CHRISTIAN CHURCHES
WCC: week of prayer for the Holy Land From Australia to Brazil, through Europe. This year, too, Christian Churches committed themselves very much to information campaigns, actions to sensitize political leaders, and prayer events for the “World Week for Peace in Palestine and Israel”, which is taking place on initiative by the Ecumenical Council of Churches from 4th to 10th June. “Praying, informing, asking”: those are the three key points of world mobilization, meant to put an end to a conflict – it is written in a notice – lasting 60 years, preventing “the peaceful visions of two peoples in the same land”. Several initiatives were scheduled in different countries: in England, the Churches will visit an Israeli enterprise in West Midlands, which is producing engines for the planes with no pilots (drones) used in the Gaza War. On the other hand, the Churches of France decided to bring the Middle East problem to the attention of the candidates to the European elections of 7th June. Australian MPs received a report on the humanitarian situation of Gaza from the Churches. On Sunday 7th June, at all churches in the world, a prayer written for the occasion by the persons in charge of the Churches of Jerusalem will be read aloud; in the letter, a special gift is requested: “political leaders ready to consecrate their lives for the achievement of fair peace for their peoples”.WCC: concerns over Northern Korea The World Council of Churches is “deeply upset” by the nuclear test and the military tests conducted by North Korea. And it is “deeply worried for the peoples of North Korea and the neighbouring countries”. This was written by Samuel Kobia, secretary general of the “World Council of Churches” (an organisation based in Geneva which gathers 349 Christian churches of 110 countries of the world), in a release in which the Churches define the use of “nuclear weapons as a sin against God and against humanity” and “the creation of nuclear weapons” “as a deadly abuse of human potential and an improper, lethal use of the resources donated by God”. Kobia also mentioned that, at the United Nations ten days ago, five nuclear powers and about 200 non-nuclear countries had a “very positive” meeting aimed at endorsing the “Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty”. “Many of the participating governments – Kobia writes – are now discussing how to cooperate to save the world from the nuclear threat and the instability that had come into being during the Cold War. It’s a shame North Korea wasn’t there, and Pakistan, India or Israel weren’t there either. The World Council of Churches and other leading bodies will not stop asking all the countries to join the negotiations and have nuclear weapons wiped away”. Italy: “a sign of proximity”On May 25 was held the consecration of the Church of Saint Catherine of Alexandria erected by Moscow’s Patriarchate in Rome, on the Gianicolo hill, the residence of the Russian Embassy overlooking the Vatican and Saint Peter’s Basilica. The solemn ceremony was attended by numerous personalities of the political and religious world. The wife of the President of the Russian Federation, Svetlana Medvedeva and the mayor of Moscow Yuri Luzhkov arrived for the occasion. Cardinal Walter Kasper, President of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity and Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, vice-dean of the Cardinal College attended the event on behalf of the Holy See. ” We are pleased that the Orthodox community has its own Church in Rome, the heart of the Catholic Church. This is a sign that we are close to one another”, said Cardinal Kasper. The ceremony took place in the liturgical solemnity of Saints Cyril and Methodius – according to the Julian calendar -, patrons of Slavish People, of Russian culture, and proclaimed Patron Saints of Europe by the Catholic Church. On Saturday 23, the Chorus of the Monastery of St. Daniel in Moscow, among the most prestigious religious complexes in Russia, held a concert in the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels and the Martyrs. Turkey: in pilgrimage to Cappadocia The current pilgrimage to Istanbul of a delegation of the Orthodox Church of Romania, led by Patriarch Daniel, started on May 27 to last until 2nd June. They are visiting the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople and Cappadocia. This pilgrimage is part of a series of initiatives decided by Patriarch Daniel for the year 2009, devoted to the Holy Romanian Synod and the memorial of Saint Basil the Great, archbishop of Caesarea, Cappadocia (379). At Istanbul airport, Patriarch Daniel was welcomed by Metropolitan of France Emanuel and Metropolitan of Sasima Gennadios. On May 28, Ascension Day (pursuant to the Julian calendar followed by the Churches of the Orient), Patriarchs Bartholomew I and Daniel are celebrating a Holy Liturgy at the Cathedral of Saint George, Istanbul, with all the hierarchs, priests and deacons of the two Churches. Then, Bartholomew and Daniel will leave together, for pilgrimage to Cappadocia.
