Australian and New Zealand Diocese (ROCOR)

On Thursday 24 March and Friday 25 March 2016 the clergy of the Australian and New Zealand Diocese gathered in Sydney, NSW, for the customary Lenten Pastoral Retreat and Conference.  These dates had been chosen as Friday 25 March was a public holiday, making attendance easier for the many clergymen with secular work commitments.

On Thursday afternoon the clergy gathered for refreshments and fellowship in the hall of the Archbishop’s Chapel of All Saints of Russia in Croydon.  In the evening, the Rule of Preparation for Holy Communion was read and Lenten Matins was served.  The clergy formed the choir for the services, singing and reading in both Church Slavonic and English.  His Grace Bishop George of Canberra read the akathist during the Rule of Preparation for Holy Communion and the rector of the Croydon parish, Priest Simon Nekipelov, presided during Matins.

On Friday morning the clergy gathered at the Diocesan Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul in Strathfield for the reading of the Hours and the concelebration of the Divine Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts.  Bishop George presided at Divine Liturgy, with 25 priests and 8 deacons from across the Diocese concelebrating.  Under the direction of Andrei Laptev the Cathedral choir – augmented by singers from other Sydney parishes – sang at the service.  A complete list of participating clergy is available here.

During Divine Liturgy two clergymen received awards for their service to the Holy Orthodox Church.  Hieromonk Kyril (Gavras), rector of the Holy Ascension Mission in Melbourne, Victoria, was awarded the gold pectoral cross. Deacon Stephen McKay of Saint John the Baptist Skete in Kentlyn, NSW, was awarded the double orarion.

Following Divine Liturgy, the clergy gathered in the church hall for a Lenten lunch prepared by the Cathedral Ladies’ Auxiliary.

After lunch, Bishop George opened the Pastoral Conference, the theme of which was “Remembering Archbishop Sava (Raevsky)(+1976): His life and legacy”.  Archbishop Sava was the Ruling Bishop of the Australian-New Zealand diocese from 1955 until 1969 and then, from his retirement as Ruling Bishop until his death, Representative of the Synod of Bishops in Australia.  An interesting and edifying account of Vladyka Sava’s pious and productive life was given by his biographer, Mitred Archpriest Michael Protopopov.  The complete text of Father Michael’s talk is available here.

The clergy were reminded of a number of anniversaries in 2016 of significance in the life of the Diocese and of the wider Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia and of Diocesan commemorative events and services to mark them.  These are the twentieth anniversary of Metropolitan Hilarion’s service as Ruling Bishop of the Diocese, the fortieth anniversary of the repose of Archbishop Sava, the fiftieth anniversary of the repose of Saint John of Shanghai and San Francisco, and the sixtieth anniversary of the gift to the Diocese by Protodeacon Peter Grishaev of the land on which the Our Lady of Kazan Convent and the facilities operated by the Fraternity of the Holy Cross now stand.

Diocesan Council Secretary Priest James Carles presented a checklist for candidates for ordination that had been developed by the Diocesan Council and ratified by Metropolitan Hilarion.  He explained that the checklist set out in logical order the canonical, legal and practical matters to be considered before presenting any candidate for ordination.

Diocesan Treasurer Nicholas Nedachin spoke to the assembled clergy about the Diocesan life insurance policy initiated in the 1980s to assist the families of priests in the event of an untimely death.  The features of the current policy and a range of alternatives were discussed.  Mr Nedachin undertook to do further work on this matter.

A discussion of pastoral concerns focused primarily on the blessing of marriages, with particular attention being given to pastoral care for the faithful seeking the blessing of a marriage other than their first.  Concern was also expressed in relation to changes in the life and moral teaching of other Christian confessions and the impact of these things on the practice of the Russian Orthodox Church of permitting marriages between Orthodox Christians and the heterodox.

Diocesan Youth Co-ordinator Archpriest George Lapardin informed those present of a “Concord of Orthodox Youth” («Содружество Православной Молодежи») pilgrimage to Crimea in July 2016.  Priest Alexander Paramonov spoke of plans for the 2016 Syezd,  the Diocesan youth conference for over-18s, and of arrangements for His Eminence Metropolitan Jonah (Paffhausen) to attend as guest speaker.

The next Pastoral Conferences of the Australian-New Zealand Diocese will be in December 2016 in conjunction with the youth activities – Syezd and Teen Retreat – customarily held at that time.