The attitude of the Moscow Patriarchate towards other Orthodox churches

Abstract

The Moscow Patriarchate is a transnational subject of political relations which acts both inside and outside the Russian Federation. It has specific goals: to maintain the integrity of its canonical territory and to gain dominance within the Universal Orthodox Church. It is in competition with the Patriarchate of Constantinople, it makes alliances with Slavic Orthodox churches and it pursues diplomacy. The activity of the Moscow Patriarchate is of interest to the Russian government. This article examines relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and other Orthodox churches and their significance for Russian foreign policy.     

The Orthodox Church in the Contemporary Ecumenical Dialogue

Since its beginnings, the ecumenical movement has been influenced by the Orthodox Church, as seen, for example, in the 1920 Encyclical of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Two convictions have underpinned the ecumenical commitment of the Orthodox Church: the need for better mutual understanding between churches and the desire of the Orthodox Church to witness to the truth in its ecumenical relations. There have been instances where the Orthodox Church has not been able to assert its views, and indeed its dialogue partners have come to decisions contrary to the principles of the Orthodox Church. However, this article will focus on the extent to which the Orthodox Church has been able to present its message and effectively influence developments, something that can be observed mainly in two areas: (i) the early church creedal tradition, specifically the Nicene Creed, and (ii) the liturgical heritage, particularly the relationship between baptism and chrismation.     

The Orthodox Churches of the Russian tradition in twenty-first-century Japan: negotiating an identity between Tokyo and Moscow?

In this paper I compare the identities of the Japanese Orthodox Church (JOC), which is an autonomous part of the Moscow Patriarchate in Russia, and the Embassy Church (EC) of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) in Japan, which is an integral part of the ROC. I argue that, at the moment, the JOC is a more Japanese organisation than the EC in terms of culture, attitude towards Russia, the ROC and the Japanese state. There is, however, evidence that this is slowly changing as a result of the policy of the Moscow Patriarchate towards its structures in Japan, but also as a result of the difficulties the JOC is facing in adapting to the Japanese cultural context.     

Missiological Context of the Eastern Orthodox Churches in Africa

This article focuses on the missiological context of the Eastern Orthodox Churches in Africa under the jurisdiction of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa, which serves the Greek‐, Arabic‐, and Russian‐speaking communities as well as native African Orthodox communities in sub‐Saharan Africa. The apostolic mission to Africa started in the city of Alexandria by St Mark the evangelist around 62–63 AD. The gospel flourished in the Alexandrian church through its famous catechetical school, participation in the ecumenical councils, and monasticism. After Islamic invasion of northern Africa (640 AD), Christianity started to decline and the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria extended its jurisdiction to sub‐Saharan Africa. First it served the Greek communities, but later in 1946 opened up to evangelize to native African communities. Orthodox Church mission engagement in sub‐Saharan African has resulted in different mission approaches, like the creation of new dioceses and archdioceses, theological education, and liturgical, incarnational, and reconciliation approaches. These approaches have prepared the missiological context of the Eastern Orthodox Church in Africa for an Africanized Christianity. Native Africans searched for ecclesial identity by affiliating with Greek Orthodoxy, consequently rekindling the mission of the Orthodox Church worldwide and creating a platform for dialogue between African cultural‐religious particularities and Orthodox theological ethos. This has resulted in a call for inculturation or incarnational process aiming for an “African local church.”     

Authority and Legitimisation: the Intraecclesial Strategy of Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens

Abstract?

The election of Ieronymos as archbishop of Athens took place at a critical moment for the Orthodox Church of Greece (OCG). On the one hand, the social credibility of religious bureaucracy was waning. On the other, a fundamentalist faction within the Synod was essentially questioning his authority. In order to confront these problems, Ieronymos found the necessary social and religious legitimisation via the partial democratisation of the administrative function of the OCG as well as the restoration of its relations with the Patriarchate of Constantinople (the Ecumenical Patriarchate). The decoding of this intraecclesial strategy, starting from his election in February 2008 until October 2009, is the topic of the present article.     

The 1920 Encyclical of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Proposal for a “League of Churches”

In January 1920, the Ecumenical Patriarchate issued an encyclical – “Unto all the Churches of Christ Wheresoever They Be” – which has played a key role in the history of the ecumenical movement and the engagement of the Orthodox Church in it. The document was prepared by a group of theologians of the Ecumenical Patriarchate headed by Metropolitan Germanos (Strenopoulos). At the time of its publication, it had an official English version; however, it is usually referenced according to its later revised translation, undertaken in 1959 by W. A. Visser ’t Hooft. A significant difference is that the 1920 translation did not include what has come to be seen as the central feature of the 1920 encyclical: that is, the proposal to create a “League of Churches.” The article explores whether the revision is a more accurate translation of the Greek original or rather an interpretation of the encyclical that enshrines in the text its key concept – which was, however, not contained in the original document.     

The Human Rights Debate in the External Relations of the Russian Orthodox Church

Abstract

This article analyses the ideological and institutional context of the document The Russian Orthodox Church's Basic Teaching on Human Dignity, Freedom and Rights (Osnovy ucheniya Russkoi Pravoslavnoi Tserkvi o dostoinstve, svobode i pravakh cheloveka), issued by the Bishops' Council of the Moscow Patriarchate in 2008, with the particular aim of shedding light on its nature as an instrument of the external relations and foreign politics of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC). Through a documentation of the milestones in the Russian Orthodox human rights discourse and through a semantic analysis of the key terms used, the article shows how the ROC's rhetorical self-positioning vis-à-vis the liberal human rights regime changes over time and shifts from an outright opposition to a more conciliatory attitude. The article is based on internet sources, in particular various websites related to Russian Orthodox institutions, as well as observations and interview material.     

Contentious Conversation: Framing the ‘Fundamentals of Orthodox Culture’ in Russia

Abstract

The relationship between the Russian government and the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) has increasingly become the object of much scrutiny. The debate centres on the question of whether or not the ROC enjoys inordinate influence over the Russian political sphere. This article examines one case in which the Moscow Patriarchate has attempted to influence federal policy, namely, by lobbying the state to include courses on ‘Orthodox culture’ in the federal curriculum. The article draws on social movement theory to argue that the ROC has, to date, failed in its endeavour, as a result of a combination of three factors. First, it has failed to persuade either the state or society that teaching ‘Orthodox culture’ in schools is a worthy cause. Second, it has been unable to demonstrate a united front on the issue, revealing serious disagreements within the ranks of both clergy and laity regarding the content and form of the proposed curriculum. Third, it has been unable to demonstrate that it represents a constituency sufficiently numerous for the government to take its interests seriously in this case. The article thus argues that the relationship between church and state in the Russian Federation is more contentious than frequent joint appearances of clerical and lay leaders would suggest, and that the ROC is in the position of a junior partner whose ability to influence the state is circumscribed by important societal and political factors.     

Two traditions,one space: orthodox Christians and Muslims in dialogue

The Eastern Orthodox Church has encountered Islam from the first decades of its appearance and they interacted in a variety of ways. Most frequently the meeting took the form of polemical clash and confrontation. However, in the many centuries of silent coexistence, it was often expressed in a concrete form of dialogue that sought to define the differences and the positions of the two religious forms and experiences. The present study focuses on the contemporary academic dialogues between Orthodox Christianity and Islam which began in the spring of 1985 at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Brookline, MA. These dialogues were initiated by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople and further meetings were held under its auspices in Chambésy, Constantinople (Istanbul), Athens, and Amman. This article presents the issues discussed, pointing to the fact that peaceful coexistence and justice may only prevail on a basis of mutual knowledge and understanding of the other.     

Not my will but thine be done: Church versus magic in contemporary Russia

In contemporary Russia, the Orthodox Church has started to assume its traditional but long‐lost role as a guardian of morality and a source of coherent ontological foundations. At the same time, magic and alternative healing have become pervasive and conspicuously public phenomena, thriving on the new institutions of the market and the free media. The article examines the nature of ideological offensive deployed by the Russian Church against magic and healing. It suggests that the controversy between Church and magic reflects conflicting ontologies of self and incompatible constructions of agency inherent in these respective cultural fields. It argues that magic and healing are built on the Western models of agency as empowerment of an autonomous individualistic self, and explores contrasting models of agency offered by the Orthodox Christianity. In the light of this argument, seemingly premodern practices of healing and magic appear as phenomena deeply embedded in globalised modernity.     

‘My Father's House has Many Mansions’: Ethnic Minorities in the Russian Orthodox Church

Abstract

This article describes the national mission of Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), the policy of the Moscow Patriarchate towards non-Russian Orthodox. The authors analyse the ROC as a multinational church that includes Finno-Ugrians (Karelians, Komi, Udmurts, Mari, Mordovians), Ukrainians, Belarusians, Chuvash, Yakuts, Ossetians, Kryashens, a significant number of Armenians, Jews, Tatars, Buryats and others. There are already millions of non-Russian Orthodox within the church who want to express their national identity in Orthodoxy. Meanwhile the social mood in Russia today is such that people quite frequently move from one faith to another. Russians become Muslims and Buddhists, and Tatars, Bashkirs, Kabards, Azeris, Buryats become Orthodox. Ethnic multiplicity in the ROC is growing, and this increases the ‘cosmopolitan’ potential of the church. The current authoritarian/bureaucratic system of government in the ROC means however that the ethnic question remains latent. At the same time national movements in the national regions of Russia have strongly criticised the ROC for ignoring the national interests of Orthodox native people. It is not really surprising that national movements and organisations are virtually never orientated towards Orthodoxy. Even among the most ‘Orthodox’ peoples, such as the Chuvash, Komi and Mordovians, with many practising Orthodox and a significant number of Orthodox priests, and among whom there is no other living religious tradition, the national movements are distant from the ROC, and indeed often hostile to it. Since the ROC has a Russian nationalist world view, Chuvash or Ossetian or Karelian Orthodoxy, each with its own original culture, will develop outside official church structures. From time to time Orthodox priests of local ethnic origin take initiatives to develop missionary work among the local people, but no such initiative has yet gained the support of the local hierarchy.     

The Russian Orthodox Church in Western Europe: one or many?

This article analyses the way Russian Orthodox communities, primarily in Western Europe, cope with the ecclesiological challenge of de-territorialisation and increased individual mobility in the modern world. It focuses on the developments within the three parallel Russian Orthodox jurisdictions in Western Europe, especially since the fall of the Iron Curtain. These developments can primarily be summarised in the context of two dilemmas. First, there is the question whether the ‘temporary’ solutions that were put in place as a result of the Soviet regime’s hostility towards the Russian Orthodox Church should come to an end in the new ‘free’ circumstances since 1990. Second, there is the question of how to reconcile Russian traditions and allegiances with the religious needs of local converts to Orthodoxy. The main developments include the conflict in the UK since the death of Metropolitan Anthony (Bloom) of Sourozh in 2003, the reunification of the Russian Orthodox Church with the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia in 2007 and, most importantly, the developments in the Archdiocese of Orthodox Parishes of Russian Tradition in Western Europe (Exarchate of the Patriarchate of Constantinople) since the turn of the millennium. The French debate on the future of Russian Orthodoxy in Western Europe is the most pertinent one and provides a key to understanding the challenges posed to Orthodox ecclesiology in the West.     

Bibliography

Die Ostpolitik des Vatikans by Hansjakob Stehle, R. Piper and Co., Verlag Munich and Zurich, 1975, 487 pp., DM 39.50.

Young Christians in Russia by Michael Bourdeaux and Katharine Murray, Lakeland, 1976, 156 pp., 75P.

The Serbian Orthodox Church 1920–1970 a volume to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the re‐establishment of the Serbian Patriarchate (Srpska Travoslavna Crkva 1920–1970: Spomenica 50‐Godisnjici Vaspostavljanja Srpske Tatriarsije) published by the Holy Episcopal Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Belgrade, 1970,539 pp., no price indicated.

General Survey of the Catholic Church in Yugoslavia (Opci Sematizam Katolicke Crkve u Jugoslaviji) published by the Bishops’ Conference of Yugoslavia, Kaptol 31, Zagreb, 1975, 1, 166 pp. £12.

Kontinent 1: The Alternative Voice of Russia and Eastern Europe edited by Vladimir Maximov, Andre Deutsch, 1976, 180 pp., £3.95.

Theology and Prayer: Essays on Monastic Themes presented at the Orthodox‐Cistercian Conference, Oxford, 1973 (Studies Supplementary to Sobornost No 3), edited by A. M. Allchin, Fellowship of St. Alban and St. Sergius, 1975, 107 pp., 50p.

St. Seraphim of Sarov by Valentine Zander, SPCK, London, 1975, 150 pp. £2.50.     

Ecclesiastical nationalism and primacy in world Orthodoxy: the case of the Serbian Church at the pan-Orthodox Council in Crete

ABSTRACT

The Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church (2016) was supposed to be, above all, a demonstration of Orthodox unity. However, four autocephalous Orthodox churches were absent and others were split internally over their stances towards the Council. Ethnophyletism (ecclesiastical nationalism) and disagreements between the Orthodox churches over universal primacy have often been emphasised as the factors which eventually prevented the display of full pan-Orthodox conciliarity. By analysing official documents of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC) and the statements of Serbian hierarchs, I assess the role of ethnophyletism and primacy in the SOC’s positioning regarding the Council. I conclude that ethnophyletism and a lack of consensus over primacy were overshadowed by the cleavage between progressive and conservative tendencies within the SOC as well as beyond autocephalous frontiers. The study may thus contribute to a better understanding of the current challenges to pan-Orthodox conciliarity in general.     

Persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Georgia Today

Abstract

Religious aspects of the problem of unrecognised states are important. Abkhazia and South Ossetia are located between the jurisdictions of the Russian Orthodox Church and the Orthodox Church of Georgia, while the competition between the Russian and Romanian Orthodox Churches over Moldova inevitably affects Transnistria. This paper tries to elucidate the features of politics on the Black Sea rim in general, and in the unrecognised states in particular, by focusing on two kinds of transborder actors – Orthodox churches and transborder nationalities. The rules of the game in Orthodoxy determined by the seven Ecumenical Councils (held from the fourth to the eighth centuries) inevitably make Orthodox politics supra-national and relatively independent from secular politics; thus the widespread understanding of Orthodoxy as a caesaropapist religion should be questioned. Unrecognised states try to incorporate transborder nationalities – in this paper I take the examples of the Mingrelians and Moldovans – to legitimise their statehood domestically and internationally, while the transborder nationalities exploit this situation for their security and social promotion.     

The Politicisation of Islam in Postsoviet Central Asia

Abstract

The paper analyses the recent debate on human rights in the Russian Orthodox Church published as a series of articles, conference discussions and official church documents. The current Russian Orthodox vision of rights is an example of response to the dominant liberal discourse from within a spiritual tradition. Russian Orthodox authors try to combine major categories of Christian anthropology with the liberal ‘rights talk’. The purpose of the ‘teaching’ is ambiguous, because of the dual identity of the Russian Orthodox Church as a self-protecting minority and dominant cultural tradition. The paper then applies to the case the social theories of Jürgen Habermas and John Rawls.     

The Orthodoxy of the Anglo-Saxons: conversion and loyalty in the pre-conquest English Church

Though Eastern Christians generally regard the Western part of the Church to have split from Orthodoxy permanently in 1054, there have been calls by some to modify the date of this as regards the Anglo-Saxon Church. These Orthodox lay scholars and bishops argue that the Anglo-Saxon Church was more closely aligned with the Orthodox East rather than the Roman Catholic West, as evidenced by the canonisation of St Edward the Confessor and advocacy for the canonisation of King Harold II. This article questions these assertions by looking at the evidence provided by Anglo-Saxon connection to the Western Church, as well as the migration of Anglo-Saxons to Byzantium following the Battle of Hastings, as described in the Játvarðar Saga. It concludes by discussing what implications these findings have for the Orthodox Church in its canonisation of a technically non-Orthodox saint.     

The Mission of the Church in the Contemporary World in Light of the Decisions of the Holy and Great Council

This article discusses the place of mission in the Orthodox Church. The document “The Mission of the Orthodox Church in Today's World,” which was approved by the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church held in Crete in 2016, is still in the process of reception, as are the other documents, but it constitutes, without doubt, a new era in Orthodox missiology – as indeed the Great and Holy Council in Crete represents a new era in Orthodoxy. The interrelatedness of unity and mission is not a question of methodology or strategy. It is an ontological one: it is related to the very essence of koinonia as fellowship in the triune God, and to the specific aspect of κοινονια as participation in God's economy in and for the world. Mission is commitment to the work of the triune God incarnated in Jesus Christ. Both are God’s gift and command. It is only in unity with the Holy Trinity that the church is able to fulfil its vocation.     

The Ecumenical Significance of the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church

From 20 to 26 June 2016, following a century of preparatory work, the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church met on the island of Crete. Among the various documents agreed by the council, the most controversial before, during, and after the council was the one on “The Relations of the Orthodox Church with the Rest of the Christian World.” This article sets out the importance of this statement, and considers and responds to the various criticisms of it that have emerged among certain Orthodox groups and individuals. The article concludes that despite such objections, the statement has a crucial ecumenical significance, and that, for the first time in its history, the Orthodox Church has taken a conciliar decision with regard to participation in the ecumenical movement and engagement in theological dialogue with other Christian churches and confessions.