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Отправлено Александр Иванов 06:56:28 17/02/2000:
RUSSIAN PATRIARCH WIDENS RIFTS WITH VATICAN, ORTHODOX LEADERSHIP Associated Press 11 February 2000 ATHENS, Greece (AP) — The head of the Russian Orthodox Church accused the Vatican of expansionism Friday in a blow to efforts for closer ties between the Roman Catholic and Orthodox religions. The comments by Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow, in a rare and wide-ranging interview published Friday, reflect significant rifts within the Christian Orthodox churches. As leader of the biggest church, Alexy's cooperation is vital for any deep ecclesiastical changes — such as trying to heal the nearly 1,000-year split with the Roman Catholics. Alexy has so far been cool to any overtures from Rome. In the interview with the Greek monthly Religions Info, he again lashed at the Vatican for allegedly going back on a promise to reduce support for the Eastern Rite Churches, which follow Orthodox customs and trappings but are loyal to the pope. Some Orthodox have accused the Vatican of using them to aggressively win souls in the former Communist countries. "This entire situation has blackened our relations with the Roman Catholic Church," he said. "Religions must come into contact with each other, but not fight for occupation and dominance." Theologians say the Russian church's fear of the West is understandable. "I think we in the West need to be more sensitive to the Russian experience of the West," said Nicholas Constas, an assistant professor of theology at Harvard Divinity School. "The last time the Russians encountered Western liberal thought it was in the form of Marxism, and I'm not sure they're interested in sampling any of the other flavors." But Alexy also referred to his often testy relation within the Orthodox ranks. He challenged the centuries-old structure making the ecumenical patriarch — based in Istanbul, Turkey — the "first among equals" among the Orthodox leaders. The present ecumenical patriarch, Bartholomew I, has been a leader in trying to forge common ground between Orthodox and Roman Catholics, which split in 1054 over the issue of papal authority. Alexy said there is not a "theological problem" with the theory of making Russia a second pole of leadership among the faith's complex patchwork: 16 separate churches covering most of the faithful. Copyright 1999 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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