Europaica 42 6/2/2004

Bishop Hilarion of Vienna and Austria: Catholic-Orthodox Relations at
Present and in the Future

Interview to Zenit International News Agency

What are the hopes of the Orthodox Church with regard to the recent meeting
between His Holiness Patriach Alexis II and the Catholic Cardinal Walter
Kasper?

We hope that the fruitful discussions which took place between the Primate
of the Russian Orthodox Church and the high representative of the Roman
Catholic Church will lead to a better relationship between the two
Churches. We hope that the concerns expressed by our Church and also by
other Orthodox Churches, in particular, those related to the situation of
the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, will be taken seriously.

According to you, will Pope John Paul II establish a patriarchate for the
Greek-Catholic Church in the Ukraine? If yes, why?

It is difficult for me to predict how Pope John Paul II will be acting, but
I hope the unanimous position of all Orthodox Churches against the
establishment of the Greek Catholic Patriarchate will be taken into
account. The question is: why has the issue of the Patriarchate in Ukraine
become so urgent? While for several centuries the Greek Catholics lived
without a Patriarchate, why should the Patriarchate be created now, when
there is so much controversy around the very issue of Uniatism? While joint
Catholic-Orthodox documents signed at Freising and Balamand stated clearly
that Uniatism is not a way towards unity, why should the status of
Ukrainian Uniate Churches be upgraded?

Another question is: why should the see of the Greek Catholic primate be
moved from Lviv to Kiyv? Traditionally Greek Catholics have been strong in
Galicia, but they have never had any significant presence in the rest of
Ukraine, especially in Kiyv, where the vast majority of believers belong to
the Orthodox Church. The impression is that by transferring the see from
Lviv to Kiyv and by attempting to create a Patriarchate the Greek Catholic
Church under Cardinal Husar wants to assume the identity of a national
Ukrainian Church, as opposed to the 'Moscow Church' headed by Metropolitan
Vladimir of Kiyv. And this is in spite of the fact that Orthodox believers
greatly outnumber the Greek Catholics throughout Ukraine, except Galicia.

Moreover, the transfer of the see from Lviv to Kiyv points to a clear
expansionist strategy. The recent official statistics show that there are
14,350 Orthodox communities in the Ukraine, including those belonging to
non-canonical (schismatic) groups. If we take only the canonical Ukrainian
Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, it counts 10,044 parishes. As
far as the Greek Catholic Church is concerned, it counts 3,334 parishes, of
which 2,969 are found in Galicia. In Kiyv there are 823 Orthodox churches
and only 8 Greek Catholic ones. The question arises: what have the Greek
Catholics to do with Kiyv? It is quite obvious that any expansion of Greek
Catholicism in traditionally Orthodox territories will take place at the
expense of the Orthodox and to their detriment.

You pose the question: if Pope John Paul II does establish a Patriarchate
for the Greek-Catholic Church in the Ukraine, why would he do this? I do
not know the answer. According to some experts, there is a certain lobby in
the Vatican which wants the decision to create a Patriarchate in Ukraine to
be taken precisely during Pope John Paul's pontificate. The reasoning
behind this is as follows: the relations with the Orthodox Church cannot be
much worse than they are now, and even if they are completely ruined, there
will nevertheless be a new chance to improve them when there is a new Pope.
The new Pope may claim that the establishment of the Greek Catholic
Patriarchate in Ukraine was a mistake made by the present Vatican
administration and may even apologise for it. The Patriarchate will,
however, be already in place and will not be abolished. In this way two
birds will be killed with one stone. I wish to believe that all this is
pure speculation and that there are no such intentions in the Vatican.

How do you believe the relations among the represented church groups would
change after such a step is taken?

I presume the official theological dialogue between the Roman Catholic and
the Orthodox Churches, which is now temporarily suspended, will be stopped
altogether, and the Catholic-Orthodox relations are likely return to the
pre-Vatican II situation. This, I contend, will be a great tragedy.

There are various points on which the different Churches are divided.
Briefly, on which theological foundation could the Churches increase their
relations?

Responding to this question, I would like to repeat what I said in November
2003 at the University of St Paul, Minnessotta, and at the Catholic
University of America, when addressing the issue of Catholic-Orthodox
Relations. It seems to me that, if the relationship on a practical level is
normalized, the two Churches may resume theological discussions. One of the
most important theological questions to be discussed after the issues of
Uniatism, proselytism and 'canonical territory' have been sufficiently
addressed will be the notion of primacy. While the Catholics may wish to
revisit this issue in order to make their doctrine more consonant with the
tradition of the Ancient Undivided Church, the Orthodox may, on their part,
wish to develop further their own comprehension of primacy in the Universal
Church. We are accustomed to criticizing the Catholics for their view on
primacy, but can we develop our own understanding of it in a way that
convinces Catholic theologians? In order to do this, we must agree among
ourselves on our interpretation of the relations between the local and the
universal Church. In what precisely does the 'universality' of the Church
consist? How is this universality to be manifested? Is there any room in
Orthodox ecclesiology for a kind of 'universal' leadership? It seems to me
that the representatives of the Patriarchate of Constantinople will differ
in their response to the last question from the representatives of other
Orthodox Churches. The question therefore is not solved and requires
further discussion.

Once the divisive issues have been addressed and the existing difficulties
resolved, Catholics and Orthodox will be much more amenable in their common
response to the challenges of the modern world, such as ever growing
secularism, ever increasing globalization, ever more evident loss of moral
and ethical values. The Catholic and the Orthodox Churches both belong to
the 'traditional' stream of Christianity, and together have much to say to
the modern world, where the very notion of 'tradition' is put into
question. Their testimony, however, will be successful only if they are
able to speak 'with one mouth and with one heart.'

There is, therefore, a long road ahead. But there are always some signs of
hope. And there is indeed a common well from which both the Catholics and
the Orthodox may draw. As one of my close friends, a Roman Catholic hermit
and theologian, said, 'it is sin that divided the Churches and it is
sanctity that will unite them again.' The legacy of saints and martyrs is
common to both Churches - both have centuries-old experience of martyrdom
and sanctity. In the 20th century both Catholics and Orthodox, together
with people from other confessions and religions, suffered in Soviet and
Nazi camps: many gave their lives for the faith. There are many striking
testimonies of solidarity among Christians of different confessional
backgrounds in the Soviet camps. These Christians were united not only
because they had a common enemy, but also because they shared with each
other their love for Christ and for his Church, a love which was not shaken
even by the most severe persecutions. There was more that united them than
that divided them, because what united them was Christ himself.

Europaica 42 6/2/2004

Hungarian Diocese of the Moscow Patriarchate Wins Court Case Against
Hungarian Exarchate of the Patriarchate of Constantinople

The hearings held in the Capital Court of the city of Budapest over the
ownership rights to the Cathedral of the Dormition, located in the center
of the Hungarian capital on Petöfi Square, came to an end on 18 May 2004.
The plaintiff was the Hungarian Exarchate of the Patriarchate of
Constantinople, represented by Metropolitan Michael (Staikos) of Austria,
while the defendant was the Hungarian diocese of the Moscow Patriarchate,
represented by Bishop Hilarion (Alfeyev) of Vienna and Austria, temporary
administrator of the diocese of Budapest and Hungary. Attorneys Jozsef
Paraizs and Eleonora Kiss took part in the court hearing on May 18 on the
side of the defendant. Archbishop Pavel of Ryazan and Kasimov, clergy of
the Hungarian diocese of the Moscow Patriarchate and many parishioners of
the Dormition cathedral were also present in the court room.

Built at the end of the 18th century by Greeks, Macedonian-Wallachians,
Hungarians and people of other nationalities, the Dormition cathedral from
the moment of its founding until the 1930s was under the jurisdiction of
the Serbian bishop of Buda. Services were held in Greek, which the
parishioners ceased to understand already by the second half of the 19th
century. In the 1930s and 40s the parish remained in search of an
ecclesiastical jurisdiction that might grant it the possibility of holding
services in the Hungarian language. In order to attain this goal
negotiations were held with the Patriarchate of Constantinople, but were
unsuccessful. From 1945 representatives of the cathedral repeatedly
petitioned His Holiness Alexy I, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, to
accept the parish into the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate. In the
early 1950s the Dormition Cathedral, followed by several Hungarian
parishes, was accepted into the jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox
Church. A Hungarian deanery was created from these parishes, which was
re-organized into a diocese in 2000.

In 1995 an Exarchate of the Patriarchate of Constantinople was registered
in Hungary that immediately began to lay claims to the Dormition cathedral,
which had never been its property. In 2001, in violation of church canons,
Metropolitan Michael of Austria, Exarch of the Patriarchate of
Constantinople in Hungary, filed a lawsuit in the Capital Court of Budapest
with the aim of taking away the Dormition cathedral from the Moscow
Patriarchate's Hungarian diocese. The court proceedings lasted almost four
years. During this time, however, the plaintiff could not come up with any
evidence to confirm his unfounded claims.

After studying the archive documents submitted by both sides and listening
to the testimony of witnesses, the Capital Court of Budapest at the hearing
on May 18 gave a ruling that rejected the lawsuit due to lack of evidence
from the plaintiff. The court required that the plaintiff pay for the legal
expenses of the defendant in the amount of 500,000 forints.

The decision of the Capital Court of the city of Budapest on May 18 was the
third legal victory of the Moscow Patriarchate's Hungarian diocese over the
last few months. In October 2003 the diocese won a case over the ownership
of the Church of St. George in Karcag, and in February 2004 won a similar
lawsuit over the ownership of the Church of St. Nicholas in Szentes. Both
churches were seized in 1999 by former priest Christopher Chorevtos and
illegally handed over to the Hungarian Exarchate of the Patriarchate of
Constantinople. An international arrest warrant has been issued for
Christopher Chorevtos, who was sentenced by the Hungarian courts to six
years in prison.

The court proceedings initiated by the Hungarian Exarchate of the
Constantinople Patriarchate, which were widely covered by mass media,
seriously harmed inter-Orthodox unity and compromised the prestige of the
Orthodox Church in Hungary.

Orthodox Aim to Save Monasteries in Kosovo

ROME, JUNE 2, 2004 (Zenit.org).- Two Orthodox monks from Kosovo
appealed to Rome to save monasteries of their Church severely damaged
by Albanian radicals.

The two monks, Sava Janijc and Andrej Sajc, of the Monastery of
Decani, spoke to journalists about the attacks that took place in mid-
March.

The attacks severely damaged or destroyed at least 35 Orthodox
monasteries, churches and seminaries, leaving dozens of people dead
and hundreds wounded.

The monks said that more than 150 Serbian religious sites have been
devastated since the end of the war.

The religious thanked the Italian contingent that is present in
Kosovo with 2,000 military men, which has guaranteed the security of
the Orthodox Patriarchate of Pec, as well as of the monasteries of
Decani and Grazanica, treasures of Byzantine art.

A committee entitled "Save the Monasteries of Kosovo" has been
established to preserve and restore the province's Orthodox
monasteries.
ZE04060221

http://www.stetson.edu/~psteeves/relnews/0405e.html#33

Russian government trying to revive soviet religious conditions
RPTsMP OPPOSES ABOLITION OF 15-YEAR "PROBATIONARY PERIOD" FOR RELIGIOUS
ORGANIZATIONS
Portal-credo.ru, 28 May 2004

The Russian Orthodox church considers it inappropriate to abolish the
obligatory fifteen-year period of activity in Russia for a religious
organization to get registration. "Rejection of it is completely
unjustified," said Metropolitan of Smolensk and Kaliningrad Kirill to a
parliamentary hearing in the State Duma on 27 May, ITAR-TASS agency
reports. The suggestion to abolish the obligatory fifteen-year period was
proposed by a working group for the Commission on Question of Religious
Associations of the government of the Russian federation.

Metropolitan Kirill thinks that existing legislation does not infringe upon
religious activity, with the exception of the right to gain the status of a
legal entity. And that tax privileges and access to the army and television
and much else could become an important lever for influence in society.

Adoption of the amendment to existing law proposed by the working group,
according to Metr. Kirill, could "energize new religious movements and
groups, destabilize the interconfessional balance, and promote new tensions
within society and the country." In his opinion, existing legislation "does
not restrict religious activity in any way."

Religious organizations that have not received registration in the Russian
Ministry of Justice have the right to conduct worship services, engage in
charitable activity, and the like.

On the other hand, the Russian Orthodox church opposes removing tax
privileges for religious organizations, a correspondent for the Newsru.com
agency specified. In the metropolitan's opinion, the authors of such
amendments to the Tax and Land codes "are going along the very channel of
politics that destroyed the religious life of the country" in the soviet
period. The metropolitan explained that "taxation leads to a narrowing of
the sphere of activity of religious organizations and seriously impedes
social service," which constitutes an important part of their work.

Metropolitan Kirill also called the government not to oppose the
introduction into the curriculum of secondary schools the fundamentals of
the culture of traditional religious organizations. "We are talking about a
culturological subject," the metropolitan explained, noting that "the
nation should not be deprived of the right of studying its culture." (tr.
by PDS, posted 28 May 2004)

http://www.stetson.edu/~psteeves/relnews/0405e.html#33

Persecuted bishop nears exoneration
TRIAL OF ANCIENT ORTHODOX BISHOP OF KURSK POSTPONED
Portal-credo.ru, 26 May 2004

The Volodar district court of the city of Briansk has again, for the third
time, postponed a session in the case of the Ancient Orthodox bishop of
Kursk, Apollinary Dubinin, to 8 July, a "Portal-credo.ru" correspondent
reports.

The reason for the postponement of the judicial session is
the  nonappearance of witnesses for the prosecution, experts from Moscow,
upon whose conclusion the case regarding contraband was drawn up.  As noted
by a representative of the "For human rights" public movement, Vladimir
Stepanov, who is in charge of legal support for the cleric, those assembled
in the courtroom were especially interests in the way the accusation
against Bishop of Kursk Apollinary was constructed on the basis of his
possession of liturgical articles that he needed for performing church rites.

We recall that on 19 April 2000 customs agents discovered in the possession
of train passenger A.G. Dubinin, traveling from Moscow to Kremenchug, a
eucharistic spoon, an altar cross, a 1913 service book, and 1912 New
Testament, and a "Trebnik" and "Rite of Confession" from 1910, and one book
of his personal property. It was these liturgical articles that were sent
for expert analysis in the Briansk Museum of Territorial Studies, where
fabricated a conclusion for presentation of an indictment. Although other
expert organizations had shown that the material evidence seized from the
cleric did not have historical or artistic value, and thus are not cultural
valuables and do not fall under the purview of the law on import and export
of such things from Russia, at the insistence of Prosecutor Kanishchev at
the Ministry of Culture of RF a conclusion was prepared that permitted the
Ancient Orthodox bishop to be sentenced to three years in prison for
contraband.

Now, when even the second sentence has been quashed, which shortened the
term to six months, the acquittal of the cleric is expected. The third
failure of specialists to appear permits the court to review the case in
their absence, so that the 8 July trial should be completed without new
exhausting delays. A decision of acquittal with respect to the Ancient
Orthodox Bishop Apollinary will mean that the FSB department for Briansk
province will have to compensate for both court costs and the cleric's
travel expenses and honoraria for the attorneys. (tr. by PDS, posted 27 May
2004)

APPEAL OF THE "FOR HUMAN RIGHTS" PUBLIC MOVEMENT REGARDING THE CASE OF
ANCIENT ORTHODOX BISHOP APOLLINARY

24 May 2004

To Volodar district court of the city of Briansk

In the interests of rights and freedoms, of the fulfilment of direct
responsibilities of Bishop of Kursk Apollinary, and of the judicial
authority of RF in exercising justice, the "For human rights" public
movement of the Russian federation, after an appeal by Bishop of Kursk
Apollinary for help in defending his rights and freedoms (freedom of
conscience, freedom of religious confession, the right to disseminate
religious and other convictions, which under no circumstance are subject to
limitation in accordance with article 28, part 3 and article 56 of the
Russian constitution) has appealed many times to the prosecutor of Briansk
province (A.V. Kornienko), the presidential envoy for the Central federal
district, G.S. Poltavchenko, his deputy, V.F. Volkov, and to the chairman
of the Briansk district court, A.E. Pytalev, the chairman of the Supreme
Court of the Russian Federation, V.M. Lebedev, ( and besides this deputies
of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly appealed to N.P. Patrushev,
director of the Federal Service of Security of RF) with regard to the
fabricated criminal case of FSB of this region for bringing to justice the
Ancient Orthodox Bishop of Kursk Apollinary on the basis of article 188,
part 2 of the Criminal Code of RF (contraband).

The essence of his appeal consisted in the following: Bishop of Kursk
Apollinary was invited by a group of Old Believers to conduct the all-night
Easter vigil in the city of Kremenchug. He took with him liturgical
articles for performing the sacraments (baptism, communion, consecration of
water, etc.) appropriate to the rank of bishop and for performing the
solemn divine service at the time of the celebration of Pascha, for which
he had been invited by fellow believers.

On 19 April 2000 he bought a ticket for the Moscow-Kremenchug train from
the territory of Russia to the territory of Ukraine. He took with him
liturgical articles for performing church rituals: a eucharistic spoon for
communion, an altar cross, and liturgical books, a 1913 "Sluzhebnik," and
1912 "New Testament," and 1910 "Trebnik", and a 1910 "Ritual of Confession"
One book was his personal property. Before customs at the Briansk station
Bishop of Kursk Apollinary declared that he had with him 1300 Russian
rubles but the liturgical articles that he had in his bag for
performing  divine services he did not include in the customs declaration
since he had regularly crossed the border in this way.

The customs officials in the city of Briansk discovered the ecclesiastical
items. And in July 2000 a representative of FSB visited him with a report
about a summons of Bishop Apollinary for a conversation at FSB in the city
of Briansk.

17 July 2000 he was summoned to FSB by a notification from investigator
N.N. Ignatov.

6 September 2000, N.N. Ignatov arrived at his place of work in Mendeleev
Chemical Technological University and informed him that on 10 May 2000 a
criminal case had been opened against A.G. Dubinin on the basis of article
188, part 2. N.N. Ignatov took from A.G. Dubinin a written undertaking not
to depart.

24 September 2000, information was received about the termination of this
criminal case on the basis of article 5, part 2 of the Code of Criminal
Procedure of RSFSR, signed 8 September 2000 by investigator N.N. Ignatov of
the directorate of FSB for Briansk province. The prosecutor of Briansk
province, A.V. Kornienko, noted the order to terminate the criminal case
and it was again returned to FSB of the city of Briansk.

11 October 2000, Bishop of Kursk Apollinary received a notice from the
Volodar district court of the city of Briansk with the conclusion to
indict, signed by the same FSB investigator N.N. Ignatov (and also from 8
September 2000) and confirmed by the prosecutor of Briansk province A.V.
Kornienko, 14 September 2000.

The FSB for Briansk province had transferred the baseless criminal case to
the Volodar district court of the city of Briansk, which had turned it down
many times for understandable reasons: absence of commission of a crime and
of intentional conduct for commission of a crime in accordance with article
188 part 2 of the Criminal Code of RF. Three judges were replaced: I.V.
Lebedev, I.I. Gunko, T.B. Gusakov.

The judicial investigation that was conducted was based on the conclusions
of an expert analysis by art scholars carried out in the Briansk museum of
territorial studies. However there exists a conclusion of the Ministry of
Culture of the Russian federation that this museum does not have the right
to conduct such expert analyses. This fact is evidence of exceeding the
boundaries of the juridical obligations of responsible persons of FSB and
the prosecutor's office for Briansk province, and it exists in the
materials of the case but is not a juridical circumstance.

In addition to the aforesaid, on 20 October 2000 an expert analysis by the
Russian State Library was received that exists in the criminal case to the
effect that the confiscated objects of a eucharistic spoon, altar cross,
and liturgical books, "Sluzhebnik" (1913), "New Testament" (1912),
"Trebnik" (1910), and "Rite of Confession" (1910) do not have historical or
artistic value and thus they are not cultural valuables and do not come
under the purview of the law regarding import and export, and a different
procedure is established for taking them through customs.

However on 20 February 2001 the Volodar district court of the city of
Briansk made a decision to send the material evidence to an independent
expert analysis. The northwestern regional center for judicial expert
analysis in St. Petersburg on 15 May 2001 came to the conclusion that the
material evidence that was presented has no artistic, historic, or
antiquarian value and thus they are not cultural valuables for which
special rules of passing customs have been established.

Nevertheless, on 14 September 2001 in the Volodar district court of Briansk
Prosecutor Kanishchev insisted that the material evidence be sent for
another expert analysis at the Ministry of Culture of RF. The analysis in
the Ministry of Culture of 24 October 2001 was conducted under pressure and
in the absence of the head of the department of licensing of the Department
for Preservation of Cultural Valuables of the Ministry of Culture, V.S.
Pogodin, who disagreed with the conclusions of the expert analysis, and it
was recalled by the Ministry of Culture in a letter sent to the Volodar
district court on 12 November 2001. The Volodar district court declined to
review the letter from the Ministry of Culture of 12 November 2001
regarding the recall of the expert analysis.

A study of the general situation gives evidence of the following.

First, A.G. Dubinin is not only a citizen of the Russian federation but
also a baptized Old Believer who performs the duties of a cleric and has
the status of Bishop of Kursk Apollinary. As a participant in the legal
relations between citizens and society he performs his direct
responsibilities as a priest before Old Believer parishioners and before
God as a civil transaction.

Old Belief appeared in Russia in 988 at the time of the baptism of Rus.

Before the incident on the trip to Kremenchug, on 16 December 1999 there
occurred a departure of a Kursk parish comprising seven Old Believer
parishes, leaving the jurisdiction of the Novozybkov archdiocese, and
Bishop of Kursk Apollinary joined them, and they do not have prayer
fellowship with it [the archdiocese].

Second, Bishop of Kursk Apollinary is a baptized Old Believer and does not
belong to the Russian Orthodox church. However it is the Old Believers who
have the distinctive features of the Russian Orthodox church and the
Russian Orthodox Old Believer church. These are the manner of configuring
the fingers for expressing the Orthodox faith and service to God. The
Russian Orthodox church uses the three-finger blessing in services while
the Russian Orthodox Old Believer church uses the two-finger blessing. The
two-finger blessing of the Old Believers consists of the following: two
fingers (the index and middle fingers) in the name of the two natures of
Christ, divine and human, and the three fingers (the thumb and two last
fingers) are joined in the name of the Holy Trinity (God the Father, God
the Son, and God the Holy Spirit). The fingers are joined in this way to
express the chief truths of the Orthodox faith. On the other hand, it is
this distinctive trait of Old Believers that testifies to the fulfilment of
his obligations before the parishoners and society in the civil
transaction, which confirms their good conscience and reason in expressing
the chief truths of the Orthodox faith. Thus the conduct and relations of
A.G. Dubinin to the Old Believer Orthodox church testify to the true
understanding of the Orthodox liturgy and also to his fulfilment of his
obligations before parishioners and society. And if we had a priest of the
Russian Orthodox church who would come to Kremenchug in Ukraine, then the
use of the three-finger blessing as a symbol of divine worship in making
the sign of the cross on one's self, expressing it with the three-finger
blessing, would be saying that the Holy Trinity was crucified on the cross.
Then we would not be able to receive juridically the significant
circumstance that would confirm the expression of the Orthodox faith and
service to God (juridical circumstances are the representations of Jesus
Christ on icons, in churches and other shrines) in fulfilling his
obligations before parishioners and society in the civil transaction of a
cleric of the Russian Orthodox church. However, on another plane the
psychological conduct of the cleric A.G. Dubinin testifies that he
maintains his Orthodox faith and service to God in purity. However it is
this clear trait of his, distinguishing him the Russian Orthodox church,
that testifies that he is performing his obligations before Old Believer
parishioners and God in good conscience, reasonably, and correctly, in
accordance with the generally known circumstances on icons in Old Believer
and Orthodox churches. And it is these distinctive characteristics that
impose stern conditions that he must take with him articles of his labor
for fulfiling his direct responsibilities before Old Believer parishioners
and society in the civil transaction, in accordance with the provisions of
articles 9 and 10 of the Civil Code of the Russian federation. The
aforesaid are the juridical circumstances for the creation of civil rights
and obligations in the performance of baptism, confession, communion, and
the liturgy with the help of ecclesiastical articles only.

Third. Responsible persons of the Briansk prosecutor's office and FSB,
using their authority and performing their official duties beyond the
limits of what is permitted, denied Bishop of Kursk Apollinary of his
constitutional rights. As a result Bishop of Kursk Apollinary was summoned
for his exercising his personal, exceptional constitutional rights of
freedom of conscience, freedom of religious confessions and the right to
disseminate religious and other convictions, which are not subject to
restriction under any conditions in accordance with the provisions of
article 28, part 3, and article 56 of the Russian constitution These rights
have an exceptional character in as much as they are not regulated by the
offices of the government and by the Russian federation. However, on the
other hand deprivation of the rights and obligations of Bishops of Kursk
Apollinary gives evidence of the commission of a crime on the part of
workers of FSB and the prosecutor's office of Briansk province, provided by
articles 285, part 2 and 286, part 2 of the Russian Criminal Code. On the
other hand, the denial of the exercise of exceptional rights and
obligations of Birshop of Kursk Apollinary established by article 28 and
article 56, part 3, of the Russian constitution gives evidence of the
incorrect practice of jurisprudence by the Briansk courts. In any review of
the circumstances of the case regarding Bishop of Kursk Apollinary,
especially since he belongs to the Old Believer Orthodox faith which
contains the purity, good conscience, and rationality of divine worship and
the unconditional truth of the Orthodox faith itself before parishioners
and society, gives evidence of the absence of intention to commit the crime
specified in article 188, part 2, of the Russian Criminal Code.

Fourth. Investigation of the materials of the criminal case shows a
complete absence in the actions of Bishop of Kursk Apollinary (A.G.
Dubinin) of the commission of a crime, since he is an Old Believer priest
and was invited to the city of Kremenchug for performance of church
rituals, baptism, confession, communion, and the liturgy. The conclusion of
the experts of the northwestern regional center of judicial expert analysis
of 10 May 2001 gives evidence that the confiscated material
evidence--books, a cross, and spoon for communion--do not represent any
cultural and historical value. All materials of the case give evidence of
the incorrect application of legal norms in the judicial sessions conducted
previously and the illegal summons of an innocent person to account.

On the other hand, there cannot be a prosecution of Bishop of Kursk
Apollinary connected with his withdrawal from the official Novozybkovsk
archdiocese of the Ancient Orthodox church and the formation of a new
canonical structure.

In all of this the actions and conduct of responsible persons of the
prosecutor's office and FSB for Briansk province give evidence that the
conduct of responsible persons exceeded the bounds of juridical
prescriptions. As a result of the exceeding of the bounds of official
obligations by responsible persons of the law enforcement agencies, Bishop
of Kursk Apollinary's trip was interrupted and he was deprived of his
exceptional constitutional rights along with the parishioners, which
unquestionably gives evidence of the excesses and malfeasance of
responsible authorized workers of the prosecutor's office and FSB.

Next. A multitude of judicial sessions have been held over the course of
four years (the incident happened 19 April 2000).  The time for the review
of a criminal case, established by article 6 of the European convention,
was grossly violated. With the cooperation of the "For human rights" public
movement, the appeal of A.G. Dubinin and the Center for Cooperation in
International Defense was accepted by the European Court.

After the appeal of the "For human rights" public movement to the chairman
of the Supreme Court of the Russian federation, V.M. Lebedev, the
vice-chairman of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, A.E.
Merkushova, issued a protest against the sentence of the Volodar district
court of the city of Briansk of 6 February 2002, and the decision of the
judicial collegium for criminal cases of the Briansk provincial court of 22
March 2002 with regard to Alexander Grigorievich Dubinin, who was sentenced
in accordance with article 188, part 2, of the Criminal Code of RF
(contraband). A session of the presidium of the Briansk provincial court
scheduled for 24 December 2004 vacated the sentence of the Volodar district
court of the city of Briansk and the decision of the judicial collegium
with regard to A.G. Dubinin, and the case was sent for a new review. The
protest sent by Supreme Court Vice-Chairman A.E. Merkushova and the order
of the presidium of the Briansk provincial court presented the
circumstances that give evidence of the innocence of Bishop of Kursk
Apollinary.

In 2003 a new session of the Volodar district court of the city of Briansk
was held, with A.V. Riabukhin as judge. The court again issued a guilty
verdict, with a six month suspended sentence and amnesty for the
exceptional and unregulated rights and freedoms of the rector of the Old
Believer Orthodox church, who understands the truth of the Orthodox divine
worship and fufills his obligations before parishioners and society. This
sentence was again vacated on 18 July 2003 on appeal, by decision of the
Briansk provincial court. And the case was sent for a new judicial review
in the same court with I.V. Lebedeva as judge, which has continued to the
present. However the material presented above shows the juridical
conditions of a violation of the period for review established by article 6
of the European convention and is an unquestionable basis for a review of
the prosecution by the European Court.

Speaking about the circumstances of the guilt of the Ancient Orthodox
Bishop of Kursk Apollinary (A.G. Dubinin), he has higher education and
holds the kandidat degree in chemistry and is a docent of the Mendeleev
Russian Chemical Technological University, while he simultaneously serves
as rector of the Dormition church of Ancient Orthodox Christians of the
city of Kursk. However, the trials held in Briansk province did not
understand his rights and freedoms, including the obligations of a rector
of the Old Believer church, that the items carried by Bishop of Kursk
Apollinary through the customs barrier--books, cross, and eucharistic
spoon--are not only ecclesiastical articles but are necessary objects for
his daily work in fulfilling his obligations before other citizens and
society, and  it also confirms that he holds in purity his Orthodox faith
and service to God, and in good conscience and reasonably understands,
hears, and expresses the chief truths of the Orthodox faith, using only his
instruments of labor.  The exceptional rights of freedom to select, hold,
and disseminate one's faith and other convictions, acting in accordance
with the constitution and legislation of the Russian federation, have been
legislatively confirmed for Bishop Apollinary. These rights and freedoms
have an exceptional character and may not in any circumstances be regulated
by federal legislation and are not subject to restriction by the Russian
federation.

A deep analysis of the factors, motives, goals, and other psychological
characteristics determining the conduct of Bishop of Kursk Apollinary give
evidence of the following:

a. He went to Kremenchug to perform the all-night Easter vigil upon the
invitation of fellow believers.
b. A.G.Dubinin is a baptized Old Believer.
c. He holds the office of Bishop of Kursk Apollinary.
d. He had with him liturgical articles for performing sacraments (baptism,
communion, consecrating of water, etc.) appropriate for the office of bishop.
e. He is endowed with the exceptional constitutional rights and freedoms of
freedom of conscience, freedom of religious confession, and the right to
disseminate religious and other convictions.
f. Among his obligations are the obligation of divine worship before Old
Believer parishioners and society in a civil transaction, in accordance
with the provisions of articles 9 and 10 of the Civil Code of the Russian
federation.
g. During his trip to Kremenchug to Ukraine he took with him liturgical
articles, about which investigations have given the following evidence: a
eucharistic spoon needed for communion, an altar cross for kissing the
cross after the service and during confession, a "Sluzhebnik" liturgical
book from 1913 containing services for the liturgy, matins, and vespers
with prayers, a "New Testament" from 1912, God's revelation that is read at
each service and on which confession is made, a "Trebnik" from 1910,
prescribed for baptism, confession, consecration of water, etc., and a
"Ritual of confession" published in 1910 with words and prayers for
conducting confession.

An analysis of the above cited facts, motives, goals, and other
psychological characteristics of A.G. Dubinin, Bishop of Kursk Apollinary,
gives evidence of the absence of intentional conduct for which he should be
recognized as guilty of contraband. On the other hand, it shows that in
fulfilling their juridical duties responsible persons of FSB and the
prosecutor's office deprived Bishop of Kursk Apollinary of his rights and
freedoms.

The Russian Criminal Code does not provide for prosecuting Ancient Orthodox
Bishop of Kursk Apollinary (A.G. Dubinin) for objects that he had always
earlier used on his trips abroad for conducting ecclesiastical rituals, or
for exceptional rights and freedoms and obligations in a civil transaction,
or for understanding the most important truths of the Orthodox faith. On
the other hand, the judicial authority of Briansk province in exercising
justice deprived him of his constitutional rights and freedoms and failed
to fulfill its obligations.

The "For human rights" public movement concludes that in the actions of
Bishop of Kursk Apollinary there is an absence of intentional conduct
constituting a crime specified in article 188, part 2 of the Russian
Criminal Code, while there is every basis for terminating the case.

With respect,
President of "For human rights" public movement, V.V. Stepanov.
(tr. by PDS, posted 28 May 2004)

-- 

2004.06.02 Daily Star:

Daily Star - Beirut,Lebanon
<http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=4&article_id=473\
6>
Copyright (c) 2004 The Daily Star

Wednesday, June 02, 2004
Keeper of The Word shares a few

Pope Zakka speaks on preserving the ancient language of Aramaic in a new,
modern world

   By Yvonne Seng
   Special to The Daily Star

CULTURAL HISTORY

DAMASCUS: With the recent release of the film, "The Passion of The Christ,"
Aramaic has likely been heard by more people in the past months than in
it's entire history. Once the vernacular, it is now reduced to subtitles,
spoken daily by a few. The man in front of me has a less brutal way of
keeping the language alive.

   Patriarch Zakka sits in a gold encrusted chair in a fading cathedral in
the Old Quarter of Damascus, but the power of this holy man is not
contained in a chair. Or in his extensive title: His Holiness Moran Mor
Ignatius Zakka I Iwas. The power of Pope Zakka rests in words.

Pope Zakka is the Patriarch of Antioch and All the East and the Supreme
Head of the Universal Syriac Orthodox Church, the planet's second oldest
church, founded by the Apostles.

As intriguing as the longevity of the institution, is its charge to keep
alive Aramaic, the language in which Christ spoke. That is, the words in
which The Word spoke.

   Words have consequence, but few take words as seriously as Pope Zakka.

We all know one phrase in Aramaic: Abracadabra. Childish magical gibberish
to the rest of us, loosely translated from Aramaic it has a vastly more
serious meaning: "Create what I speak, or, May my words be brought to
life." These are not men who dangle their participles.

The church has come within a breath of extinction at least twice in its
long history, and its survival is a miracle.

In the 6th century, following doctrinal splits in Christology, the church
was down to three tattered bishops hiding underground from persecution.

Empress Theodora, daughter of a Syriac Christian priest and wife of the
Byzantine Justinian, intervened, giving the green light for Jacob (after
whom the church is often mistakenly named) to establish missions and
bishops throughout the East, into Arabia and Ethiopia.

   In the early 21st century, the church and the language so intimately
linked to it again struggles to survive. This time it has found an oddly
modern ally; the internet.

"The most important thing is that Aramaic was spoken by Our Lord Jesus
Christ," the Patriarch says. "That's why we love it. It has been the
liturgical language of our church from the beginning of Christianity and,
of course, it was the ancient language of Syria before Islam. That's also
why we love it. And we feel it is our duty and responsibility to keep it
alive because we can't imagine that, one day, the language spoken by our
Lord Jesus Christ will be forgotten. It's something we can't imagine."

Monks and holy scholars have kept the flame alive for almost 2,000 years,
but can they survive the tornado of Western culture?

Syria has been isolated from much of the recent technology and
communications boom and it is yet to be seen what will happen to these
protected enclaves when exposed to global culture and technology.

I asked the Patriarch whether he fears this will be the final demise of The
Word of God?

The internet, with its disrespect for man-made borders, is his ally.

   "Technology has always been with the human being," he states. " Those who
believe the world was created by God, they will always be loving God
through Our Lord Jesus Christ."

With the help of technology - and the savvy leadership of the Patriarch -
Aramaic is undergoing revival among members of the Syriac Orthodox Church
connected across the globe and scholars attracted to its cerebral mission.

   "We have many scholars here and there," the Patriarch says with
enthusiasm. "And they learn the language and they teach it and, of course,
we are proud of those people, too. And grateful, too. Yes."

   Although he admits he doesn't fully understand the new technology, Pope
Zakka visited Los Angeles to bless it.

The Syriac-Orthodox Church of Antioch, formed in the time of the Apostles,
has its own website, with libraries, chatrooms, youth groups and CDs of
liturgical music for sale through Amazon.com.

Pope Zakka has his own page where you can access copies of his encyclicals
and writings. The Syriac-Aramaic language project has a worldwide center
that the peripatetic Apostle Peter, first Bishop of the church, would
definitely approve of.

For the Patriarch also, globalization and technology are positive developments.

   When asked about the commercialization of the globe and the loss of
individual identity, he shrugs it off. I'd forgotten that Syrians are
hard-wired as world traders - just check out the chambers of commerce from
Buenos Aires to Brisbane. The first in formation highway was the famed Silk
Route which moved goods and ideas from one side of the known world to the
other and terminated in Syria.

   The Patriarch immediately identifies the positive and sellable side of
Damascus.

"We may not have McDonald's here," he says, "But we have much to offer. The
spirit. Nature. This city is a blessing of God. We call it the City of
Saint Paul, of course, because when he came to Damascus, he had the
experience of the faith."

Apostle Paul is instrumental in explaining the openness of the Syriac
Orthodox Church toward technology and new ideas. The church was grafted
from Jerusalem onto Antioch, the former capital of Eastern Rome (now
Antakya in south-eastern Turkey), by Aramean and Gentile converts among the
local Greek population. A simple and central act of the Antiochians
inspired Paul in his writings on inclusiveness: converted Gentiles and Jews
broke a pre-Christian taboo by eating together at the same table.

The locals coined a new term for these peculiar church members -
"Christian" - and thereby introduced a new word into the planet's lexicon.

Inclusiveness has contributed to the quiet survival of the church and the
preservation of the language. The Patriarch greets the advent of
Westernized culture with the same careful openness.

"We have Coca-Cola here, already," he continues on his discussion of
globalization. He shrugs. "It is the same all over the world. If they don't
have Coca-Cola, for example, they have something similar to that. People
always try to get the best."

   He adds, quietly: "I think we don't have our lives in the bread. We have
it in the spirit. That's something very important."

The Patriarch's concerns about the future are larger than fast food and
Western movies, or even about the continued existence of the Syriac
Orthodox Church in Syria. His concern is for the continuation of the church
on this planet.

   "What does peace look like to you?" I ask the holy man in front of me.

Ceremonially poised until this question, he now slumps. He sighs deeply and
grinds his forehead with the foot of his palm.

   "Ayyy. Peace, you ask?" he says, slowly. "Peace is a tired, old man."

His Holiness knows all about being tired. Even the boon of technology
cannot reduce the weight of a long history.

   "Let me say," the Patriarch continues after a sigh, "in my opinion, first
there must be peace with God."

According to the Patriarch, peace between God and humankind has already
been given through Christ.

   Globalization, advances in science and technology, faster communications,
these we chase after out of novelty and need. They will each impact our
present lives and the future of our planet in ways we are just beginning to
understand, but they will not bring peace. As the Patriarch says: Peace is
a given. It is we humans who don't accept the gift.
   Yvonne Seng, author of Men in Black Dresses: Quest for the Future Among
Wisdom Makers of the Middle East, is a cultural historian specializing in
the Middle East and Turkey
Copyright (c) 2004  The Daily Star

2004.06.03 Asia News:
http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=902
3 June, 2004

RUSSIA - VATICAN
Rome and Moscow: a willing separation?

by Vladimir Rozanskij

Proselytism is a trivial problem compared to necessity of evangelising the
world. A Russian expert analyses the results obtained by the
Orthodox-Catholic Group.

Moscow (AsiaNews) - Cardinal Walter Kasper's recent visit to Russia is
beginning to be show its first fruits. Probably, the most important result
of the trip is the organisation of the Joint (Orthodox-Catholic) Working
Group. The Joint Group, which started its activity in May, is established
to analyse the various existing controversies between the two Churches, and
to suggest possible solutions.

   Members of the group unofficially reported that the relationship between
the Catholic and Orthodox participants was welcoming and friendly, despite
the difficult issues that the Group had to discuss: the legitimacy of the
"acts of proselytism" on the part of the catholic Church in the 15 years
since the borders to the former Soviet countries opened.

   The peaceful atmosphere that pervaded the Group's meetings does not
spring from any great achievement, but from the spirit of diversity that
animates the protagonists of this new season of ecumenical dialogue. Almost
with a sense of freedom, in fact, the representatives of the two
sister-Churches were asked neither to work for a re-unification, nor to
organise improbable meetings between their highest ecclesial authorities.
The task is not so difficult, and corresponds to the present reality: The
Churches will take an inventory of the rights and wrongs of the
relationship between the two ecclesiastical communities with a view to
avoid 'stepping on each other's toes' in the future.

   More than to 'reunite the family', as it were, this step is more like
asking lawyers to divide assets and define the terms of the mutual, willing
separation between two parties. Despite the doctrine of marriage (which in
the Orthodox Church is not as strict as in Catholicism), nowadays even
Catholics seem to appreciate the advantages of a peaceful "separation".
Before Vatican II the Catholic Church referred to Christians of other
denominations as "dissidents". After the Council they became "brothers"
(even if affected by some minor imperfections), to be welcomed back home.
Now, it looks like they are turning into "willing divorcees".

   "Microscopic" proselytism

Therefore, the Group discussed 'concrete things', listing the names and
surnames of those who have offended and betrayed the mission of the
Churches. In truth, it would have been better if the Group had considered
some important statistics as well, to give the true dimensions of the
problem of 'Catholic proselytism'. In Russia there are officially 500,000
Catholics, but only 50,000 of them actually go to church. Most important,
there are only 5,000 Russians who turned to the Church of Rome without
having any kind of Catholic tradition in their families (ie. A German or
Polish grandmother). Among them, only 2,000 had some link with the Orthodox
Church in their past. In Russia live 150 million people…

   Truthfully, the Group considered some statistics. An orthodox
representative quoted the "offensive" words spoken by Verbist Fr. Jerzy
Jagodzinski, who questioned the Orthodox nature of the Russian population
observing that, "only 1.2% of people in Moscow participated to the Easter
celebrations", 120,000 out of 10 million. Actually, Jagodzinski was being
generous with the Orthodox church: Moscow's authorities confirmed that "for
Easter less than 1% of the population attended any kind of religious
service". In the last ten years, there are twenty times more churches than
there was under communism, with building being built or re-opened. Yet in
relation to the immediate post-communism years, only one third of people
now attend the services.

   Ultimately, it seems that the practical things discussed by the Group
concern only "those provincial reports of strategic activities to convert
people of Orthodox roots to another faith and another culture." According
to Vsevolod Chaplin, the head of the Orthodox delegation.. These kind of
'provincial reports' is a constant in Russian history, which prefers
'informing' and secret accusations to flagrant crimes. The Group was
informed of supposed grave violations that happened in remote locations,
above all in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk. Here Catholics are believed
to be have been incited in various sectors, especially within schools,
hospitals, universities and through TV programs. It is important to notice
that Novosibirsk, which is 4.000 km away from Moscow, was the place of
deportation of those considered dangerous by the Communist regime-
free-thinkers and undesirable ethnicities. German Catholics built their
church there in Soviet times. The Catholic activities, therefore, must be
explained in context of the Catholic roots of many living there.

   In truth, the real reason behind the reports is something
else.  Novosibirsk in fact is a city were Jesuits have concentrated their
efforts, the "Catholic devils" of Russian literature, an expression of the
inferiority complex of the Orthodox towards Western culture. The local
bishop, Mons. Jozif Werth, (a Russian German) is a Jesuit himself and has
called many in his Community to collaborate with him, excluding the
invitation, however, to Jesuits of the eastern rites, in order not to
provoke the distrust of Orthodox authorities. It is as if the Orthodox
Church would say, 'They have tried again to convert us,  this time starting
from the extreme peripheries. But again, we have unmasked them!'

Targeting children's  activities

   Another point of attack of the Orthodox Inquisition are "activities for
children". Here and there, (in fact, always in the most inaccessible
places: Murmansk, Angarsk, Sakhalin) Catholics have been accused of using
schools and orphanages "for profit", to take the souls of those who would
be the future sons of Orthodoxy. The fathers of the Work Don Calabria would
be the worst ones. According to Orthodox authorities, these priests used to
meet in a secret place not far from Moscow airport, in order to organise
their plots against the local church. Actually, the fathers (from Verona)
invested a large amount of money, more than all the money from their
Brazilian and African missions combined, to buy and restore a completely
abandoned tourist center. They wanted to transform it into a modern school,
with independent heating. After 10 years, they have not still not obtained
the permission to open the school. They wanted was to show the Russian
people that Christians can propose an educational method which is
absolutely "secular" in its nature and appreciated in the world.
Paradoxically, they ended up in becoming the symbol of Catholic
proselytism, without even having begun their work. Today the Rodnichock
Center, run by the Fathers, is used only by groups of children who are
always escorted by their lay tutors. The Fathers entirely pay for their
vacations, but not even a single one of these children has become Catholic.
   Fr. Igor Kovalevskij (head of the Catholic delegation of the Group) has
held the role of the peacemaker. He acknowledged that "there are some cases
that have generated misunderstandings, as they could be interpreted as acts
of proselytism". Patriarch Aleksij II has taken advantage of Fr.
Kovalevskij's words by declaring, in the presence of Pierferdinando Casini
(the President of the Italian Congress) that "for the first time their was
official recognition of the existence of the problem of proselytism in the
territory of the Patriarchy of Moscow, above all on the part of  religious
orders". We don't know how much MP Casini has appreciated these updates of
the Joint Working Group. What is certain is that Orthodox authorities have
always been suspicious about religious orders. Probably, they cannot fully
understand either the independence of the orders from the dioceses (such
thing does not exist in the East), or their missionary nature (and almost
all the Orders have the word 'missionary' in their name). It is not a
coincidence that in the past someone accused even the Indian nuns of Mother
Theresa- who were called to Armenia by the government after the earthquake
of 1998- or proselytising.

   Evangelisation

In truth, Kovalevskij emphasised that the Catholic Church rejects
proselytism at every level. He added that the Catholic Church has no
intention to proselytise in Russia, as this is a country where it is not
necessary to spread the Gospel. After all, Russia has a long Christian
tradition. It is not the situation of New Guinea or an African country
where it is necessary to preach the Gospel. These affirmations seem to be
not in line with the real situation of the country. Kovalevskij concluded
by saying that "our relationships with the Orthodox church are cold, but it
is not winter yet", echoing  Patriarch Aleksij who declared that "there are
some clouds" over our relationship. In this way, with the use of these
weather metaphors, the ecumenical dialogue has taken a new direction, to
divide itself peacefully rather than to unite. Perhaps one can see also the
design of Divine Providence, useful, not only to define new connections
between Christians, but also into affect conflicts on an international
level. Psychological and spiritual confines, more than geographical and
political ones,  show the urgency of proclaiming the Gospel of unity and
peace in a world upset  by conflicts and accusations for so long. Only in
this Gospel will we be able to find our  proper "ecclesial territories".

   Copyright © 2003 AsiaNews All rights reserved

2004.06.04 MPA:

   THE PATRIARCHAL SYNOD MEETS TODAY

The Ecumenical Patriarchate Synod that meets at the Fener, Istanbul today
is expected to lift the measures imposed on Archbishop Christodoulos of
Athens and All of Greece, while it is expected to express satisfaction for
the Church of Greece decision to respect the Patriarchal and Synodical Act
of 1928. In addition, it will accept the election of the Metropolites in
the so-called new countries.
   The Russian Church avoids to take sides and hopes that an agreement will
be reached as soon as possible between the two parties taking under
consideration the existing circumstance, according to letters sent by the
Moscow Patriarchate to the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

   The good climate in the relations between the Church of Greece and the
Ecumenical Patriarchate will be sealed with the visit of Archbishop
Christodoulos to the Fener.

2004.06.04 RIAN:
2004-06-04 18:24     * RUSSIA * PATRIARCH * STATE DUMA * VISIT *
   CHURCH AND STATE TO COOPERATE IN SOLVING SOCIAL ISSUES, PATRIARCH SAYS

   MOSCOW, June 4, (RIA Novosti) - The church and state should cooperate in
solving social problems and in the moral and spiritual development of
society, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexis II said during a meeting
with State Duma Speaker Boris Gryzlov.

   "We should cooperate on all these issues and help each other," the head
of the Russian Orthodox Church said.

   On Friday the Patriarch visited the State Duma and acquainted himself
with the activity of the deputies.

   He thanked Mr. Gryzlov for the chance to visit the State Duma and to meet
with its members.

   The patriarch noted that even though church and state are separated, the
Russian Orthodox Church has not been separated from society.

   "We have a common history, a common Fatherland and a common future," the
Patriarch said.

   Mr. Gryzlov agreed that under the law church and state are separate, but
"they are not opposed to each other."

   Mr. Gryzlov noted that in the past few years, the relationship between
the state and the Russian Orthodox Church has stabilized and contributes to
the development of society's spirituality.

   The Patriarch blessed the parliamentarians for their legislative activity.

   At his meeting with Duma deputies on Friday, the Patriarch reminded them
that the State Duma's building was consecrated in 1994 and that the
consecration ritual cannot be done twice. Because of this, he said, he
would like "to say a prayer so that the God will bless your work."
   "I would like to ask God to give blessing to you in your work," the
Patriarch said to the parliamentarians.
© 2001 RIA Novosti

2004.06.03 RIAN:

2004-06-03 22:23
   * RUSSIA * PATRIARCHATE * HOLY SEE * UKRAINE * OPINION *
   POPE SUSPENDS UKRAINIAN PATRIARCHATE DECISION. RUSSIAN CHURCH TOP APPROVES

   MOSCOW, June 3 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian Orthodox Church has
"deservedly approved" a pontifical suspension of establishing a Greek
Catholic Patriarchate in Ukraine.

   "Our Church is highly appreciating the attention which Pope John Paul II
has paid to the stances of almost all autocephalous Local Orthodox Churches
of the world as they disapprove prospects for a Greek Catholic Patriarchate
to appear in Ukraine," says Father Vsevolod Chaplin. The dignitary is
second in charge of the External Church Relations Department of the Moscow
Patriarchate.

   As His Holiness John Paul II was receiving permanent Synod members of the
Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in the Vatican City today, he said the
prospects to establish a Greek Catholic Patriarchate in Ukraine had been
indefinitely suspended.

   "To all appearances, today's [pontifical] statement means that there are
no close practical prospects for an Ukrainian Patriarchate. We hope it will
never appear," said Father Vsevolod.

   At the same time, the Russian Orthodox Church remains apprehensive with
"attempts to spread Greek Catholicism to Central, South and East Ukraine,
Belarus, Russia and on.

   "The idea of Uniate [derogatory name for Greek Catholicism] proselytising
in areas which the Union [of the Greek and Roman rites] had never
penetrated, or where it did not last long, clashes with reassurances of the
Roman Catholic Church having no intention to missionise the Orthodox
Christian flock, as such reassurances are coming from the Vatican City.
   "Also alarming the Russian Orthodox Church are developments in West
Ukraine, where believers [of the Eastern Rite] are downtrodden. The clergy
of the Lvov Eparchy recently picketed Ukraine's parliament and presidential
administration. The pickets called the secular top's attention to appeals
ignored for many years-authorities have not to this day permitted the
Ukrainian Orthodox Church under the Moscow Patriarchate to build churches
in Lvov," pointed out Father Vsevolod.
© 2001 RIA Novosti

2004.06.03 Valley Independent:

Antiochian Village unveils museum

By Dwayne Pickels and Emily Beaver
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Friday, June 4, 2004

   A museum dedicated to the lavish art, culture and Middle Eastern ancestry
of the Antiochian Orthodox Church will be the centerpiece of a new wing at
Antiochian Village Christian Conference Center.

   With the $2.1 million, 16,600-square-foot addition, "we have spent a
minimum of $20 million to develop this place," said Metropolitan Philip
Saliba, primate of the North American Antiochian Orthodox Christian
Archdiocese.

   "It was built not only for Antiochian people or people from the Middle
East," Philip said Thursday at a sneak peek of the facility in Fairfield
Township. "This place belongs to everybody, and we welcome everybody."
   The new wing includes a 143-seat auditorium, storage vault and a
rare-book room for the center's 21,000-volume theological library.
   The Antiochian Heritage Museum, set to open June 17, occupies the lion's
share of the new wing. It was designed to display and house the center's
collection of Orthodox artifacts, relics and icons, which are sacred images.

   The opening exhibition, "Iconography, Religious Relics, Cultural
Artifacts," will showcase a broad selection of items reflecting the
Antiochian heritage of the past seven centuries.

   "Not many people know much of this heritage," Philip said. "Hence the
importance of this museum."

   Exhibits come from the center's 740-piece permanent collection,
previously stored in a small room in the center's basement.

   They will be changed twice a year, said Denise O'Neal, director of
marketing and program development for the center, which has some 9,000
visitors annually.

   "You will see in the future many of our icons here," said Philip, who
donated many of the religious artifacts.

   "I visited Russia twice and I was presented with many icons, and I
donated them to this museum," he said. "I want people to see them and share
the artistic beauty of these things."

   Father Michael Massouh, executive director of Antiochian Village, added
that the museum "will provide an opportunity for us to share our heritage
and our faith with visitors and residents within the region while
maintaining the security and preservation of our special permanent collection."

   Greensburg architect Peter Cecconi, who designed the new wing, said the
museum's layout provides "total security with minimal staff. It's similar,
coincidentally, to designs of newer museums in New York and other places in
the eastern United States."

   Engineer Gerry Mattern, of Ligonier, said much attention was paid to
climate control for the sake of the fabric, wood and other materials used
in the displays, as well as the paintings. Ultraviolet light and humidity
are strictly regulated within the display area.

   "You're not keeping people comfortable," Mattern said. "You're keeping
the exhibits happy."

   The museum also will feature temporary exhibitions. The first is "A Man
from Lebanon: The Art of Kahlil Gibran."

   Madelon Sheedy, of Laughlintown, guest curator of the exhibit, said it
comes courtesy of the Telfair Museum of Art in Savannah, Ga. The 40 pieces
of original art will be on display from June 17 through Sept. 30.

   The museum will be open to the public from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursdays,
Fridays and Saturdays, O'Neal said. Groups may arrange tours and visits on
other days by appointment.

   The center has grown considerably since the archdiocese purchased the
nearly 400-acre site near Bolivar for $350,000 and started Antiochian
Village as a camp for children in 1979.

   It expanded into a renowned retreat and conference center for Orthodox
Christians in 1985.

   "In the early 1970s, I started looking for a quiet, beautiful place to
bring young people, and people in general," said Philip, a native of
Lebanon, who has long been fond of western Pennsylvania.

   "I had seen so much restlessness and dissatisfaction in this country," he
said. "I wanted a place where people could escape the cities and their
problems, the drug culture, the sex culture, to discover God, discover
nature and learn how to relate to each other in a peaceful, godly way."

   Dwayne Pickels and Emily Beaver can be reached at dpickels@... or
(724) 539-3320.
Images and text copyright © 2004 by The Tribune-Review Publishing Co.

Dear Fellow Orthodox Christian and other friends,

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