Escalation of Christianophobia in the Middle East is a threat to Orthodoxy
European Council of Religious Leaders: Address by Metropolitan Hilarion
"In the final document of the ECRL meeting in 2004 in Brussels, it was stated that our Council was established to offer an open, clear and regular dialogue to European international institutions. The history of our organization has shown that the united voice of the leaders of historical religions in Europe is heard in the Council of Europe and in the European Union bodies. We should continue addressing those who belong to the leading structures of European institutions with regard to the problems of concern for us. It is especially true for human rights and freedoms, that is, the themes to which the present meeting is devoted".
Minorities should keep in mind their social responsibility
Committee of Representatives of Orthodox Churches to the EU: Mission Possible
by Archpriest Antony Iliin.
On March 17, 2010 in Brussels the Committee of Representatives of Orthodox Churches to the EU has initiated its work. As the first step it issued a Communique describing the importance of a dialogue between the European institutions and the Orthodox Churches in the context of the Lisbon Treaty.
Life as a Mystery. A Few Words on the Election of the First President of the European Union
by Archpriest Antony Iliin.
"If van Rompuy will incur ambitions to realize the given position as the President of united Europe personally feeling that the European identity is inseparable from its Christian roots, it will be possible to tell his election became a real chance for the European Union".
The Debate on Euthanasia in the Context of the Dialogue between Christianity and Secular Humanism
by Bishop Hilarion Alfeyev.
The recent debate on euthanasia is impossible to examine apart from the main problems in the dialogue between the religious world-view and Western secular humanism over the values which should lie at the foundation of the ‘new world order.’ In our opinion, these arguments demonstrate the anti-human essence of atheistic humanism, which lays claims to being a universal ideology and openly opposes itself to the traditional notions of life and death.
Bishop Hilarion Alfeyev: The Concept of the Dignity and Fredom of the Person in Christianity and Secular Humanism
Christianity and secular humanism attach principally different meanings to the ideas of the dignity and freedom of the person. In the religious tradition the notions of the dignity and freedom of the person directly follow from the concept of his divine origin. The biblical and Christian traditions speak of how man was created in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26; 5:1), with the image being understood as something placed into him from the beginning and the likeness as a certain potential which he must realize.
Address at the Meeting with Religious Leaders
Address of Bishop Hilarion of Vienna and Austria at the Meeting of the European Commission President José Manuel Barroso and the Chancellor of Austria Wolfgang Schüssel with Religious Leaders on 30 May 2006.
In the territory of the European Union the Moscow Patriarchate has several dioceses, hundreds of parishes and millions of believers. During the last fifteen years, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, many Russian-speaking people immigrated to Western Europe and created Orthodox religious communities, which serve as spiritual and cultural centres. However, the Moscow Patriarchate is by no means a Church for the Russian-speaking people only: it has a multi-ethnic character and widely uses other languages both in liturgical services and in preaching.
Human Rights and Moral Responsibility
Paper by Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad (now Patriarch of Russia) presented at the 10-th World Russian People’s Council.
23.05.2006
For Russia and her peoples in the 21st century, questions of science and technology, the economy and social development will most likely remain important, if not of primary importance. It is clear, however, that the energy necessary for any kind of human endeavor can be drawn only from the spiritual realm.
Prêtre Antony Ilin : La quatrième Rome et la fin de l’histoire
« Deux Romes sont tombées, la troisième tient bon et il n’y aura pas de quatrième ». Cette thèse historiosophique odieuse est encore bien connue de nos jours. Si son auteur, le staretz Philothée du monastère de saint Eléazar de Pskov, vivait aujourd’hui, qu’aurait-il dit de la quatrième Rome dont la perspective est en train de se dessiner sur l’horizon européen ?