Memorial service held on 15th anniversary of the death of Alexei Buevsky, a long-time DECR staff member

DECR Communication Service, 10.04.2024. 

April 9, 2024, marked fifteen years since the death of Alexei Sergeyevich Buevsky (1920-2009), a long-time staff member of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations (DECR). Archpriest Nikolai Balashov, adviser to the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' and rector of the Church of the Resurrection in Uspensky Vrazhek in Moscow, and hieromonk Nikon (Belavenets), steward of the St. Zosima Hermitage dedicated to the Smolensk icon of the Theotokos, celebrated a funeral litany at the grave of Alexei Sergeyevich at the Vagankovskoye cemetery in Moscow.

Memory Eternal to the dedicated worker of the Holy Church!

***

Alexei Sergeyevich Buevsky worked at the DECR from its establishment in 1946 until the last days of his life. During the first decades of his work he was guided by the ever-memorable Metropolitan Nikolai of Krutitsy and Kolomna, the first DECR chairman, and Metropolitan Nikodim of Leningrad and Novgorod, his successor. Mr. Buevsky worked at the DECR as an archivist, a secretary, an executive secretary and a consultant.

Alexei Buevsky was born into a family of Orthodox believers in Kostroma on June 21, 1920. In 1945, as a student at the Moscow Steel Institute, he entered the Theological Institute, which was transformed into the Moscow Theological Academy the next year. In 1951, he graduated from the Academy as a candidate of theology for his graduate thesis entitled “The Orthodox East and the Russian Orthodox Church in the first half of the 20^th century.”

In the aftermath of the war, he was directly involved in the formation and development of external activities of the Russian Orthodox Church that included the extension of fraternal relations with the Local Orthodox Churches, inter-Christian dialogue, and contacts with interreligious organizations.

He was a member of the Moscow Patriarchate delegation to the 1^st and the 3^rd Pan-Orthodox Conferences held on the island of Rhodes in 1961 and 1964; and of the Holy Synod Commission established in 1963 for working out topics to be discussed at the Pan-Orthodox Pre-Council. Also, he took part in assemblies and conferences of the World Council of Churches and general assemblies of the Conference of European Churches. In 1968, he became a member of the WCC Commission of the Churches on International Affairs and served as its vice-chairman and later as vice-moderator from 1969 to 1991.

Mr. Buevsky took an active part in organizing the international Christian peace movement. He attended six Peace Congresses held in Prague in the period from 1961 to 1985, was a member of the international secretariat of the Christian Peace Conference, a member of its working committee, and elected its vice-president in 1985. He was involved in the formation of the World Conference of Religions for Peace and was a member of its international council.

Also, he was actively involved in the life of the Church at home. For instance, he served as secretary of the Holy Synod commission established in 1980 for the preparation and celebration of the 1000^th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus', and a member of the Commission for restoration and rebuilding of the Danilov Monastery in Moscow, and a member of the Holy Synod Commission on Christian Unity and Interchurch Relations.

Alongside with his work at the DECR, Mr. Buevsky made his contribution to the work of the Publishing Department the Moscow Patriarchate and the "Orthodox Encyclopedia" Publishing House. For some years, he was a member of the editorial board of the “Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate” and the “Theological Works.”

Mr. Buevsky was awarded with state decorations and with the Russian Orthodox Church Orders of St.Vladimir, 1^st class; St. Sergius of Radonezh, 1^st class; St. Daniel of Moscow, 1^st and 3^rd class; St. Innocent of Moscow, 3^rd class. Also, he had many awards of the Local Orthodox Churches.

He was Doctor of Theology honoris causa of the Faculty of Orthodox Theology of the University of Prešov, Slovakia; the Jan Hus Theological Faculty in Prague, Czech Republic; and the Evangelical-Lutheran Theological University in Budapest, Hungary.

Alexei Sergeyevich died at the age of 88 on the night of April 9, 2009.