WHAT PREVENTS YOU FROM BEING UNITED?
Kommersant, 18 May 2007

Alexander Antonov, President of the Russian Orthodox Old-ritualist Church:

"We have disagreements that are both canonical and doctrinal. They arose several centuries ago. In 1551, at the Stoglav council under the leadership of Ivan the Terrible it was decreed that those who do not cross themselves with two fingers will be accursed. These disagreements have persisted to the present and therefore we are far away from unification. But we are for good-neighborly relations."

Archpriest Georgy Petrenko, priest of the South American diocese of ROCOR:

"It is premature. The majority of parishes of Australia, Canada, and South America consider that canonical laws and order have been violated because of the unification. We do not like it that the leadership of ROCOR suddenly stopped thinking that there is no communism in Russia. Besides, we have never considered the Moscow patriarchate to be the Mother Russian Orthodox church.  And we do consider the RPTs and Patriarch Alexis are creatures of the state and thus they have never apolotized for the persecution. Our church could be united, but not so quickly."

Metropolitan of Suzdal and Vladimir Valentin, head of the Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church:

"Because of the lack of repentance and correction of errors. Patriarch Tikhon, who lived a the time of the revolution, issued a decree that if, for political reasons, various churches arose, then they should be administered independently. And when the time of troubles is over, it will be necessary to convoke a council at which each of the churches expresses its claims and then they are corrected. But this hasn't happened. But Laurus ran up his debts that they threatened that if he did not unite things would go bad for him."

Gleb Yakunin, priest of the Apostolic Orthodox Church:

"Unification always leads to totalitarianism. Churches have ideological differences; for example, some are liberal. Spiritual unity does not mean administrative unity. This unification came from the top down, from the president. But one need not wait long for there to be schism in ROCOR. It is being said that some of the priests were coerced and now court cases are being instituted over churches and property."

Metropolitan Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz, archbishop of the Mother of God archdiocese in Moscow and head of Russian Catholics:

"The unity of churches is the work of the Holy Spirit, and we all are but instruments. The unification of RPTs and ROCOR was awaited by all Orthodox Christians, for Christ said: 'That they all may be one.'  This unification will facilitate the development of dialogue among us. It is easier for the Orthodox to be united than for the Christian world. They were separated only 90 years, and not a thousand. The first steps toward unification were made by John Paul II and Benedict XVI is continuing this course."