Orthodox-Anglican Dialogue in Trouble? |
A leading Russian Orthodox bishop on September 9 in England suggested that the ecumenical dialogue between the Orthodox Church and the Anglican Communion could come to an end if the Anglicans continue to ordain women and openly homosexual priests and bishops
By Robert Moynihan ===================================== "The dialogue is doomed to closure if the unrestrained liberalization of Christian values continues in many communities of the Anglican world." —Russian Orthodox Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev =====================================
End of an Era?
With a remarkable address on September 9 in England, a Russian Orthodox archbishop may have brought an era in Christian ecumenical dialogue -- barring an abrupt "about-face" in the attitudes of the parties -- to a close.
The post-Vatican II era of Christian ecumenism -- 45 years old this year now -- has been marked by increasingly warm relations between many Christian denominations despite prior centuries of doctrinal strife.
Starting at the Council (1962-65), age-old divisions between Christian communions began to seem, to many, less insurmountable.
The vision was this: that all Christians might eventually, after working through their doctrinal differences, join together into one, united Church, and so fulfill the final prayer of Jesus on the evening of the Last Supper (he asked that all of his followers might be united -- "ut unum sint" ("that they might be one," John 17:21), words which are also the title of a 1995 encyclical on the same matter by Pope John Paul II.)
And so in the decade of the 1960s, a powerful ecumenical tide came in.
A tide of hope, but also of naivete. Unity was the goal.
Divisions were often downplayed.
Countless theological meetings were held to thrash out doctrinal differences.
Inter-denominational prayer meeetings grew ever more common.
Then something happened.
The process seemed to slow and stall.
Then to grind to a complete halt. Why?
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Hilarion Minces No Words
Four days ago in England, Hilarion Alfeyev, a leading Russian Orthodox archbishop -- the "foreign minister" of the Russian Orthodox Church, as the head of the Department of External Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, a post the present Patriarch of Moscow, Kirill, held previously -- delivered a speech that has many onlookers saying only one word: "Wow."
It is one of the clearest and boldest ecumenical addresses in decades. The text merits a close reading.Here below is the complete text. It is archived at this link: http://www.mospat.ru/en/2010/09/10/news25819/
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