Messages from Metropolitan John (Wendland) of Yaroslavl and Rostov and the clergy of the Yaroslavl Diocese following the results of the Fifth General Assembly of the WCC in Nairobi (1975)

Abstract

The article is devoted to the description of the messages of Metropolitan John (Wendland) of Yaroslavl and Rostov and a number of clergy of the Yaroslavl diocese, sent in 1976 to the Secretary General of the World Council of Churches, Dr. Philip Potter. The correspondence earned special attention from the Cabinet of the Authorized Council for Religious Affairs under the Cabinet of Ministers of the USSR for the Yaroslavl region and was preserved in one of the funds of the State Archive of the Yaroslavl Region. The reason for writing the letters was the feedback from the delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church about its participation in the Fifth General Assembly of the World Council of Churches in Nairobi (1975). The change in the vector of the WCC’s work, expressed in the Assembly’s focus on socio-political problems of Christians instead of ecclesiological ones, caused a resonance among Orthodox clergy and believers. The reaction to the results of the WCC’s activities was reflected in the official report of the Moscow Patriarchate, as well as in letters from Soviet archbishops and clerics. This article aims to conduct a historical and theological analysis of these epistles, as well as to determine whether the reason for their writing was determined by the sincere impulse of the Yaroslavl clergy or by the order of the Soviet authorities.