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Photo: Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I embrace.
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They discussed the political situation in Kosovo and Metochia, the condition of the Serbian population and the Serbian Orthodox Church and preservation of the religious and cultural heritage of the old Orthodox land in Europe.
Archbishop Hilarion pointed in particular to the importance and timeliness of the Russian Government’s decision to allocate funds for the reconstruction of major shrines in Kosovo – the monasteries of the Patriarchate of Pec, Visoki Decani, Gracanica and Bogorodica Leviska.
Mr. Krasnoschekov, in his turn, informed the DECR chairman about programs for restoring ruined churches in Kosovo and Methochia, carried out by the Council of Europe with the help of the UN Mission in Kosovo and UNESCO.
DECR Communication Service
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New York - (mospat.ru) - On 27 October 2009, the acting representative of the Moscow Patriarchate in the USA archpriest Alexander Abramov took part in the meeting of His Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople with the hierarchs of the Standing Conference of the Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas (SCOBA). Present at the meeting were Archbishop Demetrios of America (Greek Orthodox Archdiocese), Metropolitan Philip (Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese), Metropolitan Christopher (Serbian Orthodox Archdiocese), Metropolitan Nicholas (Carpatho-Russian Diocese), Archbishop Nicolae (Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese), Metropolitan Jonah (Orthodox Church in America), Metropolitan Constantine (Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the USA), and Bishop Ilia (Albanian Orthodox Diocese).
The participants discussed the implementation of agreements reached at the Fourth Pre-Council Pan-Orthodox Conference that took place in Chambesy last June.
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"All of you are indispensable members of this responsible body of the Church - bishops and presbyters, clergy and laity, men and women, young and old," said His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in his paternal and patriarchal exhortation to the members of the Archdiocesan Council of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America that had gathered in New York City for their regularly scheduled Fall meeting.
The Ecumenical Patriarch expressed his "special pride" and "sincere gratitude" for the achievements of the Archdiocesan Council and the Church in America, for the "unfailing commitment" of the members and for their "fervent love for Christ and His teachings."
As His All Holiness spoke of the long and uninterrupted tradition of the Holy Mother Church of Constantinople and as he offered his Patriarchal Blessing upon the members exhorted them: "...never lose sight of two things: First, of your sacred and historical roots, which lie in the Mother Church of Constantinople, which has known glory and martyrdom alike over the centuries, and to this day maintains the unity, sanctity, catholicity and apostolicity of the Orthodox Christian Church; And second, of your spiritual and heavenly goal, which lies in the Kingdom of God, to which all of our actions and our ministry should aspire."
Following his exhortation to the Archdiocesan Council His All Holiness offered a private audience to the National Philoptochos Executive Committee, during which he expressed the gratification of the Mother Church for the important philanthropic work of the National Ladies Philoptochos Society.
Later in the day, His All Holiness attended a Luncheon in his honor by the Permanent representative of Turkey to the United Nations, Ambassador Ertugrul Apakan.
GREEK ORTHODOX ARCHDIOCESE OF AMERICA
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Stavros Papagermanos
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11th PLENARY SESSION
Paphos, Cyprus, 16-23 October 2009
COMMUNIQUE
The eleventh meeting of the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church took place in Paphos, Cyprus, a city with a rich history, having received three Apostles, Paul, Barnabas and Mark. The meeting took place from 16-23 October 2009, generously and fraternally hosted by the Orthodox Church of Cyprus.
Twenty Catholic members were present; several more were unable to attend. All the Orthodox Churches, with the exception of the Patriarchate of Bulgaria, were represented, namely the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the Patriarchate of Alexandria, the Patriarchate of Antioch, the Patriarchate of Jerusalem, the Patriarchate of Moscow, the Patriarchate of Serbia, the Patriarchate of Romania, the Patriarchate of Georgia, the Church of Cyprus, the Church of Greece, the Church of Poland, the Church of Albania and the Church of Czech Lands and Slovakia.
The Commission worked under the direction of its two co-presidents, Cardinal Walter Kasper and Metropolitan John of Pergamon, helped by the two co-secretaries, Metropolitan Gennadios of Sassima (Ecumenical Patriarchate) and Monsignor Eleuterio F. Fortino (Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity).
At the opening session on Saturday, 17 October, the Commission was welcomed very warmly by the host, Metropolitan Georgios.of Paphos, who emphasized the importance of holding the meeting in this apostolic city, famous in the history not only of this island but"of the whole of Christianity.
On Saturday, 17 October, the Catholic members celebrated the Eucharist in the Roman Catholic Church of the Holy Cross, Nicosia, presided over by Cardinal Walter Kasper, in the presence of the Orthodox members. In his homily he expressed the gratitude of the Catholic Delegation to the Church of Cyprus and especially to Metropolitan Georgios of Paphos for his warm hospitality, and stressed that the spirit of humility and love should prevail in the work of our Joint Commission, emphasizing the words of the Lord: "Wlioever would be first among you shall make himself slave of all" (Mark 10:44). On Sunday, 18 October, the Orthodox members celebrated the Divine Liturgy in the Church of Phaneromeni, Nicosia, presided over by His Beatitude the Archbishop of Cyprus, Chrysostomos, in the presence of the Catholic members. In addressing those present, Archbishop Chrysostomos stated: "Together with all the other Orthodox Churches, we underline our firm insistence on the established basic poles of the ecclesiastical conscience of the first thousand years of the historical life of the Church. The Ecumenical Councils and the great Fathers of the first millennium are a guarantee of the authentic theological interpretation of the sacrament of the divine economy in Christ, and of its genuine experience by the faithful in the sacrament of the Church, which, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, extends the continuous and living presence of Jesus Christ in the world, until the end of time."
Afterwards, the co-presidents, Cardinal Walter Kasper and Metropolitan John of Pergamon, together with Metropolitan Gennadios of Sassima, Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, Metropolitan Vasilios of Constantia-Famagusta and Archbishop Roland Minnerath, were welcomed at the Presidential Palace by the President of Cyprus, His Excellency Dimitris Christofias, who expressed his hope for the continuation of this important dialogue in a world still divided, like Cyprus itself, and expressed his good wishes for progress towards communion between the two Churches in the future.
The members of the Commission visited the Byzantine Museum, and had an official lunch at the Archbishopric, offered by H. B. Archbishop Chrysostomos.
During the afternoon, the members paid a visit to the Metochion of Kykkos Monastery and were welcomed very warmly by the Abbot, Metropolitan Nikiphoros of Kykkos and Tylliria, and by Metropolitan Isaias of Tamassos and Orini. Later in the evening, Metropolitan Vasilios of Constantia-Famagusta hosted an official dinner at his Metropolitanate in Paralimni. During the course of the week, the members also visited the Monastery of St. Neophytos and the archaeological sites of St. Paul in Paphos.
On the first day of the meeting, as is customary, the Roman Catholic and Orthodox members met separately to coordinate their work. The Orthodox meeting discussed among other things the negative reactions to the Dialogue by certain Orthodox circles, and unanimously considered them as totally unfounded and unacceptable, providing false and misleading information. All Orthodox members of the Commission reaffirmed that the Dialogue continues with the decision of all the Orthodox Churches and is pursued with faithfulness to the Truth and the Tradition of the Church. The Catholic meeting considered the draft text as a good basis for our work and confirmed the intention to continue the Dialogue with confidence and reciprocal trust, in obedience to the will of the Lord.
As was decided at the last plenary session in Ravenna, 2007, the Commission studied the theme "The Role of the Bishop of Rome in the Communion of the Church in the First Millennium", on the basis of a draft text prepared by the Joint Coordinating Committee, which met in Elounda, Crete, Greece last year. During this plenary meeting, the Commission carefully considered and amended the draft text of the Joint Coordinating Committee, and decided to complete its work on the text next year, by convening a further meeting of the Joint Commission. No final text has been decided upon, and any text that may be circulated is not valid.
It was decided that the 12th plenary meeting will be hosted by Cardinal Christoph Schonborn, in Vienna, Austria, from 20-27 September 2010.
The eleventh plenary session ended with Orthodox Vespers at St. Theodoros' Cathedral in Paphos, followed by a reception offered by Metropolitan Georgios.
The meeting of the Joint Commission was marked by a spirit of friendship and trustful collaboration. The members of the Commission greatly appreciated the generous hospitality of the Church of Cyprus, and they strongly commend the continuing work of the dialogue to the prayers of the faithful.
Paphos, Cyprus, 22 October 2009.
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30.10.2009, [12:42] // Foreign relations //
MOSCOW — The Association of Orthodox Experts plans to prepare annual expert reports on freedom of conscience in Russia and in the post-Soviet space. “We won’t give up the theme of freedom of conscience in the post-Soviet space to the U.S. State Department and Western NGOs,” the association’s head Kirill Frolov told Interfax-Religion on October 28, 2009.
According to him, each year such Western reports “ignore the topic of serious problems with freedom of conscience in Ukraine.” “Several Orthodox churches were seized there only during this year, clerics and believers were beaten during such a seizure in the village of Zhuklya in the Chernihiv oblast,” the interviewee of the agency said.
“High-ranking Ukrainian officials stated it was necessary to set up ‘a local Ukrainian church’ by way of uniting with schismatic groups or some local churches invading canonical territory of others, while this is nothing else but interference in church matters,” Frolov said.
He pointed out that his association does not oppose other documents on the topic, but noted that “the position of the Orthodox expert community should be voiced.”
“It’s an objective necessity and we’re ready to discuss these questions with other expert groups,” Frolov said.
He believes that the association’s next stage in developing and structuring an Orthodox expert community should be the setting up of an Orthodox analogue of the RAND Corporation or the so-called “fabrics of thought,” “that seriously influence the intellectual climate in their societies.”
• http://www.interfax-religion.com
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30.10.2009, [12:29] // Foreign relations // risu.org.ua
MOSCOW — In the view of a Moscow Patriarchate spokesman, the U.S. Department of State's annual reports on international religious freedom are becoming more balanced and impartial from year to year when the matter concerns Russia, Interfax reported on October 28, 2009.
"The Department of State's reports have seen progress in terms of correctness of descriptions of Russian legal and social realities over the past several years," Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, the head of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for Church and Society Relations, said to Interfax-Religion.
In commenting on the section of the Department of State's 2009 Report on International Religious Freedom dealing with Russia, Father Vsevolod said the document "quite accurately describes the legal system of relations between the state and religious organizations that has taken shape in Russia and the structures existing for dialogue between the state and religious communities."
At the same time, Father Vsevolod disagreed with a number of provisions in the report, such as its criticism of protests against some religious groups, the establishment of a department for spiritual security, assistance to victims of destructive cults, and sectarian extremism in one of the Russian Orthodox Church's dioceses.
"I am sure that believers are fully entitled to criticize views of people from other religious groups, especially when these religious groups have a destructive effect on the lives of families, society, and religious communities that the protesters represent. This is a natural manifestation of freedom of speech, which implies the possibility of religious polemics," he said.
The report mentions without criticism the fact that the Russian Church has more active ties with the state than other religious groups, Father Vsevolod said.
"I view this as natural and normal, because this is the church of a majority having the best opportunities for social, educational, and other socially helpful activities. At the same time, it is evident that our state actively interacts with other religious communities proportionally to their real presence in society, which the report mentions as well," he said.
• http://www.interfax-religion.com