861.404/516: Telegram
The Chargé in the Soviet Union (Hamilton) to the Secretary of State
[Received September 24—1:42 p.m.]
1444. At a service on September 21, in the Moscow Cathedral in which the Archbishop of York participated, messages of greetings and good will were exchanged between the Patriarch and visiting Archbishop.97 The Patriarch welcomed the English guest who, he stated, had come to Moscow to express the sympathy of the English people for the Orthodox Church and the Russian people and their admiration for the determination and sacrifices of the Russian people in their struggle against fascism. He paid a tribute to the Archbishop of York for undertaking the perilous journey in order to strengthen the bonds of friendship between the two peoples. In reply, the Archbishop of York expressed the sympathy of the Church of England for the suffering of the Russian nation during the present war and the admiration of the British people for the resistance and sacrifices borne by the Russian people and the Red army. He expressed the determination of Christians to resist the attempt of German and [Page 859] Italian Fascists to trample other nations underfoot and denied the claim of Germany to be the master race as contrary to the will of God. In conclusion he offered a prayer for victory and a just and lasting peace.
- The Anglican Archbishop of York, Cyril Forster Garbett, and his party visited Moscow September 19–28, 1943, to exchange expressions of greeting and good will with the Patriarch, and to revive ties of friendship that had long existed between the Anglican Church and Orthodox Church. The time of this visit had been decided upon before Stalin had given his approval to the convocation of an episcopal Sobor for the election of the Patriarch.↩