ECUMENISM
Kek: The retirement of the Russian orthodox church On Saturday 11th October, during the meeting of the Central Committee of the Conference of European Churches (Kek), the Orthodox Church of Moscow announced it will no longer be a member of the European body. The reason for such withdrawal – states a release, published by the Patriarchate of Moscow – is that the Central Committee of Kek refused to grant membership to the Orthodox Church of Estonia, an independent Church created in 1993 and related to the Patriarchate of Moscow. In the release, the Patriarchate points out that, beforehand, in November 2007, the Central Committee had granted membership to the “Apostolic Orthodox Church of Estonia”, a Church created in 1996 by the Patriarchate of Constantinople (and not recognised by Moscow). In the release, the Patriarchate also questions the voting procedure, which led to the decision not to admit the Estonian Orthodox Church as a member, and acknowledges “with deep sorrow that Kek is losing its role of reconciliation and union, increasingly ignoring the voices of the Churches that are outside the European Union”. The release ends by stating that the Orthodox Church of Russia will keep “developing good relations with the Churches that are members of Kek”. The Conference of European Churches “regrets the decision taken by the Patriarchate of Moscow to suspend its membership. Going over what happened at the meeting of the Central Committee (which took place in Cyprus from 6th to 11th October) in a release published this morning, Kek – through its president, Rev Jean-Arnold de Clermont – “expresses its deep regret for the decision taken by the Patriarchate of Moscow”. “This decision – he adds – does not reflect the work carried out by the Central Committee during the meeting in Cyprus. The Central Committee clearly expressed the wish to promote ecumenical fraternity in Estonia and the reconciliation of the two Orthodox Churches, which are already members of every Estonian Council of the Churches”. However, in Cyprus – goes on president De Clermont – Kek “did not want to go beyond that”, thus stating “that the two Patriarchates of Constantinople and Moscow must reach an agreement before they can find a solution that is acceptable to both parties. Therefore, the Central Committee had to postpone its decision”. Therefore Kek wishes – confirms De Clermont – “it may be able to give an answer to the request put forward by the Estonian Orthodox Church – Patriarchate of Moscow before the Kek meeting in Lyons, July 2009”.Istanbul: Orthodox Patriarches’ message “The need to preserve the unity of the Orthodox Church as well as the faith of our fathers” and to solve “every problem we encounter in our relations with a spirit of love and peace”. This is one of the “commitments” made by the Primates of the Orthodox Churches in the message read on October 12th during the Divine Liturgy celebrated in the Patriarchal Church of St. George in Phanar. The message was released at the end of the meeting of the Orthodox Patriarchs promoted by the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew I to celebrate the Pauline year. The message was signed by the main representatives of the Orthodox Churches in the world such as Alexius II of Moscow, Anastasios of Tirana, Theodoro of Alexandria, Ignatius of Antioch and Ieronymus of Athens. The message is focusing on many points, namely the “responsibility of Christians towards the problems of humanity and the world”, the tendency “to separate religion from social life”, scientific progress, support to families and marriages in crisis, young people. “The message comes in a very difficult moment for the relations between Orthodox Churches, namely between the Patriarchates of Constantinople and Moscow. In this context, great relevance is given to the passage which states that for the proclamation of the Gospel message “it is essential that internal conflicts between Orthodox Churches be settled and the nationalistic, ethnic and ideological extremism of the past be put aside. Only in this way the voice of the Orthodox Church could be heard and have an impact on the contemporary world”. In the message, the Patriarchs also express “the wish to recover from every canonical anomaly brought about by historical and pastoral circumstances, as it was the case for the so-called Orthodox Diaspora, with the aim to overcome any possible influence from the non-Orthodox ecclesiology. Accordingly, we welcome the decision of the Ecumenical Patriarchate to convene a Pan-Orthodox consultation by 2009.”
