| DECR chairman takes part in WCC Consultation on Syria On 18 September 2013, a one-day Consultation on the Syrian crisis, organized by the World Council of Churches, took place in Bossey, Switzerland. Participating in the meeting were representatives of the Christian Churches of Syria and other countries which have taken an active part in the efforts to overcome the crisis. Among the participants were also Mr. Kofi Annan, former UN Secretary-General; Mr. Lakhdar Brahimi, UN Joint Special Representative for Syria; and representatives of other international organizations. Taking part in the consultation on behalf of the Russian Orthodox Church was Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations. Among the participants was also Archpriest Mikhail Gundyaev, representative of the Russian Orthodox Church at the World Council of Churches and international organizations in Geneva. The participants in the meeting were called to analyze the situation in the Syrian Arab Republic and try to find possible ways for the WCC member churches to take joint actions to settle the situation. In his address, Mr. Kofi Annan said he saw no possibility for a military solution to the Syrian problem. Mr. Annan appreciated Russia’s initiative aimed at solving the problem of chemical weapons in Syria and preventing a military strike, and emphasized that Russia and Syria alone, making joint efforts and using their authority and influence, might make the warring parties to begin negotiations. Many speakers repeatedly emphasized the necessity to convoke the Geneva II Conference as soon as possible. Representatives of the Syrian Churches presented numerous evidences of sufferings that have befallen the Syrian Christians. The number of Christian families fleeing the country is constantly increasing. There is a real danger of total extermination of the Christian presence in Syria, a country with rich centuries-old Christian history. Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk read out the letter sent by His Holiness Patriarch Kirill to US President Barack Obama. The main topic of the letter was the prevention of military strike on Syria. The DECR chairman spoke in detail about the work the Russian Orthodox Church has been carrying out to improve the situation in Syria and to ease the sufferings of the Syrian people. “At a time when we were invited to this consultation, many felt desperate,” Metropolitan Hilarion said, “We did not see any solution to the situation in Syria. Now we have a hope. It is a very important moment for all of us to think over the steps to be taken next to achieve peace in Syria…” |
| A.V. Nesteruk 7. Humanity as Hypostasis of the Universe Defining the Humankind-Event – The Humankind-Event and the Anthropic Principle – Hypostatic Dimension of the Humankind-Event – From Anthropic Transcendentalism to Christian Platonism – Intelligibility and Meaning of the Universe: The Participatory Anthropic Principle – The Humankind-Event and the Incarnation – The Universe as Hypostatic Event There are in personality natural foundation principles which are linked with the cosmic cycle. But the personal in man is of different extraction and of different quality and it always denotes a break with natural necessity… Man as personality is not part of nature, he has within him the image of God. There is nature in man, but he is not nature. Man is a microcosm and therefore he is not part of the cosmos. – Nicolas Berdyaev, Slavery and Freedom, pp. 94 – 95 The fact that the universe has expanded in such a way that the emergence of conscious mind in it is an essential property of the universe, must surely mean that we cannot give an adequate account of the universe in its astonishing structure and harmony without taking into account, that is, without including conscious mind as an essential factor in our scientific equations… Without man, nature is dumb, but it is man’s part to give it word: to be its mouth through which the whole universe gives voice to the glory and majesty of the living God. – Thomas F. Torrance, The Ground and Grammar of Theology, p. 4 This chapter develops the idea that the phenomenon of intelligent human life in the universe, which we call the humankind-event, is not entirely conditioned (in terms of its existence) by the natural structures and laws of the universe. The actual happening of the humankind-event, which is treated as a hypostatic event, is contingent on nonnatural factors that point toward the uncreated realm of the Divine. We develop an argument that modern cosmology, if seen in a wide philosophical and theological context, provides indirect evidence for the contingency of the universe on nonphysical factors, as well as its intelligibility, established in the course of the humankind-event, which is rooted in the Logos of God and detected by human beings through the logoi of creation. The universe, as experienced through human scientific discursive thinking, thus becomes a part of the humankind-event; that is, the universe itself acquires the features of the hypostatic event in the Logos of God. Defining the Humankind-Event |
| Delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church takes part in the IX Assembly of the World Conference of Religions for Peace On November 20-22, 2013, Vienna hosted the IX Assembly of the World Conference of Religions for Peace held on the theme ‘Welcoming the Other: Action for Human Dignity, Citizenship and Shared Well-being.’ Taking part in the Conference were over six hundred followers of Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and other religions. In their deliberations they focused on inter-religious dialogue and mutual respect, protection of children and women from violence and hunger, development of the experience of peaceful coexistence of different religious communities and the settlement of conflicts. A delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church took part in the Assembly with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia. The delegation consisted of archimandrite Philaret (Bulekov), vice-chairman of the Department for External Church Relations (DECR) – head of the delegation; Rev. Roman Bogdasarov, acting vice-chairman of the Department for Church-Society Relations and head of the secretariat of the Interreligious Council of Russia; and Rev. Dimitry Safonov, head of the DECR sector of interreligious contacts. Other Local Orthodox Churches were represented by Archbishop Anastasios, Primate of the Orthodox Church of Albania; Metropolitan Emmanuel of France from the Ecumenical Patriarchate; and Bishop John of Thermopiles from the Orthodox Church of Greece. At the opening of the Assembly on November 20, there were read out greetings from the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and from Pope Francis. Archimandrite Philaret read out greetings from Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, the DECR chairman, who reminded the participants of the increase of persecution and discrimination against Christians in different regions of the world: ‘Every year, about one hundred thousand Christians die by violence for their faith because of intereligious conflicts. It is necessary to acknowledge the fact that Christians are the most persecuted religious community on our planet.’ |
| Archive Пн DECR chairman takes part in United Cultures Forum in St. Petersburg 18 November 2023 year 18:43 On 16th – 18th November 2023, the 9th St. Petersburg International Cultural Forum – the United Cultures Forum – was held in the northern capital of Russia, bringing together delegates from over 70 countries. Among its participants were prominent film directors, musicians, artists, experts, heads of non-governmental organizations and cultural institutions from Russia and far abroad countries. With the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, taking part in the Forum on behalf of the Russian Orthodox Church was Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Department for External Church Relations. On 16th November, Metropolitan Anthony took part in the Plenary Discussion on “Common Culture. Common History. Common Future.” Its participants discussed ways to promote historical culture in the face of today’s global challenges. Konstantin Mogilevsky, Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, Co-Chairman of the Russian Historical Society, acted as moderator of the meeting held in the historical General Staff Building on Palace Square. Among the speakers were Pierre de Gaulle, grandson of former President of France Charles de Gaulle; Binod Singh, Director of the BRICS Institute; Richard Sakwa, Professor of the Department of Political Science and International Relations at the University of Kent; Mohammed Kamil Al Muaini, Founder and Chairman of the International Institute for Cultural Diplomacy; and Matush Alexa, Founder of Motorcyclists of Slovakia Civic Association. In his speech, Metropolitan Anthony dwelt on the role of religion as a source of culture-related knowledge and on the work of the Department for External Church Relations in fostering interfaith dialogue. Within the framework of the Forum, other panel discussions were held on such topics as “Artificial Intelligence: Threat or Boon for Culture,” “Learning History Through Culture,” and “Traditional Culture as the Foundation for Building a Society.” |
| Unfortunately, the Chinese translations, done by Russian missionaries in the early twentieth century, in most cases, do not meet this objective precisely because of its incomprehensibility by modern Chinese people. To solve this problem required a whole number of specialists. The first steps to establish the glossary have been made by Professor Zhang Baichun (PRC), in later work priest Peter Adamek and Professor Zbigniew Veselovsky (Poland) from Fu Jen Roman Catholic University in Taiwan took part, and without their support it would be difficult to imagine the possibility of bringing a dictionary to the next stage at which a great help was provided by Greek translator Ioannis Chen, student of the Theological Faculty of the University of Thessaloniki (Greece). He has made a significant contribution to the explanatory part of the vocabulary and helped clarify a number of terms, which are treated differently in the Catholic and Orthodox traditions. Also employees of the Department of calendar Publishing Council of the ROC, including Alexander Vladimirovich Shishkin made a number of revisions and clarifications to Russian part of the vocabulary. Finally, in the final stage of the dictionary work it has been fully proofread and corrected for the fifth time with the help of Chen Yiting - postgraduate student of the Russian language in Chengchi University (Taipei), who has chosen a translation of liturgical texts of the Russian Orthodox Church as an object of research for her master " s thesis. The Chinese students quite successfully completed their task and almost all of the questions were answered correctly. Let " s hope that the grace of God touches their hearts and help them select the right path in their life journey. At the end of the quiz, the guests were invited to familiarize with the seminary, with numerous presentations prepared for the Open House Day. Chinese students have expressed curiosity, asking questions. Accompanying teachers and Chinese students were presented with gifts. The event was ended by taking a picture in front of the seminary. Guests have promised to come again. |
| Archive Пн A Russian Orthodox Church representative takes part in Peace Roundtable in Tokyo 26 September 2022 year 10:56 On September 21-23, 2022, a Multireligious Peace Roundtable “Beyond War and Towards Reconciliation” took place in Tokyo, Japan, on the initiative of the World Conference of Religions for Peace (WCRP). Attending the meeting were representatives of world religions from Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Myanmar, Russia, South Sudan, Syria, Ukraine and other countries. Mr. Vakhtang V. Kipshidze, vice-chairman of the Synodal Department for Church’s Relations with Society and Mass Media, took part in the Roundtable with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus’. Discussed at the Roundtable were conflicts in various regions and prospects for the participation of religious communities in the search for their peaceful resolution. Greeting the participants were President of Religions for Peace-Japan, the Most Rev. Nichiko Niwano; WCRP General Secretary. Prof. Azra Karam; WCRP Co-Moderators Metropolitan Emmanuel of Chalcedon and Prof. Shaykn Abdullah Bin Bayyah, and other persons. In his address to the participants, Mr. Kipshidze welcomed an initiative of Religions for Peace-Japan to hold Peace Roundtable. As to the stance of the Russian Orthodox Church toward the conflict in Ukraine, he reminded the participants that the Church saw this conflict as a tragedy and fratricidal division. He said that the Russian Orthodox Church has been praying for peace in Ukraine since 2014 with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus’ and considers the NATO members, which reckon Russia as an enemy, guilty of escalation of the conflict rather than the peoples of Russia and Ukraine. “The position of the Russian Orthodox Church has caused a blatant information campaign aimed at accusing His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus’ of “blessing” the war in Ukraine. The major media outlets continue to spread this tale for one simple reason. They would wish to see the Russian Orthodox Church taking the side of NATO in this conflict and coming out against the government of the Russian Federation, thus becoming a part of political opposition supported by Western countries, which would not accept any other position,” explained vice-chairman of the Synodal department. |
| The 90th birthday of Metropolitan Cornelius of Tallinn and All Estonia was celebrated in Tallinn on June 18-19, 2014. Taking part in the celebration with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia were Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department (DECR) for External Church Relations, archpriest Igor Yakimchuk, DECR secretary for inter-Christian relations, and hierodeacon Nicholas (Ono). On June 18, Metropolitan Hilarion met with Metropolitan Cornelius and warmly greeted him with the remarkable date in his life. A dinner in honour of the first hierarch of the Estonian Church was given. On June 19, the Divine Liturgy was celebrated in the Tallinn Cathedral of St. Alexander Nevsky, taking part in which were Metropolitan Cornelius, Metropolitan Hilarion, Bishop Alexander of Daugavpils and Rezekne, Bishop Lazar of Narva, clerics of the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, and ordained guests from different countries of the world who came to Tallinn for celebrations. Attending the divine service were Archbishop Andreas Pöder, head of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Estonia, and Bishop Philipp Jordan, representative of the Roman Catholic Church. After the Liturgy, Metropolitan Hilarion read out the congratulatory message from His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia to Metropolitan Cornelius and handed him a high award of the Russian Orthodox Church – the Order of St. Vladimir Equal-to-the-Apostles, 1 st class. A festive reception was given in honour of the renowned archpastor. Code for blog Since you are here… …we do have a small request. More and more people visit Orthodoxy and the World website. However, resources for editorial are scarce. In comparison to some mass media, we do not make paid subscription. It is our deepest belief that preaching Christ for money is wrong. Having said that, Pravmir provides daily articles from an autonomous news service, weekly wall newspaper for churches, lectorium, photos, videos, hosting and servers. Editors and translators work together towards one goal: to make our four websites possible - Pravmir.ru, Neinvalid.ru, Matrony.ru and Pravmir.com. Therefore our request for help is understandable. For example, 5 euros a month is it a lot or little? A cup of coffee? It is not that much for a family budget, but it is a significant amount for Pravmir. If everyone reading Pravmir could donate 5 euros a month, they would contribute greatly to our ability to spread the word of Christ, Orthodoxy, life " s purpose, family and society. Also by this author Today " s Articles Most viewed articles Functionality is temporarily unavailable. Most popular authors Functionality is temporarily unavailable. © 2008-2024 Pravmir.com |
| About Pages Проекты «Правмира» Raising Orthodox Children to Orthodox Adulthood The Daily Website on How to be an Orthodox Christian Today Twitter Telegram Parler RSS Donate Are You a True Christian? Navigation Metropolitan Hilarion meets with Austria’s Ambassador to Russia Source: DECR Natalya Mihailova 18 December 2014 On 16 December 2014, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations, met with H.E. Margot Klestil-Löffler, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Austria to the Russian Federation, who is concluding her diplomatic mission in Moscow. Taking part in the meeting, which was held at the Department for External Church Relations, was also Mr. Miguel Palacio, a staff member of the DECR Secretariat for Far Abroad Countries. The participants in the meeting exchanged their views on the situation in Ukraine and on other issues of international relations. Metropolitan Hilarion thanked Mrs. Klestil-Löffler for the cooperation with the Department for External Church Relations and wished her success in her new post. Tweet Donate Share Code for blog Metropolitan Hilarion meets with Austria’s Ambassador to Russia Natalya Mihailova Taking part in the meeting, which was held at the Department for External Church Relations, was also Mr. Miguel Palacio, a staff member of the DECR Secretariat for Far Abroad Countries. The participants in the meeting exchanged their views on the situation in Ukraine and on other issues of ... Since you are here… …we do have a small request. More and more people visit Orthodoxy and the World website. However, resources for editorial are scarce. In comparison to some mass media, we do not make paid subscription. It is our deepest belief that preaching Christ for money is wrong. Having said that, Pravmir provides daily articles from an autonomous news service, weekly wall newspaper for churches, lectorium, photos, videos, hosting and servers. Editors and translators work together towards one goal: to make our four websites possible - Pravmir.ru, Neinvalid.ru, Matrony.ru and Pravmir.com. Therefore our request for help is understandable. |
| Panagia Soumela Monastery, where many Chrypto-Christians were married. Uzun Memetoglu was a wealthy crypto-Christian with many people under him, but was nevertheless just and generous. He and his wife had six children: Yiannis, Polychronos, Papastathios, Isaak, Abraham, and Agapi. In 1835, an Ottoman hodja who respected him very much, offered his daughter as a second wife. Memetoglu was forced to accept her as the girl was brought to his home when he was away in Trebizond, and sending her back was inconceivable once she had “sat there.” Refusing to father her children would also have been very dangerous for the crypto-Christian community if she had complained to her relatives, so he created a second home and had a son, Husein, and a daughter, Aise, by the hodja’s daughter. His wife never realized that he was a crypto-Christian, nor did Memetoglu try to convert her to Christianity, fearing that she might tell her Muslim cleric father. They lived like this until the official revelation of the crypto-Christians. When Memetoglu revealed his Christianity, the Turkish girl could not bear the thought of becoming a Christian and went back to her father, taking the children with her. Fifteen days later, the children returned to Memetoglu and became Christian. The number of people in Kromni related by marriage or through a spiritual relationship was remarkable. Every baptism gave the child’s parents a dozen new relatives from the godparents’ families. This spiritual kinship was considered sacred and was added to exponentially when the same godparent stood as godparent to another child. With weddings, also, one made an “army” of relations by marriage, not to mention the families of one’s koumbaros and koumbara (best man and bridesmaid). In the crypto-Christian community, all of this was managed discretely and with such order that it is a wonder how so many people managed to conceal such a great secret for over 200 years, taking into account human weakness, jealousy, and the reprisals that are part of everyday life. The fact that so many thousands of people guarded this secret as the apple of their eye, in the fear of God, is astonishing. |
| Archive Пн Metropolitan Alexander of Astana meets with Serbian Bishop Isihije of Valjevo 7 December 2023 year 14:25 On December 6, 2023, Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan met with a hierarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Bishop Isihije of Valjevo. The meeting took place at the Metropolitan Joseph (Chernov) Religio-Cultural and Administrative Centre in Almaty. The Serbian hierarch had arrived in Kazakhstan at the invitation of the head of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District to visit and venerate the holy sites associated with the twentieth-century new martyrs and confessors who had shone forth in the Kazakh land. Bishop Isihije was accompanied by Priest Filip Jakovljevi, secretary of the Valjevo Diocese, and Deacon Dimitrijevi Momilo. Taking part in the meeting were also Mr Oleg Ovchinnikov, secretary of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District, Honoured Artist of the Russian Federation; Archimandrite Sergy (Karamyshev), dean of the Astana parishes; Archimandrite Feodosy (Kuryanov), sacristan of the Cathedral of Archangel Michael in the city of Oral; Archpriest Yevgeny Ivanov, head of the Information Department of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District; Hieromonk Gennady (Burdyuzha), secretary of the Kostanay Diocese; Hieromonk Prokhor (Yendovitsky), head of Metropolitan Alexander’s Private Office; Priest Georgy Sidorov, head of the Administrative Secretariat of the head of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District; Priest Andrei Krutin, rector of the Church of Kazan Icon of the Mother of God in Tobyl; Protodeacon Roman Golovin, head of Metropolitan Alexander’s Protocol Office; and staff members of the Almaty Diocesan Administration. Metropolitan Alexander told Bishop Isihije about the present-life of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District, including various academic, educational and youth projects and events held in 2023 to mark the 20th anniversary of its establishment. He also warmly thanked the Serbian hierarch for taking part in the celebrations in commemoration of the Holy Right-Believing Grand Prince Alexander Nevsky. |
|
|
