Svetlana Medvedeva commemorates victims of Polish airplane crash in Smolensk Cathedral

Smolensk, October 11, Interfax – Svetlana Medvedeva visited the Assumption Cathedral late on Sunday and thus finished her trip to Smolensk.

After memorial events at the Katyn memorial complex Russian President's spouse visited the cathedral in company with president's representative plenipotentiary to the Central Federative District Georgy Poltavchenko, governor of the Smolensk Region Sergey Antufyev and Bishop Feofilakt of Smolensk and Vyazma.

Bishop Feofilakt told Medvedeva dramatic story of the church and mentioned artifacts kept in it, then Medvedeva participated in the divine service held to commemorate 96 passengers of Tu-154 crashed on April 10 when landing on the Severny airdrome.


Medvedeva lit the candle before the Smolensk icon of the Mother of God Hodigitria (She who shows the way) and gave the bishop an icon of St. John the Theologian as a present.

Interfax original...

Papal Primacy: Russia Leads the Resistance

[Chiesa] ROME, October 6, 2010 – While the Eastern Churches are slowly approaching the convocation of the pan-Orthodox "Great and Holy Council" that should finally unite them in a single assembly after centuries of incomplete "synodality," the other journey of reconciliation, which sees the East in dialogue with the Church of Rome, is also taking small steps forward.

The object of this dialogue concerns the only real sticking point dividing Catholicism and Orthodoxy, the primacy of the pope.

The latest evidence came a few days ago, in Vienna, where from September 20 to 27 the joint international commission for theological dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church met as a whole, precisely on the universal role of the bishop of Rome during the first millennium of Christian history.


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Turkish Authorities Considering the Reopening of Hagia Sophia for Christian Worship

The director of the state sponsored Islamic Research Center has made a new proposal toward reopening buildings for religious purposes.

Ankara [kath.net/KAP] In the newly burning conflict surrounding Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, a leading adviser of the Turkish Religious Office has proposed that the historical Church should be open for Muslim prayers on workdays and for Christian Liturgies on Sundays. This could go a long way to solving the tug of war surrounding the Hagia Sophia which won't just be a comprise, said Mehmet Akif Aydin, director of the State sponsored Research Center (ISAM), to "Zaman" (Tuesday). One such solution would also reinforce the bonds between Muslims and Christians and the readiness of both faith communities to coexist more peacefully.

Although the Hagia Sofia has not been used for more than 80 years for religious purposes, more recently attempts of Islamic and Christian groups have advocated prayers or religious services under her domes.

The Church, built in the Fourth Century was for a millennium, the most important Church in Christendom. After the sack of Constantinople in 1453 by the Ottomans it served another 500 years as the most important mosque in the Ottoman Empire.

In the Turkish Republic the building served as a cultural monument since 1934. In order to avoid inter religious conflict, it has been since then no longer permitted to be used for religious purposes -- neither Christian nor Muslim.

Copyright 2010 Katholische Presseagentur, Wien, Österreich Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

Read further, kath.net original, in German...

Photo Credit: Copyright 2008 www.awesomeplanet.org - All Rights Reserved

Acting mayor against gay rallies in Moscow

Moscow, September 29, Interfax - Acting Moscow Mayor Vladimir Resin has said he will continue with Yury Luzhkov's policy of not authorizing gay pride parades in the Russian capital.

"I don't support that. None of them have contacted me," Resin told reporters on Wednesday commenting on the decision made by the prefecture of the Moscow Central District to allow a protest organized by gay activists on October 1.

This is the first protest organized by gay activists to be allowed by the authorities.

The official said the purpose of the protest as stated in the application is to call for a boycott in the use of Swiss Airlines due to an incident that occurred at Moscow Domodedovo airport on September 15, when Nikolay Alexeyev, Russia's most prominent gay rights activist, was seized by men he thinks were special security agents.

Link at Interrfax...

New finds in Romanov family killing case are grounds for new probe - Russian Imperial House

Moscow, September 28, Interfax - The new artifacts found in the Sverdlovsk Region have confirmed the need for a new investigation into the death of Nicholas II and his family, Alexander Zakatov, the head of the Romanov Family Chancellery, told Interfax.

"The new finds indicate that not everything has been investigated yet. For this reason, the investigation should be continued. There are still a lot of things that are unclear," Zakatov said.

The Romanov family is not ready yet to recognize the authenticity of the remains found near Yekaterinburg. In addition, the Romanov family are demanding the resumption of the investigation into the criminal case involving the killing of Russia's last emperor. The Investigations Committee of the Russian Prosecutor General's Office decided to close the investigation on January 15, 2009.

On Monday, it was reported that beakers believed to have been used to store acid to destroy the royal family's remains had been found in the Sverdlovsk Region.

Link to Interfax...

Ukrainian Patriarch Complains about Catholic Cathedral Being Built

Editor: The double-standard continues. The Orthodox build churches in Catholic areas all the time and do so with impunity.

Odessa, September 27, Interfax - The Odessa Diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church believes there is no grounds for building a Greek Catholic cathedral in the city and such plans have aggressive political backgrounds.

"It's quite evident that there's no ground for building a Greek Catholic church in Odessa. Odessa is an Orthodox city," the diocesan secretary Archpriest Andrey Novikov told Interfax-Religion on Monday.

According to the priest, initiators of the building have their own aim - proselytism, converting Orthodox believers in Unia.

"There is no visible presence of Greek Catholics in Odessa. Whom uniate preachers are going to attract to their parish? Certainly Orthodox Odessites - they will try to catch them in networks of Unia through various intricacies," the interviewee of the agency said.

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Patriarch Kirill Impressed by the Childlike Simplicity of Indigenous People

Yakutsk, September 24, Interfax - Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia during his trip to the Far East pointed out to particular purity of local peoples.

"When I met with local residents and looked them in the eyes I saw this childishness. Some may say: they're naive people, others may say: their life will change, they will become richer and it won't be this way anymore. And I'd like to wish all of you, all who live in these severe lands to keep this childishness in your hearts," the Patriarch said on Friday after the Divine Liturgy in the Transfiguration Cathedral of Yakutsk.

According to him, a child's soul has something that should never leave a person - "purity of heart."

"We can become very strong, rich, influential, clever, educated, learned, politicians or ordinary workers who enjoy everyone's respect, but in our heart we should keep this childishness, this ability to adore God's world, to feel the world beauty, to feel the truth like children do, to have pure soul like children. Only those with pure heart will see God," the Primate said.

"It's impossible to build a paradise on Earth. Human task is not to build paradise on Earth, but not to turn human life in hell," the Patriarch stressed.

According to him, a person by his or her own efforts cannot stay away from influence of sin, "he or she will lose sanctity given to him in the early years," but "we will keep the best we have and obtain the best the world can give us when God is in the center of our life."

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Priest's Widow Wrote Novel About Suicide Bombers

Moscow, September 24, Interfax - Yulia Sysoyeva, widow of Priest Daniil Sysoyev killed in November 2009, wrote a novel about radical Islamists involved in terrorist attacks.

According to the author, the book focused on complicated spiritual searches of the main heroine. She is a young girl and falls in love with a man who turns out to be a terrorist and takes her to the training camp of the so-called "Shahids".

"The book was approved by the Moscow Patriarchate Publishing Council and will soon be published," Sysoyeva told an Interfax-Religion correspondent.

It is not the first writing experience for Yulia. Her book "Notes of Priest's Wife" was issued several times.

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Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk meets with Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn

On September 22, 2010, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, DECR chairman, who is on a visit to Vienna for a meeting of the Joint Theological Commission for Dialogue Between the Roman Catholic Church and Orthodox Churches, met with the head of the Vienna archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church, Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn.

Metropolitan Hilarion told the cardinal about today’s life of the Russian Orthodox Church, the trips made by His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia in Russia and far- and near-abroad countries, the Church’s missionary and educational work as well as the work of the Department for External Church Relations and some other Synodal institutions of the Moscow Patriarchate.

They discussed prospects for Orthodox-Catholic cooperation in Europe in general and a possibility for carrying out joint educational activities and youth events, in particular.

In conclusion of the talk, which was held in a warm and friendly atmosphere, Metropolitan Hilarion presented Cardinal Schoenborn with an icon of the Most Holy Mother of God.

Link to original...Russian Orthodox Church...

Catholic, Orthodox Churches to try to overcome millennium-long disagreement

Moscow, September 22, Interfax - A joint international commission on dialogue between the Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church, which began in Vienna on Tuesday, will discuss the Pope's primacy in the first millennium.

"This is the most complicated subject in the dialogue between the Orthodox and the Catholics, because the attitude toward the bishop of Rome's ministering is key for the modern Catholic Church," Hegumen Philipp (Ryabykh) representing the Russian Orthodox Church at the session told Interfax.

The presumption that the Pope has ecumenical jurisdiction goes against Orthodox ecclesiology, which teaches that, while the Orthodox Church preserves unity of faith and church governance, it still consists of several local churches, Father Philipp said, who is a deputy head of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations.

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Tradition vs. Liberal -- Aliance between Catholic and Orthodox Church, In Order to Give Europe Back Its Soul

[London/Rome] A few days from the arrival of Pope Benedict XVI in Scotland and England, the "Number two" in the Russian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, Direcoter of the "Foreign Office" of the Moscow Patriarchate, will make his visit to Great Britain.

On the 9th of September he will meet [has already met] in Lambeth Palace with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, the Primate of the Anglican Communion. In a certain way "he makes straight the way of the Pope", as the Pope's meeting on the 17th of September is described by Vaticanist Sandro Magister in the Weekly L'Espresso.

Full text of the address, here.

The Vatican itself boasts prelates who raise their noses, when they are confronted with terms like "conservative" and "progressive". Not seldom one hears from them that such pigeonholes are "an old thing", which are "outdated". "I think contrarily, that the destinction is legitimate and before and now useful for both Churches to compare their main directions," writes Paolo Rodari, the Vaticanist of the daily Il Foglio and author of the recently released book "Attack Against Ratzinger, Recriminations and Scandals, Prophesies and Conspiracies Against Benedict XVI."

Metropolitan Hilarion correspondingly, gave a speech with the Anglican Primate at the concluding meeting of the Nicea Club in London, where he made an actual appraisal of Christndom in outspoken Ratzingerian mannerisms.

"All of the present forms of Christendom could be put roughly under two principle groups: in Traditional and Liberal. The difference today lies not so much between Orthodox and Catholic or between Catholics and Protestants, rather between Traditionalists and Liberals.

"Some Christian leaders, for example, say to us that the marriage between a man and a woman is no longer the only possibility when it comes to forming a family: there are other models and the Church must become "inclusive" in so far as the standards of alternative forms of relationship are recognized and how these are officially blessed.

Some attempt to overrule that human life is no longer an absolute value and that it may be ended at will in the mother's womb. From the traditional Christians, then, the progressive expects, therefore, beneath such expectations of modernity, that he reassess his own standpoint."

The Metropolitan recalled then, that it is a principle priority for the Russian Orthodox Church, a commitment to order the eternal validity of the spiritual and moral values of Christendom. It is always, says Metropolitan Hilarion, the common will of the Moscow Patriarchate and the Catholic Church, "to form an alliance in Europe, to defend the traditional values of Christendom and give Europe back its soul", against relativism and against secularism.


Article translated from katholisches.net...

Also an account of the Nicea Discussion at Virtue Online...

200 Churches Will Be Built in Moscow

After almost a century of socialism, Russians are going to Mass again and finding hope. Everywhere else, Christianity seems to be in retreat, but Russia is the great contradiction.

200 new Orthodox churches will be built in Moscow in the next 30 years, says a project considered by Moscow's Mayor Yuri Luzhkov and the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill.

They discussed changes in Moscow's architecture which also includes building new churches.

According to Kirill, 90 percent of Muscovites are Orthodox and altogether they need some 590 new churches.

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10 Other Nations Back up Italy on Crucifix Ruling: More Orthodox Cooperation

Catholic and Orthodox Join in Alliance

STRASBOURG, France, JUNE 1, 2010 (Zenit.org).- The "crucifix trial" in the European Court of Human Rights has given rise to an unprecedented intervention of 10 member States as third parties.

The European Centre for Law and Justice, which was also authorized to become a third party in the court hearing regarding the legitimacy of displaying crucifixes in Italian schools, reported today that ten other States will have this amicus curiae status in the "Lautsi vs. Italy" case.

This case was referred to the Grand Chamber when the Italian government appealed a decision issued by the Second Section of the court last November, which spoke against the presence of the crucifix in classrooms.

These States, all of which are supporting Italy in the desire to overturn last November's decision, include: Armenia, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Lithuania, Malta, Monaco, San-Marino, Romania, and The Russian Federation.

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Russians Forced to Confront Implications of Large Number of ‘Ethnic Orthodox’

Paul Goble

Russians for a long time have dismissed many of the traditionally Islamic peoples of their country as “ethnic Muslims,” a term that refers to the fact that, as a result of Soviet anti-religious policies and modernization, many members of these nations identify as Muslims but neither know much about Islam or practice the faith.

Now, largely in reaction to a new poll, Russians and especially Russian religious leaders are having to focus on the reality that alongside “ethnic Muslims,” there appear to be an increasing number of “ethnic Orthodox” Russians who identify with the religion but neither know much about it or take part in religious practice.

The confrontation with that somewhat uncomfortable reality has at least two serious consequences. On the one hand, it calls into question the claims the Moscow Patriarchate makes and that some in the Russian government accept that the Russian Federation is genuinely “an Orthodox Christian” country.

Link to Georgian Daily...

The Growing Power of the Orthodox

MOSCOW, Russia — Priests serving with military units, religious classes in public schools, even blessings at national hockey games — this is the face of the new Russian Orthodox Church.

Following years of steady post-communism revival, the church saw an explosive growth in its activities and state role last year. Now critics warn that the growth is coming at the expense of religious freedom in the country, with many faiths under attack.

In an annual report on religious freedom released in late January, the Moscow-based Liberty of Conscience Institute said the relationship between the church and the state had become “symbiotic,” violating the constitution and leading to widespread discrimination against religious minorities.

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Serbian Patriarch Advocates Dialogue with Rome

By JOVANA GEC

The Associated Press
Thursday, January 28, 2010; 8:39 AM
The new head of the Serbian Orthodox Church on Thursday urged dialogue to overcome long-standing divisions with Roman Catholics.

Patriarch Irinej said that a 2013 anniversary important to Christians would be a “good opportunity … to meet and talk.”

He added that “with God’s help this (dialogue) would continue to overcome what had happened in history and take a new, Christian road.”

Link to eirenikon...

h/t youngfogey at conservative blog for peace, here....

Orthodox and Catholic Agreements on Papal Primacy

Apparently we weren't supposed to see this yet, but I'm glad we are, especially since it's proving that we were right all along.

The Role of the Bishop of Rome in the Communion of the Church in the First Millennium

Joint Coordinating Committee for the Theological Dialogue between the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church

Aghios Nikolaos, Crete, Greece, September 27 - October 4, 2008



Introduction

1. In the Ravenna document, "The Ecclesiological and Canonical Consequences of the Sacramental Nature of the Church – Ecclesial Communion, Conciliarity and Authority", Catholics and Orthodox acknowledge the inseparable link between conciliarity and primacy at all levels of the life of the Church: "Primacy and conciliarity are mutually interdependent. That is why primacy at the different levels of the life of the Church, local, regional and universal, must always be considered in the context of conciliarity, and conciliarity likewise in the context of primacy" (Ravenna document, n. 43). They also agree that "in the canonical order (taxis) witnessed by the ancient Church", which was "recognised by all in the era of the undivided Church", "Rome, as the Church that “presides in love” according to the phrase of St Ignatius of Antioch, occupied the first place in the taxis, and that the bishop of Rome was therefore the protos among the patriarchs' (nn. 40, 41). The document refers to the active role and prerogatives of the bishop of Rome as "protos among the patriarchs', "protos of the bishops of the major Sees' (nn. 41, 42, 44), and it concludes that "the role of the bishop of Rome in the communion of all the Churches' must be 'studied in greater depth". "What is the specific function of the bishop of the “first see” in an ecclesiology of koinonia?" (n. 45)

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In Russia the Path to Unity is Defrosting

Anyone who knows us and has been following us knows that we've been predicting this for some time.

Neville Kyrke-Smith has visited Eastern Europe for the past 25 years. Now, he believes the end of the schism with the Orthodox is in sight

"The Lefebvrists, the Anglicans... will it be the Orthodox next?" asked one slightly bewildered Catholic priest recently. Pope Benedict XVI is turning out to be ecumenically audacious. For this he has faced criticism, misunderstanding and accusations of insensitivity. But Pope Benedict and Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church seem now to be making progress in preparing the ground to overcome the Great Schism of 1054.

When I was in Russia late last year the Nuncio, Archbishop Antonio Mennini, commented on the imperative aim of both Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI to build "a dialogue of truth and charity" with the Orthodox. He emphasised how vital this was and thanked Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) for its work in supporting Catholic, Orthodox and ecumenical projects in Russia:

"We have to encourage the Catholic community to show solidarity to the Orthodox. The initiative of Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI is so important. Thank you for all that the charity does for the Church and for building relations with the Orthodox, in line with the will of the Holy Father... and Our Lord!"

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Bishop of Nis is Serbian Patriarch Now

The bishop of Niš, Irinej Gavrilovic, 80, was elected on January 22 to succeed Patriarch Pavle as the head of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Belgrade-based radio station B92 said.

Gavrilovic, metropolitan Amfilohije and bishop Irinej of Bačka won most votes from the 37 bishops that make up the electoral synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church.

Gavrilovic's name was drawn randomly in what is known as the apostolic vote, B92 said. "Such election procedure was introduced simply to protect the Church against external political influences of the state," B92 quoted local journalist and Church expert Milenko Pešić as saying.

The election procedure has been criticised in the past, since the Serbian Orthodox Church is the only one to employ it, B92 said. There were other controversies surrounding the election of the patriarch, concerning the influence of different lobbies within the Serbian Orthodox Church, but also the role of the state and politics, B92 said.

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Supreme Rada checks Yuschenko’s brother for being “Kiev Patriarchate” bishop

Interfax

Dnepropetrovsk, January 14, Interfax – Ukrainian deputies check information that their colleague and Ukrainian President’s brother Pyotr Yuschenko is a bishop of the self-proclaimed Kiev Patriarchate.

“Now I won’t claim that Yuschenko’s brother deputy Pyotr Yuschenko is supposedly a bishop of Sumy in Filaret’s Church (in the Kiev Patriarchate – IF) – we’re checking this information right now. But if it proves true, it’ll be a mockery,” Ukrainian MP Nestor Shufrich said in his interview to the Avtor TV.

Earlier Pyotr Yuschenko headed public organization For Local Ukraine that aims at establishing one Local Orthodox Church in the country independent from the Moscow Patriarchate. In this regard, some observers consider Pyotr Yuschenko a potential church leader.

Shufrich said the problem of “political Orthodoxy” in Ukraine “became sharp after 2005, when Yuschenko decided to subordinate Church.”

“Today they provoke schism in Orthodoxy, seize churches (we have incidents in the Chernigov Region and the Vinnitsa Region,) beat Orthodox priests belonging to the structure of His Beatitude Sabodan (Metropolitan Vladimir of Kiev and All Ukraine – IF), we shouldn’t tolerate it, it’s a field for the Criminal Code and the Criminal Law to work in,” Shufrich stressed.

Link to original...