Posted on 03/27/2007 7:27:19 AM PDT by kawaii
27 March 2007, 16:20
Moscow Patriarchate's diocese of Korsun suspends its participation in Assembly of Orthodox Bishops of France
Paris, February 27, Interfax - The Russian Orthodox Church's diocese of Korsun has sustained its participation in the Assembly of Orthodox Bishops of France (AOBF) because of 'crisis developments' in its work.
The AOBF is an advisory body of bishops belonging to various Orthodox jurisdictions existing in France. It is led by a representative of the Patriarchate of Constantinople.
The clergy and laity of the French deanery of the Korsun diocesan at their meeting chaired by the ruling bishop, Innokenty (Vasilyev) of Korsun, adopted a statement saying that recently 'centralistic tendencies have developed within the Assembly, hindering the conciliar productive work of this organization'.
'Today we can state with profound regret that in the last month the situation has not improved but rather aggravated despite our sincere wish to prevent an imminent crisis which can disrupt the Orthodox unity and fraternal cooperation among local churches in France', the statement says.
According to the document, attempts at 'blocking the initiatives' of the Russian Orthodox Church in France continue, especially when it comes to her 'fraternal cooperation' with the Roman Catholic church.
In addition, at the AOBF's suggestion 'a negative image of the Russian Orthodox Church has been imposed' on people, while the Service Orthodoxe de Presse magazine, which claims to be an official organ of the Assembly, has carried 'malevolent utterances about the Russian Orthodox Church and its supreme authorities'.
'We are profoundly disturbed by the situation. We all as Orthodox should consider how we should live on together. We all are responsible for the future of Orthodoxy in France', the clergy and laity of the Korsun diocese stated.
They hope, through their statement, 'to attract the attention of not only the Orthodox public but also all Christians in France' as they 'should together bear witness to Christian values in face of challenges of the modern world'.
'Considering all this, the meeting recommends that the participation of the Korsun diocese in the AOBF meetings be sustained until these problems are resolved', reads the statement published by the Moscow Patriarchate's official website on Tuesday.
why would an EP run outfit thwart inter-Catholic-Orthodox cooperation, when the EP has generally favored such activities?
ping
Scratching my head on this one!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.