Month: November 2009

From the Moscow Patriarchate, Nov. 12, 2009:

Archbishop Hilarion of Volokolamsk

During his meeting with foreign media people on 11 November 2009, Archbishop Hilarion spoke on burning issues of inter-Christian relations. He said in particular that considerable improvements took shape in relations with the Roman Catholic Church in recent years. ‘There is a regular mechanism of mutual consultations and high-level visits… We can state that we are moving towards the moment when the preparation of a meeting between the Pope of Rome and the Patriarch of Moscow will become possible. I would like to underline that we have no concrete plans concerning the venue and date of this meetings but the both sides show a desire to prepare it’, he said.

According to His Eminence Hilarion, this meeting should serve to find ‘a common platform’ for issues of bilateral relations, which are still disputable or divisive. ‘As soon as it is found and appropriate agreements are prepared to be signed by the two Churches, this meeting will become possible’, he said.

‘The most important problem in our relations is that of Western Ukraine and the actions of the Greek-Catholic structures, which destroyed the fragile inter-confessional balance in the early 1990s to create the still remaining grave situation’, the archbishop said, reminding the journalists that during the last years of the Soviet Union’s existence, the Greek Catholics began to capture Orthodox churches en masse. These actions entailed violence, bloodshed and mutual accusations as many Orthodox churches were seized to remain in the hands of the Greek-Catholics to this day. Continue reading →

From the Moscow Patriarchate, Nov. 12, 2009:

Archbishop Hilarion of Volokolamsk

Asked about the Church’s view of some problems of bioethics, especially the use of artificial life-support systems to prolong the life of a patient, he said,

‘It is a very complicated issue. We in the Orthodox Church do not believe that one’s life should be certainly prolonged by artificial means. We believe a human being is born when it pleases God and dies when it pleases God. Complications arise when artificial life-support systems are used in a critical situation when there is a hope for one’s survival and return to normal life. But then one’s organism as if adjusts itself to these machines without one’s regaining consciousness. One continues to live in a vegetative state and here a complicated dilemma arises indeed: who can switch off these machines thus actually killing a patient? I believe there is no unambiguous answer to this question and perhaps there cannot be such, and the situation has to be resolved differently in every particular case’. He also underlined the importance of cooperation between medics and the Church in solving complicated ethical problems. Continue reading →

Often I find myself being criticized for taking up political themes in my writing or speaking. Typically (in an America context at least) I am chastised for aligning myself with the political or Religious Right. While there is some truth to this, I think as the Catholic journalist and commentator John Allen points out in a recent essay (“Spain takes a page from the US pro-life playbook” ), critics conveniently ignore “the fact that the church’s political alignment in a given culture often depends on factors beyond its control. In both Europe and the States, one such variable is how open the political left is to pro-life sentiment. To put the point bluntly, if pro-lifers (including Catholics) can’t find a home on the left, many of them are obviously going to end up on the right.”

Allen’s observation about the Catholic Church’s response to political currents I can certainly claim as my own. Additionally, I think his view of the centerist inclination of the Catholic Church here is applicable to the Orthodox Church. “In politics, as in most everything else, the genetic disposition of Catholicism is to seek the sane center. When the church careens away from the center, it’s often because external circumstances have shoved it in that direction.”

What might this means for the Orthodox Church’s witness in the Public Square and for her internal life? Continue reading →

OrthodoxNet.com editor Chris Banescu has posted a brilliant response to a priest’s criticism of Web communications:

Chris Banescu

The many faults Fr. George finds with the Internet and the blogosphere are mostly true, but morally meaningless. Yes, the web and instant Internet communications can suffer from all the troubles and ills he outlined. Yes, free men will abuse their freedom and lie and insult. Yes, some will try to muddy the waters and distract from the truth. So what? That’s freedom, that’s democracy, that’s life! The right not to be offended does not exist in the Constitution. For freedom to exist and democracy to thrive such things must and will always exist. We must deal with it, not run away from it.

The mountain of truthful information, solid reporting, trustworthy testimony, and ethically sound reflections and insights, would never have seen the light of day without the power of the Internet. The positive and constructive impact OCANews.org has had on the Holy Orthodox Church stands as a testament to the power of liberty and the functionality of the medium. Should a few poorly worded and irresponsible posts in the public comments of the website overshadow the thousands of other solid, thoughtful, and intelligent posts, and the hundreds of excellent reflections and articles posted? To hear Fr. George explain it, just a few tares justify the removal of all the wheat also. I seem to recall a different Gospel message.

What is at issue in all the exchanges and multiple spiritual, moral, and financial crisis threatening the Orthodox Church is the lack of truth, lack of ethics, lack of integrity, and lack of Christ. Christ warned us to be watchful and discerning. He taught that “You shall know them by their fruits!” OCANews.org showed us exactly what “fruits” were produced by these false prophets. Many of those who claimed to follow, preach, and practice His word, were actually impostors who squandered His Talents to fuel their greed and lavish lifestyles, used His teachings to excuse corruption (moral, spiritual, and financial) and enable abusers, and misused their authority to escape accountability and liability.

Read The Medium is not the Message on ONet.