Transforming the Modern World: an interview with Metropolitan Herman
Interview by Rebekah Goodyear
Rebekah Goodyear is an editor for Synaxis Press in Dewdney, BC, and a contributor to the official website of the Archdiocese of Canada. She conducted the following interview with His Beatitude, Metropolitan Herman, when he was in Montreal last fall for the centennial celebrations of Sts Peter & Paul Russian Orthodox Sobor.
Q. You were born and raised Orthodox, and you once told me in a reply to my letter that you never expected to be “anything more than a simple priest monk.” What was it like for you to be made a hierarch and the Metropolitan of the OCA?
A. I accepted it as a life of service to Christ and His Church, as in the words of St Paul: “Neither do I count my life dear to myself so that I might finish my course with joy and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus to testify the Gospel by the grace of God” (Acts of the Apostles 20:24).
Q. What in your view has been the most positive event of your reign as our Metropolitan?
A. The incredible number of men being called by the Holy Spirit to serve the Church - all three of our seminaries (St Vladimir’s, St Tikhon’s and St Herman’s) are at record enrollment.
Q. You have traveled a great deal in your work. Would you share some of your favourite memories and experiences?
A. I was blessed to participate in the Millenium of the Rus and the Centennial of St Tikhon’s Monastery. I was privileged to celebrate the glorifications of St Alexis, St Maksym and St Raphael. I have met with patriarchs and presidents; I have met Mother Theresa and Chernobyl orphans. I was incredibly moved when I celebrated Liturgy at the Pochaev Monastery with more than 30,000 Orthodox faithful participating.
Q. As we celebrate the 100th anniversary of Sts Peter & Paul Russian Orthodox Sobor here in Montreal, I would like to ask you to say a few words about this church.
A. For a century Sts Peter & Paul Church has been and continues to be a witness to our Lord and Saviour and a beacon of Orthodoxy in Montreal, just as the Church of Antioch founded by the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul was in the first century. My prayer is that it will continue so “until Christ comes again.”
Q. How would you define the role of the Orthodox Church in the modern world?
A. The Orthodox Church is the light of faith in the Word of God in the darkness of whimsical opinions, the pillar of morality amidst the quicksand of relativist societies. Our purpose is to transform the modern world, rather than conform to it, as the Scripture tells us.
Q. What would you consider to be the appropriate relationship between the Orthodox and the heterodox?
A. Orthodoxy needs to dialogue with the heterodox - as an opportunity to witness to the faith of the undivided Church “delivered once to the Saints”...and an occasion to invite them to share the life in Christ that is made available to men in His Holy Church.
Q. In your personal view, why choose Orthodoxy?
A. Orthodoxy is the true faith…taught by Our Lord Himself and traditioned to us by the Holy Apostles and their successors…exemplified and epitomized in the lives of the Saints, whom we can and should imitate…and sanctified by the blood of the martyrs for 2,000 years.
Q. In a world filled with multiple Christianities and religions, some might ask, “How do you know you have the True Church?” What would you say to those individuals?
A. Orthodoxy is the revelation of Jesus Christ taught by His very Apostles as it was preserved in the undivided Christian Church of the first millennium. Our Church has not added to that Faith or diminished it in any way - it remains unchanged. Orthodoxy alone has both Apostolic succession in our Bishops and the Apostolic faith of the early Church.
Q. Christ made it clear that the Gospel is for all nations, yet many Christians sadly have racist views. How do we, as Orthodox Christians, repair this damage?
A. We must reach out to everyone in our communities - all races, all nationalities, all ethnic groups - to people of all social, educational and economic levels - as St Paul says: “There is but one Lord…one faith…one baptism…one God and Father of all…”
Q. Many places in the world today still view women as being inferior to men. How would you define the Scriptural and Orthodox view of women and their place in society?
A. Our Lord (and Christianity alone) gave women personhood and the rights of full membership in the Church with sacramental privileges. They are equal with men - but not the same. Wives are partners and helpmates with their husbands in each other’s salvation and the salvation of their children. And women, just like men, are to use their God-given talents to the glory of the Lord and the service of His Holy Church.
Q. As our Metropolitan, I would like to ask you: Is the OCA advancing and growing as you would hope?
A. The OCA must ever more vigourously evangelize our existing communities, reach out to the non-Orthodox, and establish new mission parishes - so that we can continue to grow both spiritually and numerically for the glory of God and the building up of the Body of Christ, His Holy Church.
Q. What in your view sets the OCA apart from other jurisdictions?
A. The OCA does not see and/or treat America as “the diaspora” - rather the indigenous land in which the Church has been planted. The OCA is free to address the issues that challenge Orthodox Christians in America without intervention from abroad. The OCA illustrates what a united Church of all Orthodox Christians can be - one family (of members of Russian, Romanian, Bulgarian and Albanian descent and American converts), one Synod of Bishops, one witness to the truth of Christ in this country.
Q. How do you see the OCA as fully encompassing all three North American nations?
A. Our faithful across the United States, Canada and Mexico are represented in and governed by the Holy Synod of their Bishops. We share common ministries, theological schools and other apostolates wherein Bishops, clergy and faithful work together in the service of Christ, witnessing to Our Lord and Saviour, and encouraging others in all three lands to come to Him.
Q. Finally, in what direction do you see the Orthodox Church in America heading in the next few years?
A. We must continue to work toward one, united Orthodox Church in this country, as it was when St Innocent, St Tikhon and St Raphael worked together more than a century ago. We need to continue to reach out and bring to our Church the non-churched and others seeking the truth of the undivided Christian Faith of the first millennium. We need to promote the establishment of parochial schools, retirement facilities and other such institutions that will fulfill our responsibilities to “the least of the brethren.”