who unilaterally created its own church jurisdiction in our canonical territory, namely, in Estonia. It happened because in the 20s and 30s the Estonian Orthodox Church was temporarily part of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. Because of this, our relations with Constantinople were suspended for several months. They were restored later but remained tense. The Estonian problem still exists but recently His Holiness Patriarch Kirill has made some steps towards the Patriarchate of Constantinople for the express purpose of relieving the tension (...)." In general, opinions on such matters among Orthodox Christians vary. Scholarly work Alfeyev is the author of more than a thousand publications, including fourteen monographs in English: St Symeon the New Theologian and Orthodox Tradition (Oxford University Press, 2000), welcomed by the press, The Spiritual World of Isaac the Syrian (Cistercian Publications, Kalamazoo, MI, 2000), The Mystery of Faith. An Introduction to the Teaching and Spirituality of the Orthodox Church (Darton, Longman and Todd, 2002), Orthodox Witness Today (WCC Publications, 2006), , Christ the Conqueror of Hell. The Descent into Hell in Orthodox Tradition (St Vladimir's Press, 2009), Orthodox Christianity, vol. 1-5 (St Vladimir's Press, 2011–19), Prayer: Encounter with the Living God (St Vladimir's Press, 2015), Jesus Christ, His Life and Teaching, vols. I-IV (St Vladimir's Press, 2019–21). His books have also been translated into French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Greek, Serbian, Finnish, Hungarian, Polish, Romanian, Arabic, Japanese, Chinese, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Czech, Swedish, Estonian, Georgian, Armenian (see below). Apart from his doctoral degree in philosophy from Oxford, Alfeyev also holds a doctorate in theology from St. Sergius Orthodox Theological Institute in Paris, which was awarded to him in 1999. In February 2005 he was elected a privat-dozent of the University of Fribourg (Switzerland). Musical activity Alfeyev is author of numerous musical compositions. His St Matthew Passion, grand oratorio for soloists, choir and orchestra, received a standing ovation at its performances at the Great Hall of Moscow Conservatory (27 March 2007), at the Auditorium Conciliazione, Rome (29 March 2007), and at St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne (28 September 2007). Equally well received was his Christmas Oratorio, performed in Washington, Boston and New York (18–20 December 2007) and later in Moscow (7 and 15 January 2008) and his Stabat Mater (world premiere in January 2012 under the direction of Vladimir Spivakov). On the other hand, a Washington Post review described a 2011 performance of the Oratorio as "banal music that