[CS-FSLUG] NI: Russian Orthodox bishop appeals for Catholic-Orthodox alliance

[dmc]

Fred A. Miller wrote:
> Russian Orthodox bishop appeals for Catholic-Orthodox alliance
>  
> WARSAW, Poland (CNS) -- A Russian Orthodox bishop has appealed for the 
> formation of a Catholic-Orthodox alliance to negotiate with European 
> institutions and members of other faiths on behalf of "traditional 
> Christianity." "Europe has so rapidly de-Christianized that urgent action is 
> needed to save it from losing its centuries-old Christian identity," said 
> Bishop Hilarion Alfeyev of Vienna and Austria, the Russian church's 
> representative to the European Union. "I strongly believe the time has come 
> for Catholics and Orthodox to unite their efforts," the bishop said at an 
> ecumenical congress in Gniezno, Poland, on the role of Christians in 
> contemporary Europe. "We need a strategic alliance, and we need it here and 
> now. In 20, 30 or 40 years, it may simply be too late." He said the alliance 
> would bring together representatives of European Catholic bishops' 
> conferences and Orthodox churches and noted that the group would seek a 
> "common position on all major social and ethical issues," including the 
> family, sex and bioethics.


Given the history of Roman Catholic and Orthodox abuse of government
power to violently repress other denominations, and recent history of
the Orthodox church doing (or attempting) precisely that in Russia and
other former Soviet client States, this is not necessarily good news.

 > ... "alliance to negotiate with European institutions and members
 > of other faiths on behalf of "traditional Christianity."

Sounds like code words for re-establishing the unholy church-state
alliance wherein which legalist tradtionalism is forced upon all.

This is not to suggest that most in Orthodox and Roman Catholic
churches have such imperialistic desires, just to remind folks
that there has been a historic abuse among a certain subset at
high levels of leadership.

The non-Biblical Crusades are just one result of unaccountable
leadership confused by the unholy mixture of church and state,
a mixture that always results in bad consequences for Biblical
Christianity.

IMHO, YMMV ... ;-)



-- 
Respectfully,

David Colburn, D.Min., M.A.Co.

Freelance Journalist/Writer,
Crisis, Family, & Individual Counselor,
Minister of Discipleship:
First Baptist Church of Spring Hill.

       /\ /\
?(~~~{ @ @ }  Sent from
  (      *     Puppy Linux
  (        )
   ~~~~~~~~~  http://bibleseven.com
   / /   / /