christian churches
Ukraine: orthodox, failed the process of unityThe unification process between the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyivan Patriarchate (UOC-KP) and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC), which began last autumn, has failed. According to the Kyivan Patriarchate, the clergymen of the UAOC are to blame for the failure of the dialogue, particularly its metropolitans Mefodii and Andrii, who laid down “an unacceptable condition” – the resignation of patriarch Filaret. According to the website http://risu.org.ua, the bishops of the Kyivan Patriarchate cannot accept these conditions by any means as they see patriarch Filaret as the one “with the biggest experience of the bishop’s ministry”. In addition, they consider the proposal of UAOC to be “the dream of the Moscow Orthodox Patriarchate of many years”. Until now there have been several attempts to unite both Orthodox Churches – UOC-KP and UAOC, first of them in 2000-2001. The Synod of UOC-KP reminded that many representatives of the higher ranks of clergy of UAOC were once part of the Kyivan Patriarchate but left this Church due to conflicts and “for the sake of obtaining the position of bishops”. the bishops of the Kyivan Patriarchate cannot accept these conditions by any means as they see patriarch Filaret as the one “with the biggest experience of the bishop’s ministry”. In addition, they consider the proposal of UAOC to be “the dream of the Moscow Orthodox Patriarchate of many years”. Until now there have been several attempts to unite both Orthodox Churches – UOC-KP and UAOC, first of them in 2000-2001. The Synod of UOC-KP reminded that many representatives of the higher ranks of clergy of UAOC were once part of the Kyivan Patriarchate but left this Church due to conflicts and “for the sake of obtaining the position of bishops”.Hungary: religious communities to be registeredAltogether 72 religious communities in Hungary have presented applications for being additionally registered as churches by the state. The number was presented by Tamas Lukacs, chairman of Parliament’s committee on human rights, civilian and religious affairs, last week. Hungary’s cardinal law on churches approved in July, reduces the number of churches and religious communities from 358 to only 14, stipulating that additional official acknowledgement by the state would require two thirds of parliamentary. The committee will evaluate all applications and submit the ones that meet criteria to the parliament’s plenary session. According to the website www.politics.hu, at least 10 or 12 applications should certainly meet all the conditions, among them submitting the declaration of their faith and religious acitivities, presenting the proof of at least twenty years of operation and specifying the regulations on their structure and functioning. New law will come into force on 1 January 2012. The aim of the legislation is to stop expansion of associations that have benefited from public financial support under the mask of religious communities since the fall of the communist regime.Germany: online ecumenical info about ChristmasAgain, this year, the Catholic and Evangelical Churches will be providing their traditional online info service about the times of Christmas Mass on the website www.weinachtsgottendienste.de. In the web page, which has been open since December 16th, people may find information about Mass, living Nativity scenes and other religious events that will be taking place all over Germany from December 24th to January 6th. “Last year, the website provided information about over 40,000 Christmas Masses, and this year they will be even more”, Ralf Peter Reimann, Evangelical project coordinator, said. A search, which will be eased by the addition of pictures and maps to find churches, may also be made according to one’s specific needs: for instance to find a church with no architectural barriers or Mass in a different language. According to Gunda Ostermann, Catholic project coordinator, “for many people, Christmas is often an opportunity to go and see their relatives or on holiday. The website may help find information quickly about Mass in the place they are going to. But this service is also helpful for those who stay at home”.Kek: christian churches on human rightsFrom 9-11 December, some 60 representatives of Christian churches from 14 European countries met in the Protestant Academy in Bad Boll, Germany, to discuss the different confessional perspectives on the Christian understanding of human rights. There were different approaches to the understanding of human dignity and human value but there was agreement that the Churches need to be strong advocates for the protection of international human rights standards. The question of how to understand and protect human rights became very concrete during the conference when some of the participants gave witness about their personal experiences involving violations of fundamental rights: e.g. the deprivation of freedom of opinion and expression in the context of violence during civil wars and the persecution of Christians. The conference in the Protestant Academy, Bad Boll, was co-organised by the Community of Protestant Churches in Europe (CPCE), the Church and Society Commission of the Conference of European Churches (CSC of CEC), the Moscow Patriarchate and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation.
