Patriarch
Kirill of Moscow and All Russia and a WCC delegation led by the acting
general secretary Fr Ioan Sauca met on 17 October in Moscow, discussing
the current situation with the war in Russia and Ukraine and in light of
the danger of nuclear war.
Q: Why did you visit Moscow?
The visit took place on request from
the WCC central committee and is part of a series of visits that has
already included the Middle East, Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Israel,
Ukraine, and now Russia, meant to build bridges of peace and
reconciliation through encounters and dialogues and to avoid military
conflicts, wars and violence.
The programme also included a visit to
the Moscow Church Centre for Assistance to Refugees, and discussions
with representatives from the Moscow Theological Academy.
We went there on the request of
the central committee to try to start a dialogue on the theology of war.
Other voices asked for an emergency visit in light of the danger of
nuclear conflagration. (See text in the document His
Holiness Patriarch Kirill, WCC acting general secretary meet in Moscow,
agreeing that war cannot be holy | World Council of Churches
(oikoumene.org)
Q: What was the first reaction of Patriarch Kirill?
We met for several hours, and we
had time for in-depth discussion. I had also a private audience with the
Patriarch. I reported on the outcome of the WCC 11th Assembly in
August-September, the statement on the war in Ukraine and the latest WCC
central committee in June. Nothing was avoided or hidden; we were clear
with what we said in our statements and we were bold in our
presentation. In the Russian delegation were present members of the WCC
central committee who participated at the elaboration of the statement
in June and those present at the WCC 11th Assembly who were members of
the drafting committee which elaborated the statement on the war in
Ukraine. Everything discussed in the meeting is not included in the
report due to circumstances with local laws and the urgent need to
continue the dialogue. We understand how to be sensitive to the
situation in which the churches live and, while saying the full truth,
we make sure we do not do more harm.
Patriarch Kirill said that the
war is not done by the churches but by the politicians. And the
churches' role is to be peacemakers, as we have noted in the report.
I went further with two questions
which are not in our statements but voiced by some of our member
churches: 1) What is his theological position on the war in Ukraine
since there is a perception that he supports it as a "holy war?” 2) What
is his explanation of using the term “metaphysical war” in relation to
the war in Ukraine?
We have received his response, as mentioned in the report.
In conclusion: we did our job; we
visited and spoke with Patriarch Kirill; we initiated a dialogue and
saw the wish from the Russian side to continue the dialogue. In my
opinion, we accomplished the mandate given by the central committee.
Q: Why were there only men in the WCC delegation?
We went there with a small delegation, as this was not a normal church visit and there is war.
We have different ways of handling the ecumenical and diplomatic
protocol and this time it was a meeting between Patriarch Kirill and the
acting general secretary, as you can read in the press release of 17
October. WCC acting general secretary visits Moscow | World Council of Churches (oikoumene.org)
I was joined by Rev. Dr
Benjamin Simon, WCC programme executive for Church Relations and
accompanied by Fr Mikhail Gundiaev, the Russian Orthodox Church’s
representative to the WCC. They were present due to their functions,
not gender. I have always tried to have a balanced leadership in
delegations but due to the special circumstances with the war the
functions were this time the main focus, and I tried to keep the group
small to establish dialogue as requested from the central committee. I
knew that some reactions would come. In the WCC’s highest staff
leadership group, we are three women and three men.
Our deputy general secretary Prof. Dr Isabel Apawo Phiri led the joint delegation with ACT Alliance to Russia in the end of May. WCC-ACT delegation visits Russia, sees church response to refugees from Ukraine | World Council of Churches (oikoumene.org)
The Russian Orthodox Church decided upon the gender and people attending from its delegation.
Also attending the meeting, which took place at the Patriarchal Residence in St Daniel’s Monastery, were Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s
Department for External Church Relations; Archimandrite Philaret
(Bulekov), DECR vice-chairman; Fr Mikhail Gundyaev, representative of
the Moscow Patriarchate to the WCC and international organisations in
Geneva; Hieromonk Stefan (Igumnov), DECR secretary for inter-Christian
relations.
Q: What will happen after the visit?
We will continue to monitor and
pray about the situation and continue the dialogue. We are operating
through four foci: church relations, peacebuilding, statements, and
communication.
The staff person responsible for
Church Relations will continue the follow up on church dialogue and will
prepare the visits in relation to the request on the Church in Ukraine
to become a member of WCC. Rev. Dr Benjamin Simon, as a professor in
Bossey, was also entrusted to make sure that recruitment of Russian
students to study in Bossey will continue.
Q: What do you say to those who say you did not speak up strongly enough against the war? Some people say that other global religious leaders have publicly used language more critical of the war than you have.
Since the Russian invasion of
Ukraine began, the WCC began making statements in February 2022, then
by the WCC central committee in June, and by the WCC 11th Assembly in
September. We made clear the position of the WCC regarding the
humanitarian tragedy unfolding because of this war, naming it clearly an
invasion, and aggression. It was nothing new or hidden: personally, I
wrote about it to Patriarch Kirill and to Russian president Putin. Our
correspondence has been documented at the following links:
Read full letter to Patriarch Kirill of Moscow (2 March 2022)
WCC urges President Putin to stop war, restore peace to Ukraine (WCC press release of 25 February 2022)
The WCC position is clear and
that was not avoided but clearly stated when we met the Patriarch
Kirill. In addition, the Russian members of the WCC central committee
and those who were present at the WCC 11th Assembly were also present
during the meeting with the patriarch. There was no reason to hide or
dilute words or concepts when those were used in our statements and in
our earlier correspondence with the patriarch. I can understand the use
of the hermeneutic of suspicion by some critical voices, but here is not
the case. We went there to have an open and truthful dialogue, and that
is in fact what occurred.
I hope and pray that the
fellowship of churches continues to and work towards just peace and
towards the end of the war in Ukraine and the end of wars elsewhere in
the world. I also pray that the WCC continues to be that open table
which gathers Christians together and gives courage and patience to
listen to one another even if we disagree. May we remain eager and
committed to look together to building bridges of justice, peace,
reconciliation and unity.
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