Part 4, No. 5 of the Long Telegram - The Russian Orthodox Church

[Maximilian75]

The Long Telegram is a document written by an American diplomat concerning Soviet expansion after the second World War. It says

Part 4: The Following May Be Said as to What We May Expect by Way of Implementation of Basic Soviet Policies on Unofficial, or Subterranean Plane, i.e. on Plane for Which Soviet Government Accepts no Responsibility…
No. 5: Russian Orthodox Church, with its foreign branches, and through it the Eastern Orthodox Church in general.

Was this based off anything concrete, or just general Russophobia?

 

[Aspidistraflyer]

Might be based on this

On July 29, 1927, Metropolitan Sergei Stragorodsky, acting as de facto head of the Russian Orthodox Church, signed a statement of unconditional loyalty to the Soviet State. The statement was co-signed by all members of the Holy Synod, and Archbishop Alexy of Khutyn.[1]

But, that this would affect their guys in the USA, especially when this definitely forced, probably Russophobia

 

[Maximilian75]

That’s fascinating! Thank you.

 

[dochawk]

As a general issue, the RO church was effectively a department of the Tsarist government long before the communists were around.

Also, the issue of the ties to the communist government triggered ROCOR, the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia. For lack of a better term, it was an “internal schism”. It’s only in the last year or two that the diaspora and RO are back in communion with one another.

hawk