The Shepherd, October 2006
NEWS SECTION, 2
RAPPROCHEMENT PROGRESS
CREDO.RU, on 25th September, published in Russian a document claiming to be the draft of the “Act of Canonical Communion” between the Moscow Patriarchate and the Russian Church Abroad. This document introduced by Patriarch Aleksii II of Moscow and by Metropolitan Lavr, but undated, contained twelve points, all of them except the last concerned with matters of church administration. In it there was no mention of the vexed questions of Sergianism or Ecumenism. The publication of this draft naturally caused a great deal of discussion on the internet. However, although the draft document was made public in this way three weeks after the “Act” had been accepted at a Synod meeting of the Bishops of ROCA (6th September n.s.), it transpires that its publication was still unauthorised, the “Act” which was accepted has still not be made public, and on 28th September the following statement was issued:
“Statement of the Secretaries of the Commission of the Moscow Patriarchate on Dialogue with the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad and the Commission of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad on Negotiations with the Moscow Patriarchate
“The hierarchy of the Moscow Patriarchate and of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia agreed at the very beginning of the dialogue process that for the sake of its constructive development the documents which are jointly developed by our Commissions would be published after their final approval by both sides and by mutual agreement.
“The fact of the recent publication of a distorted text of a preliminary draft of one of the documents evokes regret, because it bears witness to the fact that some persons have displayed a dishonourable attitude to the clearly expressed will of the hierarchy in an attempt to destroy trust among the responsible participants in the negotiations.
“Also, it should be noted that all of the fundamental theses of the ‘Act of Canonical Communion’ have already been articulated in various publications to the extent these theses have been considered as being mutually agreed to by the two sides.
“Notwithstanding this breach of ecclesiastical discipline, which is worthy of condemnation, and which was undertaken with the goal of creating obstacles to our dialogue, we express our confidence in its further successful development. In the near future the next meeting of the Commissions will be held, at which the discussion of questions connected with the reestablishment of the fullness of canonical and eucharistic unity of the Local Russian Church will take place.
Protopriest Alexander Lebedeff, Los Angeles
Protopriest Nikolai Balashov, Moscow”
FOLLOWING the acceptance of the “Act” by the Synod of Bishops of ROCA meeting in September, it became clear that Bishop Gabriel of Manhattan had signed the Synodal decision noting his disagreement with the document. Later he wrote, as is required by protocol, explaining his position. Three other Hierarchs of the ROCA have also publicly expressed their misapprehensions about the implications of the acceptance of the “Act,” foremost among them Archbishop Hilarion of Sydney, Australia and New Zealand, the Chief Deputy of the President of the Synod of Bishops, who, for reasons of ill health, had not been able to attend the Synod meeting, as well as Bishop Agathangel of Simferopol and Crimea, and Bishop Daniel of Erie.
Archpriest Leonid Kishkovsky of the Orthodox Church in America has also posted an appraisal of the rapprochement and the possible effects it may have on relations between the OCA and the ROCA, most of whose most thriving parishes are on the territory claimed for the Orthodox Church in America.
SERBIAN CHURCH HOSTS ECUMENICAL GATHERING
THE NINTH MEETING of the Joint International Commission for the Theological Dialogue between the Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church met in Belgrade, Serbia, from 18-25th September 2006, continuing the work begun in 1980 to seek the restoration of full communion. The Orthodox Church of Serbia provided hospitality for the meeting. The official opening took place in the Patriarchal chapel of the Serbian Patriarchate in the presence of His Holiness Patriarch Pavle, who welcomed the members of the Commission and offered his prayerful support, saying: “…Welcome all of you, to this house of God of our Church and of our people and my home! My humble prayer shall cover your Theological Dialogue of love and truth, for that is why you have gathered here. Of far greater significance, even of sole importance, is that all of you be strengthened by the grace of the Holy Spirit, which rectifies all of our shortcomings and heals all of our weaknesses.”
The Commission invoked the Holy Spirit on its work. At the first working session in the Sava International Centre, the Co-Presidents H.E. Cardinal Walter Kasper and H.E. Metropolitan John of Pergamon (OEc.P) introduced the work of the Commission, and H.E. Metropolitan Jovan of Zagreb welcomed all present on behalf of the Holy Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church. The Prime Minister of Serbia, DrVojislav Kostunica, addressed the Commission. He also hosted a reception and dinner for all the participants.
The Joint Commission is composed of 30 Orthodox and 30 R.C. members, and is chaired by two Co-Presidents. H.E. Metropolitan Gennadios of Sassima (Ecumenical Patriarchate) and Monsignor Eleuterio Fortino from the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, serve as the Joint Commission’s Secretaries. The entire R.C. delegation was present in the Belgrade meeting except for two members who were unable to attend. Orthodox members represented the OEcumenical Patriarchate, the Patriarchate of Alexandria, the Patriarchate of Antioch, the Patriarchate of Jerusalem, the Patriarchate of Moscow, the Patriarchate of Serbia, the Patriarchate of Romania, the Patriarchate of Georgia, the Church of Cyprus, the Church of Greece, the Church of Poland, the Church of Albania, the Church of Czech Lands and Slovakia and the Church of Finland.
The Joint Commission discussed a text entitled: ”The Ecclesiological and Canonical Consequences of the Sacramental Nature of the Church: Conciliarity and Authority in the Church,” at three levels of the Church’s life: local, regional and universal. That text prepared by the Joint Coordinating Committee in Moscow in 1990 was to have been presented at the plenary meeting of the Joint Commission in Freising, Germany, the same year, but was not discussed then or later because events taking place in Eastern Europe at that time obliged the Commission to address the issue of Uniatism in relation to the ecumenical dialogue. In the present meeting the document prepared in Moscow was carefully examined in a shared spirit of genuine commitment to the search for unity.
A Joint Drafting Committee was appointed to revise the text in the light of the many observations and comments made during the discussion on the text. A revised text will be the object of discussion at the next meeting of the Joint Commission which will be hosted by the Roman Catholic Church, next year, 2007.
During the week-long meeting the Roman Catholic delegates were present at the Orthodox Divine Liturgy in St. Mark’s Church on the Feast of the Nativity of the Mother of God, and the Orthodox members in a Mass at the R.C. Cathedral of Ascension of the Holy Virgin of Belgrade at the invitation of the Archbishop Stanislav Hocevar. The members of the Commission also had the opportunity to visit the historic Ravanica Monastery. Adinner was offered in the Monastery by H.E. Bishop Ignatij of Branichevo. On Sunday evening the President of Serbia H.E. Boris Tadic hosted a dinner at his residence in honour of the Commission. Comment: At the end of the last century, there was something of a lull in the ecumenical activities of the Orthodox Churches, and, although no one can deplore the promotion of friendly relations between denominations, it is sad to witness this revival of ecumenism, even including joint worship with the heterodox, and sadder still to record the Serbian Church’s participation in this development, particularly as hitherto her commitment to ecumenism, such as it was, was rather muted.
ICON RECOVERED
ON 23rd SEPTEMBER, the Associated Press reported that police have recovered a revered icon, stolen from a monastery in southern Greece, following an intense five-week investigation that involved roadblocks, telephone surveillance and helicopter searches. The 700-year-old icon of the Theotokos holding the Christ Child, credited with having healing powers and performing miracles, was stolen 18th August from a clifftop convent near the town of Leonidio, some 185 miles southwest of Athens. Police announced the arrest in Athens of a Romanian man, who confessed to the theft on Saturday morning. The 28-year-old suspect was arrested after he attempted, through a telephone call, to sell the 14th-century icon to a local bishop near Leonidio for €1 million (£680,000)! He led police on Saturday morning to the church of Pantanassa in the village of Farakla in Lakonia, where he had hidden the icon within a stone wall enclosing the church.
EMPRESS’S RELICS RETURNED TO RUSSIA
THE MORTAL REMAINS of the Dowager Empress Maria Fyodorovna of Russia, the mother of the Tsar-Martyr Nicolas II, were taken from their resting place in the Roskilde Cathedral, Copenhagen, on 23rd September, and taken in procession through the city of her birth. They were then conveyed by ship to her adopted homeland, Russia, and met at the Baltic port of Cronstadt. After a brief ceremony, they were taken to the Imperial Summer Residence at Peterhof, where they were to lie in state, until being re-interred in the Peter and Paul Fortress in Petersburg, alongside those of her husband, the Emperor Alexander III and other members of the Imperial House. The Empress was born Princess Dagmar of Denmark and was the sister of our own Queen Alexandra (wife of King Edward VII), and so is the great-great aunt of our present Queen, whom Prince and Princess Michael of Kent were to represent at the laying to rest of her relics in Petersburg.
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