Old Believer Met. Cornelius in good health after car accident in Moldova

Mitoc, Orhei Region, Moldova, November 24, 2017

Photo: ruvera.ru Photo: ruvera.ru
    

According to the Old Believer site “Russian Faith,” six clerics of the Russian Orthodox Old Rite Church, including primate Metropolitan Cornelius (Titov), were involved in a car accident on Tuesday in the Republic of Moldova.

According to preliminary information, the passengers included, besides Met. Cornelius, Bishop Evmeny (Mikheev), Fr. Andrei Boznyuk, Protodeacon Viktor Savelev, and two other unnamed clergymen.

The incident occurred Tuesday evening near the village of Mitoc in the Orhei Region of Moldova. The head-on collision with a truck left both vehicles seriously damaged, although no persons involved in the accident were seriously injured. It was initially reported that Protodeacon Viktor was taken to the hospital with fractures of varying severity, although it was later clarified that he had only minor injuries.

Photo: ruvera.ru Photo: ruvera.ru
    

Met. Cornelius and his delegation were able to continue on their pastoral visit, which first of all included a visit to Bishop Evmeny of Chișinău and all Moldova, to congratulate him on his 75th birthday. Met. Cornelius and his accompanying clergy from Russia were greeted at the Chișinău Airport by staff representative of the Russian Embassy in Moldova and clergy and parishioners of the Russian Orthodox Old Rite Church.

“We will hold a moleben together with our brethren, who represent the glory and honor of the Russian and Moldovan lands. I will meet with people who honor our faith and labor for this land to flourish,” Vladyka Cornelius noted.

***

The Old Believers, or Old Ritualists, separated from the Moscow Patriarchate after 1666, in protest of Church reforms introduced by Patriarch Nikon from 1652 to 1666. Old Believers continue the liturgical practices in use in the Russian Church before the reforms. Some Old Believer groups have rejoined the patriarchate over the intervening centuries, and in 1971 the Moscow Patriarchate repealed the anathemas against the Old Believers, although the schism continues.

Met. Cornelius has friendly relations with both the canonical Russian Orthodox Church and President Vladimir Putin, serving on the President’s Council for Cooperation with Religious Associations. Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev), who serves as Chairman of the Commission on Old Believer parishes and Cooperation with the Old Believer community, recently spoke of the need to overcome the centuries-old schism, although rapprochement is still far in the future.

For his part, Met. Cornelius has stated that he does not believe the schism will be overcome: “The wounds of schism are too deep. We are very different in essence, in rites, in spirit. We will never be able to accept their rites, and it’s unlikely that they will want to return to the old faith in the near future.”

11/24/2017

Comments
Here you can leave your comment on the present article, not exceeding 4000 characters. All comments will be read by the editors of OrthoChristian.Com.
Enter through FaceBook
Your name:
Your e-mail:
Enter the digits, seen on picture:

Characters remaining: 4000

Subscribe
to our mailing list

* indicates required
×