The Shepherd, April 2006
NEWS SECTION, 1
MOSCOW CHALLENGES ‘WESTERN CONCEPT OF HUMAN RIGHTS’
JUST WHEN WE THOUGHT that there was no one left in the world with common sense, the Moscow Patriarchate has been instrumental in adopting a “Declaration on Human Dignity and Rights.” This was done on 6th April, at the Tenth World Council of Russian People. The document questions the system of “liberal” values which is so prevalent in the West. His Holiness Patriarch Aleksii II himself asked, “To what extent does this [Western] vision of human rights allow an Orthodox people to live in accordance with the Faith it professes.” He accused the Western value system of leading to the “revival of neo-paganism.” The Council criticised the Western concept that an individual’s moral autonomy can be limited only by the autonomy of other individuals, that there is no supreme authority that can help distinguish between good and evil. It also challenged the concept that an individual’s rights are superior to any collective interests, and stated that “There are values that are no less important than human rights - these are Faith, ethics, [national] sacraments (???), Fatherland,” reports the Eurasia Daily Monitor. Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk stated that the concept of human rights had helped Russia free herself from the “shackles of godlessnness,” but that the concept of human rights as now enshrined in national and international law raises many questions. Does it not contradict God’s design for man and human dignity? - he asked. The Russian churchmen pointed out that such un-Christian concepts as abortion, euthanasia, and the promotion of homosexual lifestyles, were promoted under the protection of the present concepts of human rights.
MOSCOW PATRIARCHATE AT WCC ASSEMBLY
ON ITS WEBSITE, under the title, “Russia Joins Ecumenical Carnival,” Moscovskiye Novosti (“Moscow News”) has published a rather scathing report on the participation of the Moscow Patriarchate in the recent WCC Assembly in Porto Allegre, Brazil. “Members of the ROC delegation made no secret of the fact that their mission in Brazil was linked with Russia’s special interests in Latin America…. The ROC’s foreign-church interests and the Kremlin’s foreign policy interests are becoming increasingly homogenous, as the Russian foreign minister recently said in so many words when visiting St Nicolas Cathedral in Vienna,” states the article. A defence of the ROC’s participation has been published by Bishop Hilarion of Vienna, who headed the MP delegation at Porto Allegre.
METROPOLITAN RELEASED FROM PRISON
AT THE BEGINNING of March, Metropolitan Jovan, the Archbishop of Ohrid and Metropolitan of Skopje, was released from prison. On behalf of the Archdiocesan Synod, Hegoumen David issued a statement on 3rd March, stating that the Metropolitan’s sentence had been reduced from two years to eight months and therefore he was released on that day. Fr David emphasised that the release was effected through the prayers of the faithful, who were not only praying for the imprisoned hierarch but for his persecutors as well. He stated that the conditions under which the Metropolitan had had to live while in prison were inhumane. An excellent article on Metropolitan Jovan’s incarceration can be found in “The Orthodox Word” (Platina, CA - nos 242-243, 2005).
PARISH RE-DEDICATED
WITH THE BLESSING of His Grace Archbishop Mark, the parishioners of the Saints Felix and Edmund Parish in Felixstowe, led by their pastor, Father Andrew Phillips, have re-dedicated their parish to St John of Shanghai and San Francisco. The parish will now be know as the St John the Wonderworker Orthodox Church. May the prayers of St John, St Felix and the Holy Martyr Edmnd the King ever avail to help them. 
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