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Press Office of the Romanian Patriarchate, basilica.ro
Lately, there have been public
manifestations held by certain persons, who, in a worldly and aggressive
manner, accused and slandered the hierarchs of the Romanian Orthodox
Church, who participated in the Synod held in Crete, in June 2016, where
over 200 hierarchs from ten sister Orthodox Churches took part.
Those
who promote such a negative attitude are, in general, some rebellious
clerics and uncanonical, disobedient and unstable monastics, who do not
dwell in monasteries according to monastic ordinances, as well as some
laypeople negatively influenced by them.
A
similar group protested on the Metropolitan Hill (in Bucharest) on 30
August 2016. The group members were listened to by His Grace Varlaam of
Ploieşti, Assistant Bishop to the Patriarch, but they were incapable to
carry out a dialogue, they were aggressive and repeated unjustified
accusations; they judged and slandered the hierarchs who approved the
document of the Synod held in Crete, regarding the relations of the
Orthodox Church with other Christians.
In
times in which the Orthodox Church is attacked by many seen and unseen
exterior forces of the phenomenon of secularisation, these rebels
disturb from within the interior peace and unity of the Church, under
the pretext of defending the Orthodox faith, because they are not being
guided by the Spirit of Christ.
Nevertheless,
most clergy, monastics and faithful of the Romanian Orthodox Church
keep the peace and unity of Christ’s Church and acknowledge the truth
that the Synod held in Crete did not formulate new dogmas, but
declared that the Orthodox Church is the One, Holy, Catholic and
Apostolic Church of Christ, while the heterodox
(non-Orthodox) churches or confessions separated from Orthodoxy, because
they estranged themselves from the Orthodox faith, which represents the
fundament of the unity of the Church. And since our Lord Jesus Christ prayed to the heavenly Father that His disciples and those who believe in Him to be one (John
17:21), i.e. to keep the unity of the Church based on true faith, the
Orthodox Church does not promote confessional hatred or “religious war”,
but rather “only faith working through love” (Galatians 5:6), professing Orthodoxy with humbleness and spiritual peace.
Thus,
true Orthodox Christians can keep their true faith, even when carrying a
dialogue or cooperating at social-philanthropic or cultural levels with
other Christians, especially in countries in which Orthodox Christians
are a minority. For example, in Western Europe, there are currently
over 700 Romanian Orthodox parishes, out of which 670 parishes do not
possess their own church buildings; the Romanian faithful can, thus,
pray in places of worship rented or borrowed from Catholic, Anglican or
Protestant Christians, without losing their Orthodox faith.
Therefore,
a lucid and realistic Orthodox Christian can remain faithful to
Orthodoxy even when carrying out a dialogue or cooperating with other
Christians without being fanatic, arrogant or aggressive. But, those who
are now disturbing the peace and unity of the Church have no pastoral
responsibility for the Romanian Orthodox communities in the Diaspora,
nor do they understand how grave is the sin of division or bringing
distress in the peace and unity of the Church, claiming that only they –
the protesters – are true, correct and competent faithful who can
defend Orthodoxy, calling heretics all those who have a different
thinking.
The word Church means assembly, not
division, i.e. the assembly of Orthodox Christians in the love of the
Most Holy Trinity, by professing and experiencing true faith in a
fraternal communion in Christ and obedience towards the spiritual
fathers, to whom the work to pastorally care for the faithful on the
path to salvation was rendered (cf. Hebrews 13:17).
Therefore, we must always keep the peace and unity of the Church of Christ!
Press Office of the Romanian Patriarchate
