Russian Church Withdraws from Orthodox-Catholic Dialogue

Aleteia ^ | 11/8/18 | John Burger

[marshmallow]

Ecumenical expert says implications of decision are yet to be seen.

The implications for Catholic-Orthodox dialogue, following the Russian Orthodox Church’s decision to withdraw from it, remain to be seen, said a Catholic member of the dialogue commission.

Monsignor Paul McPartlan, the Carl J. Peter Professor of Systematic Theology and Ecumenism at the School of Theology and Religious Studies of the Catholic University of America, confirmed Wednesday that the Russian Orthodox have decided to suspend their participation in the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church.

Monsignor McPartlan said a meeting of the joint coordinating committee for the international dialogue scheduled for next week at the Monastery of Bose in Italy is still on, and that he will be taking part.

The Russians’ decision not to participate stems from the decision by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I to grant autocephaly to a local, unified Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Currently, the only Orthodox Church in Ukraine that is recognized by the rest of the Orthodox world is the Church of the Moscow Patriarchate. After Bartholomew announced that he was sending two exarchs to Ukraine as part of his decision to grant autocephaly, Moscow announced certain measures in protest. Among other things, it said it would “interrupt the participation of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Episcopal Assemblies, in theological dialogues, multilateral commissions and all other structures in which the representatives of the Patriarchate of Constantinople are co-chairs.”

[livius]

Maybe because Frankie has drawn the Catholic Church into total heresy?

[dfwgator]

Russians know a Commie when they see one.

[Petrosius]

Read the article. It is because of the participation of Constantinople. Moscow is maintaining the bilateral relations with the Catholic Church.

[CondoleezzaProtege]

Oh spare me. Here is Patriarch Kirill being decorated by Cuba's Raul Castro, followed by celebrating 70 years of friendly relations with North Korea, and then embracing Francis in Havana:

[tlozo]

Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriarchate has to decide will they serve God or Putin.

[vladimir998]

“Maybe because Frankie has drawn the Catholic Church into total heresy?”

No such thing is possible.

[vladimir998]

“Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriarchate has to decide will they serve God or Putin.”

Eastern Orthodox Churches have traditionally chosen the government over God.

[zanarchist]

Yeah Romans 13:1 is a pesky little scripture ain’t it?

[Wallace T.]

Too many political conservatives have made the assumption that because Putin makes the sign of the cross publicly and embraces Orthodox bishops, he is a Christian. He and his associates were born and raised in the Communist system. Lenin still remains in his tomb in Red Square and the Russian Army embraces the Soviet tradition. Yes, Russia is more culturally conservative than the Western democracies. But so were the Soviet Union and the other Communist nations. Homosexuality was regarded as bourgeois decadence and was severely punished. The Communist system imposed by Lenin, Stalin, Mao, and others was economic socialism and atheism. The leftism of the Western democracies was directed by the disciples of Antonio Gramsci and the Frankfurt School. It is cultural Marxism more than economic Marxism and militant atheism. Destruction of the social fabric is the goal of American and Western European leftism. Because the Putin regime is socially conservative, many religious conservatives assume Russia shares the same values as older Western society.

[vladimir998]

“Yeah Romans 13:1 is a pesky little scripture ain’t it?”

No, because it says nothing about matters of faith. Mark 12:17, on the other hand. . .

[CondoleezzaProtege]

*claps* wish you could make this a main thread as a vanity post.

[Cronos]

I would suggest reading the article first. The reason given by the Russians is The Russians’ decision not to participate stems from the decision by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I to grant autocephaly to a local, unified Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Currently, the only Orthodox Church in Ukraine that is recognized by the rest of the Orthodox world is the Church of the Moscow Patriarchate. - nothing about Frankie there.