Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk to Bishop Welby

To the Right Rev. Justin Welby, Bishop of Durham



Dear Brother and Lord Bishop,

I would like to extend to you wholehearted congratulations on your election as Head of one of the oldest episcopal chairs founded by St. Augustine of Canterbury in the 7th century.

You have been entrusted with the spiritual guidance of the entire Anglican Communion, a unique union of like-minded people, which, however diverse the forms of its existence in the world may be, needs one ‘steward of God’ (Tit. 1:7) the guardian of the faith and witness to the Truth (cf. Jn. 18:37).

The Russian Orthodox Church and the Churches of the Anglican Communion are bonded by age-old friendly relations initiated in the 15th century. For centuries, our Churches would preserve good and truly brotherly relations encouraged both by frequent mutual visits and established theological dialogue and certainly by a spirit of respect and love which used to accompany the meetings of our hierarchs, clergy and ordinary believers.

Regrettably, the late 20th century and the beginning of the third millennium have brought tangible difficulties in relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Churches of the Anglican Communion. The introduction female priesthood and now episcopate, the blessing of same-sex ‘unions’ and ‘marriages’, the ordination of homosexuals as pastors and bishops – all these innovations are seen by the Orthodox as deviations from the tradition of the Early Church, which increasingly estrange Anglicanism from the Orthodox Church and contribute to a further division of Christendom as a whole.

We hope that the voice of the Orthodox Church will be heard by the Church of England and Churches of the Anglican Communion, and good fraternal relationships between us will revive.

I wish you God’s help in your important work.

‘May the God of love and peace be with you’ (2 Cor. 13:11).



Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk

From here.

Anglican Church in North America Statement on Welby's Appointment

By The Most Reverend Robert W. Duncan
November 9, 2012

On behalf of the College of Bishops, clergy and laity of the Anglican Church in North America, I greet Bishop Justin Welby and wish him God's blessings and every success as he prepares to step into his new ministry as Archbishop of Canterbury.

I assure him of our regular prayers as he assumes his new responsibilities in a time of significant challenge, tension and opportunity within our Anglican Communion. Bishop Welby's resume reveals a man who is devoted to God's Word and responsive to the Holy Spirit.

The Bishop's heart for the poor, particularly as priest and bishop in England's post-industrial North, is a heart with which we can readily identify.

His experience and skill with mediation and conflict resolution should serve him well in his new office. As Archbishop of the Anglican Church in North America, I look forward to getting to know Bishop Welby and to working with him.

It has been very helpful to have the doors of Lambeth Palace open to us under his two immediate predecessors, and I trust that Bishop Welby and I will develop a good and open relationship as I commit to work with him and others for the good, and the good order, of all who call themselves Anglican.

With my colleagues of the GAFCON Primates Council and with all who are part of the movement which is the Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans, I share the conviction that submission to "the apostles' teaching and fellowship, the breaking of bread and to the prayers" is the surest course through the days ahead.

May the Lord grant us all His grace and wisdom as we move forward in this new season together. 

The Most Reverend Robert W. Duncan is Archbishop and Primate of The Anglican Church in North America.