Moscow Patriarchate Warns Anglican Church Against Deviations From Christian Values

Edit he’s not asking, he’s telling him.  These radicals will talk all day about ecumenism, until it actually does something to unify Christians.  They’d much rather divide Christians and keep them in Schism.  There are a few characters in the Bible who were like that.

If anything, it looks like the Orthodox are growing closer to the Catholic Church, as the Patriarch of Constantinople suggested the plausibility that the Great Schism could be drawing to a close.

Russian Church hopes new head of Anglican Church will not allow female bishops, same-sex marriage

Moscow, March 25, Interfax - The Moscow Patriarchate expects Justin Welby, the new Archbishop of Canterbury, to adhere to the norms of Christian morals and the church system. He didn’t strike a conciliatory tone, no.

"We know that the Anglican Church is now going through a difficult time and various views, positions, and parties co-exist in it. However, we really hope that the traditional understanding of Christian morals and the church system will prevail in this polemic," Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, the head of the Synodal Department for External Church Relations, said during a meeting between Welby and representatives of the Orthodox Churches who attended his enthronement.

The introduction of the institution of female bishops will lead to the elimination of even a theoretical possibility of the Moscow Patriarchate recognizing the church hierarchy of the Anglican Church, the communications service of the Department for External Church Relations reported on Saturday. [I should think women’s ordination had already done that long ago.]

"I would like you to know about that and take our opinion into account when this issue arises again," Metropolitan Hilarion said.

Metropolitan Hilarion also said he is hoping Justin Welby will firmly defend the traditional biblical understanding of marriage as a union between a man and a woman "to prevent secular society from forcing on the Church of England the recognition of some forms of cohabitation which were never considered marriage by Christian churches."

Welby responded by saying he appreciates the comment, adding that the position of the Church of England on the issue of marriage is absolutely clear and it has recently confirmed that marriage is a life-long union between a man and a woman.

Link to Interfax-Religion...