His Holiness Patriarch Kirill met with the Secretary of State of the Holy See, Cardinal Pietro Parolin moscow patriarchate

August 22, 2017 in the Patriarchal and Synodal residence in the Danilov Monastery in Moscow hosted a meeting of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of the Holy See. On the side of the Roman Catholic Church, the Apostolic Nuncio in the Russian Federation was attended by Archbishop Celestino Migliore, Mesenor Visvaldas Kulbokas, Executive Officer of the State Secretariat of the Holy See, Mgr Erwin Lengel, First Secretary of the Apostolic Nunciature in Russia. On the part of the Moscow Patriarchate, the meeting was attended by Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk , Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations , Archimandrite Filaret (Bulekov) , Deputy Chairman of the DECR, DECR Secretary for Inter-Christian Relations, Hieromonk Stephen (Igumnov), DECR priest Alexy Dikarev. Greeting the distinguished guest, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill stressed that the first official visit of the State Secretary of the Vatican to Russia testifies to the "development of relations between the Russian Federation and the Holy See." "But with even greater satisfaction I note the development of our inter-church relations," said His Holiness, noting that a significant impetus to the interaction between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Holy See was the meeting of His Holiness with the Pope of Franconia in Havana. "This fact testifies to the fact that a new stage in the development of our relations has really started, filled with very important events. This became possible, because in Havana we coordinated positions on many problems of our time. And the commonality of positions enables us to build the corresponding plans and fill them with real content. " The most significant of all subsequent events, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill called the bringing of the relics of St. Nicholas the Miracle-Worker from Italy to Russia. "Never in such a comparatively short period of time, for two months, so many believers did not touch the shrine, as was the case with the relics of St. Nicholas," the Holy Hierarch said. According to the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church, many skeptics were shocked by what happened, for people living in the 21st century, from a different social status - from the President to the simplest workers - stood in line for 6, 8, 10 hours to touch Shrine. During the time of the relics of Nicholas the Wonderworker in Russia, from May 21 to July 28, the shrine bowed to more than 2.3 million people, said His Holiness, noting the significant assistance of volunteers, who had worked with people. According to His Holiness, this event did not pass for any of them, "it affected both the mind and the heart." "When we saw off the relics of St. Nicholas in St. Petersburg, addressing people, I said that neither church nor secular diplomacy can do so much for the development of relations between the Catholic world and the Orthodox, as St. Nicholas did," Patriarch Kirill said. - We witnessed the living tradition of the first millennium. The common shrine of the East and West is not an archaeological shrine, but a real shrine that attracts thousands and thousands of people. Therefore, of course, this event is absolutely unique. It entered the history of relations between our churches as a very bright and bright page. This is a truly spiritual consequence of the meeting in Havana. " The Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church also stressed that during the Havana meeting it was possible to coordinate positions on the situation in the Middle East and North Africa on the persecution of Christians that exist in the modern world. "Our Church takes an active part in humanitarian assistance to those suffering from the conflict in Syria and other countries of the Middle East. In this work, it is very important to rely on the broader support of the entire Christian community, "His Holiness said, stating that" the relationship between the Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church in providing humanitarian assistance in the Middle East would be a very important factor. " The Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church recalled that shortly after the meeting in Havana in April 2016, a joint working group of representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church visited Lebanon and Syria. "I think that by developing cooperation in this area, we can try to develop a basis for joint projects related to the maintenance of those who suffer from tragic military events in the Middle East," Patriarch Kirill said. According to him, Russia has an opportunity to work together to help the people of Syria thanks to the Working Group established in 2017 by the Council for Interaction with Religious Associations under the President of the Russian Federation. During the meeting, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill and Secretary of State of the Holy See Cardinal P. Parolin also discussed the situation in Ukraine. According to His Holiness, the Church should become a factor of reconciliation, and not get involved in the conflict: "The church can not play any role, except peacekeeping, when people are in conflict with each other." His Holiness Patriarch stressed that this is the principled position of the Church, which is carried out by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate in modern Ukraine. "Very many people with great gratitude refer precisely to the peacekeeping position of the Church. We are pleased to note the proximity of the positions of our Churches on the role of the Church in the conflict in Ukraine, "stated His Holiness. The State Secretary of the Vatican, Cardinal P. Parolin, gave the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church a greeting from Pope Francis and expressed his hope for the further development of relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church. "We see that the meeting in Havana, as you have already mentioned, laid the foundation for a new phase of relations between our Churches, gave new impetus to our ties," said P. Parolin, stressing that bringing the relics of St. Nicholas to Russia, about which His Holiness the Patriarch Cyril and Pope Francis agreed on the results of the historic meeting in Havana in February 2016, had a huge impact on the relationship between the two Churches. "This aspect speeds up our progress in relations," the representative of the Holy See said. - I was very glad to see how important this event was and how it was adopted by the Russian Orthodox Church. And I'm glad of his results. We can say that one of the results of the arrival of the relics is a new atmosphere that helps us communicate and move forward. " Cardinal Parolin noted the solidarity of the positions of the Vatican and the Russian Orthodox Church on the topic of the Middle East, stressing that the plight of Christians and other religious minorities there should awaken the conscience of the entire world community, and the Churches should contribute to the improvement of the humanitarian situation. Speaking about the situation in Ukraine, the representative of the Holy See agreed that local churches should preserve and realize their peacekeeping potential, in every possible way contributing to the restoration of peace and civil accord in the country.

http://www.pravmir.com/triumph-at-dormition

I know that the title “Triumph of Orthodoxy” is reserved for the first Sunday of the Great Fast. But that Triumph refers to the accomplishment of the comprehensive conciliar articulation of the Apostles’ teaching. It especially refers to the conciliar victory over the attempt to ignore the implications of the Incarnation of God. But this particular Triumph, as well as all the other rhetorical Triumphs of the Ecumenical Councils, did not have much to do with dominance or historic advantage. The iconoclasts would come again, and they did. The Arians were certainly not silenced. And you might have noticed that the Nestorians are back, in spades. So are the Docetists, Donatists, Eunomians, Pneumatomachians, Sabellians, Messalians (boy howdy), Voluntarists (who mutate into Atheists, inexorably). Hail, hail, the gang’s all here. Their presence doesn’t bother me so much. What bothers me is that I (and we) didn’t love enough, or speak clearly enough, or make peace enough, to prevent their intellectual bondage. So “Triumph” has lost some of its cheery umph for me, in this 21st century culture where “virtual” has replace “virtue.” “Triumph” certainly does not mean that anyone can quit the field theologically and mosey off to the victory feast. That is the way things are in this vale, where there are “wars and rumors of war,” where “the poor you will always have with you.” That said, there is a real “Triumph” that is decisive for Orthodox humans. And that would be the Dormition. No matter where culture is, or is going down its merry Babel way, the Dormition icon stands bright. Even in a civilization that is no longer civil. Even in a shared mentality where symbols are cut off from eternity and rendered opaque … where they are interrogated with queries predicated upon violent metanarratives … where sublimity has been elided with meaningless chaos … where beauty is at best a temporary respite, a convenient private illusion to protect the self until it is dissipated into the never-ending expansion of the universe … dust in the wind. Compared to this image of death, the crazy (and rather stupid) Halloween images of Game of Thrones, Walking Dead, Vampire Diaries, True Blood, Supernatural, Penny Dreadful, American Horror Story, the Strain, the Exorcist, Chucky, etc., ad nauseum seemingly ad infinitum … all these later images that multiply like bacteria on our mental screens are rendered as meaningful as Foghorn Leghorn cartoons by the sheer aspect of the decay of matter and energy at the end. Even so, in the midst of this antichrist haunting of culture with the toxic image of meaningless sublimity, the being and/or expansion unto death … in the midst of this stands the real, abiding Triumph of Orthodoxy. In the image of the Dormition, death is transmuted into repose. The Resurrected Son is revealed as the Lord of His Mother: in glorious reversal of the manger scene, He is the one Who holds a babe in swaddling clothes — the immortal, intact, non-dissipated soul of His Mother. The Dormition is the Sign of human immortality. Its beauty is the triumph over the privatized subjection of temporary peace to the totality of violence. Its peace is the proof of the persistence of human hope. Its symbol is the analogous brightness of the absolute infinite, Who is also Person and Community. This, simply put, is Mary’s religion. How she prayed, how she realized the Beatitudes in action, how she communed in sacrament, how she recognized her Son in every phenomena, and — most significantly — how, instead of dying, she fell asleep in the flesh: this really is the Triumph that stands … … despite history … in history and through it … and simply because of history. I don’t think America (or, maybe, anywhere else) will ever really “like” this religion. But the prospect of death is really the test of the truth of religion. At death’s door, belief rises or falls. Mary’s religion soared.