Archbishop Mark of Berlin is her superior and he has blessed her ministry.
***So........it seems that Metropolitan Archbishiop Mark played a major role in the reunification efforts between ROCOR and ROC, MP.
This lifted from OrthodoxWiki:
"Abp. Mark has been one of the most ardent supporters of Church unity between ROCOR and the Moscow Patriarchate, and worked tirelessly to see this goal achieved. From 1993 to 1997, he headed the dialog between the German based dioceses of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia and the Moscow Patriarchate in the re-united Germany. Since 2000, he has been the President of the Committee on the Unity of the Russian Church, and since 2003, the President of the Commission on talks with the Moscow Patriarchate. This was a large part of the impetus which brought about the reunification of the ROCOR and Moscow Patriarchal churches, which finally took place in 2006." Source: OrthodoxWiki
****However................ there is this statement from the Met. Mark about 1/2 year after the Russian invasion began:
Metropolitan Mark (ROCOR): War is negatively affecting Russian Church, must stop immediately / OrthoChristian.Com
https://orthochristian.com/146493.htmlThis is a somwhat cautious statement, but nonetheless, certainly not in keeping with Kremlin or MP narratives.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
As to the post by Roman ( above), concerning FBI warnings about ROCOR and Russian intelligence/ spying.......
As a person growing up in the Cold War, I find it amazing how some Americans are willing to buy into Russian narratives about the West- So much so that they, as the video clip says, " are happy to help" the Russian efforts. The times sure have changed.
This is the direct result of a misrepresentation of, and preoccupation with, the "evils and decadence of the West". And this constant reference, this preoccupation, to moral decay lays the groundwork for the appearance of........the messianic autocrat. There have been many in history, and many waiting in the wings until their popularity grows even more.
But what is not fully understood is that autocrats (or autocrat want to bes) "use" morality as a tool to gain a following ( while they, themselves, make up their own moral rules.) It is standard authoritarianism playbook stuff......they grab onto a emotionally charged issue, assign blame, then promise that only they can fix this, and return things to "the great past" (a past that is largely mythical, by the way.)
This is such powerful stuff that even well meaning people are duped into trading democracy for a "promised" moral and social stability..........history bears witness to this often, and it has contributed to many of the great calamities of humanity and always signals low periods of culture. In the end result , Democracy is demeaned as "chaos", Authoritarianism hailed as "order".
And that's not the only tactic in the authoritarian playbook, but that is another Forum, perhaps.
At any rate, that is my opinion on why there are those in Orthodoxy ( and elsewhere) defending or supporting the Russian narratives. It might be easy to say that they are more loyal to being Russian than American, but I do not believe ethnicity plays much of a role.....it is the fear of imagined chaos, and desire for order- no matter what form.
