Articles, English

The Reasons to Proclaim or to Restore Autocephaly in the 20th and 21st centuries

The delegation of the Ecumenical Patriarchate grating autocephaly to the Church of Poland in 1924.

The organisation of the Orthodox Church worldwide has profoundly changed during the 20th century due to the restoration or the proclamation of several autocephalous local Churches. Indeed, some local Churches, that had in the past centuries an honorific patriarchal status because their country had been in the past an independent kingdom from the Byzantine Empire, were restored as autocephalous and patriarchal Churches by the Ecumenical Patriarchate, but always in the limits of concrete state implying concrete geographical borders. This was the case of the Churches of Serbia (1920), Romania (1885 for the restoration of autocephaly, 1925 for the restoration of the patriarchate), Bulgaria (1953) and Georgia (1990). In each of these cases, the major reason for the restoration of their autocephaly and of their patriarchal status was the independence of their state either from the Ottoman empire (in the case of the first three) or from the Russian empire (for the Church of Georgia, in 1917). Although the process of the canonical proclamation of the restoration of their autocephaly by the Ecumenical Patriarchate took in certain cases a long period — in the case of the Church of Georgia, although the restoration of autocephaly was recognised 26 years later by the Church of Russia (in 1943), when both Georgia and Russia were under the Soviet Regime, it took 73 years to be canonically proclaimed by the Ecumenical Patriarchate (in 1990) —, the pleroma of the Orthodox Church did not have any major problem to accept and approve the restoration of the autocephaly and of the patriarchal status of these local Churches since they were considered in high esteem and respected as such by the conscience of the Orthodox Church. Continue reading

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Articles, English

The Ecumenical Significance of the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church

 

The Holy and Great Council and the Question of Ecumenism

The Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church to be convened on Crete on June 20-26, 2016 will be the culmination of a century of preparation. Indeed, the Patriarchal and Synodical Encyclical of Ecumenical Patriarch Joachim III of June 12, 1902, through which the Primates of the Orthodox Autocephalous Churches were called to collaborate to face the problems concerning the Orthodox Church at that time was the spark which initiated the preparation of a Great Pan-Orthodox Council. Continue reading

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Articles, Russe

«Се жених грядет в полунощи». Эхатологический характер богослужений первых трех дней страстной седмицы

Тематика служб Страстной седмицы не состоит только из анамнезиса событий Страстей. Первые три дня и, особенно, службы Великого понедельника и Великого вторника полны также эсхатологической тематики. С одной стороны, это понятно, потому что притчи о Царстве, повлиявшие на гимнографию этих святых дней, были произнесены Христом непосредственно перед страстями. Они дали возможность понять тем, кто этого желал, что Христос не является политическим Мессией: « Царство Мое не от мира сего » (Ин. 18:36),— сказал Он Пилату. Царство Христа есть Царство Небесное, требующее глубокого изменения. Чтобы войти в него, недостаточно ссылаться на Закон и формально его исполнять. Continue reading

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Articles, Français

Renouveau hésychaste et réforme dans l’Église orthodoxe

Tradition, innovation, réforme dans l’Église orthodoxe

Parler de réforme dans l’Église orthodoxe est toujours un peu audacieux. En effet, le concept clé qui caractérise l’Orthodoxie est la fidélité à la Tradition. Celle-ci peut être définie selon l’adage patristique attribué à Vincent de Lérins : « Teneamus quod ubique, quod semper, quod ad omnibus creditum est »[1] – c’est-à-dire ce qui a été cru partout, toujours et par tous. Cette Tradition est perçue en tant que paradosis (παράδοσις), c’est-à-dire en tant que transmission de l’enseignement ou de la pratique d’une génération à l’autre. Continue reading

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Articles, English

Towards the Council 

A brief history

The idea of the convocation of the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church dates back to the early twentieth century, the pan-Orthodox Congress of Constantinople of 1923. Seven years later, Ecumenical Patriarch Photios II convened the meeting of an inter-Orthodox preparatory committee in 1930 at the monastery of Vatopedi on Mount Athos, during which they established an initial list of 17 topics, which were raised to be addressed, including inter-Orthodox relations, the relations of the Orthodox Church with other Churches and Christian confessions, the question of the calendar and various questions of disciplinary order. Continue reading

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Articles, Français

En route vers le Concile

Bref rappel historique

L’idée de la convocation du Saint et Grand Concile de l’Église orthodoxe remonte au début du vingtième siècle, au congrès pan-orthodoxe de Constantinople de 1923. Sept ans plus tard, le patriarche œcuménique Photios II convoqua la réunion d’un comité inter-orthodoxe préparatoire en 1930 au monastère de Vatopedi au Mont Athos lors de laquelle fut établie une première liste de 17 sujets devant être traités parmi lesquels furent soulevées les relations inter-orthodoxes, les relations de l’Église orthodoxe avec les autres Églises et confessions chrétiennes, la question du calendrier et diverses questions d’ordre disciplinaire. Continue reading

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