HOW RUSSIA BECAME CHRISTIAN

Every year on July 15, Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Christians commemorate the life of Prince Vladimir, ruler of the Kievan Rus (territory covered parts of present-day Russia and Ukraine). Vladimir converted to Christianity in 988 and many Russian and Ukrainian Christians trace their own spiritual heritage to this ruler's conversion.

Here is the account of Vladimir's spiritual quest taken from a 900 year-old Slavic document, the Primary Chronicle. Christian History & Biography originally published these excerpts in issue 15, The Millennium of "Russian" Christianity. Brief editorial explanations are interspersed in italics.

c. 986—Vladimir was visited by Bulgars [from the region of Bulgaria] of Mohammedan faith, who said, "Though you are a wise and prudent prince, you have no religion. Adopt our faith, and revere Mohammed." Vladimir inquired what was the nature of their religion.

They replied that they believed in God, and that Mohammed instructed them to practice circumcision, to eat no pork, to drink no wine, and after death, promised them complete fulfillment of their carnal desires. "Mohammed," they asserted, "will give each man 70 fair women. He may choose one fair one, and upon that woman will Mohammed confer the charms of them all, and she shall be his wife. Mohammed promises that one may then satisfy every desire, but whoever is poor in this world will be no different in the next." They also spoke other false things (which out of modesty may not be written down).

Vladimir listened [intently] to them, for he was fond of women and indulgence, regarding which he heard with pleasure. But circumcision and abstinence from pork and wine were disagreeable to him. "Drinking," said he, "is the joy of the Russes. We cannot exist without that pleasure."

Read the rest here.

Archbishop Demetrios on Independence Day

Encyclical of Archbishop Demetrios for July 4 - Independence Day

Protocol 70/06


July 4, 2006
Independence Day

To the Most Reverend Hierarchs, the Reverend Priests and Deacons, the Monks and Nuns, the Presidents and Members of the Parish Councils of the Greek Orthodox Communities, the Day, Afternoon, and Church Schools, the Philoptochos Sisterhoods, the Youth, the Hellenic Organizations, and the entire Greek Orthodox Family in America

My Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

On July 4, 1776, the United States of America boldly and firmly declared its Independence. In so doing, it articulated a cherished phrase in the text of the Declaration of Independence, which is today enshrined in the hearts of every student and admirer of American history and in the fabric of our national conscience: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

Today, on July 4, 2006, we as Greek Orthodox Christians in America find ourselves blessed to live and prosper in this great nation. Today, we bring to this nation an important witness and a valuable perspective, and we can expand upon the relatively free- standing phrase "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," as used by our founding fathers of the 18th century Enlightenment era. An Orthodox theological interpretation of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" would be presented as an inalienable right to live in conditions of love and relationship with others marked by the very real and continuing presence of God. This stands in harmony with St. Paul's words to the Corinthians: "where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom" (2 Corinthians 3:17). Similarly, the principle "that all men are created equal" stands in harmony with the teachings of our Orthodox Christian faith that all human beings are created in the image and likeness of God.

Based on these perspectives offered by our Orthodox faith, the saga of American Independence, which tells a story of resolute determination to stand against the destructive forces of tyranny, is not at all alien to us. On the contrary, it resembles the dramatic account of our own history as Greek Orthodox Christians. It calls to mind our Hellenic forebears who fought successfully for liberty against Ottoman domination in the 19th century; it recalls the struggles of our parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents who left their countries of origin over a century ago in search of a better life, in search of the life that today we proudly enjoy as citizens and residents in America.

Like all struggles for national independence, the story of American Independence continues to hold important lessons for us as people of faith and as lovers of liberty. The first of these lessons is that life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness were so important to our American forefathers that they were willing to risk the consequences of fighting for them. Indeed, as the text of the Declaration concludes, they "mutually pledged to each other [their] Lives, [their] Fortunes and [their] sacred Honor." A second lesson is that the source of confidence in our founding fathers derived from nothing less than their unshakeable faith in God. Accordingly, they signed their names to the text of the Declaration "with a firm reliance upon the protection of divine Providence." Thus, our national holiday of American Independence naturally raises the question of how genuinely we ourselves stand committed, like our founding fathers, to the defense of these ideals even in the face of those who have difficulty understanding our way of life and its importance to us. It also asks us to consider how firmly we place our reliance upon God as our protector in this life.

In our contemporary world, which continues to witness the ravages of natural catastrophe, poverty, war, and terrorism, the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, are as important today to affirm as they were in the 18th century. Our celebration of these inalienable rights on this day, enhanced by our Orthodox Christian understanding of them, is best expressed when we insist through peaceful and Christian means that other people in other nations must never be denied access to these precious rights. For, as the signers of our Declaration of Independence understood, whenever people are denied access to these rights, they are ultimately deprived of that which God in His love has freely and lovingly endowed upon them and upon us all.

I pray that as we celebrate this Fourth of July holiday with all our heart, we may remember the sacrifices of our forefathers. I pray that we may remember with joy and gratitude how they turned their dream of liberty into the reality that we today live and breathe. May God keep us always in His infinite protection and mercy, and may God bless the United States of America.

With paternal love in Christ,

+ DEMETRIOS
Archbishop of America

Orthodoxy = Ethnicity??? Only Since the Greek Revolution

Those Americans who are even aware of Eastern Orthodoxy generally think adherents must be of a certainly ethnicity, e.g. Russian or Greek. Alas, many who are themselves ethnically cradle Orthodox also think this same thing. But Runciman tells us that this ought not to be so:


In the few paragraphs below, Steven Runciman, the preeminent Byzantine historian of our age, puts the lie to the thought that this emphasis on nationalism and/or ethnicity has always been the norm. Instead, he accurately and objectively details when and why this came into being. Instead of being an ancient Orthodox practice, as many erroneously believe today, it was invented during the 17th and 18th centuries by Greeks living in Constantinople (the Phanariots) as a way of using the Church to promote their own, nationalistic agenda.

See what you think....

“…The strength of the Byzantine Church had been the presence of a highly educated laity that was deeply interested in religion. Now the laity began to despise the traditions of the Church; and the traditional elements in the Church began to mistrust and dislike modern education, retreating to defend themselves into a thickening obscurantism. The cleavage between the intellectuals and the traditionalists, which had begun when Neo-Aristotelianism was introduced into the curriculum of the Patriarchal Academy, grew wider. Under Phanariot influence many of the higher ecclesiastics followed the modernist trend. In the old days Orthodoxy had preferred to concentrate on eternal things and modestly to refuse to clothe faith in the trappings of modish philosophy. The Phanariots in their desire to impress the West had no use for such old-fashioned notions. Instead, seeing the high prestige of ancient Greek learning, they wished to show that they were, by culture as well as by blood, the heirs of ancient Greece. Their sons, lively laymen educated in the new style, were now filling the administrative posts at the Patriarchal court. As a result the Patriarchate began to lose touch with the great body of the faithful, to whom faith meant more than philosophy and the Christian saints more than the sophists of pagan times.

Above all, the Phanariots needed the support of the Church in the pursuit of their ultimate political aim. It was no mean aim. The Megali Idea, the Great Idea of the Greeks, can be traced back to days before the Turkish conquest. It was the idea of the Imperial destiny of the Greek people. Michael VIII Paleologus expressed it in the speech that he made when he heard that his troops had recaptured Constantinople from the Latins; though he called the Greeks the Romaioi. In later Paleologan teims the word Hellene reappeared, but with the conscious intention of connecting Byzantine imperialism with the culture and traditions of ancient Greece. With the spread of the Renaissance a respect for the old Greek civilization had become general. It was natural that the Greeks, in the midst of their political disasters, should wish to benefit from it. They might be slaves now to the Turks, but they were of the great race that had civilized Europe. It must be their destiny to rise again. The Phanariots tried to combine the nationalistic force of Hellenism in a passionate if illogical alliance with the oecumenical traditions of Byzantium and the Orthodox Church. They worked for a restored Byzantium, a New Rome that should be Greek, a new centre of Greek civilization that should embrace the Orthodox world. The spirit behind the Great Idea was a mixture of neo-Byzantinism and an acute sense of race. But, with the trend of the modern world the nationalism began to dominate the oecumenicity. George Scholarius (Gennadius) had, perhaps unconsciously, foreseen the danger when he answered a question about his nationality by saying that he would not call himself a Hellene though he was a Hellene by race, nor a Byzantine though he had been born at Byzantium, but, rather, a Christian, that is, an Orthodox. For, if the Orthodox Church was to retain its spiritual force, it must remain oecumenical. It must not become purely a Greek Church.

The price paid by the Orthodox Church for its subjection to its Phanariot benefactors was heavy. First, it meant that the Church was run more and more in the interests of the Greek people. The arrangements made between the Conquering Sultan and the Patriarch Gennadius had put all the Orthodox within the Ottoman Empire under the authority of the Patriarchate, which was inevitably controlled by Greeks. But the earlier patriarchs after the conquest had been aware of their oecumenical duties....”


from an article of the Voice of Orthodox Christian Unity

World Religious Summit in Moscow

5 July, 2006
RUSSIA
Moscow Summit: Even China and Iran agree that religious freedom is a foundation of peace

The World Religious Summit ended today. Its final message, which calls for the respect of ethnic and religious minorities, was also signed by countries that do not practice such respect. Participants want to see a more humane international economic order.


Moscow (AsiaNews) – Religious leaders attending the World Religious Summit want to use religion as a foundation for peace and dialogue between civilisations rather than as a source of conflicts. Their goal is laid out in a message that was even signed by delegations representing countries like China and Iran that are unfamiliar with religious freedom.

“We state the importance of religious freedom in today’s world. Individuals and groups must be immune from coercion. . . . It is also necessary to take into account the rights of religious and ethnic minorities”.

More than 200 representatives from the world’s various religions took part in the meeting organised by the Russian Orthodox Church. They condemned terrorism and extremism in all its forms as well as any attempt to justify them in the name of religion.

The religious leaders underlined the essential role played by education and communication in preventing the spread of extremist ideas. They said that “[s]chool, mass media, and preaching by religious leaders should return to our contemporaries the full knowledge of their religious traditions”.

Their message also stressed the need for an international economic order based on justice and morality. For them a “life lived only for financial profit and facilitating production progress becomes barren and meager. Being aware of this, we call on the business community to be open and responsible towards the civil society”.

The summit’s final document will be sent to G8 leaders whose annual meeting is scheduled for mid-July in Saint-Petersburg, Russia.

www.asianews.it

Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity Targeted by Hindoo Extremists

5 July, 2006
INDIA
Andhra Pradesh: Sisters of Mother Teresa forgive, bishop slams BJP politics
by Nirmala Carvalho

The four nuns who were held up by an extremist mob for their alleged proselytising forgive their aggressors and do not press charges. The bishop of Hyderabad talks to AsiaNews about Hindu fundamentalists’ plan against Christians in Andhra Pradesh.

Hyderabad (AsiaNews) – Echoing the words of the founder of the Missionaries of Charity, Mother Priscilla from the Mother House in Kolkata told AsiaNews that deeds accomplished with love are deeds that build peace. She was commenting the June 25 attack against four fellow sisters in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh. On that occasion, Sisters Maria Julia, Chriselda, Emma Felesia and Reena Francis were held up inside a government hospital by a mob of more than 300 angry Hindus who accused them of proselytising.

The sisters of Mother Teresa, who had gone to the hospital to carry out their regular and duly authorised weekly visit, were arrested by the police. They were freed only late in the evening after the metropolitan archbishop of Hyderabad, Mgr Marampudi Joji, intervened on their behalf.

“The sisters,” the prelate told AsiaNews “have not pressed charges against anyone, but the police sent an agent to their House, who, in a threatening manner, tried to get them to sign a statement. The missionaries refused saying they were prepared to forgive those responsible for what happened.”

For Archbishop Joji, the attack was clearly politically motivated. He explained to AsiaNews that the mob was made up of members of India’s main Hindu nationalist party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and the Hindu Dharma Parirakshana Samithi (a self-styled group for the defence of the Hindu religion).

“Hindu fundamentalism wants to raise fears among the people with respect to Christians,” he said. “For this reason, they accuse them of proselytising and working behind the scenes to distort the country’s nature. The reality is that elections are coming up and the BJP is trying its best to discredit the current Congress Party-dominated government”.

The attack against the nuns of Mother Teresa is not the only weapon used by Hindu fundamentalists. According to reliable sources, they are organising a demonstration in the capital on July 11 “to raise awareness in the population about the ‘Christian danger’ which is working in favour of proselytising with the tacit approval of the government”.

“After the demonstration, they are planning to ask the government to pass a law that would make the Hind temples in Tirupati and Tirumala independent,” the prelate said.

“All of a sudden,” he explained mockingly, “they found that some Christians work inside the temple and now accuse them of spying and working for the conversion of the whole state. The same thing is happening in two universities in Tirupati, where, if they are to be believed, Christians got jobs only in order to convert people”.

www.asianews.it