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Moscow: Limited jurisdiction for Constantinople

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From the Moscow Patriarchate’s report on the recent meeting between Archbishop Hilarion of Volokolamsk and Pope Benedict XVI:

Pope Benedict and Archbishop Hilarion

Archbishop Hilarion stressed the importance of the Orthodox and Catholic common witness to traditional Christian values in face of the secular world. He pointed to the identity of the Orthodox and Catholic Churches’ views on such themes as family, motherhood, population crisis, euthanasia and many other ethical issues. The DECR chairman pointed to essential differences existing on these issues between the Orthodox and Catholics, on one hand, and various Protestant communities, on the other. In this situation the Orthodox-Catholic cooperation in elaborating a common stand on these issues acquired a special importance, he said.

Archbishop Hilarion also pointed to the need to enhance the positive potential of the bilateral relations including cooperation in the field of culture.

The DECR chairman and the head of the Roman Catholic Church discussed problems and prospects of the theological dialogue between the two Churches. Archbishop Hilarion underlined that there were two different ecclesiological models, one of which (the Catholic one) presupposed the existence of a single administrative center for the whole Universal Church, while the other does not presuppose the existence of such a center. In the family of Local Orthodox Churches, it is the Patriarch of Constantinople who has the primacy of honour but his jurisdiction does not extend beyond the Patriarchate of Constantinople.

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew to open meeting on Christian unity

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News (Sept. 28, 2009) from the World Council of Churches:

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I will open the meeting of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission on Faith and Order, which will take place in Kolympari, Crete, Greece, from 7 to 14 October 2009.

At this plenary meeting, the 120 members of the commission, which is seen as Christianity’s most representative theological forum, will address the question of Christian unity from new perspectives.

Participants at the Crete gathering will not only address issues that have traditionally divided Christian denominations, but also matters that have become divisive in more recent times even within churches, such as questions of moral discernment.

This new approach will be rooted in a reflection on how churches relate to their sources of theological authority, and developed through case studies illustrating how churches use these references to make moral decisions. Continue reading →

Green Patriarch backs UN climate change framework

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Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I weighs in on the Bangkok Climate Change conference where delegates were greeted with “stern pep talks”:

Istanbul, Turkey, 9/28/2009

In view of the international negotiations on climate change commencing in Bangkok, Thailand, and only two months before the crucial United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, we urge the international community to undertake courageous commitments for the prevention of the most severe consequences of global warming.

The accomplishment of a good agreement within the framework of the international negotiations in Copenhagen does not solely constitute a moral imperative for the conservation of God’s creation. It is also a route for economic and social sustainability. Taking action against climate change should not be understood as a financial burden, but as an important opportunity for a healthier planet, to the benefit of all humanity and particularly of those states whose economic development is lagging behind.

We pray for the achievement of the best possible international agreement during the United Nations Conference on Climate Change in Copenhagen, so that the industrialised countries undertake generous commitments for a total reduction of the polluting greenhouse gas emissions by 40% until 2020, compared to the 1990 levels, as well as for the provision of important financial support to the developing countries.

The urgency of the situation and the progress of science and technology pave the way for a low-carbon global economy, the development of renewable energy sources and the aversion of further deforestation. We all need to collaborate, in order to make sure that our children will be able to enjoy the goods of the earth, which we bequeath to them. We need to secure justice and love in all aspects of economic activity; profit and more specifically short-term profit making can not and should not constitute the sole incentive of our deeds, specifically when it undermines our common and God-given natural heritage.

Source: Order of St. Andrew the Apostle

Green Patriarch’s U.S. schedule released

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The Ecumenical Patriarchate has launched a new Web site for the visit of Bartholomew I to the United States from Oct. 20 to Nov. 6. The detailed schedule of the patriarch’s visit is heavy on meetings with U.S., Greek and United Nations officials.

The trip begins on Oct. 20, with the arrival of His All Holiness in New Orleans for the start of the environmental symposium, which runs through Oct. 25.

A patriarchal “audience” and meeting with SCOBA hierarchs is scheduled for Oct. 27 at the headquarters of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese in New York.

On Oct. 29-30, the patriarch visits the headquarters of the Coca-Cola Co., where he will meet Muhtar Kent, president and chief executive officer.

On Nov. 3-4, Patriarch Bartholomew will offer lectures in Washington at John Podesta’s liberal-leaning Center for American Progress and the Brookings Institution.

Podesta is also arranging a meeting between President Barack Obama and the patriarch, but no exact time has been announced. Other politicians on the schedule include Vice Presdent Joseph Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Watch the new, 42-minute video The Green Patriarch.

blurb:

Like Al Gore, who named him the “Green Patriarch,” the Ecumenical Patriarch of the Eastern Orthodox Church is a prominent leader in the environmental movement. Since 1997, he has been bringing principal scientists, environmentalists, religious leaders from all faiths, and policy makers from all over the world together to work on the ecological crisis.

This film looks at the ecological consequences of the historical split between science and religion, how we came to see ourselves as separate from nature, and how our consumer based economy found its moral justification in a Judeo-Christian view that humans have dominion over the planet’s resources. At the same time it also explores how Bartholomew’s activism is inspired by the Orthodox position that we are part of nature, and that God’s intention for humans is to be stewards, or caretakers, of all creation.

In a world of unprecedented consumption of the earth’s natural resources, Patriarch Bartholomew shows by example how saving the planet is finally a moral issue, not solely a technological one. And as this film follows him on his trips to the most ecologically threatened areas of the planet, it also illustrates why these views are so controversial.

SCOBA calls first episcopal assembly for May 2010

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SCOBA Hierarchs Convene For Special Session

New York, NY – A Special Session of the Standing Conference of the Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas (SCOBA) met on September 25, 2009 from 10:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., hosted by the Chairman of SCOBA, Archbishop Demetrios of America, at the headquarters of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America in Manhattan. The session was attended by the following Members of SCOBA: Archbishop Demetrios, Chairman (Greek Orthodox Archdiocese), Metropolitan Philip, Vice-Chairman (Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese), Metropolitan Christopher, Secretary (Serbian Orthodox Church), Archbishop Nicolae (Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese), Metropolitan Joseph (Bulgarian Orthodox Church), Metropolitan Jonah (Orthodox Church in America) Archbishop Antony (proxy, Ukrainian Orthodox Church) and Archpriest Alexander Abramov (Representation of the Moscow Patriarchate in the USA).

Also present were the General Secretary and members of the SCOBA Study and Planning Commission representing the SCOBA member Churches.

The entire discussion was focused on the documents related to the “Organization of Episcopal Assemblies” in the regions of the world that are outside the borders of the Autocephalous Churches. These Episcopal Assemblies have been authorized by the Fourth Pre-Conciliar Pan-Orthodox Conference which met at the Orthodox Center of Ecumenical Patriarchate in Chambésy, Switzerland from 6 – 13, June 2009. It was decided unanimously by the Hierarchs that the first such Episcopal Assembly shall be convened during Post-Pentecost Week of 2010, which will fall in the last week of May. The likely days of the Assembly will be May 26-27, 2010. There was also discussion as to the location of the Assembly, with a specific venue to be decided after investigation of locales and resources.

The Hierarchs also outlined an initial staging process, combining Hierarchs of SCOBA with sub-committees, which will formulate the outline of the form and agenda of the Assembly.

Source: SCOBA News

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