- Archbishop Mark of Berlin on the feast day of the Holy New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia in 2001

"...Had the Lord given us eternal life here on earth, undying life, had He preserved us from persecution and suffering, many multitudes would follow Him. But how would they follow Him? Not from love, but for their own advantage. The work of salvation would then be observed from a utilitarian point of view, any free will for mankind would be excluded. Our world and contemporary man are in every way subjected to mechanization, preferring robots, fearing and hating expressions of the free will of man, and so represses it in every dictatorial form we know. Why did they so savagely act out against this will in Russia in the beginning of the last century, and in other places even to this day? Because free will bears witness to the Creator...."

- Archbishop Mark of Berlin on the feast day of the Holy New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia in 2001