ABSTRACT
The crises of the Moscow Patriarchate in the Far Abroad have been characterised by integral behavioural dichotomies, which some have located in different mentalities. In this chapter, again using the events in Britain as the springboard for discussion, the authors analyses the behaviours themselves and the, often assumptive, ideologies to which they gave rise. Differences between the two sides in Sourozh were perceivable in ‘ingrained’ behaviour and devotional habits. These themselves were sometimes related to background, education and class. Some of these tensions already existed within Russia but were heightened by the diaspora situation. The insecurities of émigré life can accentuate and entrench customs and beliefs which are taken for granted in the Motherland. In addition to divisions along ethno-linguistic and cultural (traditionalist versus liberal) lines, there were perceived differences in social class in Sourozh. However, participants in the crisis tended to refer to class only obliquely, as reference to it was uncomfortable for both parties.
