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Anastasios Archbishop of Tirana, Durres and of all Albania, Professor Emeritus of the Faculty of Theology of theNational and Kapodistrian University of Athens – Honorary Member of the Academy of Athens
Two fundamental issues dominated the Holy
and Great Council of the Orthodox Church in Crete in 2016. The first
issue was the proclamation of the mystical unity of Orthodoxy and its
further deepening, and the second was the dynamic witness of Orthodoxy
in the modern world. Characteristics in the preface of the Message of
the Council highlight: “The foundation of our theological discussions
was the certainty that the Church does not live for herself. She
transmits the witness of the Gospel of grace and truth and offers to the
whole world the gifts of God: love, peace, justice, reconciliation, the
power of the Cross and of the Resurrection and the expectation of
eternal life.”
The presentation that will follow will be
limited to: The revival of Orthodox Mission in new borders and the Holy
and Great Council of the Orthodox Church.
The first spark for the revival of
interest in Foreign Missions sprang up 60 years ago here, in
Thessaloniki, in the autumn of 1968, at the Fourth Meeting of the
International Organization of Orthodox Youth “Syndesmos”.
In February 1959, the publication of the Missionary Journal “Porefthentes”
followed in Greek and English (Go Ye). In 1961, at the Fourth Meeting
of “Syndesmos”, it was decided to establish the Inter-Orthodox Mission
Centre“Porefthentes”. From the outset, it was clarified that the “Porefthentes”
carried the missionary flame to the Orthodox, without intending to
become a “missionary society” according to the western model, a
missionary “Brotherhood”, as is customary in Greece, nor to carry out
mission as an autonomous authority. Its main pursuit is the ministry of
the Church, allocating the fruits of its efforts– studies, publications,
research, leadership– to the use of competent ecclesiastical
authorities for further normal ecclesiastical action.
The attempt to revitalize External
Mission had defined basic characteristics: a) The coupling of
theological reflection with a certain missionary effort so that the
missionary zeal had a solid theological and ecclesiological foundation,
and b) Respect of the religious and cultural distinctiveness of the
peoples to whom the Orthodox message is addressed.
- Theological search was based on a systematic theological study, in particular by deepening biblical and patristic tradition and historical research. At the same time, there was a need for a systematic religious study of African religiosity, both in European libraries and on the field work research in Uganda and Kenya. The fruit of this long-standing scientific effort has been two religious theses and a series of related books and articles.[1] Religious study was based on the theological certainty expressed in the Acts of the Apostles,“(God) did not leave Himself without witness…” (Acts 14:17) to the Gentile world.
In the early 1970s, interest in
interfaith dialogue began in the Ecumenical Movement. We then realized
more clearly that the most crucial issue for dialogue and Orthodox
testimony is the objective knowledge of Islam. In 1975, the book
entitled “Islam: A Religious Overview”[2] was published for the students of the Theological Faculty of the University of Athens.
Since the 1960s, we have participated in
the inter-Christian theological discussion on Mission. At the Assembly
of the Commission on World Mission and Evangelism (Mexico City, December
1963), Deacon Anastasios Giannoulatos, a delegate of the Church of
Greece, was elected a member of the “Commission on World Mission and
Evangelism”. Since then he has actively participated in various
theological and missionary committees by contributing the Orthodox view.[3]
Early in 1980, at the same time, we
proposed the term “witness” as a synonym for the term “Mission”. Along
with the wording of the Lord’s last commandment in the Gospel of
Matthew, the passage was “and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem,
and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”(Acts 1:8).
“Witnesses”, with the double meaning: the witness, who testifies what he
has learned and the witness, who is ready to seal his testimony with a
personal sacrifice.
The theological search emphasized the
certainty that the debt of mission, the “witness” of Orthodoxy around
the world, is connected with the nature of the Church of Christ, that
“Indifference to Mission represents the denial of Orthodoxy”. And yet
that the horizons of the Orthodox mission do not coincide with the
perception of earlier times with action in distant exotic countries, but
that it is the transfusion of Christian life to those outside the
Church beyond its established borders. When referring to “new borders”,
we are not only speaking geographically, but also socially and
culturally, for example, in societies that have been infected by
atheism.
The theological understanding of mission
was based on the teaching of the Holy Trinity. God, being love, extends
his love to all mankind, to all creation. The starting point for every
apostolic activity remains the promise and commandment of the Risen
Christ in its Trinitarian perspective: “As the Father has sent Me, I
also send you…and you shall receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:21-22).
The love of the Father is expressed by the sending of the Son. “For God
so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever
believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John
3:16). Then the Son sends His disciples with the power of the Holy
Spirit to call all the children of God scattered (John 11:52) in His
Kingdom. All people created in the image of God are called to return to
the freedom of love, to participate in the life of love of the Persons
of the Holy Trinity.[4]
- Creating support service structures for the support of foreign mission. In the ensuing years various societies were also founded in Greece, such as, in Thessaloniki, “Friends of Uganda”(1963), which was then renamed “Hellenic Εxternal Missionary Brotherhood”, and in Patras “The First-Called” (Protokletos) (1974). Later, other missionary support groups were formed. This was followed by the creation of various Centres for Foreign Mission, in Finland, in America.
The Church of Greece, under Archbishop
Hieronymus I (1967-1973), adopted the program of External Mission by
assigning it to the promoters of “Porefthentes”. During this
period the Office of External Mission was created in the Apostolic
Diakonia of the Church of Greece, the Week of Foreign Mission was
instituted with collections throughout Greece –an important institution
that helped decisively many missionary cores in Africa and Asia. From
1971 to 1973, the Centre for Missionary Studies, in collaboration with
the Holy Synod and the Faculty of Theology of the University of Athens,
worked for a short time. The Chair of Missions was founded at the
Faculty of Theology of the University of Athens, where Elias
Voulgarakis, General Secretary of “Porefthentes”, taught. Also
the women’s Monastery of St. John Karea as reflected in the dedicatory
plaque: “The Sisterhood distinguished in (the Sovereign Monastery)
serving external mission”. In early 1974 it was decided to stop the
pause of “Porefthentes” magazine to continue its work with the edition of “All the Nations” of the Apostolic Diakonia of the Church of Greece.
Following the change of ecclesiastical
leadership of the Church of Greece, the Centre for Missionary Studies
and the Chair of the Mission at the School of Theology were dissolved.
- Active participation in the front line of missionary work. The number of people who served in the front line of Orthodox External Mission is large and it would take a long time to simply mention their names. Let me be limited to a few short personal experiences. On 24 May 1964, following my ordination to the Priesthood, I left in the evening for East Africa. At the first Divine Liturgy I celebrated as a Priest in Kampala I also officiated the first baptisms and weddings in Tanzania. Due to a tropical malaria attack, I returned to Europe where I continued my postgraduate studies in Germany. In the context of these studies an on-the-spot study was carried out in Uganda (1967-1968).
In 1981, after the invitation of the Patriarch Nikolaos of Alexandria, I took over the Locum Tenens
of the Holy Metropolis of Eireneoupolis (Eastern Africa) to heal a
schism between the Orthodox Africans and the Patriarchate, as well as
the systematic organization of the Orthodox Mission in Africa. The first
attempt was the establishment and operation of the “Archbishop Makarios
III” seminary in Nairobi, for the theological and ecclesiastical
training of African clergy and catechists.[5]
The continuous co-operation,
“intercession”, theological search and missionary action contributed to
the formation of some fundamental principles for Orthodox mission to new
frontiers. These have been given the opportunity to further elaborate
and implement them in the past 26 years in the missionary effort in
Albania. As is known, since 1991, the Ecumenical Patriarchate of
Constantinople, which hadceded “autocephaly”to the Orthodox Church of
Albania, and is responsible for the care ofthe Orthodox Churches in
distress, initially as Patriarchal Exarch and from 24 June 1992 as
Archbishop, commissioned me a newly-emerging mission: The
re-establishing of the completely ruined Orthodox Autocephalous Church
of Albania.
I am not going to refer to what the Grace of God did in Albania.[6]
However I would like to briefly highlight three basic theological
principles that guided this missionary effort: a) Preaching, catechism,
worship in the mother tongue of each region. b) Creating native clergy
and lay leaders. c) Ensuring financial autonomy, to continue the life of
the Church and develop it in the future. I believe these are the
fundamental principles of Orthodox missionary work in the future.
* *
The progress of the revival of Orthodox
Foreign Mission was accomplished in parallel with the commencement and
preparation of the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church, which
was decided upon at the Pan-Orthodox Conference of Rhodes in 1961. It is
noteworthy that the items on the agenda, which were determined for
further revision by the Preparatory Committees of Representatives of the
Orthodox Churches, for approval by the Holy and Great Council, did not
include the issue of the Foreign Mission.
Ecclesiastical ministry as Archbishop of
the Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania offered a new possibility.
In the Synaxes of the Orthodox Autocephalous Churches (one of the most
pioneering initiatives of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew) during the
writing of the relevant Messages, the duty of the Orthodox “witness” in
new frontiers was clearly mentioned.
For the first time in the 2008 Message in
Constantinople, it is emphasized: “Inspired by the teaching and the
work of the Apostle Paul, we underscore first and foremost, the
importance of the duty of Mission for the life of the Church, and in
particular for the ministry of us all, in accordance with the final
commandment of the Lord: “you will be my witnesses not only in
Jerusalem, but throughout Judaea and Samaria, and to the uttermost parts
of the earth” (Acts 1:8). The evangelization of God’s people, but also
of those who do not believe in Christ, constitutes the supreme duty of
the Church. This duty must not be fulfilled in an aggressive manner, or
by various forms of proselytism, but with love, humility and respect for
the identity of each individual and the cultural particularity of each
people. All Orthodox Churches must contribute to this missionary effort,
respecting the canonical order.”
In another expression, the duty of
mission is emphasized in the Message of 2014: “Inseparably
interconnected with unity is mission. The Church does not live for
itself but is obliged to witness to and share God’s gifts with those
near and afar. Participating in the Divine Eucharist and praying for the
Οikoumene, we are called to continue this liturgy after the Divine
Liturgy, sharing the gifts of truth and love with all humankind, in
accordance with the Lord’s last commandment and assurance: “Go ye, and
make disciples of all nations… And lo, I shall be with you until the end
of the ages” (Matt. 28.19-20).”
Finally, at the Synaxis of the Primates
in Chambésy (2016), it was decided, together with the other texts
redacted by the Preparatory Committees, to take into account the
Messages of the Synaxes of the Primates, which had been signed by all
the Primates during the previous decades.
In an official proposal of the Orthodox
Autocephalous Church of Albania, the willingness to accept all members
of the authorized committees and eventually of all delegates, the duty
of Orthodox Mission throughout the world was tied to relevant biblical
foundation in three texts: in the Encyclical of the Council, in the last
text “The Mission of the Orthodox Church in Today’s World” and in the
Message:
a) In the Encyclical of the Council it is
stated: “By participating in the holy Eucharist and praying in the
Sacred Synaxis for the whole world (oikoumene), we are called
to continue the “liturgy after the Liturgy” and to offer witness
concerning the truth of our faith before God and mankind, sharing God’s
gifts with all mankind, in obedience to the explicit commandment of our
Lord before His Ascension: “And you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem
and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1.8).
The words of the Divine Liturgy prior to Communion, “Dismembered and
distributed is the Lamb of God, who is dismembered and not divided, ever
eaten, yet never consumed,” indicate that Christ as the “Lamb of God”
(John 1.29) and the “Bread of Life” (John 6.48) is offered to us as
eternal Love, uniting us to God and to one another. It teaches us to
distribute God’s gifts and to offer ourselves to everyone in a
Christ-like way.”
b) In the Conciliar text “The Mission of
the Orthodox Church in Today’s World”, it was added: “The conveyance of
the Gospel’s message according to the last commandant of Christ, Go
therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name
of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to
observe all that I havecommanded you (Matt 28:19) is the diachronic
mission of the Church. This mission must be carried out not
aggressively or by different forms of proselytism, but in love, humility
and respect towards the identity of each person and the cultural
particularity of each people. All the Orthodox Church have an obligation
to contribute to this missionary endeavor.”
c) Finally, in the Message of the Council
it is summarized: “Participating in the Holy Eucharist and praying for
the whole world, we must continue the “liturgy after the Divine Liturgy”
and give the witness of faith to those near and those far off, in
accordance with the Lord’s clear command before His ascension, «And you
shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to
the end of the earth (Ac. 1: 8). The re-evangelization of God’s people
in modern, secularized societies and the evangelization of those who
have still not come to know Christ remain an unceasing obligation for
the Church.”
The above clear references to debt of
Orthodox mission around the world, in official Orthodox texts of the
Synaxis of the Primates of the Orthodox Autocephalous Churches and the
Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church, is the result of
spiritual awakening and revitalization of the missionary conscience of
the Orthodox in our time.
The 21stcentury places new
conditions, but also new possibilities for transferring the Christian
message to new environments around the globe. The next generations will
be called upon to address emerging problems and make good use of
technological developments. It will be necessary to create the
inter-Orthodox structures of Orthodox witnwss throughout the world, and
to create competent ecclesiastical leadership, with spiritual
distinction and boldness, combining theological study, missionary zeal
and personal self-denial.
When I reflect on the long course of the
last 60 years, the many problems, the trials presented, and the many
blessings of God, “for blessings manifest and hidden that have been
bestowed on us”, spontaneously appear in thought of some Psalmist
verses: “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord”
(Psalm 36 (37): 23),“By the word of Your lips, I have kept away from the
paths of the destroyer” (Psalm 16 (17): 4),“Those who go out weeping,
carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves
with them.”(Ps. 125 (126): 6). And the soul is flooded with praise and
gratitude to the One God in Trinity for the surprises it has reserved.
[1] Among them are: M bantua and the framework of their worship, Religious exploration of the sides of the African religion, PhD thesis (1970), “God of brilliance”, God to the Kenyan mountain tribes. Religious research (1971), African ritual Forms. Initiation and sputtering east of Mount Rousensari (1972). Ruhanga – the Creator. Contribution to the research of God and Man of African Beliefs (1975) et al.
[2] The 16th
edition in modern Greek, in a photocopied reprint, was published by the
newspaper “To Vima” (2016). Regarding other religions, see summary
reviews in the book Traces of the Search for the Transcendent One (2004), which was reissued under the title History of Surviving Religions (2016) from “To Vima” (2016).
[3] From
1969 to 1971 I was invited to the General Secretariat of the WCC in
Geneva as Secretary for Missionary Research and Relations with Orthodox
Churches. From 1974 to 1983 I was a member of the Theological Committee
of Dialogue and Relations with People of Other Religions. From 1983 to
1990, I was Moderator of the Commission and the Assembly of the World
Mission Mission Evangelism of the WCC. Finally from 2006 to 2013 as one
of the WCC Presidents.
[4] See: “The Theological Understanding of Mission” in the magazine All the Nations (1991). On this theological search, see articles in the Poreuthentes and All the Nations and in our present day Mission in the Traces of Christ (2007) and To the End of the Earth (2009).
[5] See our In Africa (2010).
[6] See also our In Albania–Cross and Resurrection (2011). The Reconstruction of the Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania(2012) and the 4thEnhanced Edition (2017).
