Paschal Epistle
of
His Eminence Agafangel
Bishop of Taurida
and
Christ
is Risen!
Honorable bishops and
pastors, dear brothers and sisters!
For you were called to freedom, brethren…(Galatians 5:13)
Apostle Paul declares in his epistle to all of us.
Our Lord Jesus
Christ became the first man, from the time of Adam, to be free from the
sovereignty of sin and death. And He,
through His Resurrection, endows all people with the possibility to be
similarly free – and you will know the
truth, and the truth will make you free. (John 8:32)
The life within
Christ’s Church (just as with every faithful follower of Christ) existed and
exists free from any dependence, no matter how small, on the outside world, and
this freedom is one of the most important aspects of the Church – where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is
liberty. (2 Corinthians 3:17) The
church’s freedom is founded upon and is inseparably linked to its Unity,
Holiness, Collegiality and apostolic succession, which profoundly distinguishes
it from other religious movements and the rampant permissiveness of this
world. God calls upon us all to acquire and
treasure this freedom, without which real spiritual growth is unthinkable. It was
for freedom that Christ set us free; and therefore keep
standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery. (Galatians
5:1) These words of the apostle yet again
take on special relevance in our age, as we find ourselves in circumstances
where a system of global control is steadily being established in society. We must clearly see all the processes
occurring around the Church, lest, without even knowing it, we become helpless
slaves to one external power or another.
At the same time, it makes no sense for us to reject and deny those
societal structures which, though they have no bearing on the essential nature
of the Church, allow secular unity. The
truth is always free from extremes, and that, I believe, presents the greatest
difficulty for those who desire to abide in it.
I congratulate
all of you with the priceless gift of freedom, which we have received from the
Resurrected Lord, the value of which cannot be supplanted by any riches of the
world surrounding us.
I congratulate you with the
glorious Resurrection of Christ!
Truly,
Christ is Risen!
+Agafangel
Bishop of Taurida and
Chairman of the Provisional Supreme Ecclesiastical
Authority
of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad