Ukraine, Germany

Ukraine: overcoming separationAfter landin in the airport of Boryspil, Kiev, on July 25, at the head of a delegation attending the celebrations marking 1020 years since Kiev’s Christianization, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople, delivered his first words for peace and unity of Churches in a land where the Country’s two Orthodox Churches co-exist with much difficulty. The first, the autocephalous Church, is led by Patriarch Filaret from Kiev; the second is united to Moscow’s patriarchate. “We are here to pray for the unification of all Christians of Ukraine. We are here as angels of peace who long for unity”, he declared. On July 23, two days before his arrival to Ukraine, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church linked to the Patriarchate of Moscow came together in a Holy Synod for a special meeting attended also by Metropolitan Kyrill from Smolesk. On that occasion, the Holy Synod sent a letter to the ecumenical patriarch Bartholomew. “We hope the great anniversary of our Church and our people is especially the feast of Orthodox unity”. “For over 15 years – goes on the letter -, the painful wound of the schism has afflicted our Church. This rift in the Church of Ukraine needs to be healed”. But this process – adds the Holy Synod – “demands wisdom and pastoral caution from us” and above all it requires – and this is the appeal to Patriarch Bartholomew – that any “interference in the internal affairs of our Church” be avoided. In the meantime, the other big protagonist of the Orthodox world will be arriving in Kiev tomorrow: Patriarch Alexius II, who, as well as attending the celebrations, will meet Patriarch Bartholomew in Kiev. “We are confident in this meeting – said the archpriest Nikolai Balashov, secretary of the department for the relations between the churches of the Patriarchate of Moscow, to the Russian agency Irar-Tass -. We would like the Kiev celebrations to help strengthen the unity of the Orthodox family. We believe that the divisions within the Church that exist in Ukraine can be successfully overcome by Orthodox solidarity”. Germany: a wall has been torn downTearing down walls in the name of ecumenism: this is what happened in Mosbach (Baden), in the former city Church St.Juliana on July 27. The Church had been divided into two parts – a Catholic and an Evangelical one – 300 years ago. On July 27, the wall was opened. Now doors enable passage from one part of the Church to the other. The event was celebrated with an “Ecumenical feast for the opening of the wall”, to the presence of Msgr. Bernd Uhl, auxiliary bishop of Freiberg, together with the leader of the evangelical Church Dr. Gerhard Vicktor, representing the evangelical bishop of the Baden Land. At the time of The Reformation, the city’s Church was evangelical, while Catholic Mass was forbidden. In 1685, Catholic Prince Philipp Wilhelm proclaimed freedom of worship and ruled that Protestant and Catholic faithful would share the same Church. However, since it was impossible to come to an agreement, in 1708 the Church was divided into two parts: Catholics were given the choir, Protestants the nave. The opening of the wall is an important step for the two confessional communities. The two parish priests, Klaus Bader and Dirk Keller, view the event as the result of a long ecumenical process, marked by the agreement regarding ecumenical collaboration signed in 2005. The possibility of opening a passage-way from one side to the other started to gain ground two years ago. A pacification process between the two communities, which reached its peak in the congregations’ first Ecumenical Assembly held past October 31, paved the way to the decision whereby also non-Church authorities (the Town Council and the Monuments Department) granted their authorization to the initiative. Reconstruction-demolition expenses amounted to 38.000 Euro, equally divided between the two confessions. The feast for the tearing down of the wall began at 10 with a Mass on one side and an evangelical service on the other. Around 10.50 the doors were opened. The delegations of the two communities shook hands on the thresholds and visited the other part of the Church. After the welcoming addresses, the faithful of the two confessions gathered in the Marktplatz, the main square of Mosbach, where an ecumenical celebration, attended by some 1000 people, was dedicated to the opening of the wall. “It was packed with people”, said Klaus Bader, the Catholic priest. “The opening is an important event in ecumenical cooperation”, Dr. Vicktor remarked. Father Bader declared that for the future, most celebrations will be held separately. However, the doors will be opened for “special ecumenical events”.