Russian Orthodox Church Adds St Patrick To Its Calendar

Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill (Photo: Getty)

From The Catholic Herald (UK)

 

The patron saint of Ireland was one of 15 names added to the Russian Orthodox menology

The Russian Orthodox Church has added St Patrick to its calendar of saints.

The fifth-century saint, known as the apostle of Ireland, was one of 15 names added to the Russian Orthodox menology.

The saints all lived in western and central Europe prior to the Great Schism of 1054.

Dr Vladimir Legoida, the head of communications for the Russian Orthodox synod, told Pravmir there was evidence the new saints had been venerated by Russian Orthodox faithful in the west and by other national Orthodox churches.

Another factor they took into account, he said, was whether or not the saints had been used in polemics between Catholics and Orthodox.

“We took account the immaculateness of devotion of each saint, the circumstances in which their worship took shape, and the absence of the saints’ names in the polemic works on struggle against the Eastern Christian Church or its rite,” Dr Legoida said.

Russian Orthodox Patriarch Declares Worldwide ‘Holy War’ on Terrorism

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, foreground, addresses the 2nd Moscow Cadet Parade dedicated to the 71st anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War and the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Moscow. © Iliya Pitalev / Sputnik

From RT News

The head of the Russian Orthodox Church has called the fight against terrorism a “holy war” and urged international unity and an abandoning of double standards to defeat this global evil.

“Today, when our warriors take part in combat operations in the Middle East, we know that this is not an aggression, occupation or an attempt to impose some ideology on other people, this has nothing to do with supporting certain governments,” Patriarch Kirill said as he held the Friday mass at the major Moscow memorial to those who fought in World War II. “This is the fight against the fearsome foe that is currently not only spreading evil through the Middle East but also threatening the whole of mankind.”

He added: “Today, we call this evil terrorism.”

Russian Orthodox Church Blasts Supreme Court Decision to Legalize Same-Sex "Marriages" As Godless, Sinful

Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin

Moscow, June 29, Interfax - The Russian Orthodox Church has appealed to all Russian advocates of the American model of governance, asking them to think twice about the consequences of the United States' decision to legalize same-sex "marriages".

"The people who are into 'democracy the American way' and trying to reconcile it with traditional values need to think hard after this decision," the head of the Synodal Department for Church and Society Relations Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin told Interfax-Religion.
 

Churches Embracing Homosexuality Prepare Members to Accept the Anti-Christ: Russian Orthodox Leader

MOSCOW, June 5, 2015 (LifeSiteNews) – Churches that have deemed homosexuality morally acceptable have rejected Christianity and are preparing their followers to accept the Anti-Christ, according to one of the leading figures in the Russian Orthodox Church.

His statement came as the Russian Orthodox Church announced that it is ending "formal contacts" with the United Protestant Church of France and the Church of Scotland over those churches' abandonment of traditional Christian sexual morality. In its statement, the church said ecumenical dialogue was pointless after France's United Protestant Church last month voted to allow pastors to officiate at same-sex "marriages" and the Church of Scotland approved ordaining clergy who are in same-sex civil unions.

Read more at LifeSiteNews >>

Patriarch of Moscow: Great Expectations for Francis’ Pontificate

Kirill met with the president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, Cardinal Kurt Koch, and proposed closer collaboration with the Vatican on the Middle East and traditional values.

Moscow ( AsiaNews) - The Patriarch of Moscow, Kirill, yesterday confirmed the "great expectations" placed in the new Pope and a "common understanding" between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church during his meeting with the president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, Cardinal . Kurt Koch. The cardinal has concluded his visit to Russia, where he arrived December 14 and where he had meetings with not only the local community but also with representatives of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill Praises Pope Emeritus for “Uncompromising and Consistent” Leadership

Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia has thanked Pope Benedict XVI for his uncompromising position on faith issues and wished him strength, the patriarch's press service reported on Friday.

From Voice of Russia, Interfax

"In these days, which are special to you, I would like to express feelings of brotherly love in Christ and respect," the patriarch said in his message to the pontiff.

The patriarch said the decision made by Benedict XVI to step down from his post, which the pope announced "with humility and simplicity" on February 11, drew "a lot of response" in the hearts of millions of Catholics.

"Your uncompromising and consistent position on issues relating to faith and your adherence to the living church traditions have always been close to us. At a time when the ideology of permissiveness and moral relativism is trying to cause people to lose moral values, you boldly raised your voice in defense of evangelical ideals and high human dignity, calling on people to become free from sin," Patriarch Kirill said.

Patriarch Kirill said it is with warmth that he recalls his meetings with Joseph Ratzinger before his election as pope.

Patriarch Kirill believes the relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church, "which bear great responsibility for testifying Christ to the modern world," received "a new impetus" in the years of the service of Benedict XVI.

Patriarch Kirill said he is hoping "the good and close relations between Orthodox and Catholic Christians," which developed with active participation by Benedict XVI, will continue developing under his successor.

"Accept my sincere wishes of good health, long life, and God's help in your prayer and theological work," the patriarch said in his message to Benedict XVI.

Benedict XVI voluntarily left his post as pope on February 28. Such things have not happened in the Vatican for almost 600 years. The last pope to resign was Gregory XII in the 1415.

Benedict XVI intends to settle down in a monastery in the Vatican. He will not take part in church management and will dev vote his life wholly to prayer and thinking.

In his last address to believers, Benedict XVI said: "This day is different from other days. I will not be pope anymore, I will be a pilgrim undertaking his last stage of pilgrimage on this earth. This day has brought great joy to me. I am ready to serve God with all my heart, prayers, and thoughts, and all my internal forces. I bless you in the name of the Holy Spirit," he said.

Moscow Patriarchate Proposes Creating Christian Parties

From AsiaNews.it

A proposal by the Moscow Patriarchate to establish “Christian or Orthodox parties or in-party groups” has caused a stir. The idea comes from Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin (pictured), head of the Synodal Department for Church and Society Relations.

"The Church is positive about the prospect of setting up Christian or Orthodox parties;” however, “it won't provide them with exclusive support or bless them. The Church is for all, not for allies of a certain political force," Father Vsevolod writes in the Orthodox politics blog .

Russian Orthodoxy and Lenin’s Tomb

By George Weigel

George Weigel

Almost 40 years ago, an aging Anglican clergyman told me a story about his first trip to Paris as a boy—perhaps in the 1920s. His grandfather had called him in, told him that he had a gift to be used in the French capital, and then gave my friend a small pocket mirror. The boy, puzzled, asked his grandfather what the mirror might be for. The following dialogue ensued:

“You are going to Paris, I understand?”

“Yes, Grandfather.”

“I suppose they’ll take you to see where they’ve buried the little monster” (meaning Napoleon, in Les Invalides).

Russia Emerges as Europe's Most God-Believing Nation

Nearly 20 years after the collapse of the atheistic Soviet Union, a recent poll found that 82 percent of Russians classify themselves as religious believers. But far fewer subscribe to organized religion.

Russian Orthodox Old Believers hold candles during an Easter service at a church in Moscow on April 23. Mikhail Voskresensky/Reuters

From The Christian Science Monitor

By Fred Weir

Two decades after the collapse of the USSR, history's most atheistic state, the vast majority of Russians attest to a belief in God – more than in any other European country – according to a new opinion poll.

The survey, carried out in April by the independent Public Opinion Fund (FOM), found that 82 percent of Russians say they are religious believers, while just 13 percent say they do not believe in any deity.

200 Orthodox Churches to be Built in Moscow

What a remarkable development, particularly when one considers that for much of the 20th century Catholics prayed at every Holy Mass for the conversion of Russia.  Perhaps it is time to ask Russia to pray for the conversion of the West.

From Catholic World News

The mayor of Moscow has pledged that “there will be no problems and delays” that would hinder a plan by the Russian Orthodox Church to construct 200 churches in the Russian capital. 

The city of 10.5 million is in “the last place in terms of the ratio between the number of churches and the number of Orthodox believers,” said Patriarch Kirill. “Two hundred churches will not fully solve the problem, but they will change the situation radically, because we will have the chance to work with the people living within walking distance from the churches.” 

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• No delays expected in building 200 new Orthodox churches in Moscow - mayor (Interfax)

Russian Prelate Says 'Godless' West Doomed to Collapse

From Catholic World News

Russia represents the best hope for Europe's future, according to a prominent official of the Russian Orthodox Church.

"Russia has no future without conscience, morals and normal human relations and without faith," Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin told a Russian television audience. He said that Russia's abiding religious faith is the reason why the country represents "the best future" for Europe.

Other European countries, and the US, have lost their moral bearings because they have embraced secularism, the Russian cleric said. "The West is now that same godless system which has collapsed as Communism, it has collapsed as Nazism, and it will collapse as capitalism."

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• Archbishop Vsevolod Chaplin: Russia is the best part of today’s Europe (Interfax)

Russia: An Ecumenical Voyage on the Volga

By John Newton and Jürgen Liminski

A boat laden with the relics of eight saints from the first millennium of the Church has started a historic ecumenical journey along the Volga river.

The Chapel Boat set off yesterday (Monday 13th September) transporting across Russia the relics of eight saints from the age of the undivided Church.

The ship carrying the relics is called "Fr Werenfried" after Aid to the Church in Need's founder, who spearheaded the initiative to convert boats into chapels to allow services to be celebrated in places that have no church.

The relics are a gift from the Catholic Church to the Russian Orthodox Church.

The Chapel boat traveling down the Volga River

ACN's Russia expert Peter Humeniuk, who was involved in the organization of the project, said he believes that it will have a profound symbolic impact.

"Since the earliest days of Christianity, the Church has been seen as a ship, an "ark of salvation.'"

"And on board the vessel, the relics of those saints from the era of the still undivided Church will be a powerful reminder of precisely those times when this image of the Church was first formed and when Christians were still united."

The relics being carried are those of saints who are important to both Churches. The saints are John the Baptist, Anne, Bartholomew the Apostle, the martyrs Stephen and Lawrence, George, John Chrysostom and Cyril, the missionary to the Slav people.

The boat, whose ecumenical journey has received the blessing of Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, will travel some 1,900 miles (more than 3,000 km) from the mouth of the River Volga to Moscow.

On the way the ship will stop at various towns and cities, including Saratov, Kazan, and Novgorod, as well as many smaller places, to enable as many people as possible to venerate the relics it is carrying.

There will be an Orthodox priest on board at all times, to celebrate the Divine Liturgy in the boat's chapel, dedicated to St. Vladimir, who baptized Russia.

Metropolitan German and Monsignor Visvaldas Kulbokason at Sunday's pre-launch Liturgy

The ship's voyage will include stops in regions that suffered from drought and wildfires in July and August.

The Apostolic Nuncio to the Russian Federation, Archbishop Antonio Mennini, sent a letter expressing his hopes that those in the affected regions will find comfort and consolation through this visit.

On Sunday 12th September, a service was held on the quayside in Kirovskij harbor, Volgograd. It was led by Russian Orthodox Metropolitan German of Volgograd and Kamyshin. Monsignor Visvaldas Kulbokas, the first secretary of the Holy See's Apostolic Nunciature to the Russian Federation, also took part in the service and carried the relics on board the chapel boat.

In order to make its epic journey from the Volga delta to the upper reaches of the river, the chapel boat will first of all travel south, visiting the regions of Kalmykia and Astrakhan. From there it will travel northwards along the river called "Highway of Russia."

The chapel boats, which are still in use on the Volga and Don rivers, were called the "flotilla for God" by ACN's founder Fr. Werenfried van Straaten.

Russian Orthodox Official Blasts Anglicans, Calls for Catholic-Orthodox Alliance to Defend Traditional Values

Archbishop Hilarion Alfeyev

In the presence of the Archbishop of Canterbury at Lambeth Palace, the Russian Orthodox prelate in charge of ecumenical relations has criticized "the liberalism and relativism which have become so characteristic of today’s Anglican theology.”

Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, Chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate's Department of External Church Relations, also spoke of “the possibility of establishing an Orthodox-Catholic alliance in Europe for defending the traditional values of Christianity." The full text of his address to the Nicean Club Dinner can be found here.

Putin, Medvedev Celebrate New Public Holiday Marking the Adoption of Christianity in Russia

From Ministry Values
By Stephen K. Ryan

In a stunning example of the resurgence of Christianity in general and the Russian Orthodox Church in particular, President Medvedev marked the adoption of Christianity in 988 with a new public holiday. This is the latest demonstration of the Kremlin's support for an Orthodox Church that has grown increasingly powerful since the fall of Communism.

Some rights groups have criticized the new holiday, approved by President Dmitry Medvedev, as undermining Russia's secular constitution.

To read "Is Russia more Christian than the United States?" Click here

Marking the anniversary Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, held a liturgy in Kiev, the capital of modern Ukraine and mediaeval Kievan Rus, whose leader Prince Vladimir made Christianity the state religion more than 1,000 years ago.

Reuters reported the Patriarch as saying "Facing aggressive atheism and resurgent paganism we remain firm in our belief in God,"

Since the fall of the Soviet Union almost 20 years ago, the Orthodox Church has undergone a revival as Russia's leaders have endorsed it as the country's main faith.

Vladimir Putin, after lighting a candle in Veliky Novgorod's Saint Sophia Cathedral, said "This was an event of colossal significance ... Russia made a historical choice"

Many believe such an official State recognition of a religious event would be impossible in the United States.

Reuters reported :

"It is really cool that this is finally happening. It's good young people know about our history," said Anton, a 22-year-old artist. Retired engineer Zina looked on. "I regularly go to church and maybe this will encourage others," she told Reuters. The trend toward consolidation of the church as a national force in Russia has worried its 20-million strong Muslim population -- a seventh of Russia's people -- as well as those who believe church and state should be strictly separated.

July 28 was celebrated in Russia en masse twice before -- in 1888 and 1988 -- but significantly Wednesday's holiday was the first time it was marked on a state level.

Its millennium celebration in 1988 under Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev was widely considered a turning point for the church's revival while Russia still lived under Communism.

Russian Orthodox patriarch praises Pope, Rips Protestant Compromises with Secularism

Orthodox Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia
Kirill waves to Ukrainians in Odesa on July 20.

From Catholic World News

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, praised Pope Benedict and blasted Protestant bodies that have accepted women’s ordination and caved in to the secular culture on homosexuality.

Noting that the Pope is criticized by “liberal theologians and liberal mass media in the West,” Patriarch Kirill said that “on many public and moral issues his approach fully coincides with the approach of the Russian Orthodox Church. This gives us an opportunity to advocate Christian values together with the Catholic Church, in particular at international organizations and on the international arena.”

On the other hand, some Protestant bodies have “let sinful elements of the world enter their internal world and justify these elements, if they are offered by secular society … secular philosophical liberal stock phrases are repeated within Protestant churches and take root in religious thinking.”

For example, “the word of God is distorted to please the secular liberal standard” on homosexuality, the patriarch noted. “It is written in black and white that it is a sin.”

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• Patriarch Kirill agrees with Pope on many issues (Interfax)

Russian, Constantinople Patriarchs Hail Closer Ties after Visit

Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill with Bartholomew, Patriarch of Constantinople.

From RIA Novosti

Joint worship with Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew has strengthened the unity of Orthodox churches worldwide, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill said on Sunday.

The two patriarchs celebrated Divine Liturgy together for the third time on Sunday in St. Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg.

The official visit of the leader of the Constantinople Church, who is by tradition first among the 15 primates of the Orthodox churches, began last week, with joint services on May 22 and 24.

"Our celebration today is dedicated to the unity of the universal church," said the Russian patriarch, who is fifth in the Orthodox hierarchy.

"We have known each other a long time, and I am glad that with each meeting we become closer to each other, so that the relations between Orthodox churches grow stronger," Kirill said after the joint liturgy.

Speaking in the main cathedral of St. Petersburg, Kirill noted that Russia's second city has much in common with Constantinople, now known as Istanbul.

"Each of these cities was fated to become the mainstay and focus of a great culture, both cities are capitals of the great Orthodox empire," the Russian patriarch said.

The head of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, in turn, called St. Petersburg "a symbol of heroism, steadfastness and faith in the ideals of freedom."

Addressing thousands of Russian Orthodox worshipers, Patriarch Bartholomew wished for Russians to remain "steadfast in the faith."

In memory of Bartholomew's visit to Russia, the Russian patriarch gave the head of the Church of Constantinople a copy of the Feodorovsky icon of the Mother of God.

Moscow Turns Ownership of Public Monasteries over to Orthodox Church

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has ordered the handover of about 20 Moscow-area monasteries to the Russian Orthodox Church, returning properties seized during the Bolshevik Revolution almost a century ago.

Read the rest of this entry >>

Catholics, Orthodox Should Join to Restore Europe's Christian Culture, Pope Says

Pope Benedict XVI, left, shakes hands with Hilarion Alfeyev, Metropolitan of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Department of External Church Relations and permanent member of the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Moscow, prior to a concert dedicated to the pontiff by Patriarch Kirill I of Moscow, in the hall Paul VI at the Vatican, Friday, May 20, 2010.

From Catholic World News

Pope Benedict XVI underlined the mutual interests of the Catholic and Russian Orthodox churches, and the need for ecumenical cooperation in Europe, in a brief address on May 20 after a concert of Russian music.

The Pope spoke after a performance by the National Orchestra of Russia, which was sponsored by the Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill I to honor the Pope on the 5th anniversary of his election. After enjoying the concert the Pope spoke-- at first of the music, then more generally of the challenges that face the world's largest Christian bodies.

The music, the Pope said, expressed "the soul of the Russian people, and therewith the Christian faith." He mentioned that Russian liturgical music has a particularly rich history, "giving life to masterpieces which deserve to be better known in the West." Today's Europe, the Pope continued, "runs the risk of amnesia-- of forgetting and thus abandoning the extraordinary heritage aroused and inspired by Christian faith, which is the essential framework of the culture of Europe, and not only of Europe." Echoing a theme that Russian Orthodox leaders have frequently explored, he called for all Christians, Catholic and Orthodox, to work together to restore European appreciation for its Christian cultural heritage.

"Let us again let Europe breathe with both lungs," the Pope said, calling upon all Christians to help build a society in which "openness to the transcendent, the experience of faith, is recognized as an essential element of the human being."

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• Modern Culture Risks Forgetting Christian Heritage (VIS)

Vatican, Moscow Patriarchate to Co-Sponsor Events on Russian Culture

From Catholic World News

The Pontifical Council for Culture has announced plans for a 2-day festival of Russian culture and spirituality. The initiative is co-sponsored by the Orthodox Patriarchate of Moscow.

Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi, the president of the Pontifical Council for Culture, said that Archbishop Hilarion, the head of the ecumenical-affairs department for the Moscow patriarchate, will lead a Russian delegation in Rome for the events of May 19-20. Before arriving in Rome the Russian delegation will visit Ravenna, Milan, Turin, and Bologna.

The events of May 19 will include a photographic exhibition on the life of the Russian Orthodox Church today, and a symposium on the cooperative efforts of Catholic and Orthodox leaders to preserve Europe's Christian identity.

Archbishop Hilarion will preside at a celebration of the Divine Liturgy in Rome's Orthodox church on May 20. That evening, in the Vatican auditorium, the Russian national orchestra will give a concert to honor Pope Benedict XVI. The concert will be sponsored by Patriarch Kirill of Moscow.

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• Days of Russian Culture and Spirituality in the Vatican (VIS)

Patriarch: Faithful Should Have More Children to Repopulate Russia

From Catholic World News

The leader of the Russian Orthodox Church has called upon the faithful to have more children in order to repopulate their vast nation.

“What's the good of having economy, if our nation is sick?” said Patriarch Kirill. “How will we reclaim these boundless spaces, vast lands, not only in European part of Russia, but in Siberia as well?”

Heartened by news that Russia’s birthrate has increased, he added, “We hope this tendency will be stable and our people rather than strangers with alien culture and alien faith will inhabit our vast lands inherited from God and our hardworking forefathers and this greatest treasure-- our land-- will be cultivated by descendants of those who merged it to the great Russian state.”

Russia’s population has declined by nearly 7 million since 1991.

Source(s): these links will take you to other sites, in a new window.

• Strong healthy nation is needed to reclaim Russian spaces – Patriarch Kirill (Interfax)
• Demographics of Russia (Wikipedia)