Russian Orthodoxy Sees Progress in the Dialogue with Catholics

Moscow Metropolitan Hilarion in newspaper interview: A lot has happened in the past ten years - progress also in the political relationship between Russia and the Holy See

Rome (kath.net/KAP) Russia's Orthodox Church sees a "significant step" in dialogue with the Catholic Church. In the last ten years, much has been done in relation to each other. As well as between Russia and the Holy See, said the Foreign Minister of the Moscow Patriarchate, Metropolit Hilarion, the Italian daily "Il sole 24 ore" (Thursday). There is consensus on current problems such as the loss of spiritual values ​​and Christian persecution. "This is a problem which disturb both the Orthodox Church and the Holy See in all of our soul, and drives us to unite our forces to find a common solution," the Metropolitan said.

Hilarion spoke on the occasion of the upcoming Moscow visit by Cardinal Secretary Pietro Parolin from Sunday to Thursday. His main themes he identified as the situation in the Middle East and Ukraine; Also a peace solution for Syria would surely be an issue. Parolin's visit could help to approach different perspectives and find common solutions to different problems, says Hilarion, who will also meet with Parolin himself. "I will discuss with him the full range of bilateral relations between the Russian Orthodox and the Catholic Church, and hope that we can set new perspectives for further development."

With regard to the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, he said that this was still "the most delicate issue in the relations of the two churches." At the same time, the foreign official of the Moscow Patriarchate in the interview appreciates the admission of full diplomatic relations between Russia and the Vatican in 2009 as well as the historic first meeting of Pope Francis and Patriarch Kiril I in Havana, Cuba in 2016, resulting in strengthening the collaboration of both churches.

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMDG 

When the Most Catholic Voice in Rome is the Moscow Patriarchate, That Should Be a Problem

(Rome) When one of the most Catholic voices in Rome   is that  of the Moscow Patriarchate, this is a problem. Last Tuesday  Hilarion of Volokolamsk Metropolitan addressed the Pope and the Synod of Bishops, a  message of greeting from the Moscow Patriarchate.  Archbishop Hilarion is head of the Foreign Ministry of the Russian Orthodox Church. Here is the full speech of Metropolitan. The highlights come from the editorial:

Holiness,
Beatitudes, Eminences and Excellencies,

On behalf of His Holiness Kirill, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, and the whole Russian Orthodox Church, I address our fraternal greetings to you all on the occasion of the XIV. General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops of the Catholic Church, which is dedicated to the theme of the family.

In our turbulent and unsettling world, man needs solid and unshakable foundations on which he can rely in order to fully trust to be able to build  their  lives on them. The secular society that is geared primarily to the satisfaction of individual desires can give man no clear moral orientations. The crisis of traditional values ​​that we experience in the consumer society leads to a contradiction between the different preferences, even in family relationships. When on the one side,  extreme feminism  sees in  motherhood an obstacle to  the self-realization of women who have children, on the other hand, more and more regard children as a right that can be realized by any means. Increasingly, the family is seen as a connection between two people, regardless of their gender, and it is believed that the individual can choose the affiliation to one or the other sex according to his personal taste.

On the other hand, new problems occur that directly affect the foundations of the traditional family. The armed conflicts of the modern world causing a mass exodus from the war-affected regions towards the richer countries. Emigration often leads to breaking of family ties while creating a new social environment, creating  connections that often have an interethnic and inter-religious character.

These challenges and threats are, for all Christian churches alike, the need to look for the answers, by relying on the order entrusted to them by Christ,  to lead the people to salvation. Unfortunately, we often hear in Christian circles, voices demanding that there be a "Modernization" of the Church's conscience, thus the rejection of the apparently Christian apparently obsolete doctrine on the family. Nevertheless, we must not forget  the words of the Apostle Paul to the Christians in Rome: "conform  not on this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God: what He desires, is what is good and perfect."

The Church is called to be a light and a beacon in the darkness of this world, and Christians are called to be the "salt of the earth" and "light of the world". We all need to remember the harrowing admonition of the Savior: "If the salt loses its savor, wherewith shall it be seasoned? It is good for nothing; it is thrown out and trampled by men."  (cf.. Mt. 5:13 to 14). Such a salt that has lost the power of its own taste, are in our time what some Protestant communities who call themselves Christian but preach moral ideals  that are incompatible with Christianity. When a community of this kind, introduces the rite of blessing  homosexual unions, and a lesbian woman who describes herself as a "bishop", who prompts her churches to remove the crosses from the steeples and replace them with Islamic crescents, can such a community may be called "church"? Before our eyes is Christianity is  betrayed by those who are willing to play the game of secularized, anti-clerical and Godless society.

The leadership of various countries of Europe and America, despite numerous protests, even by the Catholic faithful, continue a policy aimed deliberately at destroying the understanding of family. Not only are homosexual connections made legally equivalent to marriage. One goes so far as  to prosecute those who because of their Christian faith, refuse to register these connections. Immediately after the end of the visit of Pope Francis, the American president Barack Obama has openly declared that the rights of homosexuals are more important than religious freedom. This clearly shows the intention of the secular authority to continue the attack against the healthy forces of society who defend  traditional family values. The Catholics are in the front line in this fight, and just against the Catholic Church, there is a veritable campaign of discredit and lies under way. Therefore, the force in defending the Christian conviction and fidelity to the tradition of the Church today are particularly necessary.

Society today comes to resemble more and more  the foolish man, "who built his house on sand" (Mt see. 7.26). It is the duty of the Church, to remind   society of its established foundation - the family as a union between man and woman, who has the birth and education of children as its goal. Only such a family, established by the Lord at the time of the creation of the world itself, is able to prevent the release of modern society into the abyss of moral relativism, or at least slow it down.

The Orthodox Church, like the Catholic, has always followed the Holy Scriptures and Holy Tradition in their teaching about the family and established the principle of the sanctity of marriage affirming that  based on the words of the Savior Himself (cf.. Matt 19:6 ;. Mk 10:9) In our time, this position must be united and unanimous. We must work together to defend dialogue with the legislative and executive powers of each country and at the level of international institutions such as the UN and the European Union. We can not only limit ourselves to exhortations. We need to ensure the legal protection of the family completely.

The solidarity of the Church and all people of good will is essential for the purpose, to protect the family from the threats of the secular world, and thus to safeguard our future. I hope that the fruit of this Synodal Assembly will be a development of Catholic-Orthodox collaboration in this direction.

I wish you peace, God's blessing and success in your work!

Translation: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Il Timone

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches...

AMDG

Pope Wants Common Celebration of the Eucharist With the Orthodox

Meeting in Rome for the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul with Constantinople Delegation - Thanks to Metropolitan Zizioulas, because he had come together with other church representatives for the presentation of the Eco-Encyclical "Laudato si"

Vatican City (kath.net/KAP) Pope Francis has recently has emphasized that a common celebration of the Eucharist is a common goal of ecumenical dialogue at a meeting with an official delegation of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, headed by the retired Titular Metropoliten of Pergamon, Ioannis Zizioulas. This goal is one of his main concerns, Francis stressed at the meeting with the delegation from Constantinople that - as it happens on every year for the last 47 years, come to the feast of Saints Peter and Paul on 29 June, the Patron Saint of the Church of Rome, to the Tiber.

Pope Francis said that the meetings with the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I at the Andreas Festival last November has provided the opportunity to "work together to praise God and to pray that soon the day will come when the full visible unity between Orthodox and Catholics will be restored." He expressly thanked Metropolitan Zizioulas that he had come to Rome on behalf of Patriarch Bartholomew to be present together with other Church representatives at the public presentation of the encyclical "Laudato si". It was the first time that a papal encyclical was also presented by an orthodox bishop.

The opportunities to meet, exchange and experience cooperation between Catholics and Orthodox should multiply, such is the view expressed in the Pope's expectations. Through mutual understanding and respect many prejudices and misunderstandings could be overcome. At the same time the remaining difficulties should, "in truth, but in a spirit of fraternity", be overcome.

In this context, Francis praised the "valuable work of the International Mixed Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Catholic and Orthodox Church." The "Drafting Committee" of this Commission had met on Thursday in Rome. The problems that come up on the train of theological dialogue, should not lead to discouragement and resignation, the Pope said. He specifically stressed that a "careful study" on the principle of synodality and on the "service of the principals in love" will deliver a "significant contribution to the advancement of relations" between the two Churches.

The Pope prays for Pan-Orthodox Synod

Pope Francis promised his intense prayer and of all Catholics for the success of the scheduled 2016 Pan-Orthodox Synod in Constantinople. At the same time the Pope asked his Orthodox guests for prayers for the upcoming October Plenary Assembly of the Catholic Synod of Bishops, which will be devoted to family.

Metropolitan Zizioulas gave the pope when a message of the Ecumenical Patriarch, in which Bartholomew I stressed the significance of theological dialogue and the work of the International Mixed Commission for Theological Dialogue. Three Catholic and Orthodox members consisting of a "Drafting Committee" of the International Commission for Theological Dialogue, are editing a document on Thursday in Rome foreseen to be completed for September, "Towards the Understanding of Synodality and Primacy in the Church of the First Millenium." Orthodox representatives had expressed reservations about the draft in Amman. The "Drafting Committee" now had the task of taking into account the objections of the Orthodox side. The revised draft is to be submitted in September the "Coordinating Committee" of the International Commission for Theological Dialogue, which then decides on further procedure. Among the participants of the meeting of the "Drafting Commitee" in the preceding week alongside Zizioulas, was also the head of the Foreign Ministry of Moscow Patriarchate, Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev. He met the same day with the Italian President Sergio Mattarella, which involved a longer conversation. The meeting was also attended by the Russian ambassador in Rome, Sergei Razov, in part.

Metropolitan Hilarion stressed that he was representing the Russian Orthodox Church toward making "good and constructive" relations with Italy, a "country with deep Christian roots", a priority. President Mattarella paid tribute to the Moscow Patriarchate in the ecumenical and inter-religious dialogue. He was convinced that the Orthodox Church could also make a significant contribution for a "peaceful solution to the conflict in Ukraine." Copyright 2015 Catholic press agency Kathpress, Vienna, Austria

You can compare this report to the one at the Vatican website. Did they even experience the same event?

Link to Kath.net...
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
NB: this is kind of a quick job, but being as busy as we are, it is what it is.  We try to flesh out things that are missed by others that is of interest.  We've found Kath.net, NeoCatholic though it is, to be a great source of information and a window on the Catholic Church in Europe that is otherwise missing.  It's nice to know that there are Catholics like you in the world who love Jesus and His Immemorial Mass just like you do, or even just Catholics, trying to be a light to the world. Would that we had more time, for there is much that we also miss.

AMDG

The Pope Receives Metropolitan Hilarion

The number two of the Moscow Patriarchate is at present in discussions at Castel Gandolfo.

Vatican City (kath.net/KAP) The Foreign Minister of the Moscow Patriarchate, Metropolitan Hilarion, is being received in an audience with Pope Benedict XVI. in Castel Gandolfo.  It was the third meeting between the two since the "Foreign Minister' took his office in February of 2009.

On the day before Hilarion had talks with the Vatican President for the Office of Christian Unity, Cardinal Koch.  That meeting dealt with the theological dialogue between Catholics and Orthodox as well as around questions of practical collaboration between the Churches, according to the Vatican.

On Thursday Hilarion wanted to meet additionally with Cardinal Secretary Tarcisio Bertone and the Presidents of the Vatican Council of Culture, Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi.

The relations between the Vatican and the Moscow Patriarchate have improved significantly since a frosty period in years past.  That has been significantly contributed to especially by visits and personal contacts with the Vatican Minister of Ecumenism, Cardinal Walter Kasper and -- since the Summer of 2010 -- his successor Kurt Koch.

A lowpoint had been reached in 2002, as the Vatican established Diocese in Russia.  The Orthodox accused Rome then of proselytism -- unfair missionary activity on Orthodox terrain.   Relations have improved substantially since then, especially with the election of the new Patriarch Kyrill in the beginning of 2009, relations have become much easier.

Hilarion came for an introductory visit at the beginning of 2009 in the Vatican.  On another visit in May 2010 was for a concert, which Patriarch Kyrill gave in Rome for the honor of the Pope, which was a work performed by Hilarion.

Hilarion, who led the Orthodox Community in Vienna after 2003, had a  musical education in addition to a theological one.

Two weeks ago, Metropolitan Hilarion declared in an interview in the Vatican the desire to undertake with greater effort, the open questions of serious disagreement between the two  Churches, in order to make a historical meeting between the Pope and the Moscow Patriarchate possible.  A substantial barrier to this meeting is correspondingly, the conflict between the Orthodox and the Greek-Catholic Church in the Ukraine.  "As soon as there is an understanding here, then preparations for such a meeting can begin,"  said Hilarion to the news agency Reuters.

Pope Benedict XVI himself praised the particular nearness of the Catholic to the Orthodox Churches in parts of his Germany trip.  Catholics and Orthodox had "both the same old-Church structure" and for that reason may "hope, that the day is not too late,  to celebrate a common Eucharist",  said the Pope at a meeting with representatives of the Orthodox and Ancient Oriental Churches in Germany in Freiburg.


Link to kath.net...

Rome and Moscow Patriarchate Moving Closer Together

Edit: Believe it. It's going to happen.

The Ortodhox Church

 In recent days, the Russian Metropolitan Hilarion has been trying to "unblock" the historic face-to-face meeting with Russia's Patriarch. He may succeed, as long as Ukraine does not become a "Roman" patriarchy

Giacomo Galeazzi Vatican City A direct intervention, an unmediated contact. With his call to the Vatican in recent days, the chairman of the Department for External Relations of the Russian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk has placed himself at the forefront of an unexpected attempt to accelerate dealings between the Holy See and the Patriarchate of Moscow. He made a clarification which was not on the agenda, to facilitate the meeting between Benedict XVI and the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, Kirill. An historic "face to face" meeting that now seems less distant.

Moscow is laying out its request: if the Vatican resolves the issue of the Ukraine, the historic meeting between the Pope and the Russian Patriarch will finally be able to take place. During the present pontificate, relations have improved considerably between the Church of Rome and the bulk of Orthodoxy, represented by the Russian church. Both are increasingly in agreement about wanting to deal with what they consider to be the prime duty of Christians in Europe: a new evangelization of all those who are far from the faith. It is for this purpose that the Pope has decided to devote a specific Office of the Roman Curia to the new evangelisation.

Link to La Stampa...

75 of 100 victims of religious intolerance are Christians - Metropolitan Hilarion

Moscow, March 24, Interfax - Head of the Synodal Department for External Church Relations Metropolitan Hilarion cited data according to which Christians prevail among victims of religious intolerance.

"According to the data of non-governmental organization Aid To The Church In Need 75 of 100 victims killed from religious intolerance have been Christians in recent years," the Metropolitan said in his interview to Izvestia daily on Thursday.

The Metropolitan points out that in the majority of states where Christian minority is being persecuted, Christians have lived for many centuries, "even when local political regimens declared themselves more radical than today."

"It is today when all states have undertaken obligations to protect human rights, outflow of Christians from certain countries has increased. I believe it proves the failure of modern world policy on religious freedom and lack of interest to religious education," the Metropolitan said.

According to him, Christians are often fell victims of political mistakes made by Western states.

"The situation is difficult in Iraq. According to some data, half of 1,4 million Christian population has left the country since 2003. Without giving any evaluations to political situation in Iraq before NATO interference, I'd like to mention that Christians there were not physically exterminated. Foreign military invasion has made many Christians hostages of insufficiently considered NATO actions," the Metropolitan said.

Print this page

Read further, here.