Hi Sunbeam, there is a lot of misinformation and misunderstanding concerning the Russian Orthodox Church and their position on the remains.
The process for burying laypeople in the Orthodox Church, versus the process of the glorification of the relics of saints is very different, and is interconnected. While the official position of the ROC is that they are not satisfied that the remains are authentic, this is a smoke screen for the larger issues; 1. The family was not complete until the discovery of the remains of Maria and Alexis 2. The family had already been glorified by the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia. 3. The family had only been buried as laypeople. 4. ROCOR and MosPat had not been reunited. If the ROC announces that the remains are authentic, they will be in direct violation of all the canons of the Orthodox Church by allowing the remains of saints to lie buried in a layperson's grave.
With the signing of the act of Canonical communion between ROCOR and MosPat, we have eliminated two of those isssues. Now that the family is complete, we have eliminated another reason.
I am certain that the Patriarchate looks at interment in the Peter & Paul Fortress as a temporary stopgap measure. I believe that we will see in the coming years a reversal from the Patriarchate, and the announcement of a plan to reunite the remains of the family in one location. They will be reburied with a pannakhida, but then there will be a ceremony of "The Uncovering of the Relics" and subsequent glorification of the remains, which will then probably be moved to a) The Cathedral on Spilled Blood in Ekaterinburg on the site of the martyrdom, b) Ganina Yama, the place of the burial where a series of expiatory churches have been erected, or c) the newly restored Feodorovsky Cathedral at Tsarskoye Selo, which the family built, and which they regarded as their family church. (Guess which one I'm praying for?) Best, Nick
