The Shepherd, July 2006
NEWS SECTION, 2
THE POPE’S TITLES
AT THE LAST MEETING of the Holy and Sacred Synod of the OEcumenical Patriarchate, there were discussions on importance and the consequences for the relations between the Roman Catholic and the Orthodox Churches of the recent decision of His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI of Rome, to remove from his titles that are mentioned in the Pontifical Yearbook (Annuario) of 2006 the title “Patriarch of the West,” and to retain titles such as “Vicar of Christ,” “Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church.” It was noted that “out of all the titles that are used by the Pope, the only one that goes back to the period of the Undivided Church of the first millennium, and which has been accepted in the conscience of the Orthodox Church is the title of ‘Patriarch of the West’…… it is of extreme importance to the Orthodox Church that Pope Benedict, while having rejected the title ‘Patriarch of the West,’ retained the titles ‘Vicar of Christ’ and ‘Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church.’ These titles create serious difficulties to the Orthodox, given the fact that they are perceived as implying a universal jurisdiction of the bishop of Rome over the entire Church, which is something the Orthodox have never accepted.” It does indeed seem rather odd that in a supposedly friendly gesture to the Orthodox, the Pope has dropped the one title that they would not object to were he Orthodox, but has retained others that we find more offensive.
BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS AT HARVARD ROAD
THREE IMPORTANT EVENTS coincided on All Saints’ Sunday (5th / 18th June) this year. It was the anniversary of the the consecration to the episcopate in 1928 of Bishop Nicolas of London, the first post-schism Orthodox Bishop consecrated for a see in Britain. He was the founder of the old All Saints’ Chapel in Baron’s Court, West London. It was also the feast of St Boniface of Crediton, an Englishman who became the Apostle of Germany; and this year, by a kind of reciprocal arrangement, because his presence was needed for the commission looking into the troubles in the Sourozh Diocese, Archbishop Mark, a German hierarch who now cares for the ROCA parishes in England was in the country. And it was the Sunday nearest the 80th birthday of Archpriest Thomas Hardy. Marking this third joyous occasion, the Harvard Road parish in London put on a special feast. The Divine Liturgy was served by the Archbishop, assisted by Fr Alexis, Fr Vadim Zakrevsky the parish priest, Fr Thomas and Fr Andrew Phillips. At the end of the service, the Archbishop congratulated Fr Thomas on his birthday and presented him with an icon, donated by the parishioners and his spiritual children. At the trapeza in the parish hall, we were joined by Fr Peter Baulk, who had been serving at the Convent, and by Archpriest Nikolai Florinsky from Kishinev, who the day before had visited Brookwood, but as a priest of the Moscow Patriarchate had served that morning in their London cathedral. More congratulations were addressed to Fr Thomas, all expressing the great love of the parishioners for him and their gratitude for his spiritual solicitude. The children put on a short concert in his honour, with instrumental music, songs and poems, all in English. They also had a picture collage of his ministry displayed near the high table. To Fr Thomas: Many Happy Returns.
REPOSE OF ANTONINA V. ANANINA
ON THE LAST SUNDAY of Pascha, Antonina Vladimirovna Ananina died in Poole, her family home since 1951. Known to many simply as Nina, she was for many years the secretary and aide of the late Archbishop Nikodem of Richmond and Great Britain and the choirmistress of the old Russian Cathedral church at Emperor’s Gate in West London. For many, the present writer included, she was the first Russian to welcome us to the church there, and besides her duties as secretary and choir directress, she worked tirelessly for the support of the Church, often staying alone overnight in church to prepare things and make ready the meals for parishioners for the next day. Eight years ago, she was widowed and her own increasing incapacity meant that, living so far from an Orthodox church, she deeply felt her isolation from the services and mourned over it. When in her last illness, she was given some CDs of church music to listen to in hospital, she almost died from the sheer joy of hearing them. Her funeral was conducted in Poole, and she was laid to rest with her late husband. The celebrants were Fr Alexis, Fr Vadim Zakrevsky and Hieromonk Avraamij, one of her godsons who was visiting from Poland. The choir from the London Harvard Road parish chanted the service for her, and it would have rejoiced her soul to hear their compunctionate chanting. May her Memory be Eternal, and may one who worked throughout her life for the Church now find rest with the Saints.
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