NEWS SECTION
NEW ARCHBISHOP OF ATHENS (N.C.)
IERONYMOS of Thebes and Levadeia was elected Archbishop of Athens and All Greece on 7th February for the new calendarist state Church, receiving 45 out of 74 votes in a two-ballot process. His Beatitude Archbishop Ieronymos II, born Ioannis Liapis in Oinofyta, Boeotia, in 1938, is a graduate of the Faculty of Philosophy and of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Athens and holds degrees in Archaeology, Byzantine Studies and Theology. Subsequently, thanks to a Scholarship of the Greek State Studentship Foundation, he went on to pursue graduate studies at the University of Graz, the University of Regensburg and the University of Munich. He was ordained deacon and then presbyter in 1967. After entering the clergy he abandoned his academic career. In 1981 he was elected Metropolitan Bishop of Thebes and Levadeia . He was ceremonially enthroned on 16th February.
WCC 60TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION
ON 18th FEBRUARY, the World Council of Churches held a celebration of its sixty-year history in the St Pierre Cathedral in Geneva. His All-Holiness Bartholomeos I, Œcumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, played a prominent rôle and addressed the congregation. His Holiness Patriarch Aleksii of Moscow also sent his greetings, saying (as quoted on the MP’s official website): “I am convinced that the never ageing ideals and principles of ancient Apostolic Christianity will be the main guiding lights for us in this process. For Jesus Christ will be the same for good as He was yesterday and is today,”
For his part, Patriarch Bartholomeos, speaking in French, said: “The Council has provided an ideal platform where churches with different outlooks and belonging to a great variety of theological and ecclesiological traditions have been able to engage in dialogue and promote Christian unity, while all the time responding to the manifold needs of contemporary society.” The Patriarch said he envisioned a future that will enable “a new generation of labourers to flourish in the ecumenical vineyard” and that retains a foundation of the “three pillars” of unity, witness, and service on which the WCC was built.
On the same day, according to the same WCC website, after 25 years “standing vigil” at the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey, a totem pole “was returned to the soils of the earth at an event attended by many of those taking part in this week’s central committee meetings. The totem was presented as a gift of the churches of Canada at the WCC’s Sixth Assembly, held in Vancouver, as a way to raise the profile of indigenous people. The totem consisted of carved images offering an interpretation of the story of humanity’s search for the spiritual experience. But time and weather took its toll on the nearly 50 foot-tall totem since its placement at Bossey, and it had become unstable. Following advice from the First Nations of Canada, the WCC decided to respectfully remember the gift and the work of those who carved it.” This leads one to wonder whether Patriarch Aleksii’s conviction “that the never ageing ideals and principles of ancient Apostolic Christianity will be the main guiding lights” of the Ecumenical Movement is not a little naive.
TELEGRAPH EXPOSE OF AN “UNHOLY ALLIANCE”
THE TELEGRAPH has published an exposé of the Moscow Patriarchate’s present political involvement by Adrian Blomfield. He writes: “Russia’s Orthodox Church, despite decades of brutal repression under Soviet rule, is putting its trust in the KGB to ensure that a remarkable religious revival does not fade with the departure of President Vladimir Putin. In an unusual move, Alexei II, the Church’s patriarch, has endorsed deputy prime minister Dmitry Medvedev ahead of next week’s presidential election. The influence of his support on Russia’s estimated 100 million Orthodox worshippers is immense. It also illustrates the unholy alliance the Church has forged with the Kremlin since Mr Putin came to power eight years ago.… The relationship might seem odd. It was the KGB, after all, that led persecution of the Church in Soviet times, when priests were regularly jailed, tortured and executed. Neither this nor accusations that Mr Putin is restoring many of the attributes of Soviet rule seem to bother Alexei. Although he has never confirmed it, the patriarch, like the president, is a former KGB agent codenamed Drozdov, according to Soviet archives opened to experts in the 1990s. Many in the Orthodox hierarchy are also accused of working as KGB informers, a fact that critics say the Church has never fully acknowledged. ‘Essentially, the Orthodox Church is one of the only Soviet institutions that has never been reformed,’ said one priest, who declined to be identified for fear that he could be defrocked.… Priests are regularly seen on television sprinkling holy water on bombers and even nuclear missiles, a blessing that reinforces Mr Putin’s own militaristic philosophy. The Church has even supported Mr Putin’s repression of democracy, with a senior bishop last year comparing human rights activists to traitors.… In return, Mr Putin has worn his religious credentials very publicly and is regularly shown on state television kissing icons at Church services. Given his popularity, Mr Putin’s example has been emulated by many Russians. The business and political elite have assiduously followed instructions to fund the rebuilding of churches destroyed by the Soviets across the country.…” It is deplorable that journalistic commentators can see these things so clearly, and dedicated church people fail to do so.
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