The Shepherd, March 2006
NEWS SECTION, 2
RUSSIAN BISHOP CALLS FOR AN ALLIANCE WITH THE PAPACY
THE 9th ASSEMBLY of the World Council of Churches, met in Porto Alegre, Brazil, in mid-February, its theme, being “God, in your grace, transform the world.” The Moscow Patriarchate delegation consisted of 21 members, headed by Bishop Hilarion (Alfeyev) of Vienna and Austria. It was also expected that Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk would attend the opening ceremonies.
While Orthodox churches, with some 220 million members, are members of the WCC, Bishop Hilarion said they have less in common with fellow members than they once had. “The gap between the traditional wing, represented mainly by Orthodox churches and the Roman Catholic Church, and the liberal wing, represented by many Protestant churches, is only growing day by day,” he said.
“We (Orthodox and Catholics) are on the same side of the divide.” “Traditional Christianity's very survival is in jeopardy. We have no right to delay this strategic alliance, because in 20-40 years it will be too late,” he said in an interview, citing threats like “warrior (militant?) secularism, warrior Islam or warrior liberalism present in Protestantism.” He stated the alliance should not be a matter of dogma and should precede the resolution of many centuries-old differences between the two oldest branches of Christianity (sic), some dating back to the Great Schism of 1054. His comments echoed ideas supported by Pope Benedict, who has said closer ties with Orthodox churches are a top priority of his papacy.
The Bishop said Russian theologians thought decades ago to “establish full Eucharistic contact” with the Anglican church. “In the past years, it has become clear that it is completely impossible - dogmatically, ideologically and from the point of view of moral teaching, as the Anglican church shifted very far away from Orthodox dogma,” he said. In the wake of the growing differences with liberal churches, His Grace suggested an alliance with the Vatican and stressed there was no time to lose. “I’m not calling for a dogmatic alliance.... We should unite in a joint testimony of traditional Christian values.”
BELARUS METROPOLITAN ENDORSES ALPHA COURSE
METROPOLITAN PHILARET OF MINSK AND SLUZK (MP) visited Holy Trinity Church, Brompton, in the Summer (no date recorded) according to “Alpha News.” Accompanied by Bishop Basil of Sergievo and Fr Alexander Fostiropoulos of the Sourozh Diocese, he told the congregation that he considered the Alpha experience important for the Orthodox Church in the former Soviet Union. He said, “The church has existed for centuries and all methods of evangelism seem to have been exhausted.” This extraordinary statement and his fulsome endorsement of the Alpha Course, which is viewed with some suspicion even by traditional Protestants, beggars belief. Saint Seraphim of Sarov, echoing the teaching and experience of so many saints, tells us “the method of evangelism” - “Acquire the Spirit of peace, and thousands around you will be saved.” That wise, and Orthodox, counsel, does not appear to be exhausted as the Metropolitan suggests. The witness of Godbearing fathers in our own times demonstrates its veracity.
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