| The decisions of the hierarchy of the Church of Greece on the “Holy and Great Council” and the final outcome Met. Hierotheos Vlachos At its meetings on 24 and 25 May 2016, the Hierarchy of the Church of Greece, as was its right and responsibility, studied the texts adopted by the Pre-Conciliar Pan-Orthodox Conferences and Summits of the Primates, further to the decision and proposal of the Standing Holy Synod. Having taken into account Article 11 of the Organization and Working Procedure of the “Holy and Great Council” it decided to submit proposals, amendments, corrections and additions, which were submitted within the prescribed time to the competent Pan-Orthodox Secretariat of the “Holy and Great Council”. As stated in Article 11 of the Organization and Working Procedure of the Holy and Great Council “At the conclusion of deliberations, the approval of any change is expressed, according to pan-Orthodox procedures, by the consensus of the delegations of each autocephalous Orthodox Church. This means that an amendment that is not approved unanimously shall not be passed.” The important thing is that most of these proposals were adopted unanimously by the Hierarchy of the Church of Greece, while some were approved with a minority of one or two Bishops voting against out of a total of 76 present, and one proposal was approved by an open vote. These facts imply that this decision by the Hierarchy of the Church of Greece was solidly supported and expresses the consciousness of the Orthodox Church in Greece, which has a high theological, pastoral and monastic ecclesiastical level. 1. The key points of the decisions of the Hierarchy There are four key points in the decisions taken by the Hierarchy, namely, the issue of the person , the granting of autonomy to an ecclesiastical province, the Orthodox Church and the rest of the Christian world, and the unity of the Church as a given fact. a) According to the Fathers of the Church, the term person was attributed to the Triune God, while throughout patristic literature the biblical term human being (anthropos) is used for humans in the theological meaning of human beings created in the image and likeness of God. When sometimes the Fathers use the term hypostasis for human beings, they use it based on the Bible and not on philosophy. |
| 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 Metropolitan Hilarion: God is willing to give everyone a wonderful gift of faith, but people must be willing to accept it On 16 th August 2020, 10 th Sunday after Pentecost, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations, celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Church of the “Joy of All Who Sorrow” Icon of the Mother of God in Bolshaya Ordynka Street, Moscow. Concelebrating with Vladyka Hilarion were clerics of the church. During the Litany of Fervent Supplication, prayerful petitions were read out in view of the threat of the spreading coronavirus infection. After that Metropolitan Hilarion lifted up the prayer which is read at a time of harmful pestilence. After the divine service the archpastor addressed the worshippers with a homily: “Dear Fathers, brothers and sisters, I greet all of you on this Sunday which coincides with the commemoration day of the Holy Venerable Anthony the Roman, Wonderworker of Novgorod. “Last week the Lord vouchsafed me to visit the sites associated with the life and ministry of this saint in the land of Novgorod, as well as the Convent of St. Barlaam of Khutyn, where the heavenly patron of our holy church, St. Barlaam, had performed his ascetic deeds. “Of course, you know that the church, initially built on this site, was dedicated to St. Barlaam of Khutyn. It stood in the place of today’s right side-chapel consecrated in the name of the Venerable Barlaam. “As time went by, the church was gradually rebuilt and enlarged, and the construction of the main chancel in honour of the Transfiguration of the Lord and of the side-chapel in honour of the ‘Joy of All Who Sorrow’ Icon was completed. Yet, St. Barlaam has always been venerated in our church thanks to the revered icon in the right side-chapel. One of the rectors of this church, the Holy Hieromartyr Constantine Lyubomudrov, held the Venerable Barlaam of Khutyn in ardent reverence, and died as a martyr at the Butovo Shooting Range on the commemoration day of this saint. |
| St. Theodore the Prince of Smolensk and Yaroslav Commemorated on September 19 The holy right-believing Prince Theodore of Smolensk and Yaroslavl, nicknamed the “Black” [i.e. “dark” or “swarthy”], was born at a terrible time for Rus: the Mongol invasion of 1237-1239. At Baptism he was named for the holy Great Martyr Theodore Stratelates (February 8), who was particularly esteemed by the Russian warrior-princes. Prince Theodore was famed for his military exploits. The child Theodore was not in the city when, through the prayers of the Most Holy Theotokos, the holy Martyr Mercurius (November 24) delivered Smolensk from being captured by Batu In the year 1239. They had taken him away and hidden him in a safe place during the warfare. In 1240 his father, Prince Rostislav died. He was a great-grandson of the holy Prince Rostislav of Smolensk and Kiev (March 14). His elder brothers as heirs divided their father’s lands among themselves, allotting to the child Theodore the small holding of Mozhaisk. Here he spent his childhood, and here he studied Holy Scripture, the church services and military science. In the year 1260, Prince Theodore was married to Maria Vasilievna, daughter of holy Prince Basil of Yaroslavl (July 3), and Theodore became Prince of Yaroslavl. They had a son named Michael, but Saint Theodore was soon widowed. He spent much of his time on military campaigns, and his son was raised by his mother-in-law, Princess Xenia. In 1277, the allied forces of the Russian princes, in union with the Tatar forces, took part in a campaign in the Osetian land and in the taking of “its famed city Tetyakov.” In this war the allied forces won a complete victory. From the time of Saint Alexander Nevsky (November 23), the khans of the Golden Horde, seeing the uncrushable spiritual and the military strength of Orthodox Russia, were compelled to change their attitude. They began to draw the Russian princes into alliances, and the khans turned to them for military assistance. The Russian Church made use of these providentially improved relations for the Christian enlightenment of the foreigners. Already in 1261, through the efforts of Saint Alexander Nevsky and Metropolitan Cyril III at Sarai, the capital of the Golden Horde, a diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church was established. In the year 1276, a Constantinople Council presided over by Patriarch John Bekkos (1275-1282) replied to questions of the Russian Bishop Theognostus of Sarai concerning the order for baptizing Tatars, and also for receiving Monophysite and Nestorian Christians among them into Orthodoxy. |
| Church of Cyprus Prepared to Become Mediator in Settlement of Ukrainian Church Issue Source: OrthoChristian Archbishop Chrysostomos’ words were falsely reported by the Ukrainian government. Photo: churchofcyprus.org.cy The primate of the Cypriot Orthodox Church, His Beatitude Archbishop Chrysostomos II of New Justiniana and All Cyprus, held a meeting recently with the Ukrainian ambassador to Cyprus, Boris Gumenyuk, in which the ongoing turmoil in the ecclesiastical life of Ukraine was discussed. During the course of the meeting, Abp. Chyrsostomos expressed concern for the possibility of a split in world Orthodoxy and offered the Church of Cyprus as a mediator in the discussion, reports the site of the Church of Cyprus . The Cypriot primate “expressed his worry and concern about the latest events in the Ukrainian Church and the possibility of the creation of a schism that would harm the unity of all Orthodoxy.” The archbishop also confirmed the Church’s readiness to become a “bridge for the normalization of the unstable situation” in Ukrainian Orthodoxy today. At this time, no specific proposals from Abp. Chrysostomos have been reported. However, in a common tactic, The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs misrepresented Abp. Chrysostomos’ words to make him out to be a supporter of the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s granting of autocephaly to Ukrainian schismatics. The reports making the rounds in Ukrainian media differ markedly from that on the official page of the Church of Cyprus. The Ukrainian ambassador to Cyprus’ site reads , During the conversation, which took place in a cordial atmosphere, the parties discussed the situation in Ukraine in the context of the ongoing Russian aggression, the development of the unification processes in Ukrainian Orthodoxy, and the question of granting of the Tomos of autocephaly of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The Archbishop of Cyprus Chrysostomos II expressed his support for Ukraine and the Ukrainian people, and particularly stressed the right of Ukraine as a great independent power to have its own independent Autocephalous Church. |
| There are two great money problems in the Scriptures: too little and too much. The theme of the poor is a constant throughout both the Old and the New Testament. They tend to be cast as victims – easy prey for the rich, often exploited, and particularly beloved of God. He is the protector of the “widow and the fatherless” and clearly favors the poor. The rich come in for scathing treatment and dire warnings. Christ’s own words regarding the rich and the difficulty of their salvation almost drove the disciples to despair. And yet, most people in modern culture imagine wealth to be the solution to problems. Half of all lottery tickets in America are bought by the poorest third of the population. 1 Perhaps more shameful is the fact that, today, the rich judge the poor to be foolish for such behaviors. The most powerful creation of modernity is the Middle Class. Largely unintentional, many components of the Industrial Revolution served to nurture and increase the size and importance of those whose income exceeded their necessities with an increase in the market for luxury goods and practices. In time, that same class managed to increase the voting franchise, eventually extending it to include the whole population. With this prosperity came a shift in how the culture of Christianity perceived wealth itself. From a suspect burden to be shared, it became a mark of success to be enjoyed. At present, our culture has been so transformed by the ideal of the Middle-Class phenomenon, that it has become synonymous with what is “normal,” “moderate,” “standard,” and “expected.” While there are debates within the Middle Class about the right way to think about the Upper Class and the super-wealthy, no one seems to question the desirability or normalcy of the Middle Class itself. Among the most striking changes in the Christian attitude towards money has been the evolution of understanding regarding charging interest: classically known as “usury.” Today “usury” is used only to describe outrageous percentages on borrowed funds. Originally, however, “usury” referred to all use of interest on borrowed funds. It was a forbidden practice in Christianity in its early centuries, a violation of the teachings of Christ. This remained the case until the early Reformation when its modest practice began to be allowed. |
| It is common knowledge by this point that the Israelis have long been making a sincere effort to make the enlistment of Palestinian Arabs of various Christian denominations mandatory, especially those living within the 1948 borders. The forum on the task force within the Israeli army recently sent commands to recruit Palestinian Christians living within the 1948 borders under the misguided pretext of volunteering for or in the army. This is the first time that the Israeli army has sent young soldiers to recruit Palestinian Christians living within the 1948 borders. Will Israel succeed in its goals or are they doomed to failure? Displacement and Ousters: I will begin by pointing out that Israel's policies (in the occupation) have been geared towards the entire Palestinian people and that this has been the case since the creation of Israel at the expense of and on the ruins of a Palestinian national entity. These policies affected both Muslims and Christians alike and did not exempt either group from suffering. Yet, the occupation's policies have led to a significant displacement in Palestinian Christians and propelled them to life in the diaspora. As such, the number of Palestinian Christians living in Palestine has steadily declined. It is also important to emphasise that the Christian presence in Jerusalem has also significantly declined. Israeli occupation forces aim to remove Palestinian citizens, both Muslim and Christians alike. Israel's goal is to gain control of all of historic Palestine's territories including the areas that were occupied in 1948 and 1967, in addition to Jerusalem despite the fact that Jews constituted five per cent of the city's population and 17 per cent of historic Palestine's population prior to the establishment of the Zionist entity. The initiative to recruit Palestinian Christians into the Israeli army began with the establishment of the Forum for the Recruitment of Christians to Military Service. The initiative began on August 12, 2012, and the first official meeting was held in the city of Otailat, south of Haifa, on October 16, 2012. The forum led by the city's mayor and member of the right-wing Likud Party, Shimon Jaspo, and approximately 90 people attended including prominent Orthodox leader and Priest Gabriel Nadaf one of the supporters calling on young Palestinian Christians to enlist in the Israeli army. It was at this point where this issue began its downward spiral and young patriotic Palestinian Christians began to protest and verbally attack the masterminds behind this initiative. Why recruitment? |
| Russian Religious Communities Carry Out a Humanitarian Action in Syria Unprecedented in Its Scale Source: DECR On February 4, 2018, the delegation of the interreligious working group under the Russian President’s Council carried out a major action for distribution of humanitarian aid to suffering people in Syria. During the whole Sunday, the delegation members together with representatives of Christian Churches and Muslim communities in Syria distributed in churches and mosques the aid donated by Russian believers. Christian priests and Muslim clergy unloaded cars with humanitarian aid and distributed it together to Syrians in need regardless of their religious affiliation. The amount of the distributed goods set record – 77 tons. The cargo was prepacked in over 25 kg-boxes each intended for one family. The foodstuff kits formed taking into consideration the real needs of the Syrian population included flour, sugar, cereals, pasta, dried milk, sunflower oil and canned fish and meat. Syrian beneficiaries pointed to the high quality of the foodstuffs, the right choice of the goods and that many things in the list are very difficult to obtain in Damascus. The contents of each box can be sufficient to sustain a family of five for at least two weeks. The project is supervised personally by His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia. The direct management is carried out by Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, head of the Moscow Patriarchate department for external church relations (DECR). It is an unprecedented action because never before such a full-scale interreligious delegation ever visited warring Syria to distribute aid and nobody ever realized such a project together with representatives of all the major religious communities in Syria. The action began early in the morning at the religious and educational center of the Sheikh Ahmad Kuftaro Islamic Association. The guests from Russia were welcomed by the director of the association, Sheikh Shreef as-Sawaf and Mufti Adnan Afyuni of Damascus and the region. The delegation was introduced to the work of the educational center and saw classrooms. Then, in one of the streets in Damascus close to the Religious Center, a joint distribution of aid to people in need took place. As the Damascus religious leaders noted, in the recent time the population of the city has increased by a half million people from other regions in Syria who have had to leave their ruined cities and villages escaping from terrorists. These were the people who received aid at that distribution station. |
| Photo: mospat.ru On October 30 th , 2021, on The Church and the World TV program, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations, answered questions from the program’s host, Ekaterina Gracheva. E. Gracheva: Vladyka, in the United States of America, the state of Texas is now quite literally fighting off an appeal by the federal Department of Justice, which demands the repeal of the so-called “heartbeat law” adopted in Texas. It states that it is forbidden to have an abortion from the time when the baby’s heartbeat is heard. In your opinion, why is the administration of President Biden – who is a Roman Catholic – so insistent on repealing this law, especially in the state of Texas? Metropolitan Hilarion: Each time when President Biden is spoken of as a Roman Catholic, I wonder what in fact Joe Biden’s catholicity is like and about. The Roman Catholic Church is against abortions, whereas President Biden supports them. Does he act as a Catholic believer or as the President of the United States? Is he guided by his conscience or by current political conjuncture? A man cannot claim to be a Catholic while breaking the fundamental norms of Christian morality and calling others for doing the same. The Roman Catholic Church, like the Orthodox Church, opposes abortions. If in one of the U.S. states there still exists a law protecting at least in some way the rights of unborn children, the Catholic Church as well as the Orthodox Church cannot but welcome this law. But the American administration is now trying to fit all states to one standard, which is guided by liberal norms. According to liberal norms, the life of the unborn baby is worth nothing and needs no protection, but the preservation of the rights of women is what matters. In other words, the woman has the right to dispose of her own body and take decision on the abortion, and no one should prevent her from doing so. All the legislation of Western countries is moving in this direction. |
| I have sometimes quipped that children are born lawyers. Their cries of, “That’s not fair!” would be at home in any court in the world. Children reveal our instinct for fairness, the root concept in the virtue of justice. Of course, as every parent knows, that instinct is often distorted, with the desire for fairness being expressed only as “fairness for me.” Justice is a virtue with deep, visceral content. Whenever it is invoked, it should be accompanied with flags of warning. Of all the virtues, it is the least able to stand alone. The virtue of justice, when taken alone, moves towards vice. The instinct for fairness quietly blends with the sin of envy, the desire that someone should “get what’s coming to them,” ironically named, “ just deserts.” When we take pleasure in another’s misfortune, it is not the virtue of justice – it is the sin of envy. It is quite rare in our world that we find justice standing alone, pure and undefiled. When mixed with envy, justice has the nightmare problem of no limitations . It is never satisfied with fairness – it requires punishment (inevitably justified as “fairness” or “recompense” or “justice”). The desire for justice, by itself, easily becomes an instrument of great evil. Every modern revolution that has been driven by a cry for justice has resulted in a bloodbath. The natural appetite for justice knows no limit. The quiet virtues of temperance and prudence are the necessary antidotes to such excess. They are also much less easily acquired. In the shrill culture of modern loyalties, we have excelled in the “noisy” virtues. Political correctness, religious correctness, social justice, economic and political causes, all have their loud and zealous voices. Notably lacking in this zealotry are temperance and prudence. Temperance and prudence require ascetical efforts. Temperance is best described as self-control. Prudence (doing the right thing, at the right time, in the right measure) is the virtue that is the foundation of wisdom. Though both are natural to us, both require nurture and development. Temperance and prudence are least evident in the young – it takes time and experience for them to take shape. It is the context of a virtuous community that allows such experience to safely bear fruit. |
| 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 Metropolitan Hilarion: Constantinople is no longer the leader of the world Orthodoxy Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, head of the Moscow Patriarchate department for external church relations, gave an interview to TASS news agency. - Your Eminence, the other day the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church made a decision to discontinue the Eucharistic communion with the Patriarchate of Constantinople. How will his decision affect church life in our country and the life of the world Orthodoxy as a whole? - The daily church life of parishioners of churches in Russia will not be affected in any way: divine service are celebrated, people make confession and take communion and live a full-flegded church life. As for the situation in the world Orthodoxy, the actions of the Patriarchate of Constantinople to recognize the schismatics in Ukraine, to invade somebody else’s canonical territory and to state its right to cancel decisions made by other Churches have completely changed the pattern of cooperation which took shape in the 20 th century. The Patriarch of Constantinople, who has positioned himself as the coordinator of common Orthodox activity, can no longer be such a coordinator for an obvious reason. He has self-distructed as the coordinating center for canonical Churches by having opted for schismatics and having fully associated himself with them. - Have any alternative responses been considered to the essentially non-canonical decisions of Constantinople? - I would like to draw your attention to the fact that, though Constantinople used to make unfriendly steps towards the Moscow Patriarchate for quite a long time, to which we had to react, at each stage we would still leave an opportunity for them to think twice and review their decisions. However, the decisions of the Patriarchate of Constantinople Synod published on October 11, which ‘revoked’ the decision adopted over 300 years ago to transfer the Metropolis of Kiev to the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate, admitted to communion the leaders of the schism in Ukraine and stated its readiness to realize the project for ‘Ukrainian autocephaly’, regrettably has not left us with any arguments against a breakup of relations. |
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