Please note in the text below it has been written that Metropolitan Vitaly has been asked to vacate his residence: " his eviction from the Synod (Archbishop Laurus and Bishop Michael literally demanded that the Metropolitan “vacate” his room in the Synod building)" We the editors make every effort to assure the accuracy of what we place on this site. Upon re-verifying we must state that this statement in the text is a rumour and has no foundation. Please disregard this portion of the article.

COUP d'ETAT IN ROCOR
METROPOLITAN VITALY REFUSED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE CONVOCATION OF THE ROCOR SYNOD OF BISHOPS, AND THE MEMBERS OF THE SYNOD REMOVED HIM FROM GOVERNING THE CHURCH

(Vertograd, New York”) On July 10, [2001] the members of the Synod of Bishops of ROCOR - archbishops Laurus, Alipy, Hilarion and Mark, [and] bishops Evtikhy, Kyrill, Alexander, Ambrose, Gabriel and Michael - removed the current First-Hierarch, Metropolitan Vitaly from administering ROCOR. They signed a corresponding ACT, in accordance with which the powers of the First-Hierarch are transferred to Archbishop Laurus (Shkurla) of [Holy] Trinity [Monastery] and Syracuse prior to the convocation of the next Sobor of Bishops, which is scheduled for October. His [Laurus'] name must be commemorated at the divine-services in all ROCOR churches, with the title: “Deputy (Locum Tenens) Of the First-Hierarch Of ROCOR.” The election of a new First-Hierarch is to take place at the next Sobor of Bishops.

Metropolitan Vitaly, ROCOR's First-Hierarch, took part in the opening session of the Synod of Bishops of ROCOR on 10 July [2001], which was formally timed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of his service in the episcopate; however, he demonstratively walked out of this meeting an hour after it had begun. The cause of this action was the sharp conflict between the Metropolitan and the other members of the convocation, who initially had refused to allow access into the meeting-hall of Archimandrite Sergius and Protopriest Nikita Orlov -- the secretaries who had accompanied the First-Hierarch; they [the rebel bishops] then began to upbraid the Metropolitan for his “unlawful” Encyclical Letter. In part, Bishop Gabriel, who for many years had been the Metropolitan's Sub-deacon, asked him, outright: “How could you distribute this epistle without letting me know about it?” As a result, the Metropolitan walked out of the meeting, saying: “We are not of like mind with you! I have nothing more to do here!” However, contrary to ROCOR's Statutes, the meeting continued -- without the Metropolitan's presence, and without his blessing, which casts grave doubt upon the legitimacy of all the resolutions adopted in such a session.

It is noteworthy that Bishop Michael, Metropolitan Vitaly's nearest Vicar-bishop - who, on more than one occasion, had spoken of his unconditional obedience to the First-Hierarch -- supported the suggestion of the other hierarchs to put an end to Metropolitan Vitaly's plenary powers, by reason of his “old-age and infirmity.” In reply to this suggestion, Metropolitan Vitaly called for the convening of an extraordinary Sobor of Bishops -- which, in accordance with the Statutes concerning ROCOR, alone possesses the competence to examine the question of the First-Hierarch's dismissal. However, the other participants in the meeting declared that there was no necessity to convene such a sobor, especially when it relates to this particular issue [i.e., the issue of removing the Metropolitan from office].

In the ACT of the convocation signed by the participants, it states, in part, that Archbishop Laurus is appointed to be the locum-tenens of the First-Hierarch, in accordance with the decisions of the Sobor of 2000. All the documents of the ROCOR Synod of Bishops that do not bear the signature of Archbishop Laurus are declared to be invalid and void. The governance of the Eastern-American Eparchy is transferred to Bishop Gabriel, and that of the Canadian Eparchy - to Bishop Michael (up to this time, Metropolitan Vitaly had governed these two Eparchies, with the assistance of his vicar-bishops).

Commenting upon what took place at the convocation of the Synod Abroad, ROCOR's conservative [Russian-language] internet-publication “The Church Leaflet” ["Tserkovnyi Listok”] notes: “Responsibility for the anarchy that has played out in our Church lies fully upon those hierarchs who oppose the lawful ecclesiastical order, the President of ROCOR, his proper pursuit of defending and upholding the Orthodox postion of the Church Abroad, and the work of establishing peace in the Church by Vl. Metropolitan.”

The de-facto expulsion of Metropolitan Vitaly from his office as First-Hierarch of ROCOR, and his eviction from the Synod (Archbishop Laurus and Bishop Michael literally demanded that the Metropolitan “vacate” his room in the Synod building), coincided with the “celebratory observance” of the 50th anniversary of his hierarchical service. Despite the fact that Metropolitan Vitaly is, at present, the senior Russian hierarch by ordination [hierotonia] (in the entire Orthodox world he is “second” only to the head of the “Matthewite” “branch” of the TOC of Greece, Archbishop Andreas, who was ordained a bishop only a year prior to the present-day First-Hierarch of ROCOR), the members of the Synod Abroad not only did not respond to the numerous suggestions that he be awarded the privilege of wearing a second panagia and the title of “Most-Blessed,” but also thwarted them. The refusal of the members of Synod Abroad to show even the most-elementary courtesy and respect to their Elder First-Hierarch -- even on that very day when he was celebrating his “Golden” Jubilee [!!!] -- is an important indicator of the spiritual atmosphere that reigns in the present-day pro-[Moscow]-patriarchate leadership of ROCOR.

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