Met. Hilarion discusses state of Orthodox Church in China

February 21, 2012 (pravoslavie.ru) - Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of Moscow Patriarchate, Metropolitan Hilarion addressed the students and teachers of the Moscow Theological Schools a lecture titled "The era of the new martyrdom. Discrimination against Christians in different parts of the world. " Responding to questions from those present at the end of the lecture, the chairman of the DECR, in particular, addressed the topic of pastoral care Orthodox compatriots in China and of Chinese Autonomous Orthodox Church, according to the site of the DECR Communication Service.

According to the Metropolitan Hilarion, between the Russian Orthodox Church and the authorities of the People's Republic of China today is a dialogue on the issue of restoration of the Chinese Autonomous Church. "In this dialogue, we aim to enable the Orthodox faithful residing in China - whether it's our people or the natives of China - to freely practice their faith," - said Bishop Hilarion.

Archbishop noted with regret that on this day "in this area is not all right": "Many of the Orthodox churches in China, or even shut down, or are officially in force, but they are not priests. I had a chance to visit these temples, to communicate with the faithful who come on Sunday to put a candle and pray before the icon, but worship in these temples is not happening, because there is no clergy. "

So far, attempts of the Russian Orthodox Church to agree with the government of China to send back the priests met some resistance. "Today, there are changes in this dialog. In particular, in the near future Russia will be sent two students to study in Moscow and St. Petersburg Theological Academy. We hope that they will at the end of training to become priests and serve in China "- the chairman of the DECR, describing this as" the first and cautious steps "towards normalizing the situation of the Chinese Autonomous Orthodox Church.