The 2nd Session of the 6th All-Diaspora Council

The 2nd Session of the 6th All-Diaspora Council

It has been more than a year since the first convocation of the 6th All-Diaspora Council was conducted in Mountain View in January 2017. This convocation successfully undertook the tasks that it assigned itself: an assessment of the activities of Metropolitan Agafangel was presented; the reasons for our withdrawal from his jurisdiction were enunciated; and, guidance was outlined for our future development. Specific results stemming from the Council were the establishment of Eucharistic communion with Bishop Stefan and the subsequent formation of our ROCA Diaspora District in September 2017.

Both before and during the meetings of the January Council, some controversy arose over the validity of designating the Council as an “All-Diaspora” Council. Although one of the tasks set before the Council was to begin negotiations with representatives of the various groups comprising Russian Orthodoxy, this goal was not achieved. The Pre-Conciliar Commission made efforts to further this dialogue but, not surprisingly, they were unsuccessful. It should be recalled that preparations for the Council took place in an atmosphere of “military urgency,” as it was impossible to delay the convocation of the Council. Alternatively, the effort to unify the disparate parts of Russian Orthodoxy requires painstaking and patient work, and it is impossible to even assign time limits for the completion of this task.

It was for this reason that the January 2017 Council decided to consider itself as the 1st session of the 6th All-Diaspora Council, with the clear intent of convening a future 2nd session.

With the blessing of Archbishop Andronik, the Chairman of the Council of Bishops, it is time to resume the work of the Pre-Conciliar Commission for the preparation of the 2nd session of the 6th All-Diaspora Council. At the next diocesan meetings within the Diaspora District and at the diocesan meetings of our Russian bishops, members of the Pre-Conciliar Commission should be elected. The Pre-Conciliar Commission will then begin deliberations on the task of convening a unifying All-Diaspora Council.