Lawsuit against the Russian Orthodox Convent of Our Lady of Vladimir is settled out of court PRESS RELEASE On April 23, 2004, in San Francisco, California, Michael B. Bassi of Michael B. Bassi, A Law Corporation, the attorneys for the Russian Orthodox Convent of Our Lady of Vladimir, Inc., announced: The Russian Orthodox Convent of Our Lady of Vladimir, Inc. (The Convent) has resolved the lawsuit filed on April 22, 2002 by the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR) and its Western American Diocese (WAD) and Archbishop Kyrill against Abbess Eugenia, Mother Amvrossia, and Mother Isihia by which ROCOR and WAD sought to gain control of The Convent and the properties and all assets acquired by The Convent through the efforts of the sisters over the past 60 years. The Convent, under the leadership of Abbess Eugenia and her predecessors Sche-Abbess Ariadna and Abbess Rufina, has always maintained its independence and the ownership of its own property. ROCOR and WAD gave up any interest it may have had in The Convent and its property in exchange for financial consideration in the form of a future transfer of limited real property. Under the settlement reached, The Convent retains all icons and religious property, its name, The Russian Orthodox Convent of Our Lady of Vladimir and the California not-for-profit religious corporation “The Russian Orthodox Convent of Our Lady of Vladimir, Inc.” as well as its principal assets. In the settlement of the lawsuit, Mother Abbess and the sisters have agreed to a future transfer of limited real property to ROCOR and WAD including the current real property where The Convent is located in Moss Beach. The elderly sisters retain the right to reside there for seven years. Since the mid 90’s The Convent has planned to build a new convent in a more rural location out of the Bay Area more conducive to monastic life. The sisters of The Convent are dedicated to the legacy left by Abbess Rufina and Sche-Abbess Ariadna and are pleased that their legacy will now survive for the next generation and that The Convent will continue to follow the same path it has followed since it fled Russia after the revolution. |
