| Accept The site uses cookies to help show you the most up-to-date information. By continuing to use the site, you consent to the use of your Metadata and cookies. Cookie policy Greetings by Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk to the Participants of the Fourteenth Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops of the Catholic Church on the “Vocation and mission of the family in the Church and in the contemporary world” (The Vatican. 20th October 2015) Your Holiness! Your Beatitudes, Eminences and Excellencies! On behalf of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus I extend fraternal greetings to you on the occasion of the Fourteenth Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops of the Catholic Church on the theme of the family. In our restless and disturbing world the human person needs a firm and unshakeable foundation upon which he can rest and upon which he can build his life with confidence. At the same time, secular society, aimed primarily at the gratification of individual needs, is incapable of giving the human person clear moral direction. The crisis of traditional values which we see in the consumer society leads to a contradiction between various preferences, including those in the realm of family relationships. Thus, feminism views motherhood as an obstacle to a woman " s self-realization, while by contrast having a baby is more often proclaimed as a right to be attained by all means possible. More often the family is viewed as a union of persons irrespective of their gender, and the human person can " choose " his or her gender according to personal taste. On the other hand, new problems are arising which have a direct impact on traditional family foundations. Armed conflicts in the contemporary world have brought about a mass exodus from areas gripped by war to more prosperous countries. Emigration often leads to a disruption of family ties, creating at the same time a new social environment in which unions of an inter-ethnic and inter-religious nature arise. |
| John Anthony McGuckin Ethics PERRY T. HAMALIS The term “ethics” commonly carries three meanings, all of which apply within the context of Orthodox Christianity. First, stemming from the Greek word ethos, the term refers to a community’s or person’s implicit beliefs about how to live, about right and wrong, or about what it means to flourish, as manifested through behavior. Second, “ethics” refers to a particular person’s or community’s explicit teachings about how human beings ought to live. The second meaning differs from the first insofar as it shifts from implicit ethos to normative and axiological claims made explicit and recommended to others. Third, “ethics” refers to a discipline of scholarly inquiry and application. It encompasses the assessment of ethical visions held or taught by persons, communities, and institutions, including the examination of moral capacities (e.g., freedom, reason, conscience, will, etc.), authoritative sources (e.g., tradition, scripture, reason, experience, etc.), methods for interpreting and applying ethical claims to specific issues and circumstances, and bases for grounding and defending ethical and moral visions. Within Orthodox theology the first meaning of ethics reflects the fact that Orthodoxy is more a form of existence than a form of discourse, more a lived way than a spoken word. At Orthodoxy’s core is the simple belief that to be a Christian is to be a follower of Christ ( Jn. 12.24 ) and a member of the church (cf. 1Cor. 12 and Rom. 12 ). To be a Christian is to strive for holiness and perfection as modeled by God (cf. Lev. 11.44 and Matt. 5.48) and to participate fully in the sacramental life, worship, and ascetical practices of the ecclesial community. According to this first meaning, Orthodox ethics pertains to the normative ethos ofthe church as a whole and, especially, the ethos of the saints as followers of Christ and exemplars of Orthodox Christian life. According to its second meaning, Orthodox ethics encompasses the church’s normative teachings on how human beings ought to live as expressed in the Holy Scriptures, the canon law tradition, and in the writings of saints and authoritative teachers. One can speak, for example, of the ethics of the Didache or of St. John Klimakos when referring to a text’s or author’s claims about human nature, the purpose ofhuman life, and how Christians ought to live in light of the reality and revelation of God. Nearly all sermons, ascetical treatises, and works on the spiritual life by Orthodox authors are articulating an ethical vision or expressing normative and axiological teachings that both reflect and shape the ethos of Orthodox Christians as a whole. |
| Dr. Anca-Maria Cernea, Doctor at the Center for Diagnosis and Treatment-Victor Babes and President of the Association of Catholic Doctors of Bucharest (Romania) made the following presentation to Pope Francis and the Synod bishops on Friday: Your Holiness, Synod Fathers, Brothers and Sisters, I represent the Association of Catholic Doctors from Bucharest. I am from the Romanian Greek Catholic Church. My father was a Christian political leader, who was imprisoned by the communists for 17 years. My parents were engaged to marry, but their wedding took place 17 years later. My mother waited all those years for my father, although she didn’t even know if he was still alive. They have been heroically faithful to God and to their engagement. Their example shows that God’s grace can overcame terrible social circumstances and material poverty. We, as Catholic doctors, defending life and family, can see this is, first of all, a spiritual battle. Material poverty and consumerism are not the primary cause of the family crisis. The primary cause of the sexual and cultural revolution is ideological. Our Lady of Fatima has said that Russia’s errors would spread all over the world. It was first done under a violent form, classical Marxism, by killing tens of millions. Now it’s being done mostly by cultural Marxism. There is continuity from Lenin’s sex revolution, through Gramsci and the Frankfurt school, to the current-day gay-rights and gender ideology. Classical Marxism pretended to redesign society, through violent take-over of property. Now the revolution goes deeper; it pretends to redefine family, sex identity and human nature. This ideology calls itself progressive. But it is nothing else than the ancient serpent’s offer, for man to take control, to replace God, to arrange salvation here, in this world. It’s an error of religious nature, it’s Gnosticism. It’s the task of the shepherds to recognize it, and warn the flock against this danger. “Seek ye therefore first the Kingdom of God, and His justice, and all these things shall be added unto you.” |
| Accept The site uses cookies to help show you the most up-to-date information. By continuing to use the site, you consent to the use of your Metadata and cookies. Cookie policy Patriarch Porfirije of Serbia: Father Superior of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra given custodial sentence for his religious affiliation DECR Communication Service, 23.07.2023. On July 22, His Holiness Patriarch Porfirije of Serbia, sent written appeals to several religious leaders, representatives of international organizations and human rights advocates calling upon them to use their authority in the world to help release Father Superior of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, Metropolitan Pavel of Vyshgorod and Chernobyl, so that he could continue his evangelical mission. On July 14, Metropolitan Pavel was detained under the decision of a district court in Kiev and put into prison. Earlier, he had been under round-the-clock home arrest for several months. Among the addressees of the Patriarch’s messages are Primates of Local Orthodox Churches, Pope Francis of Rome, head of the Anglican Community Archbishop Justin Welby of Canterbury, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk, as well as World Council of Churches, Commission of Bishops’ Conferences in the European Union, Amnesty International and Freedom House, the website of the Serbian Orthodox Church reports. As His Holiness Porfirije points out, during the large-scale, grave and dangerous historical changes, which certainly are such today, everyone who advocates justice, whatever his or her religion, nation, ideological or political convictions may be, must point to the injustice committed against individuals and their fundamental rights. An example of such an injustice is the situation of Metropolitan Pavel of Vyshgorod and Chernobyl. The messages point to the non-legal nature of the grounds for such a decision. His Holiness stressed that on the one hand it is a consequence of the grave situation in Ukraine, where the military conflict is continued, and from the other hand, an expression of the present authorities’ intention to seize the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, one of the most important shrines of the entire Orthodox world. |
| John Anthony McGuckin Lossky, Vladimir (1903–1958) PAUL GAVRILYUK Together with Georges Florovsky, Vladimir Lossky is one of the main architects of the turn to the Greek fathers in recent Russian Orthodox theology. Born into the family of a well-known philosopher-intuitivist, Nicholas Lossky, Vladimir spent his childhood and began his university education in St. Petersburg, Russia. Expelled from the Soviet Union in 1922, the Lossky family first settled in Prague (1922–4) and then moved to Paris, where Vladimir Lossky was to spend the rest of his life. In Paris Lossky continued his education at the Sorbonne (1924–7), studying the history of western medieval philosophy under the supervision of Etienne Gilson. During this period Lossky developed what would become a lifelong interest in the mystical theology of Meister Eckhart, eventually resulting in a doctoral thesis posthumously published in French under the title Theologie negative et connaissance de Dieu chezMaitre Eckhart (1960). In 1928 Lossky became a member of the Brotherhood of St. Photius, a group which promoted the Orthodox Christian witness in Europe. In the 1930s Lossky became involved in the debate over Sergius Bulgakov’s Sophiology. As an intellectual of a younger generation, Lossky viewed the heritage of religious idealism, especially Vladimir Soloviev and the writers of the Silver Age, with suspicion. To the end of his life, Lossky would remain one of the most outspoken critics of Bulgakov’s system. In his essay The Sophia Debate (1935, original in Russian), Lossky faulted Bulgakov for converting Christian theism into a pantheistic system, for breaking down the fundamental ontological distinction between Creator and creation, for confusing nature and person in God, and for a “Gnostic” lack of apophatic reserve when speaking about the immanent Trinity. The condemnation of Bulgakov’s system issued by the Russian Orthodox Church was based to a large degree upon Lossky’s summary report. Lossky’s brief involvement with the French resistance movement is reflected in his autobiographic essay Sept jours sur les routes de France (1940). After the war Lossky taught, among other places, in the newly founded Institute of St. Dionysius the Areopagite. His Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church (appearing first in French, 1944) is regarded as a classic exposition of Orthodox apophaticism. Using the work of Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopa- gite as his starting point, Lossky argues that apophatic theology is more than a corrective to Kataphatic theology, that negative theology is rather a contemplative practice intended to purify the human mind from the idolatry of concepts with the purpose of bringing the human knower into union with God. The book also defends the Palamite essence-energies distinction in God against its Roman Catholic critics. |
| John Anthony McGuckin St. Maximos the Confessor (580–662) ANDREW LOUTH Monk and theologian. Born in Constantinople (though an alternative nearly contemporary Syriac life makes him a native of Palestine), in 610 Maximos became the head of the imperial chancery under Emperor Herakleios. Soon, he withdrew from public life and became a monk, first at Chrysopolis, opposite Constantinople, and later at Kyzikos, on the Erdek peninsula. When the Persians laid siege to Constantinople in 626, he fled with other monks to North Africa. As a monk he retained his contacts with the court, as his correspondence demonstrates, and quickly became a renowned theologian. His early works – up to the early 630s – are addressed primarily to monks, and are concerned with the ascetic life and the interpretation of Scripture and the fathers. One besetting problem in the monastic circles known to Maximos was Origenism, which had provided a metaphysical context for understanding monastic asceticism. In these early works, Maximos corrects Ori- genist errors and provides an alternative metaphysical understanding of the goal and purpose of asceticism. Drawing on the Cappadocian fathers and the Alexandrine tradition of Athanasius and Cyril, combining this with the ascetic wisdom of Evagrios Pontikos and the Egyptian desert, and also with Dionysius the Areopagite’s cosmic, liturgical vision, Maximos set out a theology cosmic in scope, with intensely practical ascetic implications, that focused on the church’s liturgy, where the drama of salvation drew in the participation of humankind. The Persian occupation of the eastern provinces of the empire in the 610s and 620s exposed the weakness of the empire caused by christological divisions, and led to attempts to reconcile those who accepted the Christology of Chalcedon (451) and those, called by their opponents “Monophy- sites,” who rejected it. In 633, during Maximos’ African sojourn, a dramatic reconciliation was achieved in Egypt, on the basis on the doctrine that Christ had a single “divine-human” (theandric) activity, the doctrine known as “Monoenergism.” This was opposed by Sophronios, Maximos’ abbot in North Africa, soon to be patriarch of Jerusalem. Next, a refinement of Mono- energism known as “Monothelitism,” the doctrine that Christ had a single (divine) will, became the favored imperial christolog- ical compromise, and from the end of the 630s Maximos took on Sophronios’ mantle and became the principal theological opponent of Monothelitism, arguing that it compromised Christ’s perfect human nature. He sought to solve the problems raised by Christ’s having two wills by distinguishing between the natural will (Christ having both a divine and human natural will) and the gnomic will (gnome: Greek for “opinion”) involved in deliberating over moral decisions, that was absent in Christ. His attack on Monothelitism eventually took him to Rome, where the christological heresies were condemned at the Lateran |
| Patriarch Bartholomew: Genuine sport ultimately promotes tolerance, dialogue and reconciliation among communities and countries Source: The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople Message By His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew For the Opening of the FIFA World Cup. It is with great joy that we respond to the gracious invitation of Her Excellency Dilma Rousseff, the honorable President of the Federal Republic of Brazil, to offer a brief message on the occasion of the opening ceremony of the FIFA World Cup in the beautiful country once known as “the land of the holy cross.” There are some manifestations of human civilization that rise above man-made limitations. These signs have always been considered as transcending the worldly order and reaching the divine sphere. Among these, since classical times, athleticism and sport have proved to be inspired and blessed by heaven, demonstrating the drive among human beings to reach above and beyond their given nature. In this perspective, modern sport and competition have the capacity to rise above racial and cultural discrimination, as well as above financial and political differences, while at the same time contributing to social stability and global peace. Genuine sport ultimately promotes tolerance, dialogue and reconciliation among communities and countries. However, beyond these sublime goals and values, organized international sport should at the same time remember those who are easily unnoticed or overlooked in the excitement and exhilaration of the events involving the world’s leading athletes and sponsored by powerful companies. We are, of course, referring to the poor and vulnerable, who are often marginalized or harmed by the same international events. It is our humble prayer and fervent hope that the FIFA World Cup will contribute to world peace and stability, while also proving instrumental in supporting the poorest of the poor in the host country of Brazil and throughout the world. At the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the 12 th of June, 2014 |
| Natural science has done good things for humankind. My ability to work while on a plane flying across a continent is a gift from scientists following the scientific methods to improve human knowledge and life. Science makes progress, increasing in understanding, and this progress is beneficial to humanity. Yet the very moment this is said, when our support for science is expressed, we must qualify our happiness. Science has given us great gifts, but science has also enabled us to kill more efficiently, pollute our Earth more completely, and alienate ourselves from our true natures as humans. Scientific knowledge may progress, but humans use this knowledge. We use knowledge to do good deeds or to harm. Science cannot tell humanity what to do, because science can only manipulate matter and energy. Science has no power over the real realm of ideas and cannot tell humanity what we ought to do. For example, science might tell us that if we continue to burn fossil fuels that certain results will occur. We must decide whether these results are desirable or undesirable. Science can tell us that an operation might cure a disease, but not whether we should have the operation. The cure can be worse in a particular context than the disease. This will not be a scientific judgment, but a human decision. Ethics is a branch of knowledge where progress can be made, but the progress comes in different ways. Ancient people may have solved ethical problems and discovered ethical truths that have not changed as scientific ideas have changed. Aristotle discovered that some acts are always bad (like adultery). Science has given men and women new ways to do bad things, but the nature of the evil has not changed! Religion benefits the scientist, even if it did not benefit science! Science can tell a scientist what is, but religion, with revelation from God, tells the scientist what ought to be. Christianity in particular has done more for science than merely provide an ethical framework for humanity, though that would be a great deal. Christianity also provided the philosophical underpinnings that made science possible. My colleague Nancy Pearcey has written a very readable book showing this fact, but few serious philosophers of science dispute it. |
| European countries are moving towards euthanasia (doctor-assisted death or " mercy killing " ) legalization. However, the Roman Catholic Church along with secular critics have warned Europe against a " false sense of compassion, " citing human rights violations linked to euthanasia. MOSCOW, December 12 (Sputnik), Ekaterina Blinova — French Parliament has passed the law, easing restrictions on assisted death on Friday, December 12, moving gradually towards euthanasia legalization. Photo: Sputnik/Igor Zarembo “French legislation introduced Friday to ease restrictions on doctor-assisted death risks further diversifying the range of clashing national laws on euthanasia across Europe,” Agence France-Presse reported. It should be noted that a wide range of European states have already authorized physician assisted suicide, while only Italy, Romania, Greece, Bosnia, Serbia, Croatia, Poland and Ireland strictly prohibit euthanasia. For instance, who breach the law risk to face 14 and 15-year prison terms in Ireland and Italy, respectively. However, in the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg active, direct euthanasia is fully legalized. In the Netherlands. a patient, suffering from an incurable disease, can make a request for lethal doses of special drugs being “fully mentally lucid,” according to Agence France-Presse. The state has also authorized a physician-assisted death for children under 12, in accordance with strict conditions. Belgium lifted its ban on euthanasia in September 2002 and has become the first country to authorize children to receive euthanasia if they are terminally ill and “understands the consequences of the death.” Belgium adults can request for euthanasia if they are facing unbearable sufferings, both of physical or psychic nature. They can express their intention to die in a special agreement before falling ill. Such a “living will” remains valid for five years. Luxembourg legalized its euthanasia procedures in 2009, however, the legislation excludes minors. |
| John Anthony McGuckin Apophaticism JUSTIN M. LASSER The Greek term apophasis denotes a manner of doing theology by “not speaking.” As the alpha-privative prefix suggests, the term is concerned with a negating function. In some forms apophaticism exists as a check on kataphatic or assertive theology or philosophy. The style of apophatic theology was first developed by the Platonic school philosophers, and creatively used by Plotinus, as well as appearing in some of the Gnostic literature (Apocryphon of John, Trimorphic Protennoia). Apophaticism, stressing that God exceeds the boundaries of all terms that can be applied to the divinity by human mind or language, is above all else a means of preserving mystery amid a world of theological assertions. Apophaticism preserves the religious apprehension of the mystical in a more sophisticated way than the simple asseveration of dogmatic utterances. The Nag Hammadi writings (recovered in 1945) exhibit the earliest forms of Christian apophaticism. Clement and Origen of Alexandria both developed early Orthodox forms of apophaticism which were inherited and developed especially by St. Gregory of Nazianzus (Orations 27–8) and St. Gregory of Nyssa (Contra Eunomium) in their controversy with the Arian logicians Eunomius and Aetius. The theology of these radical Arians (Heterousiasts) against which the Cappadocians asserted apophaticism as a way of refuting their deductions about God’s nature (which Aetius had affirmed was simple and directly knowable through logical method and literal exegesis) was itself a form of apophaticism, since they posited the negation “un-originate” (agenetos) as the first principle of their doctrine of God. Evagrius of Ponticus, disciple of the Cappadocians, transformed Christian apophaticism into a theology of prayer, encouraging his disciples to pray without using any mental images. The first Orthodox Christian writer to employ apophaticism systematically was the great 5th-century Syrian theologian Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite. His treatises on the Divine Names and the Mystical Theology stand at the very pinnacle of Orthodox apophatic theology. Dionysius believed that the descriptive (affirmative or positive-utterance) elements in revelation were intended to provide a ladder by which the initiate would climb by negating each descriptive assertion about God. Dionysius’ writings, considering the theological controversies that preceded them, were astoundingly thought provoking. Concerning the divinity, Dionysius wrote: “It is not a substance [ousia], nor is it eternity or time. ... It is not Sonship or Fatherhood ... it falls neither within the predicate of non-being nor of being” (Mystical Theology, in Rorem 1987: 141). Even so, Dionysius could still begin his treatise praying to the divine Trinity and would develop all his thought in the matrix of the divine liturgy. Such are the paradoxes of the apophatic approach. |
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