Proclamation of the Holy Synod. August 12, 1923

Original Source: Moskovskie izvestiia, 12 August 1923.

The Holy Synod has issued the following proclamation, enjoining all believers "'to live in peace and goodwill with the Orthodox Church," and decrying the actions of the ex-Patriarch Tikhon, who has led the Church into the road of schism.

Our hearts are filled with grief by the events happening at present in our Holy Orthodox Church. We are in the midst of a turmoil of discord, strife, and a general lack of charity and benevolence. What has happened?

Public opinion and the religious conscience of the believers are charging the ex-Patriarch Tikhon with the two following offenses: first - he does not recognize the new order of things in the political life of the State, nor the Soviet power; secondly, he has caused chaos in all Church affairs, Regarding the first offense, the ex-Patriarch has shown repentance candidly, before all the world: he has recognized the Soviet regime, has confessed that he formerly opposed it, has severed every connection with counterrevolution at home and abroad, and has been set at liberty pending trial in court. He has thus done what we did long ago, and has thereby admitted that we were right when we recognized the Soviet regime.

But his second offense is still on him. While occupying the see of the Patriarch he has, notwithstanding the protests and the warnings of the most prominent hierarchs of the Church, and having lost all his collaborators, continued to manage Church affairs by himself, contrary to the canonical law and the rules of the Church Councils, even of that of the years 1917-1918. As a result of that activity of his, much Christian blood was spilled, many bishops and priests perished, our country was full of weeping and groaning" and even the Church was in jeopardy; now he again sows discord and trouble. Being found guilty by a Council of Bishops many of whom had taken part in his election to the Patriarchate, he has trampled under foot all apostolic rules and laws of the Holy Fathers, in his thirst of power. He has usurped the episcopate on his own authority, declared himself once more Patriarch, and has blasphemously conducted Divine service. He has once more disturbed the peace and quiet of the Church, and the Church is once more a place of strife. All this aggravates his guilt before the Church.

Grieved in our hearts at this, and seeking peace and harmony within the Church, we, your principal bishops and priests, take upon ourselves at this great moment to save God's Church from the turmoil of unrest and human passion. We declare that henceforth, instead of the Supreme Church Soviet, the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Russian Church stands at the head of Church administration. We declare that there are no more groups, party divisions, and various Church organizations, but there is One United Holy Council and Apostolic Orthodox Russian Church. We are in contact with the Most Holy Eastern Patriarchs, whose representatives have already offered their official greetings to the President of the Holy Synod - a recognition that was not accorded the ex-Patriarch after his release from prison. In brotherly union with the Most Holy Eastern Patriarchs, we stand on guard over our Holy Orthodox Church. We stand on the ground of recognition of all necessary innovations in Church life - innovations and reforms long ago contemplated by our best and principal bishops, learned professors and theologians, pre-Council conferences and carried into being by the Church Councils in 1917 and 1923. But with holy fervor, firmly and unswervingly, we observe and will observe to the end of our days, the purity of the teachings of the Orthodox Church, its sacraments, and its dogmas.

Do not therefore be like children in wisdom, do not be impressed by high-sounding names and titles: for what they are doing is the win of God. Do not you see that the ex-Patriarch is leading you once more down the path of great grief, sufferings and tears? This path has already been made quite clear in the columns of the press and by impartial public opinion. Stern and relentless judgment awaits the deeds of ex-Patriarch Tikhon.

Beware, therefore: you are treading a dangerous road!

The Proclamation is signed by the following: The President of the Holy Synod, the Humble Evdokim, Metropolitan of Odessa and Kherson; the Humble Tikhon, Metropolitan of Simbirsk; Veniamin, Metropolitan of Yaroslavl (formerly of Riazan); Petr, Metropolitan of Siberia; Konstantin, Archbishop of Homel; Vitalii, Archbishop of Tula and Epifansk; Artemii, Archbishop of Luga and Petrograd; Sergii, Archbishop of Tomsk; Petr, Archbishop of Voronezh; Aleksii, Archbishop of Smolensk and Dorogobuzh; Georgii, Archbishop of Krasnoyarsk and Eniseisk; Georgii, Bishop of Dmitrovsk; Archpriest Pavel Krasotin, Aleksandr Boiarskii, Dmitrii Adamov, Vladimir Shapovalov, Dmitrii Soloviev, Sergii Kanarskii, Archdeacon Sergii Dobrov, Vladimir Nikolaevich L'vov; and the Director of Affairs of the Holy Synod, A. I. Novikov.

Source: Boleslaw B. Szczesniak, ed. and tr., Russian Revolution and Religion; a collection of documents concerning the suppression of religion by the Communists, 1917-1925 (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1959), pp. 205-207.