches, a pact, an alliance to protect traditional Christianity as such - protection from all the challenges of our time, be it militant liberalism or militant atheism,” the bishop emphasized.

Participated in the meetings of the Mixed Commission for Orthodox-Catholic Dialogue in 2000 in Baltimore, in 2006 in Belgrade and in 2007 in Ravenna.

On October 9, 2007, he left the meeting of the Mixed Commission for Orthodox-Catholic Dialogue in Ravenna in protest against the decision of the Patriarchate of Constantinople to include representatives of the Estonian Apostolic Church, despite the fact that “the Ecumenical Patriarchate, with the consent of all Orthodox members, proposed a compromise solution that would recognize the disagreement of the Moscow Patriarchate with the status of an autonomous church of Estonia. A participant in the meeting told the press that the Catholic side, as well as other Orthodox participants, were "somewhat shocked" by the bishop's ultimatum. The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church at a meeting on October 12, 2007 approved the actions of the delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church in Ravenna.

As a result, the final document "Ecclesiological and Canonical Consequences of the Sacramental Nature of the Church" was signed in the absence of a delegation from the Moscow Patriarchate. The document, in particular, contains such provisions with which the Moscow Patriarchate does not agree, such as the 39th paragraph of the document, which refers to “bishops of local Churches who are in communion with the Throne of Constantinople.”

In an interview with the Catholic agency AsiaNews, Metropolitan John (Zizioulas), a representative of the Patriarchate of Constantinople and co-chair of the Mixed Commission, stated that Bishop Hilarion's position in Ravenna is "an expression of authoritarianism, the purpose of which is to demonstrate the influence of the Moscow Church"; he also emphasized that as a result the Moscow Patriarchate found itself "in isolation, for no other Orthodox Church followed its example."

In response, on October 22, 2007, Bishop Hilarion accused Metropolitan John of "breaking down the dialogue" with the Roman Catholic Church. According to the bishop, the departure of the Moscow Patriarchate from the dialogue was beneficial to Constantinople: “It is obvious that Constantinople is interested in expanding the Orthodox understanding of primacy in the Ecumenical Church. The “primacy of honor”, assigned to Constantinople after 1054, no longer suits such representatives of it as Metropolitan John. And in order to turn the "primacy of honor" into real power, the position of primacy should be reformulated along the lines of papal primacy in the Roman Catholic Church. As long as representatives of the Moscow Patriarchate continue to participate in the dialogue, this will not be possible. It would be much easier without them."

In an interview on November 15, 2007, he criticized a number of provisions of the Ravenna document on the merits and stated that the number of the Russian Church allegedly "exceeds the number of members of all other local Orthodox churches combined." To the question: “Under what circumstances will the Eastern Churches be able to recognize the Pope of Rome as the head of the Universal Church?” - answered: “Under any. The head of the Universal Church is Jesus Christ, and according to the Orthodox understanding, he cannot have a vicar on earth. This is the fundamental difference between the Orthodox teaching about the Church and the Catholic.

Academic degrees and titles

PhD from Oxford University (1995)
Member of the Union of Composers of Russia
Doctor of Theology from St. Sergius Orthodox Theological Institute in Paris (1999)
Honorary Doctor of the Russian State Social University
Honorary Doctor of Theology, Faculty of Theology, Catholic University of Catalonia (Spain, 2010)
Honorary Professor of the Russian Christian Humanitarian Academy

Awards

Letters of His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia (1996 and 1999),
Order of Burgomaster Jonas Vileishis (Kaunas, Lithuania, 2011)
Order of St. Innocent of Moscow II degree of the Orthodox Church in America (2009).
Order of the Holy Noble Voivode Stephen the Great II degree (2010, Orthodox Church of Moldova)
Order of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist Mark II degree of the Orthodox Church of Alexandria (2010),
Order of Hieromartyr Isidore Yuryevsky II degree (2010, Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate)
Sigillum Magnum- Gold medal of the University of Bologna (Italy, 2010)
Medal of the Blessed Prince Konstantin Ostrozhsky of the Polish Orthodox Church (2003),
Makariev Prize (August 24, 2005) - for the work “The Sacred Mystery of the Church. Introduction to the history and problems of the imyaslav disputes”.
January 13 Memorial Medal (Lithuania, March 4, 1992),

Theological and literary activity

In 2002 Bishop Hilarion's two-volume monograph “The Sacred Mystery of the Church. An Introduction to the History and Problems of the Imyaslav Disputes”, dedicated to the Athos disputes about the name of God.

In 2008, the 1st volume of the work of Bishop Hilarion "Orthodoxy" was published, dedicated to the history, canonical structure and dogma of the Orthodox Church. The preface to the book, signed by Patriarch Alexy II, said: “The author of the book is familiar with the richness of the theological and liturgical tradition of the Orthodox Church firsthand. Having received a versatile education, Bishop Hilarion became the author of numerous monographs and articles on theological and church-historical topics, translations from ancient languages, spiritual and musical works. Many years of service to the Mother Church, rich experience of creative activity and a broad outlook allow him to present the tradition of the Orthodox Church in all its diversity.

Member of the editorial board of the journals "Theological Works" (Moscow), "Church and Time" (Moscow), "Bulletin of the Russian Christian Movement" (Paris-Moscow), "Studia Monastica" (Barcelona), "Studii teologice" (Bucharest), scientifically -historical series "Byzantine Library" (St. Petersburg).

On February 1, 2005, he was elected assistant professor of the theological faculty of the University of Fribourg (Switzerland) in the department of dogmatic theology.

Musical and composing activities

In 2006-2007 he returned to active composing activity, writing "The Divine Liturgy" and "All-Night Vigil" for mixed choir, "Matthew Passion" for soloists, choir and orchestra, as well as "Christmas Oratorio" for soloists, boys' choir, mixed choir and a symphony orchestra. The performances of the St. Matthew Passion and the Christmas Oratorio in Moscow were preceded by a greeting from Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia. The music of Bishop Hilarion was highly appreciated by the artists who took part in its performance: conductors Vladimir Fedoseev and Alexei Puzakov, singer Yevgeny Nesterenko.

During 2007-2008 the Matthew Passion was performed in Moscow and Rome, as well as in Melbourne and Toronto. At the end of all concerts, the audience gave a standing ovation. The concerts caused a resonance in the media.

The premiere performance of the Christmas Oratorio in Washington also ended with a standing ovation. With no less success, the work was performed in New York, Boston and Moscow, causing numerous responses in the press. In particular, admirers of the work of Bishop Hilarion note:

When you listen to the music of Bishop Hilarion (Alfeev), you immediately feel its amazing detachment from the vanity of this world. You understand with complete clarity that this is not just a piece of music full of passions, struggles, all kinds of concert effects, no, first of all, it is a prayer expressed in sounds, a sacred act, immersion in higher spiritual substances. Therefore, the work of Bishop Hilarion cannot be attributed only to the composer's category: rather, it is spiritual work, turning to the Lord, preaching the Word of God, familiarizing all of us with the mysteries of Divine existence.

Anton Viskov)

I am delighted and surprised that an Orthodox bishop acted as an innovative composer! He is the first who managed to use the Bach form of the oratorio and fill all 28 numbers with the Orthodox canonical spirit! At the same time, Vladyka used the modern Russian language. This is done boldly, with an innovative approach.

Evgeny Nesterenko

When I started working on the score, I realized that there are many wonderful pages in it, pages filled with spirituality ... This is music that penetrates the soul of any person

Vladimir Fedoseev

Bishop Hilarion has been known to me since the time when he was still a student at the Moscow Conservatory. This is a professional musician who, to our surprise, left the 3rd year, devoting himself to the Church ... And now, while still a young bishop (he is still 40 years old), he combined his church and composing experience, creating a new genre. This is not music for the Liturgy, but nevertheless it leads a person to God through knowledge of God, to the spiritual through the soul… This is an absolutely extraordinary feeling of the new Russia. This is not just a new genre, but a new phenomenon in culture and spirituality.

Alexander Sokolov)

On the one hand, we are extremely grateful to Vladyka Hilarion for the new incarnation of The Passion, for the loftiness and purity of sound, for the intonation sincerity, for the accessibility of presentation. The author very canonically, in my opinion, distributed the gospel material between the reader, the choir, the soloists and the orchestra. These are all undeniable advantages. We need such modern, accessible, pure, tonal music. Music that restores the lost connection with the audience. And everyone who was at the concert remembers how enthusiastically this composition was received... As for the other side, for us, professional composers (not in reproach to Vladyka Hilarion! but we simply have a professional perception of music, we already have spoiled ears) , then for us, of course, we would like to hear some more departure from baroque models. The democratic nature of the author's language is probably dictated by the desire for maximum communication with the audience. But I would like even more multidimensionality in the embodiment of this eternal plot: so that there are some collisions in language and dramaturgy, some bold, non-standard solutions.

Alexander Koblyakov)

In 2009, in an interview with Channel Vesti, he said that since his appointment as head of the DECR, he had not written a single note.

Criticism

A number of theological constructions of the future Metropolitan (then Hieromonk) Hilarion were criticized by other Orthodox theologians, for example:

doctrine of ecumenism. The Catholic opinion about the primacy of the pope in the writings of Hilarion was noted by V. Asmus, and J.-K. Larcher connected the Metropolitan's views with Uniatism. In addition, the priest Peter Andrievsky criticized the attitude of the theologian towards the Assyrian Church of the East.
the doctrine of apocatastasis was criticized by Archpriest Valentin Asmus and was analyzed in detail by Yu. Maksimov. Priest D. Sysoev, on the same basis, ranked Hilarion among the "modernists";

The musical works of Metropolitan (then Bishop) Hilarion were also criticized. In particular, B. Filanovsky wrote: “It is possible, but not interesting, to speak of the episcopal Passions as a piece of music. This is a piece of nonsense. Partly clumsy stylizations of Bach or Mozart - not because they are so spiritual, but simply because they are heard, we stylize them for that. Partly honest liturgical singing - in the concert hall, however, sounding like a pompous paraliturgical vampuka, bursting from the consciousness of one's own spirituality ... Alfeev's "Passion" is not just an empty shell. This is a poisonous clerical substitution. And its magnificent throw into the world clearly shows how the inflationary bubble of state Orthodoxy is swelling.

Proceedings

The human face of God. Sermons. Klin: Christian Life Foundation, 2001.
Rev. Isaac the Syrian. About divine mysteries and spiritual life. Newly discovered texts. Translation from Syriac. M .: Publishing House "Zachatievsky Monastery", 1998. Second edition - St. Petersburg: Aleteyya, 2003. Third edition - St. Petersburg: Oleg Abyshko Publishing House, 2006.
The life and teachings of St. Gregory the Theologian. M .: Publishing House of the Krutitsky Patriarchal Compound, 1998. Second edition - St. Petersburg: Aleteyya, 2001. Third edition - M .: Sretensky Monastery, 2007.
Saint Simeon the New Theologian and Orthodox Tradition. M .: Publishing house of the Krutitsky Patriarchal Compound, 1998. Second edition - St. Petersburg: Aleteyya, 2001. Third edition - St. Petersburg: Oleg Abyshko Publishing House, 2008.
Christ is the Conqueror of Hell. The theme of the descent into hell in the Eastern Christian tradition. St. Petersburg: Aleteyya, 2001. Second edition - St. Petersburg: Aleteyya, 2005.
What do Orthodox Christians believe? catechetical conversations. Klin: Christian Life Foundation, 2004. Second edition - M .: Eksmo, 2009.
About prayer. Klin: Christian Life Foundation, 2001. Second Edition - Klin: Christian Life Foundation, 2004.
Fathers and Doctors of the Church of the 3rd century. Anthology. T. 1-2. M.: Round table on religious education and diakonia, 1996.
Eastern Fathers and Doctors of the Church of the 5th century. Anthology. M.: Round table on religious education and diakonia, 2000.
Eastern Fathers and Doctors of the Church of the 4th century. Anthology. T. 1-3. M.: Round table on religious education and diakonia, 1998-1999.
The night has passed and the day has come. Sermons and talks. Moscow: Publishing House of the Krutitsky Patriarchal Compound, 1999.
Mystery of Faith. An Introduction to Orthodox Dogmatic Theology. M.-Klin: Publishing house of the Brotherhood of St. Tikhon, 1996. Second edition - Klin: Christian Life Foundation, 2000. Third edition - Klin: Christian Life Foundation, 2004. Fourth edition - Klin: Christian Life Foundation , 2005. Fifth edition - St. Petersburg: Bibliopolis, 2007. Sixth edition - M .: Eksmo, 2008.
Venerable Simeon the New Theologian. Rev. Nikita Stifat. Ascetic works in new translations. Klin: Christian Life Foundation, 2001. 2nd Edition - St. Petersburg: Oleg Abyshko Publishing House, 2006.
Spiritual world of St. Isaac the Syrian. M .: Publishing house of the Krutitsky Patriarchal Compound, 1998. Second edition - St. Petersburg: Aleteyya, 2001. Third edition - St. Petersburg: Aleteyya, 2005.
Orthodoxy. Volume I: History, canonical structure and dogma of the Orthodox Church. With a preface by His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia. M: Sretensky monastery, 2008.
Orthodoxy. Volume II: Temple and Icon, Sacraments and Rites, Liturgical Services and Church Music. M: Sretensky monastery, 2009.
Venerable Simeon the New Theologian. Chapters are theological, speculative and practical. Translation from Greek. M .: Publishing House "Zachatievsky Monastery", 1998.
Patriarch Kirill: Life and outlook. M: Eksmo, 2009.
Venerable Simeon the New Theologian. "Come, true Light." Selected hymns in verse translation from Greek. St. Petersburg: Aleteyya, 2000. Second edition - St. Petersburg: Oleg Abyshko Publishing House, 2008.
Orthodox theology at the turn of eras. Articles, reports. M.: Publishing House of the Krutitsy Patriarchal Compound, 1999. Second edition, supplemented - Kyiv: Spirit and Litera, 2002.
Sacred Mystery of the Church. Introduction to the history and problems of the imyaslav disputes. In two volumes. St. Petersburg: Aleteyya, 2002. Second edition - St. Petersburg: Oleg Abyshko Publishing House, 2007.
Orthodox testimony in modern world. St. Petersburg: Oleg Abyshko Publishing House, 2006.
You are the light of the world. Conversations about the Christian life. Klin: Christian Life Foundation, 2001. Second edition - Klin: Christian Life Foundation, 2004. Third edition - M.: Eksmo, 2008.

Christ the Conqueror of Hell. The Descent into Hell in Orthodox Tradition. New York: SVS Press, 2009.
The Spiritual World of Isaac the Syrian. Cistercian Studies No 175. Kalamazoo, Michigan: Cistercian Publications, 2000.
St Symeon the New Theologian and Orthodox Tradition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.
Orthodox Witness Today. Geneva: WCC Publications, 2006.
The Mystery of Faith. Introduction to the Teaching and Spirituality of the Orthodox Church. London: Darton, Longman and Todd, 2002.

L'univers spirituel d'Isaac le Syrien. Bellefontaine, 2001.
Le chantre de la lumi?re. Initiation? la spirituality? de saint Grégoire de Nazianze. Paris: Cerf, 2006.
Le myst?re de la foi. introduction? la théologie dogmatique orthodoxe. Paris: Cerf, 2001.
Le Nom grand et glorieux. La v?n?ration du Nom de Dieu et la pri?re de J?sus dans la tradition orthodoxe. Paris: Cerf, 2007.
L'Orthodoxie I. L'histoire et structures canoniques de l'Eglise orthodoxe. Paris: Cerf, 2009.
Le myst?re sacr? de l'Eglise. introduction? l'histoire et ? la probl?matique des d?bats athonites sur la v?n?ration du Nom de Dieu. Friborg: Academic Press, 2007.
Symon le Studite. Discours asc?tique. Introduction, texte critique et notes par H. Alfeyev. Sources Chr?tiennes 460. Paris: Cerf, 2001.

Cristo Vincitore degli inferi. Bose: Qiqajon, 2003.
La forza dell'amore. L'universo spirituale di sant'Isacco il Syro. Bose: Qiqajon, 2003.
La Gloria del Nome. L'opera dello schimonaco Ilarion e la controversia athonita sul Nome di Dio all'inizio dell XX secolo. Edizioni Qiqajon. Bose, Magnano, 2002.

Geheimnis des Glaubens. Einführung in die orthodoxe dogmatische Theologie. Aus dem Russischen?bersetzt von Hermann-Josef R?hrig. Herausgegeben von Barbara Hallensleben und Guido Vergauwen. Universitätsverlag Freiburg Schweiz, 2003. 2. Ausgabe - Fribourg: Academic Press, 2005.

O agios Isaak o Syros. O pneumatikos tou kosmos. Athina: Akritas, 2005.

The life and study of the light of Gregory the Theologian. Translated by Nikola Stojanović. Editing of the translation by Dr. Xenia Koncharevych, prof. Krajevo, 2009.
Mystery of faith: a diversion from Orthodox dogmatic theology. Translated from Russian by George Lazarev; translation editor Ksenia Koncharevi. Krajevo: Diocesan administration selection Diocesan zhichke, 2005.
Wiste lordship of the world. A discourse on the Christian life. Russian prévéo Nikola Stojanović. Editing of the translation by prof. Dr. Ksenia Koncharevych. Krajevo, 2009.

Uskon mysteeri. Johdatus ortodoksiseen dogmaattiseen teologiaan. Ortodoksisen kirjallisuuden julkaisuneuvosto. Jyv?skyl?, 2002.

A hit titka. Bevezet?s az Ortodox Egyh?z teol?gi?j?ba ?s lelkis?g?be. Magyar Ortodox Egyh?zmegye, 2005.

Mysterium wiary. Wprowadzenie do prawos?awnej teologii dogmatycznej. Warszawska Metropolia Prawos?awna, 2009.

Sfantul Simeon Noul Teolog si traditia orthodoxa. Bucureti: Editura Sophia, 2009.
Christos, biruitorul iadului. Coborarea la iad din perspectiva teologica. Bucureti: Editura Sophia, 2008.

Sink? no kimitsu. Nikolai Takamatsu yaku. T?ky? Fukkatsu dai Seid?, 2004.

The Sacrament of Veri: Entry to Orthodox Theology. Kiev, 2009.

Tajnata na verata. Voved in Orthodox dogmatic theology. Skopje, 2009.

Izak Syrsky a jeho duchovni odkaz, prel. J. Broz a M. Routil. Praha, Cerveny Kostelec: Nakladatelstvi Pavel Mervart 2010.

Musical works

"Christmas Oratorio" for soloists, boys' choir, mixed choir and large symphony orchestra (2007). First performance: National Cathedral Basilica, Washington (USA), December 17, 2007. Performers: Chorus of the State Tretyakov Gallery, Choir of the College of Music at the Moscow Conservatory, Moscow Boys Choir, Washington Boys Choir, Central Symphony Orchestra of the Ministry of Defense. Conductor Valery Khalilov. Performed in New York on 18 December and Harvard on 20 December by the same cast. January 7, 2008 performed at the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory. Performers: Choir of the State Tretyakov Gallery, Choir of the College of Music at the Moscow Conservatory, Moscow Boys Choir, Tchaikovsky Grand Symphony Orchestra. Conductor Alexey Puzakov. Soloists: Yevgeny Nesterenko, Khibla Gerzmava, Protodeacon Viktor Shilovsky.
"Divine Liturgy" for mixed choir (2006). First performance: Church of St. Nicholas in Tolmachi, July 6, 2006, Choir of the State Tretyakov Gallery, conducted by Alexei Puzakov. First concert performance: Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, December 7, 2006, same performers.
"Four Poems of F. Garcia Lorca" for voice and piano (1984).
Symphony for choir and orchestra "Song of Ascension" to the words of psalms (2008). First performance: Column Hall of the House of the Unions (Moscow), November 12, 2009. Performers: Chorus of the State Tretyakov Gallery, Grand Symphony Orchestra. Tchaikovsky. Conductor Alexey Puzakov.
Matthew Passion for soloists, choir and orchestra (2006). First performance: Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, March 27, 2007. Performers: Choir of the State Tretyakov Gallery and the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra. Conductor Vladimir Fedoseev. Re-performed on March 29, 2007 in Rome, at the Auditorium Conciliazione, by the same line-up. On September 29, 2007, it was performed in Melbourne (Australia) by the Melbourne Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Peter and Paul Cathedral Choir and the choir of the Schola cantorum singing school conducted by Andrew Wales.
"All-Night Vigil" for soloists and mixed choir (2006). First performance: Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, December 7, 2006, Choir of the State Tretyakov Gallery, conducted by Alexei Puzakov.

Grandfather - Grigory Markovich Dashevsky, historian, author of books on civil war in Spain, died at the front in 1944. Father - Valery Grigorievich Dashevsky, Doctor of Physics and Mathematics. Sci., author of monographs on organic chemistry. Early left the family, then died due to an accident. Mother - writer Valeria Anatolyevna Alfeeva, raised her son alone.

He was baptized at the age of 11.

From 1973 to 1984 he studied at the Moscow Secondary Special Musical School. Gnesins in the class of violin and composition.

In 1981, he entered the Church of the Resurrection of the Word on the Dormition Vrazhka (Moscow) as a reader. Since 1983, he was a subdeacon of Metropolitan Pitirim (Nechaev) of Volokolamsk and Yurievsk and worked as a freelancer in the Publishing Department of the Moscow Patriarchate.

In 1984, after graduating from school, he entered the composition department of the Moscow State Conservatory.

In 1984-86 he served in the army, in the border troops as a musician in a brass band.

In January 1987, at his own request, he left his studies at the Moscow Conservatory and entered the Vilna Holy Spirit Monastery as a novice.

On August 19, 1987, at the Prechistensky Cathedral in Vilnius, with the blessing of Archbishop Viktorin of Vilna and Lithuania, he was ordained a hieromonk by Archbishop Anatoly (Kuznetsov) of Ufa and Sterlitamak.

In 1988 - 1990 served as rector of churches in the city of Telsiai, the village of Kolainiai and the village of Tituvenai of the Vilna diocese. In 1990 he was appointed rector of the Annunciation Cathedral in Kaunas.

In 1990, as a delegate from the clergy of the Vilna and Lithuanian diocese, he participated in the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church.

In 1989 he graduated from the Moscow Theological Seminary in absentia, and in 1991 from the Moscow Theological Academy with a degree in theology.

In 1991 - 1993 taught homiletics, Holy Scripture of the New Testament, dogmatic theology and Greek at Moscow theological schools.

In 1992 - 1993 taught the New Testament and Patrology at the Russian Orthodox University of the Holy Apostle John the Theologian.

In 1993 he graduated from the postgraduate department of the Moscow Patriarchate of the Moscow Patriarchate's Department for External Church Relations.

In 1993 he was sent for an internship at Oxford University, where, under the guidance of Bishop Kallistos of Diokleia (Patriarchate of Constantinople), he worked on his doctoral dissertation on the topic "St. Simeon the New Theologian and Orthodox Tradition", combining his studies with service in the parishes of the Diocese of Sourozh.

In 1995 he graduated from the University of Oxford with a Ph.D. Since 1995, he worked in the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, from August 1997 to 2002 he headed the Secretariat for Inter-Christian Relations.

In 1995-1997 he taught pathology at the Smolensk and Kaluga Theological Seminaries. In 1996, he read a course of lectures on dogmatic theology at the St. German Orthodox Theological Seminary in Alaska ().

From January 1996, he was a member of the clergy of the Church of the Holy Great Martyr Catherine on Vspolye in Moscow (Metochion of the Orthodox Church in America).

From 1996 to 2004 he was a member of the Synodal Theological Commission of the Russian Orthodox Church.

In 1997 - 1999 he lectured on dogmatic theology at St. Vladimir's Theological Seminary in New York (USA) and on the mystical theology of the Eastern Church at the Theological Faculty of the University of Cambridge ().

In 1999, he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Theology by the St. Sergius Orthodox Theological Institute in Paris.

On Easter 2000, in the Holy Trinity Church in Khoroshev (Moscow), Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad was elevated to the rank of abbot.

2002

Conflict in the Diocese of Sourozh

By the decision of the Holy Synod of December 27, 2001, hegumen Hilarion (Alfeev), upon being elevated to the rank of archimandrite, was determined to be Bishop of Kerch, vicar of the Diocese of Sourozh (eparchy of the Russian Orthodox Church in Ireland).

On January 7, 2002, on the feast of the Nativity of Christ, in the Smolensk Cathedral, Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad was elevated to the rank of archimandrite.

January 14, 2002 in Moscow, in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, he was ordained a bishop. The consecration was performed by His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia, co-served by ten archpastors, including Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad (later His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia).

Shortly after his arrival in the Sourozh diocese (London) in early 2002, Bishop Hilarion of Kerch had an extremely acute conflict. The party of those dissatisfied with the activities of Bishop Hilarion was headed by a senior vicar, Bishop Vasily (Osborne).

On May 19, 2002, the ruling bishop, Metropolitan Anthony, criticized the actions of Bishop Hilarion in his open Address. The appeal reported that Bishop Hilarion had 3 months to “discover the essence of the Sourozh diocese and form an opinion about whether or not he is ready to continue in the spirit and in accordance with the ideals that we have developed over the course of 53 years. If he is not sure, and we are not sure, then we, by common agreement, will part»; it also said about Bishop Hilarion:

“He has many gifts that I have never had and never will have. He is young, he is strong, he is a doctor of divinity, he has written several highly acclaimed theological books, and he can make a very significant contribution - but only if we form a team and stand united.”

Bishop Hilarion issued a response that denied the accusations brought against him and actually condemned the liturgical practice that had developed in the London Assumption Cathedral of the diocese.

As a result of irreconcilable opposition, Bishop Hilarion was recalled from the diocese in July 2002; By decision of the Synod, the title of Kerchsky was assigned to the oldest vicar of the diocese, Archbishop Anatoly (Kuznetsov).

Bishop of Podolsky, head of the Russian Orthodox Church under European organizations

By the decision of the Holy Synod of July 17, 2002, Hilarion was appointed Bishop of Podolsk, vicar of the Moscow diocese, head of the Representation of the Russian Orthodox Church to European international organizations. While in this position, he was active in information activities, publishing the electronic newsletter "Europaica" in English, French and German, as well as the Russian-language supplement to this newsletter "Orthodoxy in Europe".

Regularly participated in meetings of the EU leadership with the religious leaders of Europe. During these meetings, he pointed out that tolerance should extend to all traditional religions of Europe:

“In citing Islamophobia and anti-Semitism as examples of lack of tolerance, political leaders in Europe often forget about the various manifestations of Christianophobia and anti-Christianity.” According to the bishop, “two thousand years of Christianity cannot be erased from the history of Europe. The denial of the Christian roots of Europe is unacceptable. But the importance of Christianity is not limited to history. Christianity remains the most important spiritual and moral component of European identity.”

He criticized militant secularism, calling on European Christians to engage in dialogue with representatives of secular humanism on the issue of spiritual and moral values. According to the bishop, "the explosiveness of today's intercivilizational situation" is largely due to the fact that "Western liberal-humanistic ideology, based on the idea of its own universality, imposes itself on those people who were brought up in other spiritual and moral traditions and have other value orientations" . In this situation, "religious people need to realize the special responsibility that is entrusted to them, and enter into a dialogue with the secular worldview, but if dialogue with it is impossible, then openly oppose it."

2003: Bishop of Vienna and Austria

In 2003, large-scale restoration work began at the St. Nicholas Cathedral in Vienna. On May 24, 2007, the Cathedral was visited by the President of the Russian Federation V. V. Putin. The guests of the cathedral were also Archbishop of Vienna Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, Archbishop of Prague and the Czech Lands Christopher, Chairman of the National Assembly of Austria Andreas Kohl.

In 2004, a major overhaul of the church in the name of St. Lazarus of the Four Days in Vienna began and in 2006 was completed.

On October 13, 2004, a lawsuit was completed on the issue of ownership of the Holy Assumption Cathedral in Budapest, which the Patriarchate of Constantinople tried to take away from the Russian Church. In the period from 2003 to 2006, the cathedral was repeatedly visited by the highest officials of the Russian state, including Prime Ministers M. Kasyanov and M. Fradkov. On March 1, 2006, Vladimir Putin visited the cathedral. The result of this visit was the decision of the Hungarian authorities to overhaul the cathedral.

He advocated the possibility of using the Russian language in Orthodox worship, stating that he considers the rejection of Church Slavonic unacceptable:

Between the "man in the street" and the Orthodox Church there are many barriers - linguistic, cultural, psychological and others. And we, the clergy, do very little to help a person overcome these barriers.<…>In our foreign dioceses, many parishioners, and especially their children, not only do not understand the Slavic language, but also poorly understand Russian. The issue of accessibility, intelligibility of worship is very acute.<…>I think that the rejection of the Slavic language and the translation of the entire service into Russian is unacceptable. However, some parts of the service are quite acceptable to read in Russian. For example, the psalms, the Apostle and the Gospel.

On February 1, 2005, he was elected Privatdozent of the Faculty of Theology at the University of Fribourg (Switzerland) in the Department of Dogmatic Theology.

On August 24, 2005, he was awarded the Makariev Prize for his work “The Sacred Mystery of the Church. Introduction to the history and problems of the imyaslav disputes.

“I am not talking now about the serious dogmatic disagreements that exist between these Churches and which should be discussed within the framework of bilateral dialogues. I am talking about the need to conclude a strategic alliance between these Churches, a pact, an alliance to protect traditional Christianity as such - protection from all the challenges of our time, be it militant liberalism or militant atheism,” the bishop emphasized.

2007: Protest at a meeting of the commission for Orthodox-Catholic dialogue in Ravenna

Hilarion participated in meetings of the Mixed Commission for Orthodox-Catholic Dialogue in 2000 in Baltimore, in 2006 in Belgrade and in 2007 in Ravenna.

On October 9, 2007, he left the meeting of the Mixed Commission for Orthodox-Catholic Dialogue in Ravenna in protest against the decision of the Patriarchate of Constantinople to include representatives of the Estonian Apostolic Church in the Orthodox delegation, despite the fact that “the Ecumenical Patriarchate, with the consent of all Orthodox members, proposed a compromise solution, which would recognize the disagreement of the Moscow Patriarchate with the status of an autonomous church in Estonia.” A participant in the meeting told the press that the Catholic side, as well as other Orthodox participants, were "somewhat shocked" by the bishop's ultimatum. The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church at a meeting on October 12, 2007 approved the actions of the delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church in Ravenna.

In response, on October 22, 2007, Bishop Hilarion accused Metropolitan John of "breaking down the dialogue" with the Roman Catholic Church. According to the bishop, the departure of the Moscow Patriarchate from the dialogue was beneficial to Constantinople: “It is obvious that Constantinople is interested in expanding the Orthodox understanding of primacy in the Ecumenical Church. “The primacy of honor”, assigned to Constantinople after 1054, no longer suits such representatives of it as Metropolitan John. And in order to turn the "primacy of honor" into real power, the provision on primacy should be reformulated along the lines of papal primacy in the Roman Catholic Church. As long as representatives of the Moscow Patriarchate continue to participate in the dialogue, this will not be possible. It would be much easier without them."

In an interview on November 15, 2007, Hilarion criticized a number of provisions of the Ravenna document on the merits, but pointed out that it was necessary to give an official assessment of this document. He also stated that the number of the Russian Church "exceeds the number of members of all other local Orthodox churches combined." To the question: “Under what circumstances will the Eastern Churches be able to recognize the Pope of Rome as the head of the Universal Church?” - answered: “Under any. The head of the Universal Church is Jesus Christ, and according to the Orthodox understanding, he cannot have a vicar on earth. This is the fundamental difference between the Orthodox teaching about the Church and the Catholic.

In 2009-2013, within the framework of the Synodal Biblical and Theological Commission (originally the Synodal Theological Commission), Hilarion led a working group that prepared an analysis of the Ravenna document, as a result, in 2013, at a meeting of the Holy Synod, the document “The position of the Moscow Patriarchate on the issue of primacy in of the Universal Church”, in which disagreement with his position was confirmed.

2008: Rejection of the nomination for the post of head of the Orthodox Church in America

In July 2008, after the ROC authorities imposed bans on Bishop Diomede (Dzyuban), he sharply criticized the latter.

After Metropolitan German was removed from the post of Primate of the Orthodox Church in America on September 4, 2008, in October 2008, the candidacy of Bishop Hilarion (Alfeev) for the post of Primate of the OCA was proposed by several of its clergy. The reasons that prompted the clerics of the OCA to nominate Bishop Hilarion as a candidate are listed in an article by the former rector of St. Vladimir’s Seminary, Protopresbyter Thomas Hopko, in whose opinion Bishop Hilarion is “young, brave, smart, educated and proven”, “he has an impeccable reputation as an obedient hieromonk and hierarch . He has an excellent reputation as a pastor, teacher, preacher and confessor. He has extensive experience in the international activities of the Orthodox Church. He speaks fluent English and several other languages. He is respected inside and outside the Orthodox Church, even by those who disagree with his ideas and actions.”

2009: Chairman of the Foreign Relations Department of the Russian Orthodox Church, rector of the church on Bolshaya Ordynka in Moscow

On March 31, 2009, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia and the Holy Synod, having freed Bishop Hilarion from the administration of the Vienna-Austrian and Hungarian dioceses, appointed him Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, a permanent member of the Holy Synod with the title "Bishop of Volokolamsk, Vicar of the Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia. On April 9, 2009, he was appointed rector of the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God "Joy of All Who Sorrow" on Bolshaya Ordynka in Moscow.

On April 20, 2009, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia elevated him to the rank of archbishop.

2010: Elevation to the rank of metropolitan, rector of churches in Chernigovsky lane in Moscow

On August 18, 2010, he was appointed rector of the Patriarchal Metochion - the Churches of the Holy Martyrs Michael and Theodore of Chernigov and the Beheading of John the Baptist near Bor.

In 2010, he was elected an honorary doctor of the Russian State Social University and an honorary professor of the Russian Christian Academy for the Humanities.

On February 7, 2011, he was elected professor of the theological faculty of the University of Fribourg (Switzerland) in the department of dogmatic theology.

On September 11, 2010, Metropolitan Hilarion celebrated the hierarchal liturgy, the first since the opening of the church in Chernigovsky Lane in the early 1990s.

2014: Trip to Ukraine

On May 9, 2014, Hilarion arrived at the airport of Dnepropetrovsk (Ukraine) to participate in the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Dnepropetrovsk Metropolitan of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate Irinei, but while passing through border control he was detained and handed a written notice of a ban on entry to Ukraine without specifying reasons. Metropolitan Hilarion read out the congratulatory message of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow in the premises of the border control point and there he presented the hero of the day with the Order of the Holy Right-believing Prince Daniel of Moscow, first degree. On May 12, the Russian Foreign Ministry demanded "from the de facto Kyiv authorities an exhaustive explanation for such a disrespectful attitude towards a clergyman of high spiritual rank and an appropriate apology."

2017: Visit of the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby

On November 22, 2017, Metropolitan Hilarion met Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, as part of his first visit to

The Spas TV channel aired the sixteenth episode - the author's program of Vladimir Legoyda, chairman of the Synodal Department for Church Relations with Society and the Media, editor-in-chief of the Foma magazine.The guest of the program was Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeev) of Volokolamsk, Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate.We present to your attention the full text and video of the program.

Hello dear friends! We continue the Parsuna program cycle. And today our guest is Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk. Vladyka, good evening!

Hello Vladimir Romanovich!

Thank you very much for coming to us. Vladyka, we have 5 blocks in the program. They are connected with the prayer of the Optina Elders. We took faith, hope, patience, forgiveness and love.

Faith

The first block is faith. Vladyka, you are a metropolitan, a permanent member of the Synod, you are the author of many books and articles on theology. Do you have doubts?

What kind of doubt?

Doubts about faith.

I have no doubts about faith.

What kind of doubts are there?

I have doubts about people. I doubt people very often, and I very often disappoint people.

How do you deal with it?

With difficulties.

And you doubt, you mean, that is, you are disappointed in people - it’s understandable, but you doubt, in the sense that you evaluate them too positively or? ..

I have some natural inclination to trust people. If people tell me something, I usually take it at face value. Working for many years in the field of church politics, I became convinced that what people say does not always correspond to what they themselves mean or correspond to reality. Very often, some things are said either just out of politeness, or, conversely, in order to cover up some problem, or even just to deceive a person. Unfortunately, there have been cases in my life when I communicated with high-ranking church people, from other Local Churches, who told me some things, and later it turned out that all this was not true. And this is the subject of my constant and disappointments, and some kind of inner pain. Because I want to trust people, but, unfortunately, this is not always possible.

Vladyka, but still, relations between Churches, it is clear that these are not interstate relations, but they are still not interpersonal relations, where complete sincerity is probably possible. But you yourself have not been in situations where you understand that you cannot say everything as it is, right? I mean exactly what frustrates and frustrates you, how do you cope when you have to say something like that - or not to say it?

You know, I never had to prevaricate. And I don't even know how I could do it. Even for some ecclesiastical and political purposes. And so I have never had a case where my personal position diverged from the position that I present to the interlocutor. But, of course, there are cases when the position that you present to the interlocutor is unpleasant or unacceptable for him. And then there is a situation of conflict. And how to behave in a situation of conflict? Again, I can say that by nature I am not a conflict person. And I take all sorts of conflicts very hard. And even if the situation requires some harsh words or some harsh expressions, it is very difficult for me to pronounce such words. Just as it is very difficult for me to splash out some emotions. It doesn't mean I don't have them. But they are hidden somewhere and, as a rule, they do not splash out. Some say that this is some special diplomatic gift. But I think it's just a property of my character.

Vladyka, you said that you have no doubts about your faith. In general, do you think that doubts in the faith of any person is bad, is it a given, is it normal?

I don't think it's bad. But each person positions himself very differently in relation to God. And each person perceives God differently. And each person's faith manifests itself differently and in its own way. Here is an example that I often cite - this is Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky, a deeply religious man, a man who spoke many wonderful thoughts about God, and about the Church, and about morality. But at the same time, apparently, he doubted until the end of his days. And these doubts are present both in his novels and in his diaries. And, in my opinion, even somewhere he says that "probably, I will doubt until the end of my days." I think that doubt is a completely natural human property. We remember the words of the Apostle Paul that if Christ is not risen, then your faith is in vain and our preaching is in vain. But even His closest disciples doubted the resurrection of Christ. We see this in all four Gospels. Each of the evangelists considered it their duty to tell us about how the disciples doubted. John tells how Thomas said, "Until I see, I will not believe." Matthew tells how in Galilee the disciples met the resurrected Savior and some bowed, others doubted. Luke tells how two disciples of the Savior did not recognize and He addressed them with the words: “Oh, foolish and inert in heart.” That is, it is present in each of the Gospels. If even the closest disciples of the Savior doubted what He said, doubted, perhaps, the power of His miracles and doubted the most important miracle He performed - the resurrection, then it is quite natural that other people doubt.

Vladyka, when you write books, how does your faith change? It becomes deeper, do you discover some things for yourself? When you write, it's not like, so to speak, everything is clear - you sat down, wrote it down. This is also a process of some kind - and some kind of growing up in faith, perhaps, becoming?

I never write books for other people. I do not write books on the principle: here, I have understood everything for myself, and now I will tell others. The process of writing a book is always a process of recognition for me. When I wrote books about Jesus Christ, I actually re-read, rethought, experienced the entire gospel story at some completely new depth than before the moment when I took up this book. Then I wrote about the Apostle Paul. Again, before that, of course, I knew something about him, I read his messages. But only after I delved into this whole story, studied the context of his life, re-read - already with different comments - his messages, he somehow opened up to me in a new way. And when I write these books, I discover something for myself all the time. This helps me, of course, to understand my faith more deeply and to know more deeply. But as if the by-product is the book itself, which is then read by others.

Vladyka, I cannot but ask you, since the Apostle Paul is also very close to me, I dare to hope, and very interesting: what new things did you see in him when you wrote ... that is, I understand, and I read the book, well, if I sum it up like this for our viewers, what was the most important thing for you in this new discovery of the apostle Paul?

You know, the most important thing for me was that, I think, it was the apostle who helped the early Christian community to understand that Jesus Christ created a new religion. This was not clear to the disciples of the Savior after His resurrection. For a long time they continued to go to the temple in Jerusalem, they continued to go to synagogues on Saturdays. Yes, and Paul himself, he began his sermon in every city from the synagogue. He went to the synagogue, he preached. He waited until he was either kicked out of there or beaten with sticks. That is, the reaction was always negative. But, he hoped all his life. And he even in his messages this hope - we will probably talk about hope in the next segment ...

Yes, yes, let's talk.

… I may have gotten ahead of myself. Here the apostle Paul had the hope that all Israel would be saved. He expresses this hope very vividly in the Epistle to the Romans. But the reality was different. That is, his preaching among the Jews had no success. And preaching among the Gentiles, on the contrary, was a success. And so the apostle Paul was a man who entered the apostolic community from outside, was not a part of it. On the contrary, he was a persecutor. For a long time they did not accept him, did not believe in his sincerity. And he constantly had to prove in his epistles that he was still an apostle, although he was not called by Christ during his lifetime, but that Christ called him later and that he worked even more than the other apostles. But it is Paul who has this merit, in fact, it was he who showed the early Christians that Christianity is not some kind of offshoot of the Jewish tradition, but that it is a completely new religion. And he created the theological basis for this religion. Now, if we look, for example, at our worship. Every time I celebrate the liturgy of Basil the Great and read these amazing, long anaphora prayers - after all, these prayers are literally woven from the words and expressions of the Apostle Paul. 90 percent of these prayers are the apostle Paul. That is, he shaped our theology, he shaped our worship. And what the apostles saw with their own eyes, and what the evangelists described, it was he who realized the theological significance of these events, and he, in fact, created the entire Christian theology.

Hope

I would like to ask you something about youth. We have such a stereotype among young people, as far as I understand, among those young people who do not go to Church and are afraid, maybe they don’t want to, so it seems to them that if they come, they will be told: “Don’t eat this, this don't wear it, don't listen to that kind of music, don't dance with it," and so on. And there is such an idea that the Gospel, the Church is about the past and about what a person was or is now. I always saw this as such a big lie, because it seems to me that the Gospel is not about what a person was, what I was, or even not what I am now, but about what I can become. So, first of all, I wanted to ask: do you agree with this? And secondly, if so, why don't we focus on it? If the whole Gospel is directed to the future and directs a person to the future, and the idea is that this is something outdated, so to speak.

I agree with your understanding. And I am always very upset when the Church is spoken of solely as the custodian of traditions. Here we hear that the role of the Church in our society is important, because the Church helps to preserve traditions or the Church helps to revive forgotten traditions. So, as if the Church is a museum where all sorts of antiquities are put. And so that these antiquities do not become dusty there or that they are not stolen, the Church carefully preserves them. The Church is indeed the guardian of traditions. But that's not what she was made for. And it was created, as you say, in order to change people for the better. And in this sense, the Church, being deeply rooted in the past and in history, is turned not to the past, but to the present and future. First of all, of course, it is turned to the present, because it helps a person to understand who he is. It helps a person to realize himself as he is, to put himself before God, to realize his sins. And then it begins, when this awareness occurs, the process of the inner rebirth of a person begins. And this process takes place not because he begins to deny himself one or the other, or a third, and not because the Church forbids him this or that, or the third, but because he himself begins to reach some kind of completely a new level of self-understanding, understanding of the surrounding reality and understanding of the reality that we call God.

Vladyka, in this connection, it seems to me, I have another question. We have not the first release of the program, and I get some kind of reaction from the audience. And often the reaction is this: that's why you called this person, and why did you call this person, he said such things there, it's the Orthodox who cannot speak like that. And it turns out such a strange thing that there is some kind of image, some kind of framework, that is, if he is Orthodox, then he should only say certain things on a set of questions. Do you think it's a viewer perception problem? Because I am trying to explain that our program is not called “Icon”, but “Parsuna”, people are different there, and people, of course, are on the way, they make mistakes, and we do not represent the guest and all his words as truth in last resort. All the same, let’s say, it’s rather our mistake, it’s necessary, so to speak, to select impeccable guests, or is it something beaten up in perception, is everything something like that, not quite right? I don't know if my question is understandable, so to speak.

I think that you, as the host of the show, can invite whoever you want. But here we must understand, of course, that a person, every person, especially if he is a public person, he manifests himself in one way or another in the public space. And every time people see this or that person, a trail of what he did, what he said, what he sang stretches behind him. And of course, people cannot perceive this person in isolation from his main activity.

We are now talking about the apostle Paul. Well, this is also, so to speak, a living person. Just imagine - not in terms of comparing guests with the apostle - the apostle Paul comes. Spectators look and say: “Is this the one who persecuted Christians? How can you invite him into your program!”

And that's exactly what they said. This is exactly what they said in the apostolic community: “Is this the one who persecuted Christians? How can you believe that he is now converted.” And they didn't believe him. But he had to spend considerable time to prove, and to prove not just in words, but in deeds, that he was really converted, that he became a real follower of Christ. And only time convinced others that he really was an apostle. Moreover, I think that this finally happened after his death, and only after his messages began to spread, they began to be read in the Churches, and everyone realized what a colossal significance he had for the Church, and what role he played in the formation of the Christian Church.

Vladyka, we are talking about hope. It seems to me that the antonym of hope is despondency. Do you know this feeling?

I would say that the feeling of despondency in the form in which Abba Dorotheos, Evagrius the Monk and other ascetic writers describe it is not familiar to me. Maybe it's because I'm always very busy. That same Evagrius said that a monk should always be busy with something. Because if he is not busy with anything, then the demon of despondency creeps up on him.

Despondency.

Here is my work schedule such that there is absolutely no space left for the demon of despondency.

Vladyka, as a pastor, do you see this problem, among pastors, let's say, this is a serious topic, in general, a serious problem for our people today?

I think this is a serious problem. But people now rather think of this problem not in terms of despondency, but in terms of depression. And so I think that depression is a condition that is characteristic of very many people. And she has different grades. There is clinical depression, which is simply treated with medication or requires medical intervention. And there are such stages and degrees of depression that a person, perhaps, does not even realize that this is a problem, but now he lives in a state of this depression either for some periods or constantly, and he does not know how to deal with it. And now, more and more often, unfortunately, we hear about suicides, and about teenage suicides. The fact that even couples in love commit suicide for some reason, which they apparently learned from somewhere or learned from somewhere. Or maybe because depression goes from one to another, because it is contagious, like many other diseases. And now I think that depression is a very big problem. modern man and this is a very big pastoral problem. Because it is not so easy to deal with this problem.

Patience

Vladyka, I have known you for a long time, and I have never seen you irritated. That's never. And even in some situations, when I was already seething emotionally, you remained completely calm. Is it temperament, is it monastic, is it some kind of hierarchical secret, do you know? How do you do it? And indeed, you said that there are emotions. Well, because the impression is that they are not there, because you are calm.

I don't think there is any special secret here. This is not a result special training. It's just, like I said, that's my nature. I have a hard time letting my emotions out. But that doesn't mean they don't exist. They are inside, and some even say that it is harmful, that it is better to throw out emotions than to carry them inside. But there's nothing I can do about it. And speaking of patience, I must admit that I am a very impatient person. I really lack this quality - both in relation to myself, and in relation to the people around me, and especially to my subordinates. I always demand more than people can give. And I am very dissatisfied and very annoyed, even if this may not be visible when I expect some result, and instead of reporting the result to me, they describe the process. Here I have such a property, as the head of various departments that the Church has entrusted to me, that if I am satisfied with the result, I do not interfere in the process. If I see that everything is going right, I give the person responsible for it the opportunity to see it through to the end and present the result to me. And it's easier for him - no one is above the soul, and I get what I need. But if I don’t get the result, then I have to intervene in the process. And what irritates me most of all, and sometimes even offends me, is when, instead of the result, they begin to describe the process to me. Let's say I'm instructing, well, I'll give the simplest example: I'm instructing someone to hand over a book. And that's it, and I think that since I instructed, I should forget about it. Then…

And they explain to you why they didn't.

... then I meet this person, and he tells me that, yes, you promised, but did not convey anything. I start to find out, and it turns out: the person I instructed begins to say to me: “Yes, you know, I called, but the phone did not answer.” Well, what do I care if the phone answered or did not answer? You either did or you didn't. In this case, it didn't. Most likely, he just forgot, put the book somewhere, it lies somewhere, and so on. These are the things that really piss me off, even if it may not be visible from the outside.

Vladyka, then I have the following question. It is also connected, say, with the fact that you have to lead and that you occupy very high positions in the Church. Of course, this also affects a person - what we do, our position. And I often discuss such a topic with my acquaintances that here is a man, no one can tell him anything. Recently, a friend of mine, who is close to a certain bishop, told me that I used to be able to say something to Vladyka, but now no one can say anything to him. Here you have, if I may, if you allow me such a question, there are people in your life who can tell you that you are wrong, that you are something ... we do not take His Holiness the Patriarch ...

... besides His Holiness the Patriarch, people who can say and from whom you will accept this and think about it?

There are such people. And there are a lot of such people.

Lot.

His Holiness Patriarch, you quite rightly said that he told me more than once or twice that I was wrong, and I always admitted that he was right. Maybe not right away. But I understood that if we are talking about some kind of official assignment and he says that my point of view does not coincide with his point of view, then his decision should be the final authority. This, of course, goes without saying. But there are a lot of people that I really trust. My mom, for example. She can tell me at any moment that I'm wrong about something or that I'm wrong about something. And as a rule, she always turns out to be right. My deputies, they have that right. And I often use their advice. And even I often ask myself: what is the best thing to do here, and what do you think, because I foresee some kind of reaction. And in fact, this is what deputies are needed for, experts are needed so that you can consult with them. That is, I think that the circle of people whom I trust and from whom I gratefully accept criticism is quite wide.

Vladyka, here is the next question, it is of a theological, probably rather, nature. Here in this ending of the prayer of the Optina Elders I see a certain ladder, such an ascent: to pray, to believe, to hope. And here are the Optina elders, they put patience after hope, yes. But the apostle Paul in the Epistle to the Romans says: “From tribulation, patience, from patience, experience, from experience, hope.” That is, first patience, then hope. It’s in vain that I’m trying to find some internal meanings here, these are two different logics, what do you think, is there a connection between patience and hope?

I think not in vain, because, of course, patience and hope are interconnected. And when a man has hope, then he has patience. When he loses hope, he tends to lose patience as well. If we turn again to such purely everyday examples, then if you give someone an assignment and hope that it will be fulfilled, then you endure. And if you then realize that it is not fulfilled, then your patience ends. But this applies not only to everyday situations, it also applies, of course, to spiritual reality. Because hope is what allows us to live, what allows us to move forward, what allows us to develop. If a person did not have hope for the future, hope that he would achieve his goals, then I think that depression would be exactly the antonym of hope, as it often happens, unfortunately.

Vladyka, you spoke about communion in the Orthodox environment with representatives of other Local Churches. You also have to communicate a lot with statesmen. And despite the existing stereotypes of some people in our society, I perfectly understand and know that this is communication, it is far from always so simple and complimentary. Did you ever have situations when something, let’s say, didn’t suit you in this fellowship, not in everyday terms, of course, but something so serious, but you had to endure, let’s say, for the good of the Church? It happens, how smooth or difficult is this road?

Well, of course, this happens all the time, because not all communication that is required in the line of work is a pleasure. And not all such communication is productive. But in my service as chairman of the DECR there is a certain protocol element. That is, there is communication of a purely protocol nature. There is an element associated with just different kind complexities. That is, there is a lot of such communication when discussing difficult questions, some difficult situations are discussed and we have to jointly seek solutions to these issues. Communication that gives pleasure, I would say that such communication in my life, probably, is not very much. Of course, there is, but least of all it is probably related to my direct official duties. On the other hand, I can remember many meetings with statesmen who enriched me intellectually and even spiritually.

Forgiveness

Usually, when we talk about forgiveness, say, the laity understands this: you have a family, children, acquaintances, friends, someone can offend you, you may have offended someone. But the bishop - who can hurt him? Who can offend a bishop? Who to forgive? This is such a stereotypical view, is it far from the truth?

It is far from the truth, because the bishop, he does not live on clouds. He lives in the same world in which all other people live. He meets people the same way. Then, well, to be honest, there is also competition between the bishops, sometimes envy, sometimes meanness can be found. And here I can say that there is someone to forgive. And in this regard, we, bishops, are not at all deprived of those people from whom we, probably, should ask for forgiveness and whom we should forgive inwardly.

Vladyka, and here, in fact, this is my next question. Is it difficult for a metropolitan to ask for forgiveness?

I think it is just as hard for a metropolitan to ask for forgiveness as it is for every person. And asking for forgiveness is hard. Especially when you don't feel guilty. But we are called to ask for forgiveness not only when our guilt is obvious to us, but also when it is not obvious to us, but it is obvious to another person. And when the apostle Peter asks the Savior: “How many times to forgive? Is it up to seven times?”, and the Lord says to him: “Not up to seven, but up to seven times seventy,” then after all, the question of whether to forgive when a person asks for forgiveness is not raised here at all, right? It just talks about how many times to forgive. That is, we must forgive, including when we are not asked for forgiveness. But we also face such situations when we ask for forgiveness, but we are not forgiven. Or, as it were, they forgive outwardly, formally forgive, but internally we understand that we have not forgiven. This is a very difficult area, but I think that not a single person - neither a bishop, nor a metropolitan - has any advantages over other people here.

Vladyka, but you said that, of course, this is certainly very true here, that even when you think that maybe you have nothing to ask for forgiveness, but a person is offended or hurt, you should ask ... So I remember always in my childhood, because I have younger sister and, accordingly, she had two such iron arguments, more precisely from her parents: she is the youngest and she is a girl. And accordingly, I had to ask for forgiveness in most cases. And I understood that ... of course, I was good too, and I understood that when I did something - by itself. But when it's unfair... And now it seems to me (it seems that I'm no longer a little boy), but this topic, when it seems to you that there is justice and it talks about something else, but there is this kind of need to ask, it's very, very difficult.

But fairness is a very subjective concept. What seems fair to me may seem completely unfair to another person. I run into this all the time. And the biggest mistake in general, as it seems to me, of people, which most often people make, is an attempt to prove something to another person if the other person does not want to listen to it. It seems to you that there are some objective facts, that if another person finds out these objective facts, then he will take your side. And this is very often not the case. The more of these objective facts you tell him, the more he becomes embittered and does not take your side at all, but vice versa. This is what I run into all the time. And I think this is the reason for so many family conflicts, even divorces, that in a family one half is trying to change the other. The husband is trying to change the wife, or the wife is trying to change the husband, and each of them is working on the other, but not on himself. But the only person we can change is ourselves, right? And now, if every person would realize this and say to himself: what can I do to ensure that my family is preserved, so that there is peace and love in my family; What can I do to accept another person for who they are. It seems to me that if we approached each other this way, then our families would be strong, and there would be fewer divorces, and there would be fewer conflicts.

Vladyka, here's another question - one of the terrible ones, one of Karamazov's. But how to forgive... Well, for example, people have now lost in Kemerovo, in this terrible, terrible fire, they have lost loved ones, children, relatives, how to forgive? How can this be forgiven?

Well, His Holiness the Patriarch said this when he visited Kemerovo on the 40th day. After all, it seems that you can tell people?

Here comes a man - he lost his wife, lost two children ...

Children.

... lost relatives. What can be said? To refer to the mercy of God or to say that time will pass, everything will be forgotten - this is absolutely not what one can say to a person. And so His Holiness the Patriarch said approximately the following: that you all experienced a great grief, which, apparently, will never be forgotten; but now 40 days have passed, and you need to stop living only with these experiences, you have remained alive, you need to move forward. I now convey in my own words what His Holiness said. But I think that's what people really wanted to hear from him. Because, in addition to the fact that a person has lost his loved ones, this is a huge burden, this is a loss that cannot be returned, but a person still has some inner strengths and inner resources. If he stayed alive, then he stayed alive for some reason. So he has some future. And he cannot only now concentrate on the past, only concentrate on the loss. And if you are talking about forgiveness, then I have to deal with situations where people do not want to forgive God for something. This is especially true, of course, when it comes to loss. Well, it's leaving close person, and leaves prematurely, in the prime of life. And the person says: “Well, since God allowed this, then I don’t want to believe in such a God. Because that means God is cruel, that means He is unjust.” And a person, as it were, does not forgive God for this loss of his. This is also a serious pastoral problem. And very often there is no direct answer to this. You just need to let a person live with it, survive it, and maybe the Lord will open a second wind for a person.

Love

In an interview in 2009, you said, “I myself never planned to pursue a church career. When I took monastic vows in 1987, I saw two lines of activity for myself. The first is to serve the altar. The second is to study theology. For me, those were two great loves." That's because today about most part, large and b about Because of your ministry, it still goes on the third line, I wanted to ask: firstly, did you have a third love associated with basic obedience? And how do you manage to do what is important for you, what you called the main thing, how much time is there for this, or what, so if I can say?

I consider myself a very happy person in the sense that basically I do what I like, what I'm interested in, what I have a taste for. And, of course, my greatest love in the Church is what I have labeled the love of the altar. Because the source of inspiration, the source of strength is God's throne, before which I stand, I draw strength from there. And so, as if having been charged with this energy, these forces during the service, I then spend these forces on everything else that I do. But this is the main and main love. And actually because of this I came to the Church in due time. At the age of 15, I realized for myself that I wanted to serve the Church. And before that, for several years I was in thought, because I studied music, somehow it was supposed that I would become a musician. First they taught me the violin, then composition. So I thought that maybe somehow I would combine it, I would be a church composer or a church regent. But in the end, at the age of 15, I said to myself: this is what I want to do, I want to stand at the throne, I want to serve the Church. And above all for this I came to the Church. And everything else, it began to line up around this. Because I became very interested in theology at a young age. I read the holy fathers back in samizdat, when all this was not available, there were some photocopies, it all went from hand to hand, and now I greedily swallowed it. Any issue of the journal of the Moscow Patriarchate that came into my hands, I read from cover to cover. I still remember my youthful memories: "The contribution of the Russian Orthodox Church to the themes of the diptych." What it is? Now tell someone, no one will believe. I swallowed all this when I was fifteen. All obituaries, all liturgical notes. And of course, these two loves remained. But I can say that what I do in my main position, I can’t say that I enjoy it, but I have a taste for it. I like it, I'm interested. And most importantly, I understand the benefits. I did not impose this obedience on myself, but when it fell on me, I accepted it with gratitude to God.

Vladyka, journalists often ask about the problems of church life. Usually these are either completely peripheral or fictional things. But I, since this question is asked all the time, I also ask myself all the time, and it seems to me that the main problem, in principle, in general, if you look at the history of the Church, it has never changed at all. Whether you agree with me or not. The Savior says: “By this all will know that you are My disciples, that you will have love for one another.” It seems to me that our main internal problem is that we do not have this love. I don’t mean that we don’t have it at all, of course, this is not true, we don’t have enough, let’s say, this love. And the main external thing is that, since we do not have enough, they look from the outside and say: “No, they are not His disciples.” And in this sense, little has changed somehow superprincipally.

I am also often asked about the problems of the Church, because I have my own television program. And in some other contexts ask. And I often answer this way: that in general the main problem of the Church is that it was created from people. Now, if God wanted to create some kind of problem-free organization, then, probably, He would invite angels there and create a Church of angels. Although we know that the angels also had problems at some stage.

There were problems.

And some of them disappeared. That is, probably, only God himself is completely problem-free. But all those whom God created after the fall - and we do not know another state, we can only read about it in the Bible - but after the fall our whole being is connected with problems. There may be more or less of these problems, but the problems of the Church are exactly the same as those of the surrounding world, like the society in which the Church is located. Because the Church is made up of the same people who make up the surrounding society. Yes, you are absolutely right that increased demands are justly made on the Church. Because we are always talking about morality, we are always talking about some kind of high spiritual and moral standards. And people quite rightly turn to us: well, show us these standards, show us yourself, show us with your own life. And here, unfortunately, many of us are not up to par. And we are also far from what Christ said when he commanded his disciples: “Have love for one another” and “by this they will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Vladyka, in the finale, I would like to ask you to put an end to one sentence. One of the topics that is always hotly debated in the Orthodox environment is the topic of salvation and whether salvation is possible outside the Church. And this is how an Orthodox person should relate to this. On the one hand, we understand that Christ suffered for all. On the other hand, we understand that there cannot be many truths, it is one, and we believe, and we know for sure that our Church is the guardian of this truth, that it is in Orthodoxy, in Christ. When we think about the salvation of those who are outside the Orthodox Church, in the sentence: “It is impossible to refuse,” where do you put an end to it?

Well, I would probably put a dot after "allow". But I must say that the question of the salvation of those outside the Church is a question to which Orthodox theology has not yet been given a definitive answer. There are theologians who say that salvation is impossible outside the Church. And this is the view that is based on the teachings of Christ himself and the teachings of the Holy Fathers. There are other theologians who say that we have no right to admire the Court of God, we cannot decide for God whom He will save and whom not to save. And I think that these theologians are also right in a way. Now, if we take the example of a prudent robber. This man was not a member of the Church. This man apparently did nothing good in his life. And the only thing he was saved for was that in the last hours of his life, already being chained to the cross, he turned to the Lord Jesus Christ with the words: “Remember me when you come into Your Kingdom.” That's just for these words he was saved. The Lord said to him: “Today you will be with Me in Paradise.” And many other gospel stories, they seem to overthrow the idea that God can save only those who are within certain, clearly defined here on earth, limits. Therefore, I think that we should not admire the Court of God. At the same time, as a Christian, I am deeply convinced that Christ is the way, the truth, and the life. In this sense, there is really only one truth. And this is not some abstract truth, but this is Christ Himself, this is God incarnate. Just as I am convinced that the words of the Savior are true: eternal life consists in believing in one God and in Jesus Christ sent by Him. So there are two components here. Not just to believe in one God, but also to believe in Jesus Christ sent by Him. And to believe in Jesus Christ not just as a teacher of morality, as an interesting person, as a person who said a lot of useful things, but to believe precisely as in God, Savior and Redeemer. And I am very deeply convinced that this is the truth and this is the way to salvation.

Thank you very much, dear Vladyka! I am very, very grateful to you. Thank you! Our guest was Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk.

On the screensaver: a fragment of a photo by Vladimir Eshtokin