The role of metropolitan Anthony Surozhsky (Bloom) in building relations between the Russian orthodox church and the church of England in the XX century

Abstract

Introduction. The article is devoted to the consideration of the role of the metropolitan Anthony Bloom of Sourozh in the development of relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Church of England. The personality of the metropolitan Anthony is connected with the formation of the Surozh diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church. In addition, Father Anthony assisted in the functioning of the Commonwealth of Saint Albania and Reverend Sergius, an Orthodox Anglican organization. The organization began its work in 1928. In this organization, Father Antony Bloom began his service in England in the role of spiritual director. Materials and Methods. Important sources for this article were the writings of Antony Bloom himself, where he describes the pages of his biography, tells about his work in England. In addition, information from publicist literature was also used. An important source was information from the website of the Foundation for the Spiritual Heritage of the Metropolitan Anthony Surozhsky. It contains memoirs of contemporaries and Bloom's own articles. It is also important to note the works of N.M. Zernov, a Russian emigrant, one of the initiators of the Commonwealth of St Albans and Reverend Sergius. N.M. Zernov invited Fr Anthony to England to conduct the work of the Commonwealth. N.M. Zernov together with his wife in the journal "Sobornost" left a series of his memoirs about the activities of the organization. In these memoirs there is a reference to the role of Antony Bloom in the development of relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Church of England in the 20th century. Results. The author concludes that Father Anthony Bloom conducted active missionary work among English society. This allowed to increase the number of Orthodox believers in England. During the period of Antony Bloom's ministry, new parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church were opened in Great Britain. Father Anthony assisted in the activities of the Commonwealth of St Albans and Reverend Sergius. Conclusion. In the twentieth century there were a number of events that affected the decline in co-operation between the ROC and the Church of England. However, thanks to individual representatives of the Russian emigration, the relationship between the ROC and the Church of England not only survived, but continued to develop with greater vigour. To a greater extent this result is due to the personality of Metropolitan Anthony Surozhsky Bloom. He conducted work with believers and was engaged in explaining the fundamentals of the Orthodox faith on radio and television. This great work contributed to the development of dialogue between the Orthodox and Anglicans. Anthony Bloom was a participant in important events in the history of the dialogue between Orthodox and Anglicans in the second half of the 20th century.