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Perhaps the most disturbing letter is from a number of bishops including the
Archbishop of Omsk who describes in greater detail the persecutions taking
place:

‘The Kremlin Cathedrals of Moscow and those in the towns of
Yaroslav and Semferopel have been sacked, and many churches
de?led … Vladimir, Metropolitan of Kie? [sic], about twenty
Bishops and hundreds of priests have been assassinated. Before
killing them the Bolsheviks cut o? the limbs of their victims,
some of whom were buried alive. Religious processions, followed
by great masses of people, at Petrograd, Toula, Kharko? and So-
glialitch, were ?red upon … Nuns are being violated, women made
common property, license and the lowest passions are rampant.
One sees everywhere death, misery and famine … In the name of
human solidarity and in the spirit of Christian brotherhood, we
trust that we shall be able to count upon your Grace’s compas-
sion. We hope that as the representative of the Christian Church
in Great Britain you will with your followers, turn to Him who
holds life and death in His hands with ardent prayers for those in
Northern Europe, who for the love of Christ have in the twenti-
eth century been martyred for their Faith’

Sylvester, Archbishop of Omsk
February 12th 1919

In response the Archbishop promised to redouble his e?orts to raise awareness
wherever it might help, and to use whatever in?uence he had to improve the
situation.

Looking back over this correspondence, despite the horror and pity of
the situation there is something profound in the words of one Christian leader
reaching out to another at a desperate time. There is here, a sense of a faith
that is shared, of truth held in common, an intimacy that crosses all ecclesiasti-
cal boundaries. This is what we might call true koinonia.

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