ECUMENISM
Austria: visit of Alexei II in December”Inspired by ecumenism”: this will be the inspiration behind the journey that the patriarch of Moscow, Alexius II, will make in Austria, from 20 to 23 December. This was stated by the Russian Orthodox Bishop of Vienna, Hilarion (Alfejew). During the presentation of the schedule of the Patriarch’s visit, the bishop spoke of the “great interest” aroused by the event even in Russia. Many Russian bishops will be in the Patriarch’s retinue. The ecumenical repercussions of Alexius II’s visit include the Patriarch’s visit to the abbey of Klosterneuburg on December 21st and his attendance of an Advent concert in the Basilica, along with all the Christian delegates that at the end will meet the Patriarch. The delegates of the other Orthodox Churches in Austria too will take part in the celebrations due to take place in Vienna and Klosterneuburg: they include the metropolitan bishop, Michael Staikos, the Romanian Orthodox metropolitan bishop of Germany and Central Europe, Serafiim (Joanta), and the vicar general of the Romanian Orthodox Church, Nicolae Dura. Other guests have confirmed they will be there, and they include the primate of Hungary, card. Peter Erdö, who will be there in his capacity as the President of the Council of European Bishops Conferences (Ccee), and the Anglican bishop of Gibraltar and Europe, Geoffrey Rowell.England: web apologies to Darwin In the last days, the Church of England opened a new section of its website (www.cofe.anglican.org/darwin) which is all about the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth in 1809 and the 150th anniversary of the publication of the Origin of the Species in 1859. In presenting the event, the bishop of Swindon, rev. Lee Rayfield, writes: “I hope this new section will not merely be a source of information and notions about Charles Darwin, but will be a source of more wisdom and understanding”. The website – which explores in several sections the relations between “Darwin and the Church” and “Darwin and Christian faith” – also contains a contribution from Rev. Malcolm Brown, in charge of public affairs for the Church of England. His contribution ends with a personal “mea culpa” to the English scientist. “Charles Darwin: 200 years after your birth, the Church of England owes you an apology for not having understood you, for having had a wrong reaction, encouraging others to disavow you”. “The battle for your reputation is not over” and points at “those who falsely blame you in order to further their personal interests. A good religion needs to work constructively with a good science”.WCC: a day of prayer for peaceThe Christian Churches all over the world (Orthodox, Anglican and Protestant ones) will celebrate again, on September 21st, the “World Day of prayer for peace”. This is an initiative – states a release from Wcc – that offers to the Churches all over the world an opportunity “to pray and act together to build lasting peace in the hearts of the peoples, in the families, communities and societies”. The Day will coincide with the World Peace Day launched by the United Nations. The Churches will promote several events of prayer and socialisation on September 21st. The most outstanding one will involve nine countries in the Pacific, Europe and North America. It is a veritable peace relay race: the Churches of American Samoa, Canada, Fiji, Indonesia, New Zealand, Norway, Samoa, Tuvalu and the United States will join into a chain of prayer that will embrace the earth for 24 hours on end, in the name of peace.
