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Russian Orthodox Church Denounces Church of England
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Hesychios
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I didn’t see the text or link, so I provide one here…
Russian Orthodox Church denounces Church of EnglandFriday, 1st August 2008. 3:06pm
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http://www.religiousintelligence.co.uk/news/news_images/russiaorth.jpg By: George Conger.The decision taken by General Synod "alienates Anglicans from the Orthodox Church and contributes to further division of the Christian world,” the Moscow Patriarchate said in a statement released on its website on Aug 1.
The Moscow Patriarchate stated that it opposed the ordination of women to the priesthood as “such a practice contradicts centuries-old Church traditions dating back to the first Christian community. Orthodox Christians consider women bishops to be even more unacceptable," the statement said.
Tradition and the common witness of the church through the ages forbad any single church from taking a unilateral step in consecrating women. Bishops were the “direct spiritual heirs of the apostles” who had been given a “special blessing to lead the people of God and a special responsibility to maintain the purity of the faith and be symbols and guarantors of the church’s unity.”
The decision to permit the consecration of women was driven not by theological considerations, but by political correctness, Moscow said, “in our view, the decision of the General Synod of the Church of England” was “not dictated by theological or practical church needs, but by a tendency to follow the secular idea of sexual equality in all spheres of life."
This concern to appease the spirit of the age was unwise the Russian Church argued. The “secularization of Christianity” in an “unstable world” had led many “believers to abandon” liberal churches to seek refuge in those Christian traditions founded upon an “eternal and constant God” and possessing “firm Evangelical and apostolic traditions.”
On July 30, Cardinal Walter Kasper sounded a similar theme, telling the bishops at the 2008 Lambeth Conference “the ordination of women to the episcopate effectively and definitively blocks a possible recognition of Anglican Orders by the Catholic Church.”
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Hesychios
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From Interfax
01 August 2008, 14:07****
Moscow Patriarchate laments over Anglican decision to install women bishops****
Moscow, August 1, Interfax - The Russian Orthodox Church laments over decision of the General Synod of the Church of England to consecrate women bishops taken on July 7, 2008.
“The Russian Orthodox Church has to state with regret that the decision to install women bishops impedes the dialogue between Orthodox Christians and Anglicans developed for some decades,” Communication service of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations’ Communication Service says in its special statement spread in Moscow on Friday.
According to the document, this decision “alienates Anglicans from the Orthodox Church and contributes in further division of the Christian world.”
The Moscow Patriarchate reminds the Orthodox Church has always been negative about women priests since some Protestant and Anglican Churches started to ordain them late in the 20th century.
“Such practice contradicts centuries-old Church tradition dating back to the first Christian community. Orthodox Christians consider women bishops even more unacceptable,” the statement further says.
Christian tradition, the authors stress, has always considered bishops as “direct spiritual successors of apostles, who grant them a special blessing to lead God’s people and a special responsibility to keep the purity of faith and be symbols and guarantors of Church unity.”
Thus, the Moscow Patriarchate believes installing women-bishops contradicts “the course of Savior, holy apostles and ancient undivided Church.”
In conviction that revision of the original church norms contradicts the Lord’s idea on priestly ministry, the Moscow Patriarchate states “it is not a theological or practical church need that dictated this decision to the Anglican General Synod, but rather its strive to keep step with secular idea of sexual equality in all spheres of life.”
The Russian Church reminds, “Secularization of Christianity makes many believers to abandon it as they strive to find spiritual support in secure Gospels and apostolic traditions introduced by Eternal and Unchangeable God.”
01 August 2008, 14:07****
Moscow Patriarchate laments over Anglican decision to install women bishops****
Moscow, August 1, Interfax - The Russian Orthodox Church laments over decision of the General Synod of the Church of England to consecrate women bishops taken on July 7, 2008.
“The Russian Orthodox Church has to state with regret that the decision to install women bishops impedes the dialogue between Orthodox Christians and Anglicans developed for some decades,” Communication service of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations’ Communication Service says in its special statement spread in Moscow on Friday.
According to the document, this decision “alienates Anglicans from the Orthodox Church and contributes in further division of the Christian world.”
The Moscow Patriarchate reminds the Orthodox Church has always been negative about women priests since some Protestant and Anglican Churches started to ordain them late in the 20th century.
“Such practice contradicts centuries-old Church tradition dating back to the first Christian community. Orthodox Christians consider women bishops even more unacceptable,” the statement further says.
Christian tradition, the authors stress, has always considered bishops as “direct spiritual successors of apostles, who grant them a special blessing to lead God’s people and a special responsibility to keep the purity of faith and be symbols and guarantors of Church unity.”
Thus, the Moscow Patriarchate believes installing women-bishops contradicts “the course of Savior, holy apostles and ancient undivided Church.”
In conviction that revision of the original church norms contradicts the Lord’s idea on priestly ministry, the Moscow Patriarchate states “it is not a theological or practical church need that dictated this decision to the Anglican General Synod, but rather its strive to keep step with secular idea of sexual equality in all spheres of life.”
The Russian Church reminds, “Secularization of Christianity makes many believers to abandon it as they strive to find spiritual support in secure Gospels and apostolic traditions introduced by Eternal and Unchangeable God.”
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