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Kyrill
Orthodox Metropolitan, Moscow Patriarchate
For the last ten years we have heard about the crisis of ecumenical movement more often than ever. The statement that the previous forms of Inter-Christian cooperation have died out and radical changes of inter-Christian relations and organizations are required has become almost the norm. It has been five years since the World Council of Churches initiated a so-called Forum of Christian Churches and Ecumenical Organizations, which was urged to become an open platform for the dialogue between the Churches and communities, which consider their membership possible, and those who believe such membership to be impossible. Some people are afraid of excessive bureaucratization in modern ecumenism and they would like to see a more �charismatic� attitude in resolution of the Gordian knot of differences and divisions. Others, who have already accepted the tragedy of division and even convinced themselves that there was not any tragedy at all, insist on �broadening the horizons�, on inclusion in ecumenical process maximum a number of communities of different trends irrespective to their dimensions and teaching. The third generally do not see any visible perspective in ecumenical movement and urge to keep themselves aloof from �the international Christian policy�, concentrate on local problems, not to exceed the frames of the direct bilateral relations with the more friendly Churches. There is quite a number among the Orthodox who adopt this attitude. Some groups emphatically advocate isolation as a panacea from the �cursed questions�, which, they say, only confuse the conscience of the faithful people. It looks as if the ecumenical movement is really in crisis, probably even in dead end. In a certain sense this crisis was inevitable. Archpriest Georgy Florovsky, the outstanding Russian theologian, warned against easy ways, against dangers of �dogmatic minimalism�, and exposed the infertility of hurried efforts aimed at reaching any result as soon as possible as far back as on the eve of ecumenism, in the most romantic period of its history. He saw another serious danger in the domination of humanitarian and peace-making subjects, spirit of the League of Nations in the World Council of Churches at the expense of Christian unity, a return to the spirit and life of the early Ecumenical Church, which, in his opinion, continued her ceaseless being in the Eastern Orthodox Church, and in many respects, in the Roman Orthodox Church. Today, paradoxical as it may seem, ecumenical movement has become a hostage of politics aimed at underlining human values, not particularly Christian ones. I mean mainly the processes of modernization that took place in the Protestant world under respectively favorable post-war conditions. This �permanent reformation� became more visible at inter-confessional meetings. Unfortunately, the ecumenical movement on the whole did not fulfill its most important task, which is the bringing together of Christians at the deep level of spiritual life, and left them disconnected in their experience of faith. Father Georgy Frolovsky wrote in the 50-s: �We have to seek not the satisfaction of our dreams and hopes, as glorious and inspiring as they may be or seem to be, but solely the common revival of spiritual life in existing communities�. However, instead of spiritual revival and rapprochement we have faced new obstacles that make our common witness to Christ more and more difficult in the world, from which Christian values are forced out. In our opinion the uncritical adoption of secular humanitarian ideology by many theologians and Churches in the West played a negative part in it. Secular humanism in many respects differs from the Christian Biblical anthropology that is far from implicit support of freedom in every form. The problem was raised anew by the Russian religious philosophy in the first half of the previous century. Semeon Frank wrote: �If we reflect deeply and glance over the common European, including Russian, historical past, we shall see that the Russian revolution is the last accomplishment and final result of that mighty rebellion of humanity, which began in the period of Renaissance and has extended to the whole period of the so-called �new history�. In the beginning of the 21st century we can say that the Russian revolution appeared to be not an accomplishment, but only one of the stages of this process that speeded up after World War II and reached its culmination in the ruins of communism. As far as Christianity is concerned, many liberal values connected with personal rights and freedoms have become surrounded by doubtful theological argumentation, mainly in the Protestant communities, and now are considered equal, and sometimes even higher than the values of Holy Scripture and Apostolic Tradition. Moreover, the clear and unequivocal witnesses of the Word of God are ignored or interpreted with the damage to their true sense in case they differ from the secular liberal values. Thus, the protection of personal rights, which is in compliance with the Church tradition (especially under tyranny, persecution for faith, wars and poverty), was radicalized to the detriment of the norms of the Apostolic tradition and has resulted in female priesthood, recognition of homosexuals, and so on. The secular legal principle of religious tolerance was extrapolated on dogmatics, which resulted in syncretism often covered by the facade of inculturation. The process of humanitarian modernization proceeds extremely quickly with modern possibilities, so the situation changes radically in some Churches in the framework of a single generation. Sometimes those who are older than 50 say: �It is not the Church it used to be when I was a child�. Theologians and church leaders, who inspire such development, often explain it with the necessity of renovation of Christianity for the sake of its more effective influence on the life of today�s man and society. I think this thesis does not stand up to any criticism, because no one can prove that there is a positive dependence between liberalization of theological thought and church life on the one hand, and effectiveness of Christian preaching on the other hand. On the contrary, the situation in the West shows at least that humanistic modernization is incapable of making Christian communities more effective in their witness and ministry to the modern world. It is no wonder that the Churches that confess the eternal values of Holy Scripture and Apostolic Tradition seek to resist the impulse, which creeps over many people, to reform totally and revise �old truisms�. But this resistance consists neither in raising outside barriers, nor in refusing to communicate with �our brethren, separation from whom pains us�(St. Gregory the Theologian). First of all, it is expressed in defending the perfect the Gospel of Christ, which was given to the Church by apostles in all its power and unceasing newness: �But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we preached to you, let him be accursed�. (Gal 1,8) It is evident that the Orthodox and the Catholic Church as the Churches of Tradition, which are the closest in their history, teaching and church structure, and many Protestant communities that try to stick to the standards of Apostolic Tradition in their life should work together to strengthen the Word of Christ in the world in order to save many. Probably we should seek the ways of more adequate representation of �catholic� tradition in the frames of a global Inter-Christian forum, which is the World Council of Churches or the one, which will come to take its place. Unfortunately, this good intention will remain only a wish, if we are not able to overcome the temptations of missionary competition. We should note that the publication of such documents as �The Basic Principles of the Relationship of the Russian Orthodox Church with Other Confessions� and �Dominus Jesus� is not in the last place connected with the wrong understanding of the essence of the Church by our partners in inter-Christian dialogue. The confession of St. Cyprian of Carthage � Salus extra ecclesiam non est � conveys the ancient understanding of the mission of the Church, which has always been the only ark of salvation of God�s grace. However, such a self-awarenessthat exists both in the Orthodox Church and in the Catholic Church should not be used for crossing out all positive results reached in the course of the dialogue between Christian East and West during and after Vatican Council II. The modern world, with its severe global competition and aggressive protection of private economic interests pose a difficult dilemma before the Churches: to follow the same logic of �fighting for the market� or to listen to the voice of the holy apostle of to the gentiles St. Paul �I have fully preached the gospel of Christ, thus making it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on another man�s foundation� (Rom 15, 20). The spirit of competition, which sometimes grows into open hostility, can once and for all destroy the fraternal love and trust built during the decades of hard work. The ideology of �free market of religions� cause inevitable clash between Churches and communities, because market is characterized by tough competition, there is no place for sacrificial love, unselfish mutual help, renunciation of material comforts. If we permit the outside world to make us behave according to the logic of competitive companies ready to do everything in order to �win the client�, the hope for a joint witness to Christ will be buried forever. It is time to realize that today as never before we need mutual support, we need a complete understanding of our historic responsibility for the destiny of the Christian world, which is subjected to the strongest blows on the part of the ideology of servility to man, which can corrupt millions and millions of people. Christianity faces new challenges at the beginning of the 21st century. We will be able to meet them with dignity only if we remain faithful to the Gospel and plenitude of Tradition, and do not give in to the cunning spirit of our times, but give the world an example of fullness of life in God and fraternal love: �Go therefore and make disciples of all nations �teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you� (Mt 28.19-20). Fulfilling the commandments of Christ, we should prefer loyalty to the Apostolic Tradition and plenitude of faith to hurried reforms that cast doubt on such loyalty, obedience to God�s will to accommodation to the spirit of the times, cooperation to competition, fraternal love to the hostility of �this world�. Only this way can lead Christians to restoration of unity. I hope that we shall return to this way. I hope that the words of Father Georgy Florovsky will come true: �the will for unity should see the light and be tempered in penitential trial and heroism of faith�.
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