Russia, France, Italy

Russia: towards the election of the new PatriarchServices for the soul of the deceased Patriarch Alexy II, who died 40 days ago, on 5 December, were celebrated in all Russian Orthodox churches on 13 January. In Moscow, it was the Locum Tenens, Metropolitan Kirill, who presided over the Divine Liturgy and Requiem in the Cathedral of the Epiphany where Patriarch Alexy was buried. According to Orthodox tradition, a soul is presented to the Last Judgement on the 40th day of his death, the same time spent by Jesus on earth after his Resurrection, until his Ascension. For this reason it is the tradition to intensify prayers for the deceased on this day. Meanwhile, preparations are busily continuing for the holding of the local Council (the widest and most representative organ of the Russian Orthodox Church), which is called to elect the new Patriarch of Moscow and all the Russias on 28 and 29 January. The regulations contained in the Statute of the Russian Orthodox Church are rather vague and don’t prescribe any obligatory procedure for the election of the new Patriarch. Indeed, past Patriarchs have been elected with a variety of procedures: Alexy II himself was elected with a secret ballot among the three candidates proposed by the episcopal Council. In an interview to the Russian Interfax press agency, Metropolitan Kirill said that the years of Alexy’s ministry “have shown that the choice was the right one”. On this occasion too – announced Metropolitan Kirill – the Holy Synod has asked the Episcopal Council (25-26 January) to designate three candidates for the patriarchal see. In turn the local Council has the faculty to propose supplementary candidates. According to the Statute of the Russian Orthodox Church, any candidate for the Patriarchal see must be a bishop, be over the age of 40, have a higher theological degree, and be endowed with experience at the head of a diocese. The election will be secret “to guarantee to each participant the right to vote according to his conscience”. Regarding the characteristics that the new Patriarch should have, Metropolitan Kirill, after he has listed all that Alexy II had done for the rebirth of the Russian Church, admitted: “his successor will have the difficult task of showing himself equal to his deceased predecessor. A huge amount of work awaits us in the future: our age is generating new problems that require our serious attention”. France: meeting at the ElyséeAppeals for peace and solidarity with the populations of Gaza and Israel were expressed by the representatives of the Churches and religions in France to the President of the Republic, Nicholas Sarkozy, during the traditional ceremony of good wishes at the start of the new year, held at the Elysée Palace in Paris on Monday 12 January. The church leaders present at the ceremony included Cardinal André Vingt-Trois, Archbishop of Paris, accompanied by Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, Archbishop of Lyon; Greek-Orthodox Metropolitan Adamakis Emmanuel, President of the Assembly of Orthodox bishops; Pastor Claude Baty, President of the Protestant Federation of France; the new chief rabbi of France Gilles Bernheim; and Mohamed Moussaoui, chairman of the French Council of Islam. The religious representatives – Father Stéphane Duteutre, secretary of Cardinal Vingt-Trois, said in an interview with the French Catholic daily La Croix – discussed the war in Gaza and its consequences in France, reminding the Head of State of the need “for moderation and prudence”, especially following the acts of anti-semitism that have shocked French public opinion followed the attempt to burn down the synagogue in Toulouse on 5 January. A communiqué issued by the Elysée says that during the meeting President Sarkozy stressed “his wish to prevent any transposition onto French territory of an international conflict towards whose resolution France is working with all her forces”. Sarkozy further “condemned with great determination any act of violence committed, with the pretext of this conflict, against persons, private property and religious buildings”, vowing that “any such acts would not remain unpunished”. Italy: day of JudaismThe Italian Catholic Church is celebrating also this year, on 17 January, the annual Day for the deepening and development of dialogue between Catholics and Jews. Since 2006, Jews and Catholics have proposed for the “Day” a joint reflection on the Ten Commandments. This year, by decision of the Assembly of Italian rabbis, Jews will not participate in the Day to express their opposition to the new formulation (in the Latin rite) of the prayer for Jews on Good Friday. In a statement, the Office of the Italian Bishops’ Conference (CEI) for ecumenism and dialogue urged that “individual episodes or moments of difficulty be not turned into a motive of suspicion or even of an interruption of the process of rapprochement and mutual understanding”. “Of course we still need to take many steps forwards on the road of understanding and dialogue”, but – adds the CEI – “we also need to affirm, though not denying our differences, the determination not to turn backwards or retreat from the important steps taken over these last fifty years”.