An appeal for a church without a Priest
DAVID JUDSON
Hurriyet daily news
16/9/2011
To His Holiness Kirill I, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia
Your Beatitude:
It is my hope that the temerity of communication by a journalist with an open letter will be taken in the spirit of respect with which it is intended. The matter which I seek to bring to your consideration is, I am sure, minor in comparison to the many demands for your attention. It is nonetheless, I believe, symbolically central to the tenets of the Christian faith.
The matter derives from a chance visit I recently made to what is nominally St. Eliseus, in the village of Nij, in north-central Azerbaijan. While I claim no expertise in the history of the Russian Orthodox Church or matters of church-state relations, the history of St. Eliseus as explained to me by parishioners struck me as uniquely tragic. Hence this letter.
As I have written in a column which I enclose, St. Eliseus was established in the 17th Century as an outpost of the then-existing See of the Caucasian Albanian Catholicate. Following a series of decrees by Czar Nicholas I in the early 19th century, the churches of its rite were merged with the Armenian Apostolic Church. The exception was St. Eliseus which, by virtue of its isolation, continued to exist – however informally – under its former identity and status until Soviet times.
The matter might have ended there as the tiny church was converted to use as a warehouse, a practice that continued until the 1990s. Since the independence of Azerbaijan, the church, which serves a tiny community in Nij and two other villages, has become the venue of the prayers of the faithful whose worship was confined to their homes for years. In recent years, it has been physically restored through the efforts of a foundation based in Baku.
The history of the temporal world surrounding St. Eliseus has, however, prevented renewal of its consecration. It also lacks any clergy. This is understandable, of course, as the church does not exist in any ecclesiastical sense.
In my discussion with the volunteer church caretaker, Vidadi Mahmadov, it emerged that only the intercession by Your Holiness himself could serve to rectify this situation. Mindful of your efforts in support of the concept of symphonia, I agree. I realize that the specific history is emotional, complex and involves much beyond my layman’s understanding. Neither is it my desire to stir debate over affiliations within the Family of Christ. It does though nonetheless strike me as important that the story of St. Eliseus be brought to the attention of Your Holiness. So I do so.
In the local Udi language, St. Eliseus is also known as the Cotari Church.
Again, please accept my apologies for imposing upon your time and good offices with a matter both distant and obscure. Please accept my gratitude for any study you may direct to this matter.
With the deepest respects,
David Judson
