The Old Believers from Augsburg
Moscow (February 2004). We fell immediately, as we crowded the cathedral on the eastern outskirts of Moscow entered. Daniil and I were the only two adult men with flowing beard. Already lasted for five hours of service, with the celebrated Russian Old Believers, the election of their new metropolitan. We had mixed in with the community and felt immediately that the other men are somewhat surprised at her.
No other Christian community cling so rigidly to all the ancient rites of the meticulously as the Russian Orthodox Old Believers Church. In the 17th Century it had split off after the church reform of the Patriarch Nikon of the Russian state church. That the sign of the cross should be beaten with three fingers instead of two that were played in the liturgy Hallelujahs three instead of two - these and other changes appeared to the Old Believers as a devil. They fled to Siberia were, to death, but she did not give up their ancient rituals. The Russian Old Believers
church undoubtedly had an enormous percentage of colorful characters. But one was even Altläubigen ratios curious thing that the religious side dish the Moscow newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta necessarily result in an interview with him was Michael Herzog, the first foreigner who has been in the history of each assigned by the Old Believers, an entire diocese - as "Bishop Ambrose of Augsburg, Germany and the Baltic countries" . As Ambrose is not good enough Russian language, the editors had asked me for help. I should lead the interview in German.
Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox,
Duke had a quite remarkable religious quest behind him. Born a Protestant, he was first appointed to the Catholic Church. Later, he was orthodox. The Greek Altkalendariern, a breakaway from the Greek Orthodox Church, he was even ordained a bishop. Eventually he came to the conclusion that the true Christian church has been preserved only in the Russian Old Believers, converted a second time and was soon again bishop.
Daniil of the newspaper office had arranged our meeting for 12 clock, but also by 13 clock of the thanksgiving service is still going on. There was a reason for it all: The election of the new Metropolitan, the Old Believers previously barely escaped a further schism. But even after the end of the Mass, the German bishop was running past us, we paid tribute to not look and blessed instead rather the faithful who gathered around him.
The "Nezavisimaya Gazeta had warned me that I had something to spend more time if I wanted to focus on the Old Believers. The members of this church have generally a time understanding that, of which the "ordinary" Russians differed somewhat. That was no exaggeration. We had hardly Duke finally put aside, was an employee of the church administration, declared that the Metropolitan would speak to the bishop, whereupon the German got up and disappeared.
praises of the new Church leader
We represented a while freezing the feet on the snow-covered cemetery, invited to the Old Believers are friendly to their banquet, they honor the newly elected Metropolitan Andrian to line up. At long tables covered were all members of the council. On the tables were salads, pickled vegetables, potatoes, meat and vodka. Every minute, another bearded man stood up and agreed with a deep bass voice to a song of praise to Andrian. All other arose from the benches and then wanted their new leader, "many, many years" of beneficial activity. In the ballroom there was a strange atmosphere, however, was sheer Lobsängen to the food to think any more. The banquet attracted more and more in length.
It was already dark when we finally after nearly five hours were able to put together in the guesthouse of the German church with the bishop. We should wait in a monastic cell to him in which he was to come for the time of the council. The staff of the church administration had previously instructed us to appeal to the bishop, "Your Eminence." Moreover, they said, Ambrose had really no desire to be interviewed. We it is best to ask questions about his favorite topics, such as about his personal relationship with the archpriest Avvakum, suggested the church people. Maybe he would respond.
No Time for contacts with other churches
Duke, a tall man of fifty, wore a long gray beard, round glasses and a self-designed models for medieval Bishop's Cloak. The bishop did not want to talk about the holy founder of Altgläubigenkirche, nor about his own German community. With difficulty we managed to figure out even some words from the born in Austria church hierarchs.
"On the number of members of the Old Believers say rarely or never," he oracular. Probably it was too embarrassing, the numbers - a few dozen souls in all of Germany - to . Call give contacts with other churches is not it, but he also had "no time", let it be known Ambrose. The fact that the Old Believers were not at all to find, there was neither a phonebook entry with a website, did not bother him. "Who seeks us find ourselves too," was his motto.
relief I was relieved when the "interview" was finally finished. Rarely have I wondered then so much, with whom I had spoken properly. With the representative of an ancient church or with their own cartoon?
The interview was published on 3 March 2004 in Nezavisimaya Gazeta.
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