ROME AND RUSSIA

New Zealand Tablet, 28 December 1916, Page 22

ROME AND RUSSIA

The marvellous popularity of Russia, which has been evoked as by a. miracle during the last twentyeight months, has focussed a good deal of attention on the religion of that country. Tor Russia is nothing, if she is not religious. Religion permeates the whole life of the people (says the Catholic Magazine of South' Africa). ■ r

. The Anglican Bishop Bury, who paid frequent visits to Russia", tells us what constitutes its religious atmosphere. It is the vivid consciousness of God in Christ which her .people possess ; their conviction that He 'has the first claim upon their lives and service; their belief that He is the greatest of aH the Realities this world can bring; that they know Him in daily life as sharing their devotion, their toil and recreation, and that He speaks to them distinctly in the depth of their own souls. It is all this which gives us the feeling that we find in Russia a real, strong, and living consciousness of those spiritual forces which help to form the highest character, and provide the loftiest ideals/

Knowing all this the Protestant bishop is .able to look indulgently upon the habit of venerating the ikons, which is so distinctively Russian. The ikons are sacred pictures on wood or metal, which are to be found in every house, shop, factory, road, public place, and church throughout the country. The vener paid to them is usually labelled as superstition by the average Protestant tourist. At least, this was the case before we became allied with Russia in the present war.

But Bishop Bury admits that, the habit of venerating these pictures at stated times during the school hours, has its spiritual fruit in the after lives of the' Russian children. ‘ This must in many young lives be the foundation of a prayerful life—it cannot be otherwise, the principle of education being what it is—making the Russians in childhood, youth, and manhood, a praying people.’ „ The Anglican prelate does not, however, seem to notice, that this general habit of prayer is most to bo found where the reality of the Sacramental system exists. Prayer, and the Sacraments are inseparably united. And the Russians (though the large majority of them have repudiated the authority of the successor of St. Peter) have preserved the valid succession of the priesthood and valid Sacraments : and in this they differ irom the Anglicans.

It would be a blessed day for religion throughout the world if the large flock of Russian Orthodox Christians could be reunited to the Catholic and Roman Church. It is estimated that there are 110 millions of Greek Orthodox in Russia. They have exactly the same Sacraments as ourselves, the same Mass, the same devotions, the same priesthood, and the same festivals. The principal difference between us lies in the question of the supremacy of (he Pope. A splendid chain of evidence, in favor of this supremacy, can bo woven out of the sayings of he Greek Saints whom (he Russians venerate. N

Sozomen, one of the most revered of early Greek historians, speaks as enthusiastically of the Pope’s power as does St, Augustine in the famous words, so otten quoted. Referring to the heresy of the Macedonians and the letter of Pope Daraasus, Sozomeu writes: 1 When the question was moved, and when the quarrel grew from day to day, the Bishop of the City of Rome having heard of it wrote to the Eastern Churches that they must confess the Trinity, consubstantial, equal in honor and glory, just as the Western bishops do. When he had done this all were silent, as the controversy was ended by the decision of the Roman Church, and the question was seen to be at an end.’ All ye ask of the Russians is that they, should follow tl»eir forefathers in acknowledging the power that Christ gave to St. Peter and his successors. The stock answer given by the ordinary Greek theologiani to these considerations is that, they will not give up ‘their liberty to become the servants of . the Pope.. What a commentary on this objection is pre-

seated by the history of the Russian Church! No church in the world, not even the. Anglican Church, is so tied to the chariot of the state, as the Russian. And who will say that the yoke of the Czar is lighter than that of the Pope. On this subject it is not possible to tell the whole truth, until the War is over. Russia is our largest ally, and we are anxious to follow the current custom of saying nothing but good of our allies, big and small. But' we shall content ourselves with saying that . before the war all Britishers were agreed that the Czar’s government of the Russian Church was not quite as desirable as that of the Pope, from the point of view of reasonable liberty. In fact the Russian 'Church is governed by a body called the Holy Synod, which is above all the bishops, singly and collectively. All the members of the Holy Synod are practically nominees of the Czar and the only member of the Synod who counts in practical decisions is the Procurator, always a layman and generally a soldier. He is more powerful by far than the English Prime Minister in regard to the Anglican Church of to-day. For the Prime Minister, although he exercises an enormous influence over Anglicanism in the appointment of the higher clergy, and especially the bishops; yet he generally refrains from the exercise of any other pressure that he might be legally entitled to exert.

But the Procurator of the Holy Synod is the real Pope of the Russian Church. As he really represents the Czar, Dr. Fortescue is justified in saying If the Church is to have any visible government at all, one would imagine that, even apart from any consideration of theology or antiquity, the first Patriarch (i.e. the Pope) would be a more natural governor than the Czar or the Sultan.’ This reference to the Sultan constitutes really the crowning shame of the Greek Orthodox Church, since it became the servant of the State. Although the Patriarch of Constantinople has not real jurisdiction over the Russian Church, he is the first and highest in honor of the Orthodox Patriarchs. But he must be a subject of the Sultan in order to occupy this position, and he must be confirmed in it by the authority of the chief son of Mahomet; and he remains in power only as long as the Sultan chooses to have him there. This is not usually very long ; because the Sultan has a pecuniary interest in changing the Patriarchs. The result has been that the average reign of a Patriarch of Constantinople is eighteen months. This is a sample of the liberty that the Greeks have acquired by breaking away from communion with the Church of the West. It is not the kind of liberty that will appeal to those who know what religious liberty means. The only hope of Russian religion is that it should be emancipated from the golden chains of the state, and then united to the historic Christianity of the West under the jurisdiction of the Pope. As yet there is no great-body of Russian opinion which advocates this course. There is, however, one Russian theologian, who has set himself the task of advocating reunion with Rome. Vladimir Soloviev has been called one of the most profound and inspiring writers that Russia has produced, and his writings have become the philosophical test-books in the universities of the Empire. A remarkable forecast was made recently by Dr. Sarolea, the editor of Everyman, regarding the probable outcome of Soloviev’s work. , ‘ I believe,’ he said,

* that the dream of Soloviev is likely to be realised in the near future. There will be formidable obstacles to overcome. But the fusion is in irresistible logic of events. When it does come it will be the greatest revolution of modern history, and it will be the political and spiritual salvation of Europe. For only through a reunion of Rome and Russia will the spiritual life of the individual soul have at its command the spiritual power of a world-embracing community.’ Russia is indeed one of the fast examples of that danger to religion whereby the State strangles it by embracing it. - No one cares to predict yet what will happen in Russia when the war comes to an end. Great changes there certainly will be, because the Muscovite Empire has been shaken as never before. It would be pleasant, if we could be sure that one of these results .will be that contained in the above prophecy. At any rate

we can pray for this result. What is holy in ..Russia has much affinity with what is characteristic of the Catholic 4 • and Roman Church. .When writers ' like Vladimir Soloviev are able to convince the Russian people’ that they will be all the better Russians and Christians if they become Roman, then the muchdesired reunion will be well in sight. This was on© of the spiritual projects most dear to the great-hearted Leo XIII. He did not live to see even the beginnings of its accomplishment. We shall be happy indeed if some prospect of it emerges from the chaos of the great War. • " , :