ECUMENISM
Anglicans: cardinal Kasper, “dialogue continues”On November 19-22 the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, primate of the Anglican Communion, was received in the Vatican. This visit shows “there has been no rupture and reaffirms the common wish to communicate in the present important historical moment”. Thus declared Cardinal Walter Kasper, President of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity in a conversation with the “Osservatore Romano”, to which he addressed the “ecumenical” aspects of the Apostolic Constitution “Anglicanorum coetibus”. “We have the opportunity of opening a new phase in the ecumenical dialogue that remains a priority of the Catholic Church and of the Pontificate of Benedict XVI”. The Cardinal recalled that late at night, while he was in Cyprus attending the Catholic-Orthodox theological commission’s meeting, he received the phone-call of archbishop Williams. “We discussed the meaning of the new Apostolic Constitution, and I reassured him on the continuation of our meetings on mutual dialogue”. The cardinal then explained the genesis and the meaning of the new Constitution and said, “Let’s follow the facts. A group of Anglicans legitimately and freely requested to enter the Catholic Church. It’s not our initiative. They first turned to our Council, and as its president I replied that it lied within the province of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the faith”. The Cardinal wishes to wipe away all misunderstandings. “During these days I have come across many fabricated media reports”. Indeed, the Pontifical Council “was constantly briefed by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and it’s not true that it wasn’t informed. Although we did not personally attend the talks, we were fully briefed, as is fair. The text of the Constitution was drawn up by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. We saw the draft and we presented our proposals”, His Eminence said. “We cannot oppose Anglicans who wish to enter in full and visible communion with the Catholic Church”. The fact of “envisaging, as some commentators did, that with this decision the Pope merely wishes to “expand his empire” is simply ridiculous. When asked what will happen next, Cardinal Kasper launched an appeal to “realism” and added, “it is necessary to examine case by case”, “to establish how many Anglicans wish to avail themselves of this opportunity. Then we will see to the time and places”. Another “ecumenical aspect” of the question is the relationship with the Orthodox world that has expressed the wish to understand the nature of Personal Ordinariates. “In Cyprus, in order to avoid disagreements, I told our Orthodox partners that this is neither proselytism nor uniatism”, Kasper said. To this delicate regard, His Eminence pointed out that “the 1993 Balamand document” establishing that uniatism is “a phenomenon that relates to the past and that took place in unique circumstances”, remains valid. It’s not a method for the present and for the future”. As relates to personal Ordinariates for Anglicans, he pointed out that “it’s not a Church sui iuris. There will not be the head of a Church but an ordinary with the authority of a vicar”.Serbia: mourning the death of Patriarch PavleSerbia devoted three days to the mourning of the beloved Patriarch of the Orthodox Church of Serbia Pavle, who passed away November 15 at the age of 95 at the military hospital after a long illness. His biography reveals the figure of a man of great courage and strength. He was elected Patriarch on December 1st 1990 by the Bishops’ Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church in a crucial period of the collapse of Yugoslavia’s Federal Socialist Republic. Pavle kept the Serbian Church distant from political struggles while calling the population and the authorities to solve conflicts with peace, so that the democratic process were recognized and a democratic state were set up in Serbia. At the end of the conflict between the central government in Belgrade and the separatist republics in Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Macedonia gradually gained independence while the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was overcome by the ethnic conflict in Kosovo. Pavle had denounced the precarious situation of Christian populations in Kosovo when he was still a bishop and decided to be committed in first person to protect the last Serbians living in the separatist province. In 1999 he moved Serbia’s patriarchate from Belgrade where it had been set up in the 1930s, to the old Pec seat in order to remain close to the few surviving Orthodox faithful after the last flights, in a region with a large Albanian ethnic majority. On September 24 2000, presidential elections were called in Yugoslavia’s Federal Republic. The outgoing head of state Slobodan Milosevic refused to acknowledge the victory of his adversary Vojislav Kostunica and Patriarch Pavle took a stand by recognizing Kostunica as president elect on behalf of the Orthodox Church. It ensued that Milosevic renounced his post also in view of the Patriarch’s stand. In the telegram of condolences to the Serbian Church Cardinal Kasper spoke of the “luminous example of life”. His Eminence said he hopes that the dialogue of the Catholic Church with Serbia’s Patriarchate “developed and stepped up under the benevolent guidance of Patriarch Pavle” may “continue progressing in the future”.
