Russian Orthodox Church Bishops’ Council discusses authenticity of imperial family remains

The Bishops’ Council of the Russian Orthodox Church, which will take place in Moscow from November 29 to December 4 and is expected to discuss the issue of authenticity of the so-called “Yekaterinburg remains”, or the remains of the last Tsarist family.

“The people who are responsible for studying this issue will probably say something. But it is now too early to say what conclusions will be drawn,” Moscow Patriarchate deputy property manager Hegumen Savva (Tutunov) said at a press conference on Wednesday. “The expert evaluation will take as much time as is needed for its completion”, he added.

“There is no rush, there is the task of getting to the bottom of the situation as the issue is serious,” Vladimir Legoyda, head of the Synodal Department for Church, Society and Media Relations, said and “The final decision should not be rushed to coincide with some significant date.”

“How can a decision be made before expert evaluations are completed? Furthermore, completion of an evaluation is only one stage: one needs to see how the results of one evaluation go together with others. The process will be as open as possible.”

“The forensic tests have not been completed yet. There are only interim results on some issues,” said Marina Molodtsova, a senior investigator with the Investigative Committee. A total of 34 tests are currently underway.

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia said that the final decision on the issue of whether the “Yekaterinburg remains” belong to members of the imperial family cannot be made by scientific tests. “We are not just talking about the remains of ordinary people – we are talking about the uncovering of holy relics.” He also warned against rushing the identification. “We are looking for answers to fateful questions. We have no right to error… In the cause in which we are all involved, there should be no hurry, either towards a holiday, towards Monday, or towards the New Year.”