Archimandrite Nikodim Rotov. Better to burn than smolder

December 22 last year
Protodeacon Andrey Kuraev
published a letter "anonymous",
incriminating Metropolitan Nikodim Rotov in the following:
“My godfather was a psalmist at the Church of Kulich and Easter, where I met Father Vasily Ermakov, whom I still remember with gratitude and respect. whose influence on the modern Russian Orthodox Church you know more than I. I will say that I saw the Bishop of Vyborg more than once, with my godfather he was, one might say, a friend. Vladyka's secretary at that time was Hieromonk Simon, the current Archbishop of Belgium. Why am I all this? I didn’t give in to Vladyka’s harassment. Rostislav’s mother was from the “spiritual”, but, nevertheless, a very eccentric woman. I didn’t really believe her (70 to 30), and asked Rostik a question about this (that’s what his relatives called him) . His reaction was such that 70 percent turned into 100. I know for sure that Metropolitan Nikodim Rotov, who died at a reception with the Pope in the presence of Fr. Lev Tserpitsky, the greatest leader of the Russian Orthodox Church in the last 50 years, was unequivocally a homosexual. I won't rate it, it's none of my business.
http://diak-kuraev.livejournal.com/566085.html

I received these days from a famous church historian
and a direct eyewitness of the same events,
long comment,
quite differently dotting the i,
in this strange story: "First of all, thank you kalakazo for the link to the blog of deacon Kuraev.
It was not by chance that I wanted to read it in full in context, and not in retelling, otherwise Shargunov Jr. on "Echo" mentioned the subject of the letter, asked the deacon of All Russia a question, but he brushed it off, did not answer about the letter, where the late Nikodim (Rotov) will be remembered with an unkind word.

That is, what does it mean to be remembered, he is directly called by the author of the letter a homosexual metropolitan who ordained the current Patriarch Kirill.

This was said, of course, not by Kuraev, but by the anonymous author of the "open" letter. Kuraev even made a small Jesuit clause in his text, saying that not everyone around the saint was (or became) blue, for example, Abel (Makedonov) ... “And, of course, our current Patriarch does not fit the version proposed by the author of the letter” . (Oh, crafty Kurai! Not for nothing that the Tatar mug.)

But now not about Kuraev, but about the author of the letter, published by Kuraev. I will not analyze his revelations made to the deacon and his confession of homosexuality, this is the business of pastors, sexologists and his own conscience. But in his letter, he writes that he was baptized by a provincial Leningrad priest Lev Konin (before he left the USSR), and a certain Rostislav was his godfather (grandparent). Everything seems to be true here.

Next, attention! Rostislav, served as a psalmist in the Leningrad church "Kulich and Easter". But before that, according to the author of the letter, Rostislav allegedly was a cell-attendant of Metropolitan Nikodim! This is either a mistake of ignorance or a conscious lie!

From 1969 to 1978, Nikodim's cell attendants were: a priest (from the white clergy), a fourth-year student at the Academy, father Maxim (I forgot his last name); LDA student Hieromonk Damaskin (Bodry) - later a bishop; LDS student. Nikolai Tserpitsky, later Hieromonk Leo - now a bishop; LDS student Nikolay Teteryatnikov (now archpriest); LDA student hieromonk Mark (Smirnov); LDA student Hierdeacon Markell (Vetrov) – now a bishop; and Hieromonk Simon (Ishunin), now a bishop.

Now it's time to reveal to readers who Rostislav is. This is Rostislav Ivanov, who entered the LDS in 1969 and for a short time, before being drafted into the army, was a subdeacon of Metropolitan Nikodim. When meeting personally, Rostislav constantly emphasized that he was a relative of Bishop Sergius (Zinkevich), who died in Soviet times, which provided him with some degree of authority and fame in the church environment. Having been demobilized from the ranks of the SA, Rostislav Ivanov continued his studies at the LDS, but due to some violations of discipline (now it is difficult to remember everything in detail), he was expelled from the seminary. That is why he was forced to serve in the temple as a psalmist. He was never a cell-attendant of the metropolitan or his personal secretary.

At the same time, it should be noted that the cell attendant or secretary of the Metropolitan is a staff member of the Diocesan Administration. Indeed, he is part of his personal environment. Subdeacons from among pupils and students perform their functions only during divine services and are occasionally involved in certain obediences in the chambers of the metropolitan, for example, in receiving guests on church holidays. Those. The functions and degree of approach to the bishop of a cell-attendant and a subdeacon are very different. Here, by the way, it can be noted that Kuraev is once again mistaken, claiming that Ivan Sokur (later the schemer Zosima) was Nikodim's cell-attendant. He was only a subdeacon and for a fairly short time.

There is nothing special about the fact that all pupils and students from Leningrad knew each other. Nicodemus paid his attention to them and always talked with applicants before exams, and for many, if he knew them as parishioners of the cathedral, he gave recommendations for admission. Thus, there is no doubt that Rostislav Ivanov and Kirill Gundyaev knew each other, but they were never friends, which the anonymous author claims in his letter. By the time Ivanov entered, Kirill had already graduated from the Academy, was tonsured a monk and ordained a priest. At this time, he wrote his candidate essay and prepared for teaching. This is all the more unlikely at the moment when Kirill becomes rector and bishop of Vyborg. Those. in the period from 1975-1978, when, as the author of the letter writes, Hieromonk Simon (Ishunin) was Nikodim's secretary. And there are very good reasons for this, which will be discussed below.

As for the accusations of Nikodim themselves, which are built on the words of Rostislav Ivanov and his mother: “Rostislav was “exiled” to the psalm-readers from Vladyka’s cell-attendants because he did not yield to his, Vladyka’s, harassment.” If we are talking about a seriously ill (she suffered from an oncological disease), a dying woman, as the author of the letter himself claims, with a very “eccentric character”, then it is rather uncritically to take such statements on faith. The confirmation of "Rostik" himself is not proof, but rather an interpretation of the events that took place - his expulsion from the seminary.

At the same time, it is worth emphasizing that the author of the letter cited true facts from his biography and the biography of R. Ivanov. Indeed, his mother suffered from cancer and was slowly dying. But he doesn’t finish saying that Rostislav himself paid little attention to his mother, that in the next room, next to which Rostik’s mother was dying, there was a campaign of his friends in the dissident church party, who, despite the tragic situation, indulged in worship Bakhus, smoked and argued about the problems of church revival in the USSR. Is that why the author of the letter ended up in the role of a nurse? If we are to describe this story, then it must be written to the end.

After the death of his mother, Rostislav "strike hard", begins to drink and sell valuable things left from his mother. It comes to icons, and there were quite a lot of them in the house. Thus, he falls into the circle of people involved in buying, stealing and fartsovka icons. This is followed by an attempt to rob a Leningrad collector, in which the criminal group, which Ivanov was a part of as a "gunner", was arrested. And then there was an investigation, a prison, a trial, and several years of criminal punishment in a correctional labor institution.

Note that there was no politics here. Common domestic crime. For those who doubt the veracity of this story, I advise you to contact Tatyana Goricheva or Evgeny Pazukhin for help, who, together with Rostislav Ivanov, were participants in the so-called. "religious-philosophical seminars" and can confirm both the story of his mother's death and the story of his crime and punishment.

Currently, Rostislav Ivanov has changed his last name, he is now Zinkevich. In monasticism, his name is Pavel. He is neither more nor less than an archbishop of the True Orthodox Church. http://ipckatakomb.ru/pages/868/ By the way, one of the authors of your blog mentioned him. He wrote: “Rostik was found!”

Why did I say all this here?
First, because any history requires completeness and does not tolerate one-sidedness.
Secondly, it is worth considering whether such a source, unconsciously or consciously distorting the truth, can be taken into account? (Which of course does not mean to remove the very problem of the existence of the blue lobby in the Russian Orthodox Church.)
Thirdly, did the “great protodeacon of all Russia” really not know or could not suspect this when he published this letter - urbi et orbi?
Then why did he do it...? I believe the answer is already known. It's just revenge, very subtly directed, and well thought out in terms of consequences. This is revenge on all the hierarchs who did not appreciate the genius of the deacon and personally revenge on Cyril, who, of course, looked through his fingers for a long time at the statements of his protodeacon, and now he did not protect him from his professorial resignation at the MDA.

Now we know for sure that Father Andrei is a talented and well-educated man, but immensely ambitious and pettly vengeful.

In the famous movie, based on the novel by Vladimir Bogomolov "The Moment of Truth", the hero pronounces the code words: "Grandma has arrived", and here we can complete with another phrase: "Rostik was found!"

Bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church; from 1960 to 1972 chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchy.

Boris Georgievich Rotov was born on October 15, 1929 in the village of Frolovo, Korablinsky district of the Ryazan region, according to legend, in the family of the secretary of the Ryazan regional committee of the CPSU (b); The book Man of the Church, compiled by Metropolitan Yuvenaly, says the following about the parent of the future metropolitan: “Father, Georgy Ivanovich, worked in the Ryazan Provincial Land Administration as a land surveyor engineer.”

After graduating from high school, the young man entered the Ryazan Pedagogical Institute at the Faculty of Natural Science.

August 19, 1947 took monastic vows; ordained a hierodeacon by Archbishop Dimitry of Yaroslavl and Rostov (Gradusov; in the schema - Lazar) and numbered in the Yaroslavl Bishop's House. As Nicodemus himself recalled in his naming speech, on July 9, 1960, in the Refectory Church of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, “I entered the service of the Holy Church when Schema-Archimandrite Lazarus, whom I remember forever, clothed me in monasticism.” He later formalized his monastic name Nicodemus as a civil name .

On November 20, 1949, he was ordained a hieromonk by Archbishop Dimitry and appointed rector of the church in honor of the Nativity of Christ in the village of Davydovo, Tolbukhinsky District, Yaroslavl Region.

For some time he was the second priest of the Intercession Church in Pereslavl-Zalessky.

On August 7, 1950, he was appointed rector of the church in honor of St. Demetrius Tsarevich in Uglich and dean of the Uglich district.

In the same year he entered the correspondence sector of the Leningrad Theological Seminary, after which he was enrolled as a student of the Leningrad Theological Academy.

In January 1952, Hieromonk Nikodim was appointed cleric of the Cathedral in Yaroslavl and secretary of the Archbishop of Yaroslavl and Rostov; then the key of the cathedral.

Since December 1954 - acting rector.

In 1955 he graduated from the Leningrad Theological Academy with a degree in theology.

On February 25, 1956, he was appointed a member of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem, and then deputy head of the Mission.

On March 31, 1957, Metropolitan Nikolay (Yarushevich) of Krutitsy and Kolomna elevated Fr. Nikodim to the rank of abbot and laid a club on him.

September 25, 1957 appointed head of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem; elevated to the rank of archimandrite by Metropolitan Isidore of Nazareth and All Galilee at the request of Patriarch Alexy (Simansky).

In March 1959, upon his return to Moscow, Archimandrite Nikodim was appointed head of the Office of the Moscow Patriarchate.

From June 4, 1959 - Deputy Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations (DECR) - Metropolitan Nikolai (Yarushevich) - while retaining the post of head of the office of the Moscow Patriarchate.

On June 21, 1960, the decision of the Holy Synod on the dismissal of Metropolitan Nikolai (Yarushevich) took place, which was done at the direct request of Kuroyedov, Chairman of the Council for the Russian Orthodox Church under the Council of Ministers of the USSR. In his place was appointed Archimandrite Nikodim with the elevation to the rank of Bishop of Podolsky.

On July 10, 1960, in the Trinity Cathedral of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, he was consecrated by a host of bishops led by Patriarch Alexy I as Bishop of Podolsky, vicar of the Moscow diocese; as Chairman of the AUCC, Bishop Nikodim entered the administration of the parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church in Hungary, Finland and Japan.

On March 16, 1961, at a meeting of the Holy Synod, Patriarch Alexy proposed that “persons holding the positions of the Executive Director of the Moscow Patriarchate and Chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s DECR should be in episcopal rank and hold the rank of Permanent Members of the Holy Synod,” in connection with which the Synod decided “to approve in title of Permanent Member of the Holy Synod<...>Bishop of Yaroslavl and Rostov Nikodim.

On May 14, 1963, the Holy Synod decided "according to the petition filed, to release His Grace Archbishop Nikodim of Yaroslavl and Rostov from the post of chairman of the Publishing Department."

On August 3, 1963, he was appointed Chairman of the Holy Synod Commission on Christian Unity, into which the Commission on Inter-Christian Relations under the Holy Synod was then transformed; elevated to the rank of metropolitan and appointed to the Minsk and Belarusian cathedra.

On October 7, 1967, he was appointed part-time administrator of the Novgorod diocese with the title "Leningrad and Novgorod".

From July 4 to July 19, 1968, he headed the delegation of the Moscow Patriarchate at the IV Assembly of the WCC in Uppsala, Sweden; elected to the Central Committee of the WCC; in the same year he was elected Chairman of the Committee for the continuation of the work of the Christian Peace Conference (CPC).

On March 20, 1969, he was appointed representative of the Moscow Patriarchate to the Inter-Orthodox Preparatory Commission of the Holy Pan-Orthodox Council and was approved as chairman of the Holy Synod Commission on Christian Unity.

On December 16, 1969, he was appointed chairman of the commission to study the question of the glorification of the ever-memorable Archbishop of Japan Nicholas as a saint.

On March 17, 1970, he was entrusted with the temporary administration of the Patriarchal Parishes of North and South America.

In April 1970, in the United States of America, he signed an agreement with Metropolitan Irenaeus of New York on the conditions for granting autocephaly to the American Metropolis.

In April 1972, among other religious figures, the USSR signed a draft letter condemning the "slanderous" activities of A. Solzhenitsyn ..

On May 30, 1972, he was relieved of his post as Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations, according to a petition in connection with a serious illness; left by the chairman of the commission of the Holy Synod on issues of Christian unity.

From November 23 to December 10, 1975 he headed the delegation of the Russian Church at the V General Assembly of the WCC in Nairobi; was elected President of the World Council of Churches.

[edit] Foreign policy

He headed the delegations of the Moscow Patriarchate at the Pan-Orthodox Conferences in 1961, 1963, 1964 and 1968.

He played a key role in the negotiation process, as a result of which the canonical status was settled - from the point of view of the Moscow Patriarchate - of the Metropolitan District in North America (Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church in America): the latter was granted autocephaly by the Patriarchal and Synodal Tomos in 1970, which established the Autocephalous Orthodox Church in America.

The relations with the Vatican carried out by Nikodim Rotov on behalf of the Moscow Patriarchate are traditionally of the greatest interest. Characteristically, he dedicated a monograph to John XXIII, published posthumously.

An analysis of the documents shows that whatever his personal attitude towards the Roman Church, the policy pursued by Nicodemus was always in line with the foreign policy line of the leadership of the USSR, which did not have diplomatic relations with the Holy See and until August 1962 considered the Vatican to be one of the centers of global "anti-Soviet influence" .

The first speeches of Nikodim on the issue do not differ in their tone from the speeches of other hierarchs of the Patriarchate in the post-war period, who exposed "not only the anti-Christian, but even the immoral essence of papism."

Thus, in his Report Peace is the Following of Christ at the First World All-Christian Conference in Defense of Peace on June 14, 1961, Nicodemus said:

Two trends are seen in the development of the papal system - the tendency to assert the dominion of the pope over the Church and the world, and the tendency to proclaim papal infallibility in matters of faith. Papal theory is the most vivid and concentrated expression of that spirit of outward legalism and secularization which has penetrated to a large extent into the teaching and life of the Catholic Church.<...>The striving for earthly dominion has thrown and is throwing the Roman Church into the very center of the political international struggle. This striving compelled and still compels Papal Rome to be the driving force of various aggressive political associations and to act to the detriment of Christianity, to undermine the deep roots of the Christian faith and today's great mission of church communion.<...>Hypnotized by the prospect of the fullness of papal power, the Roman curia, with its earthly interests and connections, has firmly rooted itself into the old system of life, has inextricably linked itself with imperialist plans and still remains deaf, and more often hostile, to the moral and social demands of the masses fighting for the ideals of freedom, equality and fraternity. .

In connection with the preparations for the Second Vatican Council, the Secretary for Christian Unity, Cardinal Augustine Bea, invited representatives of the Orthodox Church to attend the Council as observers; The proposal was first of all addressed to the Patriarchate of Constantinople - Patriarch Athenagoras. ZhMP No. 5, 1961, published an editorial, Non possumus, which, listing the usual points of Orthodox criticism of Catholicism, responded to the cardinal's invitation: "The Moscow Patriarchate answers Cardinal Bea: NON POSSUMUS!"

In the summer of 1962, the attitude of the leadership of the USSR towards the Pope began to change. “Soviet diplomats and secret services began to build bridges for contacts with the Vatican, whose head at that time, the “red pope” John XXIII, also tried to build up peace efforts.”

During a confidential meeting in August 1962 in Paris of the Secretary of the Commission for the Promotion of Christian Unity, J. Willebrands, with Nikodim (Rotov), ​​it became clear that “the Kremlin could agree to the presence of observers of the Russian Orthodox Church at the Second Vatican Council, if the Vatican could guarantee that this The cathedral will not become an anti-Soviet forum.”

In September 1962, in an interview with French journalist Jean Goulier, Patriarch Alexy spoke of the closeness of the Churches "to each other in the field of doctrine and liturgical matters." The article Non possumus was officially declared by the private opinion of its author A. V. Vedernikov.

September 27 - October 2, 1962 J. Willebrands officially visited Moscow, where on September 30 he "was present at the church of Peter and Paul in Lefortovo for the liturgy performed by Archbishop Nikodim"; On October 10, the Holy Synod decided to accept the Vatican's invitation to send observers, determining the composition of the delegation: Archpriest Vitaly Borovoy and Archimandrite Vladimir (Kotlyarov).

On October 12, 1962, quite unexpectedly for all other local Orthodox Churches, a delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church left Moscow for Rome for the first session of the Council, which opened on October 11.

"In the meantime, the night before, Patriarch Athenagoras telegraphed to Rome that the heads of the Orthodox Churches, including the Patriarch of Moscow, had decided not to send observers."

Protopresbyter Sergiy Golovanov writes: “Nikodim’s secret condition was the Vatican’s refusal to criticize internal politics in the USSR, primarily religious lack of freedom, and the cessation of moral assistance to religious dissidents (meaning the underground bishops and priests of the UGCC).<...>Nikodim's visits to Rome strangely coincided with waves of persecution of religious dissidents in the USSR, including Ukrainian Greek Catholics. No one paid attention to the cries of Russian émigré newspapers: “Where the red tank did not reach, the red metropolitan went there!” Nobody paid any attention.

According to the daughter of N. Khrushchev, Rada Khrushcheva, during an audience with Pope John XXIII on March 7, 1963, at which her husband, then the editor-in-chief of Izvestia, Alexei Adzhubey, she herself and a certain Jesuit of Russian origin "Father Kulik", Adjubey handed Khrushchev's letter to the Pope; and the Pope, in her words, "handed him his letter for my father, which he wrote in Cyrillic in our presence."

The second session of the Vatican Council opened on September 29, 1963. On September 15, 1963, Metropolitan Nikodim paid a courtesy call to His Holiness Pope Paul VI, who received him in a private audience<...>laid flowers on the grave of Pope John XXIII and offered a litia for the repose of his soul. It is noteworthy that Patriarch Athenagoras did not even send congratulations on the occasion of the election of Paul VI and did not send a representative to his enthronement.

In 1963, negotiations began in Rome between the Vatican and the USSR on the establishment of diplomatic relations. They were attended by the USSR Ambassador to Rome S.P. Kozyrev and Cardinal Bea. Like the first similar attempt in the mid-1920s, the negotiations ended in vain due to the unwillingness of the Soviet leadership to alleviate the situation of believers in the USSR.

The circumstances of the death of Metropolitan Nikodim are set out in great detail in No. 11 of the ZhMP for 1978.

Nicodemus was in the Vatican at the head of the delegation of the Russian Church on the occasion of the enthronement of Pope John Paul I on September 3, 1978.

On September 5, at 10 o'clock in the morning, during an audience with the Pope, to which Metropolitan Nikodim went, despite the fact that, according to eyewitnesses, he looked very tired, he had a heart attack - instant cardiac arrest. The attack occurred when Nicodemus was presenting Archimandrite Leo (Tserpitsky) to the Pope. “The Pope read the prayers of departure and the prayer for the remission of sins. The Secretary of State, Cardinal John Villo, arrived and also prayed at the body of the deceased Metropolitan.

The sudden death of Nikodim gave rise to a conspiracy theory about the poisoning of the Russian metropolitan with a poison supposedly intended for the pontiff. Indeed, during the audience, shortly before the attack, Nicodemus was brought coffee, but the version of his accidental or intentional poisoning does not find any official and documentary evidence.

Farewell was in Rome, the funeral in Leningrad.

Where and how the death occurred produced bewilderment among the Russian Church; the words of Archbishop Vasily Krivoshein in his memoirs are characteristic:

It happened in the Vatican, in the presence of the Pope, away from his diocese and from the Orthodox in general. Of course, every death is a mystery of God, and it is bold to judge why it happens at one time or another and what it means, but personally I (and I think most Orthodox) took it as a sign of God. Perhaps even as an intervention of God, as a disapproval of the haste and enthusiasm with which the metropolitan carried out the work of rapprochement with Rome. All his trips to pay homage to the Pope, the communion of Catholics and even concelebrations with them, and all this in an atmosphere of both secrecy and demonstrativeness. Whether we were right or wrong, God alone can know. But such was our immediate overwhelming Orthodox experience.

Estimates of Metropolitan Nikodim, both during his life and after his death, are very different. Most of the clergy nurtured and ordained by him (such as, for example, Metropolitans Yuvenaly (Poyarkov), Kirill (Gundyaev), Archimandrite Augustine (Nikitin)), consider him an outstanding church leader and personality of his time. The merits of Nicodemus are said, in particular:

Do you know that it was thanks to Metropolitan Nikodim that our theological schools were saved in the 1960s? Do you know that Metropolitan Nikodim saved our episcopate? After all, Khrushchev once said that in 20 years he would show the last priest on television. A terrible anti-religious campaign was carried out, the closure of theological schools was planned. The Council for Religious Affairs was instructed by the Politburo not to ordain priests as bishops. It was expected that the old bishops would die out and the church would perish. But the tireless activity of Metropolitan Nikodim bore fruit. He managed to prove that in order to maintain the international prestige of the Russian Orthodox Church, a galaxy of young, literate bishops is needed. And he literally broke the laying on of hands. These bishops were called Nikodimians and were suspected of sins only because of their spiritual affinity with the metropolitan.

In the conservative circles of the Russian Church, a negative assessment prevails: he is blamed, first of all, for ecumenism and, in particular, for his fascination with Catholicism. Archbishop Vasily Krivoshein writes about the latter with some bewilderment in his memoirs about him.

What confused many of us (both in Russia and in the West) was Metropolitan Nikodim's fascination with Catholicism! This infatuation was largely irrational, almost pathological. It didn't start right away and has grown over the years. I think that at first he was influenced by A. L. Kazem-Bek. I remember how back in 1960 in Moscow, at the height of Khrushchev’s persecution of the Church, he developed the idea for me that we do not need to seek rapprochement with the WCC (this is not a serious organization), but the Catholics are another matter, they can help us and we need to remove unite. It is also said that Metropolitan Nikodim's long, 600-page master's thesis was largely written by Kazem-Bek. I believe that Metropolitan Nikodim was attracted to Catholicism first of all by his idea of ​​him as a powerful, strictly disciplined one Church. In vain we told him many times that such a picture does not correspond to modern reality, that now in the Catholic Church discipline is undermined worse than in Orthodoxy. They told him that priests serve Mass as they please, while theologians deny the basic dogmas of the faith. Metropolitan Nikodim never wanted to renounce his belief in Catholicism! Appearance affected him.

After the death of Patriarch Alexy I, a real possibility arose that Metropolitan Nikodim would be elected patriarch. In the Appeal to the Local Council of 1971 “Regarding the new false teaching of Met. Nikodim (Rotov)" by priest N. Gainov and laymen F. Karelin, L. Regelson and V. Kapitanchuk, an attempt was made to show that Metropolitan Nikodim with a group of theologians over a number of years "developed and planted in the Russian Church a new in the spirit of apocalyptic religious communism, in which a new dogmatic formulation of those foundations of the Christian faith that were not formulated in the Dogmas of the Ecumenical Councils was given.

The Orthodox publicist K. Yu. Dushenov, who is in opposition to the leadership of the Moscow Patriarchate, calls him and his activities “almighty heresiarch”, “Nikodimovism”. Accusations of Nikodim of homosexuality splashed out in the media, using clichés of unclear origin - "Nikodim's sin."

Born on October 15, 1929 in the village of Frolovo, Korablinsky district, Ryazan region. After graduating from high school, he entered the Ryazan Pedagogical Institute at the Faculty of Natural Science.

On August 19, 1947, Archbishop Dimitry (Gradusov) of Yaroslavl and Rostov was tonsured a monk and ordained a hierodeacon with reckoning to the Yaroslavl bishop's house.

On November 20, 1949, Archbishop Demetrius was ordained to the rank of hieromonk and appointed rector of the Church of the Nativity in the village. Davydovo, Yaroslavl region. Later, for some time he was the second priest of the Church of the Intercession in the city of Pereslavl-Zalessky, and then on August 7, 1950, he was appointed rector of the church of St. Tsarevich Dimitri in the city of Uglich and dean of the Uglich district.

In the same year he entered the correspondence sector of the Leningrad Theological Seminary, after which he entered the Leningrad Theological Academy.

In January 1952, he was appointed cleric of the Yaroslavl Cathedral and secretary of the Archbishop of Yaroslavl and Rostov, then the dean of the cathedral, and from December 1954, acting rector.

In 1955 he graduated from the Leningrad Theological Academy with a degree in theology.

On February 25, 1956, he was appointed a member of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem, and then deputy head of the Mission.

On March 31, 1957, Metropolitan Nikolai of Krutitsy and Kolomna was elevated to the rank of abbot, and on September 25 of the same year he was appointed head of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem with the elevation to the rank of archimandrite. The elevation to the rank of archimandrite was accomplished (at the request of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy I) by Metropolitan Isidore of Nazareth and All Galilee.

In March 1959 he was appointed head of the office of the Moscow Patriarchy.

On July 10, 1960, at the Trinity Cathedral of the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra, he was consecrated Bishop of Podolsky, Vicar of the Moscow Diocese, with the appointment of Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations. The consecration was performed by His Holiness Patriarch Alexy I, Metropolitan of the Lebanese Mountains Elijah, Bishops of Sergiopol Vasily, Dmitrovsky Pimen, Mozhaisk Stefan.

As chairman of the DECR, Bishop Nikodim took over the management of the parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church in Hungary, Finland and Japan.

On August 28, 1960, he was appointed a member of the Commission for Inter-Christian Relations, and from September 19 he headed the Publishing Department of the Moscow Patriarchate. Appointed chairman of the editorial board of the collection "Theological Works".

On May 11, 1963, he was awarded the right to wear a cross on his klobuk. Elected an honorary member of the Moscow Theological Academy.

On July 3, 1963, he was appointed chairman of the Holy Synod Commission on Christian Unity.

On August 3 of the same year, he was elevated to the rank of metropolitan, appointed to the Minsk and Belarusian cathedra, and on October 9 he became metropolitan of Leningrad and Ladoga.

On October 7, 1967, he was appointed administrator of the Novgorod diocese with the title "Leningrad and Novgorod".

In 1968, at the head of a delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church, he attended the IV Assembly of the World Council of Churches in Uppsala (Sweden) and was elected to the Central Committee of the WCC; in the same year he was elected to the post of chairman of the Committee for the continuation of the work of the KMK.

He headed the delegations of the Russian Orthodox Church at four Pan-Orthodox meetings - in 1961, 1963, 1964 and 1968.

On March 20, 1969, he was appointed a representative of the Moscow Patriarchate to the Inter-Orthodox Preparatory Commission of the Holy Pan-Orthodox Council and was approved as chairman of the Holy Synod Commission on Christian Unity.

In 1970, the temporary administration of the Patriarchal parishes of North and South America was entrusted. In the same year he was awarded the right to wear two panagias; also awarded a master's degree in theology.

On June 25, 1970, he was appointed a member of the Commission of the Holy Synod for the preparation of the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church.

On May 30, 1972, according to a petition, he was dismissed from the post of chairman of the Department for External Church Relations due to a serious illness. At the same time, he was left the chairman of the Commission of the Holy Synod on issues of Christian unity; he was also entrusted with the archpastoral care of parishes located in Finland, which are under the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate. On September 3, he was appointed Patriarchal Exarch of Western Europe.

On October 24-25, in connection with the 20th anniversary of the Christian Theological Academy in Warsaw, the Senate and the Council of the Academy awarded Metropolitan Nikodim with the honorary degree of Doctor of Theology honoris causa for his great merits in the field of ecumenical and peacemaking activities.

From November 23 to December 10, 1975, he headed the delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church at the Fifth General Assembly of the WCC in Nairobi and was elected President of the World Council of Churches.

The merits of His Eminence Nikodim before the Russian Orthodox Church were marked by many awards, including the Order of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir (I, II, and III classes); he was awarded the right to wear a second panagia and the right to serve with a cross. In addition, he was awarded many orders of the Local Orthodox Churches and other churches, as well as state orders of a number of countries: Greece (Order of the Phoenix), Lebanon (Order of the Lebanese Cedar), Yugoslavia (Order of the Yugoslav Banner).

He was an honorary member of the Leningrad and Moscow Theological Academies. He was a member of the board of the Union of Soviet Societies for Friendship and Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries and the board of the Soviet Association of Friendship with the Peoples of Africa.

Metropolitan Nikodim died of a heart attack on September 5, 1978 in the Vatican, where he arrived on behalf of the Holy Synod at the head of a delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church.

The funeral service took place on September 10, 1978 at the Holy Trinity Cathedral of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. The funeral service according to the monastic rite was performed by His Holiness Patriarch Pimen, His Beatitude Metropolitan Dorotheos of Prague and all Czechoslovakia, Archbishop Pavel of Karelia and all Finland, co-served by the permanent members of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church: Metropolitan Filaret of Kyiv and Galicia, Metropolitan Alexy of Tallinn and Estonia and Metropolitan Yuvenaly of Krutitsy and Kolomna , Metropolitan Anthony of Minsk and Belarus, temporarily administrator of the Leningrad diocese, other metropolitans, archbishops and bishops who came to say goodbye to the deceased, numerous clergy.

Metropolitan Nikodim was buried at the Nikolsky cemetery of the Holy Trinity Alexander Nevsky Lavra.

The main goal of the Church is to preserve in purity the saving teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ, which He brought to earth for the salvation of all mankind. The main crime in the state is an attempt on its political system. And the main crime against the Church is heresy, since it is aimed at defiling the purity of her teachings. Hence it becomes clear why the Church of Christ has always looked negatively at heresies and uncompromisingly fought them in the person of the Holy Fathers, many of whom were martyred by heretics.

The Church expressed its attitude towards heretics in canons or church laws, according to which:

1. Orthodox Christians cannot pray with heretics. “If anyone prays with someone who has been excommunicated from church fellowship, even if it is in the house, let such one be excommunicated.” (Rule 10 of the Holy Apostles).

2. Accept gifts from them. “If anyone, a bishop, or a presbyter, or a deacon, or in general from the list of the clergy, fasts with the Jews, or feasts with them, or receives from them the gifts of their feasts, such as: unleavened bread, or something similar; let him be cast out. If he is a layman, let him be excommunicated” (Canon 70 of the Holy Apostles).

3. To allow them to access the Sacraments of the Church, or to enter into heretical false sacraments themselves. “A bishop, or a presbyter, or a deacon, who only prayed with heretics, may he be excommunicated. But if he allows them to act in any way, like the ministers of the church: let him be cast out. (Rule 45 of the Holy Apostles). There are other prohibitions concerning the communication of the Orthodox with heretics.

4. Take a blessing from heretical priests. “Since now is the time of heresy, without inquiry one should not say to them: “Bless, saints,” nor ask their prayers,” writes St. Theodore the Studite.

5. Take food with them. The same saint says: “If someone eats together with those who have combined adulterers or with another heretic, it is indifferent, then it is not necessary to eat food together with such ...”.

But in the second half of the twentieth century A bishop appeared in the Russian Orthodox Church who dared to violate the rules of the Holy Apostles, as well as the Ecumenical Councils and Holy Fathers, doing everything exactly the opposite. We are talking about Metropolitan Nikodim (Rotov).

“The end,” as the people say, “is the crown of business.” Rotov's end was terrible. On August 10, 1978, in defiance of the strictest prohibition of the Holy Apostles, he served a memorial service at the tomb of Pope Paul VI. On August 12, also contrary to the canons, he participated in his funeral. And on September 5, in the Vatican, he suddenly died at a reception at Pope John Paul I at the shoes of the Roman pontiff, like his faithful dog. The prophecy of Blessed Pelagia of Ryazan, who predicted a terrible and shameful death to the ecumenist, came true: “You will die like a dog at the feet of your dad.” After Rotov's death, Vatican Radio announced that he was a secret Catholic cardinal. This sad outcome was preceded by a long path of betrayal of Orthodoxy, the milestones of which were:

1. Cooperation with the KGB under the operational pseudonym "Svyatoslav" ("Private definition of the Commission of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of Russia to investigate the causes and circumstances of the State Emergency Committee").

2. The involvement of the Russian Orthodox Church in the heretical World Council of Churches, which St. Justin (Popovich) called "a heretical, humanistic and man-pleasing council, consisting of 263 heresies (1961), each of which means spiritual death."

3. Joint service with heretics in violation of church laws in the West and in the Leningrad Theological Academy, communion of heretics with the Holy Mysteries of Christ.

4. Education of a new stratum of bishops who are ready to betray Orthodoxy for the sake of their career.

5. Pseudo-theological works in which Rotov justifies communist atheism and calls for unity with all non-believers and heretics.

6. Persecution of archpastors and pastors who are firm in Orthodoxy.

All this is no secret to anyone now. Therefore, it was strange to hear when, on July 17, 2010, on the air of the “Church and World” program, the chairman of the Department for External Church Relations, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, in response to a question from the co-host of the program Ivan Semenov about Nikodim (Rotov), ​​began to extol him as an ascetic of piety.

“The true greatness of this man is becoming clear only now. In fact, he played a decisive role in determining the position of our Church in relation to the state, which under Khrushchev organized another wave of persecution of the Church. Metropolitan Nikodim, with all the power of his intellect and church consciousness, stood up for the defense of the Church...”. Further, Metropolitan Hilarion explains to the journalist and the viewers of the program how, with the help of heretics, he "saved" the Church.

If one does not know Rotov's treacherous biography, then from the words of his successor, Metropolitan Hilarion, a false impression may be formed about the "holiness" of the secret cardinal. Perhaps for the Roman curia he is holy, but he is as far from true Orthodox holiness as from earth to heaven. Orthodox Christians, on the other hand, are guided not by such false saints and no longer believe the words of Metropolitan Hilarion, but in their spiritual life they are guided by the writings of the Holy Fathers, hoping through them to gain salvation and avoid the temptations of modern anti-Christian reality.

Nikolay Svetlov

The true face and mask of Metropolitan Nikodim (Rotov)

The main goal of the Church is to preserve in purity the saving teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ, which He brought to earth for the salvation of all mankind. The main crime against the Church is heresy, since it is aimed at desecrating the purity of its teachings. Hence it becomes clear why the Church of Christ has always looked negatively at heresies and uncompromisingly fought them in the person of the Holy Fathers, many of whom were martyred by heretics.

The Church expressed its attitude towards heretics in canons or church laws, according to which:

1. Orthodox Christians cannot pray with heretics. “If anyone prays with someone who has been excommunicated from church fellowship, even if it is in the house, let such one be excommunicated.” (Rule 10 of the Holy Apostles).

2. Accept gifts from them. “If anyone, a bishop, or a presbyter, or a deacon, or in general from the list of the clergy, fasts

with the Jews, or celebrates with them, or receives from them the gifts of their feasts, such as: unleavened bread, or something similar; let him be cast out. If he is a layman, let him be excommunicated” (Canon 70 of the Holy Apostles).

3. To allow them to access the Sacraments of the Church, or to enter into heretical false sacraments themselves. “A bishop, or a presbyter, or a deacon, who only prayed with heretics, may he be excommunicated. But if he allows them to act in any way, like the ministers of the church: let him be cast out. (Rule 45 of the Holy Apostles). There are other prohibitions concerning the communication of the Orthodox with heretics.

4. Take a blessing from heretical priests. “Since now is the time of heresy, without inquiry one should not say to them: “Bless, saints,” nor ask their prayers,” writes St. Theodore the Studite.

5. Take food with them. The same saint says: “If someone eats together with those who have combined adulterers or with another heretic, it is indifferent, then it is not necessary to eat food together with such ...”.

But in the second half of the twentieth century A certain bishop appeared in the Russian Orthodox Church, who dared to violate the rules of the Holy Apostles, as well as the Ecumenical Councils and Holy Fathers, doing everything exactly the opposite. We are talking about Metropolitan Nikodim (Rotov).

“The end,” as the people say, “is the crown of business.”

The end of Rotov was terrible:

On August 10, 1978, in defiance of the strictest prohibition of the Holy Apostles, he served a memorial service at the tomb of Pope Paul VI. On August 12, also contrary to the canons, he participated in his funeral.

And on September 5, in the Vatican, he suddenly died at a reception at Pope John Paul I at the shoes of the Roman pontiff, like his faithful dog.

The prophecy of Blessed Pelagia of Ryazan, who predicted a terrible and shameful death to the ecumenist, came true:

"Like a dog you will die at the feet of your dad."

After Rotov's death, Vatican Radio announced that he was a secret Catholic cardinal. .

This sad outcome was preceded by a long path of betrayal of Orthodoxy, the milestones of which were:

1. The involvement of the Russian Orthodox Church in the heretical World Council of Churches, which St. Justin (Popovich) called "a heretical, humanistic and man-pleasing council, consisting of 263 heresies (1961), each of which means spiritual death."

2. Joint service with heretics in violation of church laws in the West and in the Leningrad Theological Academy, communion of heretics with the Holy Mysteries of Christ.

3. The education of a new stratum of bishops who are ready to betray Orthodoxy for the sake of their career. 4. Pseudo-theological writings, in which Rotov calls for unity with all non-believers and heretics.

6. Persecution of archpastors and pastors who are firm in Orthodoxy.

All this is no secret to anyone now. Therefore, it was strange to hear when, on July 17, 2010, on the air of the “Church and the World” program, the chairman of the Department for External Church Relations

Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk in response to a question from co-host of the program Ivan Semenov about Nikodim (Rotov), ​​he began to extol him as an ascetic of piety.

“The true greatness of this man is becoming clear only now. In fact, he played a decisive role in determining the position of our Church in relation to the state, which under Khrushchev organized another wave of persecution of the Church. Metropolitan Nikodim, with all the power of his intellect and church consciousness, stood up for the defense of the Church...”. Further, Metropolitan Hilarion explains to the journalist and the viewers of the program how, with the help of heretics, he "saved" the Church.

If one does not know Rotov's treacherous biography, then from the words of his successor, Metropolitan Hilarion, a false impression may be formed about the "holiness" of the secret cardinal. Perhaps for the Roman curia he is holy, but he is as far from true Orthodox holiness as from earth to heaven. Orthodox Christians, on the other hand, are guided not by such false saints and no longer believe the words of Metropolitan Hilarion, but in their spiritual life they are guided by the writings of the Holy Fathers, hoping through them to gain salvation and avoid the temptations of modern anti-Christian reality.

Svetlov

============================

ADDITION

Some facts from the life of Metropolitan Nikodim Rotov and his spiritual children

Nikodimov cancer ROC

At present, all key positions in the Russian Orthodox Church are occupied by Nikodimovites. Consequently, we have received the spiritual heritage of Nikodim's policy, which has a pronounced ecumenical direction, eroding the foundation of Orthodoxy, which the Russian people have so carefully preserved for centuries. And today such seductive ecumenical activity of Metropolitan Nikodim is offered to the Russian Orthodox people as a spiritual heritage.

Let us recall some facts and moments from the life of Met. Nikodim (Rotov). In his religious views, he clearly gravitated towards Catholicism. For example, he publicly admired Catholic cathedrals, arguing that they supposedly have true grandeur, unlike our less spacious Orthodox churches. A lot of personal evidence has been published of Nicodemus serving "private masses" according to the Latin rite.

In August 1969, the head of the Russian Catholics, "Bishop" Andrey Katkov, flew to Moscow at the invitation of Metropolitan Nikodim (Rotov). During visits to parish Orthodox churches, with the blessing of Metropolitan Nikodim, he was met according to the rank of bishop, abbots and worshipers came up for blessing, and some Moscow bishops even reverently kissed him.

A month later, the first ever official pilgrimage from the Russian Church to the shrines of Rome took place. Metropolitan Nikodim (Rotov) presented the Orders of St. Vladimir, 1st class, to Cardinals Eugene Tisserand and Jans Willebrance; the prefect of the Eastern congregation, Cardinal Maximilian de Furstenberg, was presented with a panagia, and the rector Paul Maillet was presented with a pectoral cross. The culmination of the pilgrimage was the solemn "divine liturgy" that Metropolitan Nikodim celebrated in the Russian Catholic Church of St. Anthony, co-served by Archpriest Boris Glebov, Hieromonk Kirill Gundyaev (the current Patriarch) and some priests. Litanies were read by Deacon Andrei Mazur (who became Patriarchal Archdeacon). The Catholics present proceeded to communion, anticipating the onset of Eucharistic communion between Moscow and Rome.

Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church: Kirill (Gundyaev), Nikodim (Rotov), ​​Filaret (Denisenko) and prof. A.I. Osipov

Already in 1969, thanks to the merits of Metropolitan Nikodim, Roman Catholics were admitted to the sacraments by a decree of the Holy Synod of the ROC MP. But soon this scandalous decision was canceled.

It must be said that with the symbolic death of Metropolitan Nikodim, the heresy of ecumenism he preached and vigorously propagated did not cease to exist in the Russian Church, since he managed to leave behind a galaxy of his disciples, whom he once managed to ordain to the priesthood and put in leadership positions. Now the work of Rotov is continued by: Metropolitan Yuvenaly (Poyarkov) of Krutitsy and Kolomna, Metropolitan Vladimir (Sabodan), Exarch of the Ukrainian Church, Metropolitan Philaret (Vakhromeev), Exarch of the Belarusian Church, Metropolitan Vladimir (Kotlyarov) of St. Petersburg, and others.

One of the closest and favorite disciples of Metropolitan Nikodim was then Archbishop of Vyborg, and now Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill (Gundyaev).

Vladyka Nikodim's first disciple never hid that he considered it his duty to bring the work of his late teacher to the end. And the ideal and main dream of Rotov was "reunification with the great church of the West" through the holding of the "eighth ecumenical" council.

MP delegation headed by Met. Nikodim (Rotov) at a reception with Pope Paul VI in the Vatican, as part of the delegation of Archim. Kirill (Gundyaev), who was a member of the Central and Executive Committees of the WCC, July 3, 1975

In 1978, on September 5, in the Vatican, during an audience with Pope John Paul I, while performing an obligatory rite - kissing a shoe, his guest, the founder of the heresy of ecumenism in Russia, Metropolitan Nikodim (Rotov) of Leningrad, died suddenly. 13 years before that, he met with the spirit-bearing old woman, blessed Pelagia of Ryazan, who predicted to him: “Like a dog, you will die at the feet of your dad.”

When Rotov became ill, dad read the waste from him. Then, in the Cathedral Church of St. Peter, the Roman pontiff, concelebrated by many cardinals, prelates and priests, buried Nicodemus and, accompanied by two cardinals, sent the coffin with the stinking remains of the deceased to Leningrad. In the Holy Trinity Cathedral of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, the cardinals from the pulpit delivered a commendable speech to the deceased ecumenist and told his disciples about his “blessed” death at the feet of the pope. Currently, Rotov's students occupy the leading departments of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Metropolitan Kirill (Gundyaev) kisses the hand of Pope Benedict XVI

Ecumenical revelations of the future Orthodox patriarch