Three sister Churches” “

With the international conference “Orthodox monasticism in Finland and the Baltic States” (22-26 September) and the inauguration of the exhibition “The treasures of the Greek abbey of Grottaferrata”, the events marking the millennium of the abbey came to a conclusion in the little town of the “Castelli Romani” (near Rome). Participants in the conference included bishops, archimandrites, priests, monks and superiors of orders and congregations from various countries, also from Eastern Europe, the Balkans and the Greek Orthodox area. They focused attention in particular on the Orthodox presence in relation both to that of the Lutheran Church, which is the majority faith in the Baltic States, and that of the Catholic Church, it too numerically small but very lively. FRUITFUL CONTACTS. “The Orthodox Church has gone through various vicissitudes, including suffering, dispersal and persecution, in recent centuries, following territorial and political disputes arising from the tensions between the two neighbouring states of Sweden and Russia”, said archimandrite SERGEI, abbot on the Finnish monastery of Nova Valamo during the international conference at the abbey of S. Nilo at Grottaferrata (Rome). “These events left their mark on, but did not subdue the Orthodox communities in Finland, on the contrary – added Father Sergei – they encouraged fruitful contacts with the Lutheran and Catholic faithful of the country. The Finnish Orthodox community has been re-established, particularly in more recent years, in the aftermath of the collapse of the Berlin Wall. Thousands of immigrants in fact returned to Finland from Russia and from the other countries of the area after decades of diaspora. In the cultural and spiritual panorama of a country like Finland, the Orthodox faithful may thus play a significant and stimulating role, just like the Catholic community, it too a minority though a very lively one”. “The Catholic Church and the Orthodox Churches of Finland are now emancipated from the historical conflicts and divisions that characterized the situation in the south-east of Europe. Against the background of the predominant Lutheran contexts and post-Protestant culture, the common nature of the two apostolic Churches nowhere appears so visible as it does in Finland”, added Father Seraphim Seppiala, in his report on “Personalities and significant moments of Orthodox history in Finland”. “For this reason – he continued – it is to be hoped that the future will bring a greater and clearer cooperation between Catholics and Orthodox in Finland, especially in the field of religious culture”. Metropolitan Stephanos of Tallin in Estonia declared that, though these are two small Churches, the Orthodox communities of Finland and Estonia bear witness to the power of the Gospel in different contexts. RETURN TO SPIRITUALITY AND SECULARISM. “Purifying the historical memory and gaining a deeper awareness of our sister churches”: that is one of the objectives recalled in the message of Cardinal Walter Kasper, President of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity, addressed at the participants in the conference at Grottaferrata and read out to the delegates by the Council’s under-secretary, Monsignor Eleuterio Fortino. Archbishop Leo of Finland emphasized the importance of ever closer and more fraternal contacts between Catholics, Orthodox and Lutherans with a view to a clearer and more transparent witness in today’s secularised society. “Religion is not dead in the countries of Eastern Europe, after emerging from decades of atheism”, said the Romanian bishop of Tomis, Teodosie, representative of the Patriarch of Romania, His Holiness Teotkis. The bishop recalled the over 500 monasteries and hermitages still present in the country and the strong hunger for spirituality felt by the people. “Some years ago I was able to participate in liturgies in the Cathedral of Helsinki with Metropolitan JOHN, and I noted how numerous and enthusiastic the Orthodox faithful were in seeking the sacrament of confession. With us it’s different”. “In Romania – he continued – there’s still a lot of resistance, due to our history and the spiritual and cultural isolation in which our country lived. We think it is good to return to the ancient Christian tradition, with frequent communion and convinced confession”. According to Father Teodosie, “the Church must offer the sense of the mystery of confession, which is God’s forgiveness. We as ministers must call everyone, even those who live in negative moral situations: they too are called by God to be healed”.