The St. Catherine Chapel at the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul, St. Petersburg.
Today, Metropolitan Hilarion of the Russian Orthodox Church announced that the Church Council investigation has left no doubt about the authenticity of the remains of family members of the last Russian Emperor Nicholas II found near Yekaterinburg.
"In my opinion, nothing today prevents the recognition of the authenticity of the Yekaterinburg remains, but in order for them to be recognized as authentic, a conciliar decision of the church is needed," Metropolitan Hilarion, head of the synodal Department for External Church Relations, said on the air of the Church and the World program on the Rossiya-24 TV channel.
Alexander Zakatov, director of the Chancellery of the Russian Imperial House, told Interfax on Saturday that if “The Russian Orthodox Church is ready to recognize the Yekaterinburg remains as authentic after reviewing all the multilateral research results, this will be accepted by the Imperial House with reverence, trust in the Russian Orthodox Church, and with great happiness.”
The Russian Imperial House, noted Zakatov, has always said that they could neither confirm nor deny the authenticity of the remains, and would wait for the Conciliar determination of the Church. “As soon as the conciliar definition of the Church is expressed, the Imperial House will accept it with joy" said the representative of the Romanovs.
For Metropolitan Hilarion’s statement, read HERE
For the interview with Chancellery Head Alexander Zakatov, read HERE.
