For several reasons, theological, political and topical, I find my sympathies lie with the group who have followed Bishop Basil in a vicariate under the Ecumenical Patriarch. The oddly nationalist caesaropapism of the Moscow patriarchate, in the aftermath of the Bolshevik Revolution and nearly 70 years of officially atheistic Soviet control, is truly puzzling to this Western catholic.
The article also stimulated some interesting reflections for me on the Western enculturation of Orthodoxy. On an aesthetic (and affective) level, I find the Orthodox liturgical accoutrements in a restrained classical Anglican architectural setting, like that of St Andrew’s, Holborn, very appealing.
The homepage for the Episcopal Vicariate of Great Britain and Ireland of the Exarchate of Parishes of Russian Tradition in Western Europe is here.
Tip of the catercap to Dr William Tighe.
