The representation of the countries of Eastern Europe, of the former Yugoslavia and the countries with an Orthodox majority, at the Ottmaring consultation was strong and significant. And if the Charta Oecumenica has met with a particularly positive response in Austria, France, Germany and Italy, some Churches in countries with an Orthodox majority such as Greece and Serbia but also some with a Lutheran majority such as Denmark have expressed reservations about the language adopted by the Charter and what they perceive as politically “too European” an approach. From Russia, where the Orthodox Church has not yet officially diffused and translated the Ecumenical Charter, only a message with some explanatory remarks about the process was received. The Orthodox theologian Antonio Papantoniu, who represented the Church of Greece at Ottmaring, explained that the Orthodox Churches, though recognizing the Charter as an important document, consider it “too biased in favour of Western society. We are also sceptical because too much thought is given to the European Union, whereas the Charter should be for everyone”. The Orthodox representative of the Church of Serbia, Andrej Cilerdic, explained that the terrain in Serbia is not yet quite ready to receive the Charta Oecumenica, due to other more pressing priorities in this field”. “The fact that the Orthodox Churches do not consider the Charta Oecumenica sufficient explained the secretary of studies of the KEK (Conference of European Churches), the Romanian Orthodox Viorel Ionita does not mean that they reject the Charter. On the contrary, all have welcomed it”. “To begin with, added the KEK’s Orthodox representative the Charter has been translated, officially, i.e. with the approval of the local Church, in some countries, such as Greece, Cyprus, Romania and Serbia; and it has been distributed and published in these Churches and recommended for study in the theological faculties of these countries”. With regard to the difficulties, Ionita said that the more apparent ones “are of a cultural nature. The Orthodox received the Charter from other Churches and the document expresses in some way a European mentality, that is alien to the Orthodox faithful”. There are also difficulties “of an ecumenical nature”. “The Orthodox Churches, and I regret this said Ionita , are not very convinced about the ecumenical movement. It should be noted, however, that where ecumenical structures do exist, such as the WCC or others, there is vitality and the Charter works”. On the other hand, “the theological problems” raised by some Orthodox theologians cannot be shared: the Charter points out Ionita “is not an ecclesiological text, but only a set of guidelines”. Sara Silvestri Sir correspondent at Ottmariing
