Crucea.ro

Ca document care anticipeaza diplomatic viitoarele discursuri ale Consultarilor Panortodoxe din anul 2009,  inseram aici o recenta declaratie comuna a ierarhilor ortodocsi reuniti deunazi in Fanar.

Message of the Primates of the Orthodox Churches (12/10/2008)

In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

1. Through the Grace of God, the Primates and the Representatives of
the local Orthodox Churches have gathered from 10-12 October, 2008,
in the Phanar, at the invitation and under the presidency of the
First among us, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, on the occasion of
the proclamation of this year as the year of Saint Paul, Apostle to
the Nations. We have deliberated in fraternal love on the issues that
concern the Orthodox Church, and participating in the festivities of
this occasion, we celebrated together the Holy Eucharist in the Most
Sacred Patriarchal Church of the Ecumenical Throne, today, 12 October
2008, Sunday of the Holy Fathers of the 7th Ecumenical Council of
Nicaea. During these days, we have been strengthened by the truth of
the gifts of divine providence received by the Apostle to the
Nations, which rendered him a superb “chosen vessel” (Acts 9:15) of
God and a shining model of apostolic ministry for the body of the
Church.

The entire Orthodox Church is honoring this Apostle during the
current year of the Lord, promoting him as an example to its faithful
for a contemporary witness of our faith to “those near and those
afar” (Eph. 2:17).

2. The Orthodox Church, having the understanding of the authentic
interpretation of the teaching of the Apostle to the Nations, in both
peaceful and difficult times of its two-thousand year historical
course, can and must promote to the contemporary world the teaching
not only regarding the restoration in Christ of the unity of the
entire human race, but also regarding the universality of His work of
redemption, through which all the divisions of the world are overcome
and the common nature of all human beings is affirmed.

Nevertheless, the faithful promotion of this message of redemption
also presupposes overcoming the internal conflicts of the Orthodox
Church through the surrendering of nationalistic, ethnic and
ideological extremes of the past. For only in this way will the word
of Orthodoxy have a necessary impact on the contemporary world.

3. Inspired by the teaching and the work of the Apostle Paul, we
underscore first and foremost, the importance of the duty of Mission
for the life of the Church, and in particular for the ministry of us
all, in accordance with the final commandment of the Lord: “you will
be my witnesses not only in Jerusalem, but throughout Judaea and
Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth” (Acts 1:8). The
evangelization of God’s people, but also of those who do not believe
in Christ, constitutes the supreme duty of the Church. This duty must
not be fulfilled in an aggressive manner, or by various forms of
proselytism, but with love, humility and respect for the identity of
each individual and the cultural particularity of each people. All
Orthodox Churches must contribute to this missionary effort,
respecting the canonical order.

4. The Church of Christ today fulfills it ministry in a rapidly
developing world, which has now become interconnected through means
of communication and the development of means of transportation and
technology. At the same time however, the extent of alienation,
divisions and conflicts is also increasing. Christians emphasize that
the source of this condition is the alienation of man from God. No
change in social structures or of rules of behavior suffices to heal
this condition. The Church consistently points out that sin can only
be conquered through the cooperation of God and humankind.

5. Under such circumstances, the contemporary witness of Orthodoxy
for the ever-increasing problems of humanity and of the world becomes
imperative, not only in order to point out their causes, but also in
order to directly confront the tragic consequences that follow. The
various nationalistic, ethnic, ideological and religious contrasts
continuously nurture dangerous confusion, not only in regard to the
unquestionable ontological unity of the human race, but also in
regard to man’s relationship to sacred creation. The sacredness of
the human person is constrained to partial claims for the
“individual”, whereas his relationship toward the rest of sacred
creation is subjected to his arbitrary use or abuse of it.

These divisions of the world introduce an unjust inequality in the
participation of individuals, or even peoples in the goods of
Creation; they deprive billions of people of basic goods and lead to
the misery for the human person; they cause mass population
migration, kindle nationalistic, religious and social discrimination
and conflict, threatening traditional internal societal coherence.
These consequences are still more abhorrent because they are
inextricably linked with the destruction of the natural environment
and the entire ecosystem.

6. Orthodox Christians share responsibility for the contemporary
crisis of this planet with other people, whether they are people of
faith or not, because they have tolerated and indiscriminately
compromised on extreme human choices, without credibly challenging
these choices with the word of faith. Therefore, they also have a
major obligation to contribute to overcoming the divisions of the
world.

The Christian teaching about the ontological unity between the human
race and sacred creation, as expressed by the entire mystery of the
redemptive work in Christ, constitutes the foundation for
interpretation of man’s relationship with God and the world.

7. Efforts to distance religion from societal life constitute the
common tendency of many modern states. The principle of a secular
state can be preserved; however, it is unacceptable to interpret this
principle as a radical marginalization of religion from all spheres
of public life.

8. The gap between rich and poor is growing dramatically due to the
financial crisis, usually the result of manic profiteering by
economic factors and corrupt financial activity, which, by lacking an
anthropological dimension and sensitivity, does not ultimately serve
the real needs of mankind. A viable economy is that which combines
efficacy with justice and social solidarity.

9. With regard to the issue of the relationship of Christian faith to
the natural sciences, the Orthodox Church has avoided pursuing
ownership of developing scientific research and assuming a position
on every scientific question. From the Orthodox viewpoint, freedom of
research constitutes a God-given gift to humanity. While affirming
this however, at the same time Orthodoxy underscores the dangers
concealed in certain scientific achievements, the limits of
scientific knowledge, and the existence of another “knowledge” that
does not immediately fall with the scope of science. This other
“knowledge” proves in many ways to be necessary for establishing the
proper boundaries of freedom, and utilizing the fruits of science by
the restraint of egocentrism and respect for the value of the human
person.

10. The Orthodox Church believes that technological and economic
progress should not lead to the destruction of the environment and
the exhaustion of natural resources. Greed to satisfy material
desires leads to the impoverishment of the human soul and the
environment. We must not forget that the natural riches of the earth
are not only man’s property, but primarily God’s creation: “The earth
is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and all who dwell
therein” (Ps.23:1). We ought to remember that not only today’s
generation, but also future generations are entitled to have a right
to the resources of nature, which the Creator has granted us.

11. In firmly supporting every peaceful effort for just solutions to
conflicts that arise, we salute the position of the Churches of
Russia and Georgia and their fraternal cooperation during the period
of recent military conflict. In this way, the two Churches fulfilled
the obligation to the ministry of reconciliation. We hope that their
mutual ecclesiastical efforts will contribute to overcoming the
tragic consequences of military operations and the swift
reconcilement of the peoples.

12. In the ever-growing confusion of our times, the institution of
family and marriage faces a crisis. In a spirit of understanding the
new complex social condition, the Church is obliged to find ways to
spiritually support and generally encourage the young and large
families.

We turn our thoughts especially to the young people, in order to call
them to actively participate both in the sacramental and sanctifying
life, as well as in the missionary and social work of the Church,
transferring their problems and their expectations to the Church,
since they constitute not only its future, but also its present.

13. As Primates and the Representatives of the Most Holy Orthodox
Churches, fully aware of the gravity of the aforementioned problems,
and laboring to confront them directly as “servants of Christ and
stewards of God’s mysteries” (1 Cor. 4:1), we proclaim from this See
of the First-throne among the Churches and we re-affirm:

i) our unswerving position and obligation to safeguard the unity of
the Orthodox Church in “the faith once for all delivered to the
saints” (Jude 3), the faith of our Fathers, in the common Divine
Eucharist and in the faithful observance of the canonical system of
Church governance by settling any problems that arise from time to
time in relations among us with a spirit of love and peace.

ii) our desire for the swift healing of every canonical anomaly that
has arisen from historical circumstances and pastoral requirements,
such as in the so-called Orthodox Diaspora, with a view to overcoming
every possible influence that is foreign to Orthodox ecclesiology. In
this respect we welcome the proposal by the Ecumenical Patriarchate
to convene Panorthodox Consultations within the coming year 2009 on
this subject, as well as for the continuation of preparations for the
Holy and Great Council. In accordance with the standing order and
practice of the Panorthodox Consultations in Rhodes, it will invite
all Autocephalous Churches.

iii) our desire to continue, despite any difficulties, the
theological dialogues with other Christians, as well as the
interreligious dialogues, especially with Judaism and Islam, given
that dialogue constitutes the only way of solving differences among
people, especially in a time like today, when every kind of division,
including those in the name of religion, threaten people’s peace and
unity.

iv) our support for the initiatives by the Ecumenical Patriarchate,
as well as by other Orthodox Churches, for the protection of the
natural environment. Today’s ecological crisis, which is due to both
spiritual and ethical reasons, renders imperative the obligation of
the Church to contribute through the spiritual means at her disposal,
to the protection of God’s creation from the consequences of human
greed. In this regard, we reaffirm the designation of the 1st of
September, the first day of the Ecclesiastical Year, as the day of
special prayers for the protection of God’ creation, and we support
the introduction of the subject of the natural environment in the
catechetical, homiletic, and general pastoral activity of our
Churches, as this is already the case in some.

v) the decision to proceed with the necessary actions, in order to
form an Inter-Orthodox Committee to study issues of bioethics, on
which the world also awaits the position of Orthodoxy.

Addressing these things to the Orthodox people throughout the world
and to the entire oikoumene, we pray “again and again” that peace,
justice, and God’s love may finally prevail in people’s lives.

“Glory be to him whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more
than we can ask or imagine, glory be to him in the Church and in
Christ Jesus” (Eph. 3:20-21). Amen.

In the Phanar, 12th October 2008.

+ Bartholomew of Constantinople
+ Theodore of Alexandria
+ Ignatius of Antioch
+ Theophilos of Jerusalem
+ Alexey of Moscow
+ Amphilochios of Montenegro (representing the Church of Serbia)
+ Laurentiu of Transylvania (representing the Church of Romania)
+ Dometiyan of Vidin (representing the Church of Bulgaria)
+ Gerasime of Zugdidi (representing the Church of Georgia)
+ Chrysostomos of Cyprus
+ Ieronymos of Athens
+ Jeremiasz of Wroclaw (representing of the Church of Poland)
+ Anastasios of Tirana
+ Christopher of the Czech Lands and Slovakia

Gheorghe Vanau