One hundred years of the Russian Spiritual Mission in Jerusalem as part of the Russian Church Abroad

Russian spiritual mission in Jerusalem
, two parallel canonical formations of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Holy Land - under the direct authority of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia and as part of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia

• Mission Directorate:
• Patriarchal: Israel, Jerusalem. Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem, Russian Compound, 6 Kheshin str., POBox 1042, Jerusalem 91009, Israel
• Foreign: Israel, Jerusalem. Russian Ecclesiastical Mission, PO Box 20164, Jerusalem 91200, Israel

• Patriarchal: (10-972-2) 625-25-65, fax: 625-63-25

• Patriarchal:
• Foreign:

The patriarchal mission is now primarily the representation of the Russian Orthodox Church under the Patriarch of Jerusalem and the state structures of Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Jordan.
Also a center for pastoral care for Russian-speaking Orthodox believers on the territory of these states and the leading pilgrimage service of the Russian Church for organizing trips to these lands and also to Egypt. The mission of the Russian Church Abroad also cares for pilgrims and supports the spiritual and material heritage of the Russian Church in the Holy Land.

Base

The question of establishing a representative office of the Russian Church in Jerusalem first arose in the 19th century, in connection with the difficulties experienced by pilgrims from Russia. The rector of the Moscow Jerusalem Metochion, Archimandrite Arseny, wrote to Emperor Alexander I in 1816: “ In Jerusalem, no one suffers so much poverty and the need for food and clothing and shelter itself, as Russian fans

" [1].
In 1838, the chamberlain of the imperial court, A. N. Muravyov, who visited Palestine to study the state of political and church life in the Holy Land and help strengthen Russia’s position in the Middle East, also raised the question of the need to establish a spiritual mission in Jerusalem. According to his thoughts, the Russian emperor should have become the patron of holy places, and the Russian archimandrite in Palestine “ could have a beneficial influence on ... fellow believers and spread light and necessary knowledge among them
[2].” In 1842, in a report addressed to the emperor, Vice-Chancellor Nesselrode noted the need for a clergyman to establish contacts with the local Greek clergy and mediate between the Jerusalem Patriarchate and the Russian Synod. It was also proposed to entrust such a cleric with control over the expenditure of donations collected in Russia for the Orthodox Church in the Holy Land.

In July 1842, the Synod decided to send Archimandrite Porfiry (Uspensky) to Jerusalem as an unofficial person. After meetings with the Patriarchs of Jerusalem, Constantinople and Antioch, he arrived in Jerusalem on December 20, 1843. After familiarizing himself with the situation, in his report to the Synod he spoke in favor of the creation of a spiritual mission, which would become a sign of “ visible unity of the churches of Jerusalem, Antioch and Russia

,” carried out missionary activities, helped set up schools and seminaries, and took care of Russian pilgrims [3].

In February 1847, Emperor Nicholas I approved the founding of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem. Archimandrite Porfiry (Uspensky) took the lead, and with him the hieromonk and future saint Theophan (Govorov) went to Jerusalem. The Patriarchate of Jerusalem allocated the Jerusalem Archangel Monastery to house them - there, for the first time in the Holy Land, services began to be performed in Slavic. In 1852, at the request of Patriarch Kirill of Jerusalem, Father Porfiry became a trustee of Orthodox public schools in Palestine and the highest Patriarchal school for the Greek clergy at the Jerusalem Cross Monastery. Archimandrite Porfiry also petitioned for the translation and publication of spiritual books in Arabic [4], and for improving the life of Russian pilgrims. Thanks to this, an Arabic printing house was opened at the Jerusalem Patriarchal See, and the Patriarchate allocated the Feodorov and Catherine monasteries in Jerusalem to accommodate Russian pilgrims [5]. Archimandrite Porfiry and his assistants devoted a lot of time to scientific works, research of church life and the history of the Christian East. The Crimean War in 1853-1856 forced the mission to temporarily cease its activities.

Growth and flourishing

After the war, the spiritual mission resumed. Under the leadership of Bishop Kirill (Naumov), the mission mainly began to provide assistance to the local Arab clergy and their flock, which was bribed by Western missionaries. An Orthodox church began to be built with Russian funds in the Arab village of Beit Sahur near Bethlehem. In Syria, Bishop Kirill established schools and sent spiritual literature and church utensils. Thanks to his assistance, the Syrian Uniates returned to the fold of the Orthodox Church. The concern for Russian pilgrims was not abandoned either - services were performed for them in their native language, religious services were performed, housing was rented, a small hospital was opened, and pilgrimage caravans were organized.

In 1857-1860, several plots of land were acquired near the walls of the Old City in Meidam Square in Jerusalem. They were purchased as the property of the imperial government through the efforts of the head of the mission and the Russian consuls, and then the Palestine Committee under the Asian Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Empire, which was specially created to improve the needs of Russian pilgrims. The vast area, later known as the Russian Compound or “Moscobia,” began to be built up with buildings for receiving Russian pilgrims. First of all, construction began on the cathedral church in the name of the Holy Trinity, which was solemnly consecrated in 1872. At the same time, other structures began to be erected: the building of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission with the Church of the Martyr Alexandra, the Elizabethan (male) and Mariinsky (female) courtyards for pilgrims, the Russian hospital, the house of the Russian consul. All these buildings were built in the period 1859-1864 and are surrounded by a stone wall. The Alexandrinsky Church, consecrated in 1864, became the first church in the Holy Land built by the Russians.

At that time, a number of new Russian institutions were established in the Holy Land, to which many of the original functions of the spiritual mission were transferred. In 1856, the agency of the Russian Society of Shipping and Trade was created in Jerusalem. In 1858, a Russian consulate was established in Jerusalem. The construction of buildings at the Russian Compound was carried out by the Palestine Committee of the Asian Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which existed in 1859-1864. The Palestine Commission operated from 1864 to 1889. In 1882, the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society was opened, which actively engaged in temple building. The task of the spiritual mission itself was to maintain contacts with the local clergy, transfer donations coming from Russia to the Jerusalem Church and spiritually nourish pilgrims.

Almost thirty years under the leadership of Archimandrite Antonin (Kapustin) became a golden age for the mission. Coldness in relations with the Russian Consulate in Jerusalem and often misunderstanding on the part of the Synod forced Archimandrite Antonin to find a new area of ​​activity for the mission - the acquisition and development of land plots outside of Jerusalem [6]. Despite the frequent “lack of money” [7], it was possible to acquire a large number of plots, many of which are the original places where the events described in the Holy Scriptures unfolded. The acquisition of land also had a missionary function and interfered with the activities of Roman Catholics and Protestants, who bought up holy places and built their institutions on them. Thus, plots were acquired in Hebron, with Mamre oak (1868); on Mount Olivet near the site of the Ascension of the Lord (1868-1889); in Ein Karem, in the “Gornaya”, at the meeting place of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the righteous Elizabeth (1871); in Jericho (1874); in Jaffa with the tomb of righteous Tabitha (1886); in Beit Jala; in Siloam; in Tiberias; in Anat. Due to the difficulties of registering purchase deeds, the plots were purchased in the name of the dragoman of the mission, a Turkish citizen Ya. E. Halebi, who re-registered the deed of gift in the name of Archimandrite Antonin, and the head of the mission in 1894 bequeathed them to the Russian Church represented by the Holy Synod. In 1889, the total cost of the newly acquired plots was one million rubles [5]. During his lifetime, the purchase of land was often perceived with great coldness; in 1872, the Synod even ordered that further land acquisitions be abandoned.

Meanwhile, the construction of the sites was underway. Eleon was intended for a monastery - the Cathedral of Christ the Savior and a bell tower, called the “Russian Candle,” were erected here. In Gornaya (Ein Karem) a women's community was formed in which the Kazan Church was consecrated in 1883. An orange garden was established in Jaffa, a house for pilgrims was erected, and in 1894 the Church of the Apostle Peter was consecrated. A courtyard was built in Jericho for pilgrims traveling to the Jordan.

As before, the mission performed divine services and services for pilgrims, sometimes monastic tonsures, and during the pilgrimage period - readings and conversations with people, accompanying pilgrims. Efforts to educate the local population also continued - for example, with the funds of Empress Maria Alexandrovna, Archimandrite Antonin, on his own initiative, opened a school for girls in the Arab village of Beit Jala near Bethlehem. At the expense of his rest, Archimandrite Antonin found time for serious scientific studies in church archeology and Byzantine studies. He also created the Mission Archaeological Museum in Jerusalem.

The activities of the mission continued to expand in the given direction under the successors of Father Antonin, at the turn of the 19th century. New plots were acquired - in Haifa on Mount Carmel (1908); on the coast of the Sea of ​​Galilee with the source of St. Mary Magdalene (1908; in Cana of Galilee; in Nazareth; in other places of the Holy Land. In 1907, construction of the Church of the Holy Forefathers began in Hebron, in 1910 the construction of the cathedral of the Gornensky Monastery began, and in 1913 The Church of the Holy Prophet Elijah was consecrated on Mount Carmel, as archaeological research had been conducted before.

In 1914, World War I interrupted the mission's activities, forcing the director and staff to move to Alexandria. The churches were closed, the premises were occupied by Turkish soldiers, and the expelled sisters and pilgrims who remained in the Holy City were subjected to oppression. Only at the end of the World War, during the Russian Civil War, was the mission able to begin to restore devastated life.

Interwar years

In 1919, after the occupation of Palestine by Great Britain, Russian monks returned to Jerusalem. Communication with Russia was severed, and from 1920 the mission came under the jurisdiction of the Provisional Higher Church Administration Abroad. The mission was deprived of the protection of any state, and most of the previous sources of material assistance disappeared. With the establishment of the British Mandate, most of the empty Russian Compound was occupied by civilian institutions - a police station, a prison, an American Red Cross branch, and then a supreme court. Many mission buildings were damaged and neglected.

Great assistance in maintaining the mission was provided by Archbishop Anastasius (Gribanovsky) of Chisinau, who was sent to the Holy Land by the foreign Russian hierarchy in 1921 and from 1924 served as overseer of the affairs of the mission for about ten years. First of all, the rights of the mission were recognized by the British authorities, and correct monastic life was restored. The Bishop put in order the property affairs of the Russian Spiritual Mission by leasing some plots and erecting several buildings with the help of loans. The Gethsemane monastery was opened, the Bethany school was founded, and a plot of land near the Jordan River was acquired. A period of new upheavals and changes in life followed the Second World War.

Division of mission

In 1945, Patriarch Alexy I of Moscow visited the Holy Land, and the question of canonical subordination to the mission arose. The Arab-Israeli War of 1947-1949 led to the formation of the State of Israel, which in 1948 transferred to the Moscow Patriarchate those churches and monasteries of the mission that were on its territory. The mission property that ended up on the territory of Jordan remained under the jurisdiction of the Church Abroad.

The Patriarchal Mission had to endure considerable difficulties in connection with the sale by the Soviet government of most of the Russian metochion to the state of Israel. However, liturgical life was maintained. In 1962, a temple was built in honor of St. Mary Magdalene on the shores of Lake Galilee. In 1987, construction of a cave church in honor of John the Baptist was completed at the Gornensky Monastery.

Since the late 1940s, the mission of the Church Abroad has managed to draw the attention of the Russian emigration to its plight and attract an influx of donations. The mission office was established first in Gethsemane and then in the Monastery of Olives. A plot was acquired in Wadi Faran where in ancient times the Lavra of St. Chariton was located. Under Archimandrite Anthony (Grabbe), control was transferred to Russian excavations near the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, but then moved again to the Monastery of Olives.

The Path to Revival and Reunification

The collapse of the USSR marked the beginning of an active revival of Palestinian pilgrimage among the Orthodox of the former union - the symbolic beginning was the pilgrimage of Patriarch Alexy II to the Holy Land in April 1991. Thanks to donations, large-scale restoration work began to be carried out at the patriarchal mission, and educational and publishing activities were resumed. In 1997, for the anniversary celebrations on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the mission, Patriarch Alexy again arrived in Jerusalem, and the government of the Palestinian Authority transferred the monastery in Hebron to the mission. In 2000, Patriarch Alexy was again in the Holy Land to celebrate the 2000th anniversary of the Nativity of Christ - for this celebration, the mission built a large pilgrimage hotel complex on a purchased Russian site in Bethlehem, and the Palestinian authorities returned the compound in Jericho to the mission. In 2004, construction of the cathedral of the Gornensky Monastery was resumed. At the beginning of 2007, Jordan transferred to Russia a plot of land near the site of the Epiphany on the Jordan River for the construction of a pilgrimage compound.

Political pressure in the 1990s led to the fact that both properties transferred to the patriarchal mission - the Hebron Monastery and the Jericho Compound - were previously seized from the Church Abroad with the use of violence. Thanks to the restoration of canonical communion between the Domestic and Foreign parts of the Russian Orthodox Church in 2007, rapprochement began between the alienated Russian spiritual missions. In June 2007, the first joint divine service of representatives of both parts of the Russian Church took place in the Holy Land. By the early 2010s, the management of the Jericho Compound was carried out jointly by both missions.

Statistics

• January 1, 1965 - the foreign mission has 18 sites, 1 of which generated income; 16 monastics in the Mission (chief, acting assistant, housekeeper, 2 archimandrites, 2 hieromonks, 2 hierodeacons, schemamonk, monk, 2 monks of cassocks, 3 novices); 104 monks in the Olivet Monastery (53 nuns, 36 nuns, 15 novices); other monastics in the Bethany community, at the Oak of Mamre, in the Faran Lavra [8]
• 2000s - the patriarchal mission has 9 operating churches, 7 priests, 1 deacon [9]

Chiefs

• Porfiry (Uspensky) (July 31, 1847 - 1854)
• Polycarp (Radkevich) (March 24 - September 30, 1857) bishop. Odessa
• Kirill (Naumov) (September 1, 1857 - June 22, 1863) bishop. Melitopol
• Leonid (Kavelin) (1863 - 1865)
• Antonin (Kapustin) (1865 - 1894)
• Arseny (Izotov) (1894) v/u

• Meletiy (Rozov) (1918 - 1922) acting

• Meletiy (Rozov), 2nd time (1925 - 1928) acting

Patriarchal Mission in Israel

• Leonid (Lobachev) (December 1948 - 1950)
• Vladimir (Kobets) ((? 1950) 1951 - December 27, 1951)
• Polycarp (Priymak) (September 1951 - April 1955)
• Pimen (Khmelevsky) (February 20, 1956 - 1957)
• Nikodim (Rotov) (September 25, 1957 - October 20, 1958 (March 1959))
• Augustin (Sudoplatov) (October 1, 1959 - 1961)
• Bartholomew (Gondarovsky) (October 1961 - January 23, 1963)
• Yuvenaly (Poyarkov) (January 23, 1963 - December 22, 1964)
• Hermogenes (Orekhov) (December 22, 1964 - November 25, 1966)
• Anthony (Zavgorodniy) (April 4, 1967 - 1970)
• Jerome (Zinoviev) (1970 - August 25, 1972)
• Kliment (Tolstikhin) (August 25, 1972 - (April 5) August 5, 1974)
• Seraphim (Tikhonov) ((April 5) August 5 - December 26, 1974) i/o

• Feofan (Lukyanov) (July 16, 2013 - July 13, 2015) and about

Foreign mission

• Anthony (Sinkevich) (1948 - 1951)
• Dimitri (Biakai) (1951 - 1968)
• Anthony (Grabbe) (1968 - January 1986)
• Valery Lukyanov (1986 - 1987)
• Alexy (Rozentul) (September 1, 1987 - October 1991)
• Nikolay (Yukhos) (May 1992 - November 1993)
• Vladimir Skalon (1993)
• Theodosius (Claire) (November 1993 - December 1995)
• Bartholomew (Vorobiev) (December 1995 - August 1997)
• Alexy (Biron) (1997 - 2000)
• Peter (Lukyanov) (2000 - 2002)
• Andronik (Kotlyarov) (2003 - May 2, 2007) acting

• Tikhon (Amelchenya) (July 14, 2010 - May 17, 2011) acting

• Roman (Krasovsky) (June 14, 2012 - October 9, 2012) acting

Archimandrite Alexander: the task of the mission in Jerusalem is to receive a pilgrim

Now we have another new concern that was not typical at that time. This is a large number of Russian-speaking immigrants from the former Soviet Union who came here and received Israeli citizenship. They have become new citizens of this state, but at the same time, when they have the desire and opportunity, they preserve their cultural heritage and remain in the Orthodox faith. Then they strive for those very Russian churches in the courtyards of our mission, which help them survive spiritually today, nourish them, as they say in church language. We have especially many such parishioners in Jaffa and Haifa - two coastal cities where many specialists are required and where there is developed industry. This is where our former compatriots are involved, and they go to our churches, which have become such a spiritual and cultural refuge for them. In Jaffa, Haifa, even in the Gornensky Monastery near Jerusalem in Ein Karem. This is a completely new side of the service of the Russian spiritual mission, which was added at the end of the 20th century and continues to this day.

— How many new parishioners do you have?

“We can only tell by the number of visitors to our parishes. Let's say, if we take the parish in Jaffa - this is the Tel Aviv region and nearby villages, up to two thousand or more people pass through there on Easter days. There are slightly fewer of them in Haifa. Here in Jerusalem there are up to 800-1000 people. In Ein Karem, the Mountain Monastery, there are also up to 500-700 people. Those whom we see are those who declare their belonging to Orthodoxy and need to participate in worship, those who come to us. In general, we are talking about several thousand people, although, of course, there are much more displaced people in total.

— Surely there are also Palestinians and Orthodox Israeli Arabs?

- Yes, they exist, but they are an integral part of the Jerusalem Patriarchate, so we are not directly involved in the care of these people. However, historically, where schools and temples were already built through the Imperial Orthodox Palestinian Society and directly through the mission, through the Russian Empire, they, one way or another, in one format or another continue to exist to this day. Therefore, directly through these institutions, we continue to be involved in supporting the Arabic-speaking Palestinian population.

— How large is the flow of pilgrims now?

— Last year, through our spiritual mission, we received 4.5 thousand pilgrims. In 2015, we received four thousand pilgrims. In February we have a very large flow of pilgrims, even unlike last year. It was really noticeable. Thousands of people came to the feasts of the Presentation of the Lord, the feasts of the memory of Saint Semyon the God-Receiver. According to reviews from my assistants and mission staff, there were several thousand people, mostly Russian-speaking pilgrims, at the night liturgies in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the last two weeks.

— At the same time, you don’t have a monopoly on receiving pilgrims?

“We try not to let go of those pilgrims who are such in the literal sense of the word.” These are church people who come from parishes, from monasteries, from our pilgrimage services, which are in every diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church.

You know that His Holiness Patriarch Kirill created a huge number of dioceses precisely in order to open the church to various segments of the population of the Russian Federation, so that they could be organized and not abandoned, and have the opportunity to communicate with the bishop and priests.

Thanks to this, all the diocesan pilgrimage centers that have been created today are precisely those initial local organizations with which we have direct contact. Those parishioners, Orthodox believers, and priests who travel through them are in one way or another connected with our pilgrimage service. They are precisely the contingent that we primarily care about.

But, of course, we also have outside pilgrims. People come who prefer, say, our pilgrimage service. We have a wonderful composition of sisters of the Gornensky monastery, who are not just guides in the secular sense, but church and spiritual people. They give such a feeling of the Holy Land that a believer needs, which strengthens a person’s faith. We accept all people who contact us. We know and understand perfectly well that there are many other organizational operators who receive tourists and pilgrims in the Holy Land. There is enough work for everyone, I would say.

— Where do the pilgrims come from, not only from Russia?

- Certainly. We have a huge number of people coming from Ukraine, from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Fortunately, the three Slavic former republics of the Soviet Union, I mean Belarus, Ukraine and Russia, now have (Israel - ed.) a visa-free regime. That’s why there are a lot of Belarusian groups. Last year we received about one and a half thousand pilgrims from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. We also have them from the Baltic states, Belgium, France, Italy, and Germany. They come from Central Asian countries - from Turkmenistan, from Kazakhstan most of all. They even come from the USA and Canada through our pilgrimage services, since there are also parishes and dioceses of the Russian Orthodox Church there. They also try to use the pilgrimage service at the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem for their visits.

— Do outbreaks of Middle Eastern tension affect your work, including the reception of pilgrims?

“We try to offer our pilgrims all, in fact, farmsteads and especially significant places that are connected with the gospel history. But some of them are problematic. The problem area is primarily the city of Hebron. Hebron, as you know, is a city with a 100% Islamic population. There are no Christian churches or other Christian institutions at all. The only Christian church that exists there is our courtyard of the Holy Forefathers in Hebron, on the site where the oak grove of Mamre was once located, where the Holy Trinity appeared to the forefather Abraham in the form of three angels. A well-known story written on the icon of St. Andrei Rublev. This is, in fact, the only Christian place. Only a few of our monks, novices, and the hieromonk who performs services for them live there. In fact, they are always there, as if on an island in the middle of the Islamic world.

And as you know, the Islamic world today is very often sick with extremism. And there are political organizations and associations there that are associated with ISIS (a terrorist organization banned in Russia - ed.) and that do not accept the presence of Christianity. Sometimes problems arise. When buses with Christians arrive from Israeli territory, it happens that they are subjected to aggression and stones are thrown at them. There are still some obstacles on the approaches to our compound. Nevertheless, we still try not to limit ourselves only to other farmsteads and send our groups there too. We hope for the mercy of God, that common sense will prevail and no obstacles will be created for ordinary people, although not Muslims, but Christians from our borders of the Russian Orthodox Church, to come there and worship this holy place.

— You anticipated my question specifically about Hebron. Relatively recently, protests took place there, what are they connected with?

— These are not the first protests. They have been going there regularly for the past decades.

The problem is that there are extremist forces that often use political motives to push us out of the church site, which undoubtedly belongs to us, acquired with the funds of Russian people, Russian pilgrims who donated these funds. Our presence in Hebron is sometimes used to demonstrate rejection of Russia's policies in Syria and towards ISIS.

But I must say that both the Palestinian authorities and the Israeli side are trying in every possible way to extinguish this, to prevent it in every possible way, in order to make it clear that our presence there is a necessary component of this city. Today we truly represent the entire Christian world in Hebron.

— Do you have any concerns about the safety of the Hebron site, its inhabitants, and pilgrims?

“Living here in the Middle East, and I’ve been living here for almost two decades, taking into account previous missions in Lebanon, Syria and now here, I can only say one thing. Here you always have to feel that we live in a very tense and dangerous world. This absolutely needs to be understood and understood, no matter what country or what religious group this concerns. Therefore, we cannot help but worry, but we hope that with God's help and the good will of many of our friends both in Palestine and Israel, this unique element of the Russian Orthodox presence can be preserved for future years.

— From the height of many years of experience in this region, its hot spots, do you think the threat of the disappearance of the Christian presence in the Middle East is real or are these far-fetched fears?

— Of course, I would like to think that they are far-fetched. But, unfortunately, the real facts and analysis of what happened before my eyes in Syria, for example, do not give reason to think so. You need to understand that this is an amazing combination, an amazing world of united coexistence of Muslim traditional morality, religion and Christianity, this is a completely unique coexistence, it is seriously disrupted today. The extremist ideology that guides the leaders and participants of ISIS, in fact, is doing a very criminal thing, upsetting this balance, disrupting the unique experience of centuries-old coexistence and displacing Christians.

Today, it will probably not be possible to preserve this combination in the form in which it was, developed over centuries. Nevertheless, what the Russian Federation is doing today in Syria is really saving that unique coexistence that I just talked about. I really hope that we will somehow be able to preserve at least pockets of such communication, which will become an example and inspiration for the future of the region. So that we can live together, solve issues and problems, political, social and simply everyday, together, without hating each other. Just like it was some, maybe 10-15-20 years ago in the same Syria or Lebanon.

What is happening there today can be described as a crime against humanity, against humanity, because the combination of religious groups and mutual existence, which is artificially impossible to create, is being violated. It was created over centuries, produced by natural experience. It is already unrealistic to repeat it, and to create it artificially in laboratory conditions is even more impossible.

I hope that at least small pockets will remain in those regions of Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq that, perhaps, were not so strongly affected by the destructive and bloody hostilities. At least from there it will be possible to continue this good experience and example of the coexistence of these two religious groups.

— Does a common threat unite Christians in the East?

“This is a big test for Christians in Syria, and I saw from my own experience how all Christians acted as a united front. All the age-old contradictions that exist between Western and Eastern Christianity in its various forms came to naught when it became necessary to withstand, to preserve that precious opportunity for community life, which was created over the centuries and became the property, in fact, of all humanity. This is precisely what should have been protected by UNESCO and the UN, because no one can repeat this historical experience. We cannot return to the past, and artificially creating it is also not an option.

“We are now witnessing the restoration of the Edicule, the chapel above the cave where Jesus was buried and resurrected. When will this work be completed?

Compound

Monasteries

• Gethsemane Mariinsky (female, ROCOR)
• Gornensky Kazansky (female, MP)
• Ascension of Olives (female, ROCOR)
• Magdalene Mariinsky (MP)
• Faransky Kharitonovsky monastery (male, ROCOR - being restored)

Temples in Jerusalem

• Alexandra Queen (MP)
• Trinity Life-Giving Cathedral (MP)

Compounds

• Bethlehem Metochion with Pilgrimage Hotel (MP)
• Jericho Metochion with the Church of John the Baptist (joint)
• Haifa courtyard from the Temple of Prophet Elijah (MP)
• Hebron courtyard with the Church of the Holy Forefathers (MP)
• Jaffa courtyard with the Church of the Apostle Peter (MP)

Other institutions

• Tiberias Pilgrim's House (MP)

"Orange Deal"

In the 20th century, a turning point in the development of the Russian spiritual mission was the so-called “orange deal” of 1964, as a result of which a significant part of the lands with churches was sold to the USSR. During the period of cooling relations with Israel, the Soviet authorities decided to sell their property in the Holy Land, but practical Israelis did not want to buy churches that could not be used for other purposes. The Gornensky Monastery, where the nuns lived, also remained unsold. However, in the very center of Jerusalem, many historical buildings were sold, including the Elizabethan, Nikolaevskoe, Veniaminovskoe metochions and the French House.

This deal received the name “orange” because Israel paid the Soviet authorities for these lands with Jaffa oranges and textiles. Khrushchev, apparently, considered that the Soviet people needed, first of all, to eat and dress, and the spiritual heritage at that time had, in his opinion, the least priority.

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Data are approximate* Last updated: 04/04/2017 09:51:54

Pilgrimage to the Holy Land

Today, the main activity of the Russian Spiritual Mission is the spiritual education of pilgrims. Orthodox Christians from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova and other countries near and far abroad strive to make a pilgrimage to Israel, because this is a unique opportunity to come into contact with the shrines of Christianity and strengthen their faith. Everyone who has visited there notes the beauty and power of these places, which are of great significance for a true believer.

The first stage of the program is the feat of pilgrimage to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and the Trinity Cathedral of the Mission. The pilgrims come for 8, 10 or more days to visit Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Galilee, Nazareth, the monasteries of the Judean Desert and climb Mount Sinai. There are also extended programs with visits to Holy Sites in Jordan with the opportunity to step foot on the site of the Epiphany. To complete the pilgrimage program, you can contact directly representatives of the Russian Spiritual Mission in Jerusalem.

Sunday School

It is very important for Orthodox Christians living in Israel to be able to attend Sunday services in their native language and bring their children to church. The question of the spiritual education of children in Israel is very important, especially for those who live in a non-Christian environment. Many children were born in Israel and attend Israeli educational institutions, but, along with secular education, it is important for them to preserve the Orthodox faith and Russian culture.

In March 2009, the Russian Spiritual Mission organized a Sunday school at the Gornensky convent. Most of the parishioners are Russian-speaking Orthodox believers, among whom there are many families with children who are very interested in learning the basics of Orthodoxy.

Classes at the school are held every Saturday. In addition to studying the Law of God, parishioners also attend clubs on Fridays, where they learn handicrafts, learn about the history of Russia, and take part in theatrical productions. And since 2014, classes in Russian literature began to be held there, which helps students maintain their linguistic and cultural environment. The work of the Sunday School helps parishioners study history, strengthen their faith and become part of the Orthodox family.