New York, June 6, 2025
Photo: orthodox-europe.org
The Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR) has issued a sharp warning about what it describes as dangerous trends in contemporary Russia, expressing concern over a return to “God-opposing ideology” reminiscent of the Soviet period.
In a statement released by the Synod, ROCOR bishops declare they “find it necessary to raise its voice out of bitter necessity” due to a drift away from Christian repentance toward ideological positions that “prevailed in the last century.” The bishops warn that “should it continue, we fear that modern Russia risks being considered a dark stain amongst the nations, marked by a revival of spiritual corruption, instead of her being a radiant beacon of Orthodox Truth.”
The statement specifically criticizes recent changes to Russia’s official approach to commemorating victims of political repression. The Synod points to revisions made in 2024 to the state document “The Concept of State Policy on the Commemoration of the Victims of Political Repression,” describing these changes as “notable alterations” that “indicate a rising tendency to whitewash the crimes of the God-fighting regime of the twentieth century.”
The bishops argue that while the previous version of the document “opened the door of repentance,” the new one “closes it, precisely through the silencing and distortion of history.”
The statement highlights several specific developments as evidence of this concerning trend, including the recent installation of statues of Stalin and Dzerzhinsky in Moscow, which they describe as “public tribute to individuals whose inhuman and anti-Christian crimes were amongst the worst of the twentieth century.” The statement also mentions plans to restore Lenin’s mausoleum on Red Square, which the Synod has called to remove several times.
Perhaps most troubling to the bishops is what they describe as “the alarming trend of revoking previously-enacted rehabilitations of individuals who were wrongly condemned in Communist times, not excluding even clergy.” They write that rehabilitations granted in the 1990s are now being “simply declared unjustified, without the introduction of any new evidence, without critical examination—merely through the confirmation of Stalin-era verdicts.”
The hierarchs express particular concern about attacks on the memory of Tsar Nicholas II, referencing recent comments by a well-known professor who blamed the Tsar for Russia’s destruction and claimed he “would have shot him myself”—language the bishops find “ominous indeed.”
The Synod also notes its regret that “despite the conclusions of the commission concerning the authenticity of the relics of the Royal Family and their faithful servants, the Moscow Patriarchate has still not been able to come to a clear determination on this question.”
In their conclusion, the ROCOR bishops call on Orthodox believers to “recognize their authentic history” and to “walk the path of freedom and light, clearly renouncing the darkness of the past rather than pursuing its revival and glorification.” They emphasized their Church’s mission to “stand in the midst of this world, free of connections to any State, Party or worldly ideology, and fearlessly proclaim the simple Truth of Holy Orthodoxy.”
The bishops concluded by calling on “all our fellow Orthodox in all lands to join us in resisting these concerning impulses” and “holding fast to the unchanging Gospel of the salvation of the world.”
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