ECUMENISM
Moscow: gestures of brotherhoodThe gestures of brotherhood between the Catholic Church of Rome and the Orthodox Church of Moscow continue. They come in the aftermath of the commitment taken to resolve the problems that still hamper the process of rapprochement between the two Churches. One such gesture is the message that Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, head of the department of external relations of the Patriarchate of Moscow, has sent to Pierre-Marie Morel, the new general secretary of Aid to the Church in Need, the international charitable organization founded by Father Werenfried van Straaten. “For many years – writes Metropolitan Kirill – Aid to the Church in Need has collaborated with our Church in the field of the revival of ecclesial life, offering fraternal Christian aid to many dioceses, monasteries and schools of the Patriarchate of Moscow. I see in it a shining example of cooperation and aid between Catholics and Orthodox. Such reciprocal cooperation and aid are extremely necessary in the contemporary world”. “I hope – concludes the Metropolitan in his letter to Morel – that your leadership of Aid to the Church in Need will continue the tradition of warm relations with the Russian Orthodox Church”. The Russian press Interfax, for its part, has drawn attention to another example of brotherly relations between the two Churches, reporting that the Vatican representative in Russia has decided to buy books for an Orthodox library in the Russian senior secondary school of St. Sergius at Radonezh which is due to open in September this year. Already last year, the Holy See had helped to reconstruct the dome of the cathedral of Our Lady of Kazan at Elista where recently the apostolic nuncio Antonio Mennini brought a relic of St. Ambrose during a visit he made to the diocese. “It is a sign of friendship and respect for the Christians of Kalmykia and a personal token of esteem for Archbishop Zosima”, said Monsignor Mennini during his visit, while Archbishop Zosima replied by thanking the nuncio for his consideration.France: religious leaders meet with SarkozyThe President of the French Republic, Nicolas Sarkozy, met the leaders of the six main religions practiced in France on 17 January for the usual New Year’s exchange of good wishes. The church leaders present were Cardinal André Vingt-Trois, Pastor Claude Baty, President of the Protestant Federation of France, Dalil Boubakeur, chairman of the French Muslim Council, the Chief Rabbi of France Joseph Sitruk, Greek-Orthodox Metropolitan Emmanuel, President of the Assembly of Orthodox Bishops in France, and Olivier Wan Gehn (Buddhist Union). Cardinal Vingt-Trois told journalists that he had been very struck by the words of the French President, because they reveal “a new way of tackling the religious issue, more serene and less conflictual, which corresponds to a new political generation”. Pastor Baty also emerged from the meeting satisfied by the interest that President Sarkozy had shown in the country’s religious representatives. “We are social partners – he said -. We aren’t better than others, but nor are we worse”. The words that President Sarkozy pronounced during the meeting have been interpreted as a response to the controversies aroused by his statements in Rome and Riyadh upholding the principle of the secular nature of the state. “The recognition of religious faith as expression of freedom of conscience – said Sarkozy – and the recognition of religion as a factor of civilization form part of the very claim to recognition of the heritage of the Enlightenment, of our Republican pact and of our identity. All those pledged to the Republic, and to its ideal, ought to strive to defend the values of diversity, tolerance and mutual understanding”.Anglicans: towards the Lambeth ConferenceThe Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams – in the presence of the British press – has officially announced the convocation of the Lambeth Conference (the ten-yearly gathering of Anglican bishops) due to be held from 16 July to 3 August this year. The Conference will open at an extremely critical time for the Anglican Communion. According to the British daily “The Guardian”, roughly a third of the 900 Anglican bishops intend to challenge the authority of Williams and organize a parallel summit in Jerusalem. They are the more conservative bishops and they reprove Williams for being too complacent towards some denominations, such as the U.S. Episcopalian Church, that have authorized the consecration of homosexual bishops. In his remarks to the press, Williams said he was utterly serene. “In spite of the painful controversies that have been casting a shadow over the life of the Communion for some years” – he said – there remains among the bishops “a very strong loyalty to each other and a desire to stay together. The fact that 70% of the bishops from all over the world have already enrolled in the Conference, and that others are about to do so, shows something of this desire”.
