Russia

From 8/21 to 10/23 November 2018 a meeting of the Synod of Bishops of the Russian True Orthodox Church was conducted.  The RTOC’s First Hierarch is Archbishop Tikhon of Omsk, who succeeded Archbishop Lazar (Zhurbenko).  During the Synod meeting, two anathemas were passed, and ordered to be included in the Synodikon of Orthodoxy.  These anathemas condemn evolutionary theory.  The Synodal minutes are as follows:

II. A judgment was rendered about the anathema of the materialistic theory of the evolution of the organic world of Charles Darwin.  The formulated anathemas against Darwinism for proclamation on the Triumph of Orthodoxy are:

To the wicked teaching that the whole process of creation took place yet did not take place by the Providence of God, but by chance, through random processes of mutation and natural selection (which are essentially destructive, deadly processes)–Anathema.

To the unholy teaching that a person is a descendant of monkeys, whereas the Holy Scripture teaches: “And the Lord God created man from the dust of the earth, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul;” thus denying the Orthodox Teaching about the nature of man, shown in the Incarnation of Our Lord Jesus Christ–Anathema.

The other decisions made at the recent RTOC Synod meeting can be found here.  When an official English translation is made available it will be posted.  Prominent RTOC member, Dr. Vladimir Moss, has repeatedly written articles and works defending the traditional Orthodox Christian understanding of creation and opposing attempts at introducing modernistic thought into Orthodoxy.  Fr. Seraphim (Rose) before him also opposed the introduction of Darwinisitc thought into Orthodoxy, as did many other writers.  The policy of the RTOC in adopting these anathemas is an example for other professed True Orthodox Synods to follow suite.