Moscow, July 27 (Interfax) - The Hagia Sophia becoming a mosque and the recent arson of a church in Nantes should make one pause for thought and undertake to prevent such things in Russia, Bishop Savva, a deputy administrator of the Moscow Patriarchate, said."A namaz in the Cathedral of Saint Sophia... The arson of the Nantes Cathedral (far from being the first church arson in France in a year, let alone other anti-Christian actions) ... Some would say, perhaps even with a kind of smirk, that this is a response to Europe's abandoning Christianity. What are you laughing at? You're laughing at our common tragedy!" Bishop Savva said on Telegram.Having acknowledged that Russia's path is special, he nevertheless said, "But European civilization is our common civilization. An assault on it is an assault on us."Bishop Savva called Russia "one of the main pillars of Europe (whatever the descendants of various Germanic tribes, from the Saxons to the Langobards, might think)" and called Russian culture "one of the gems of European culture.""And the Ottoman sword in the Hagia Sophia, and the Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesperson mocking 'the children of Europe' and church arsons and the demolition of monuments... All these assaults on our confused European neighbors, including on the fraternal Church, albeit one that betrayed us, these are assaults on us, too. The lesson for us, the titular nation, is to preserve our civilization and our culture," Bishop Savva said.
Monday, July 27, 2020
Abandon the faith in Europe, expect more destruction
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The risk of course is that the Church becomes a defacto artifact of the "civilization" rather than the other way around as it should be. Is that not the tragedy of the Greeks?
ReplyDeleteIn fairness, the Greeks are gifting the Church with wonderworking saints right up until our day, so its best to see our own bareness and try with God's help to imitate them.
DeleteThen explain why the Greeks are doing outstanding missionary work in Africa. We should never paint with such broad strokes even though it is open season on the Greeks.
ReplyDeleteThe Greek clergy finally redeemed themselves in Africa by promoting for once local clergy. That is perhaps why the African Church grows instead of shrinks like the Arab churches run by ethnic Greeks.
DeleteMy only experience with the Greeks is here in the US and their Hellenism is everything is a real problem. Indeed whether it is Greek, Russian, Serb, or American the reversal of the proper order makes everybody weaker. The Greeks do it more here than anyone
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting comment but seems hastily written. Can you clarify at your leisure?
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DeleteLance H.,
DeleteTo expand on Michael's thoughts in my own way, the Greeks explicitly emphasize "Hellenism" as being integral, or at least congruent to being Orthodox. Michael and many others are interested in the Gospel as such, either a "pure" Gospel (though this is usually recognized as an idealism and Protestantism) or a Gospel which while "embodied" in culture, is a servant of the Gospel in a proper hierarchical relationship.
On a less abstract level, I would agree with Michael that the Greeks are the most upfront about the culture/ecclesial link and their particular take on its meanin. I would disagree with him thatg the Greeks are somehow "more tragic", in that on the Slavs (and their resultant "jurisdictions in the US) one hand very often are just as "slavophile" as the the Greeks are "Hellenistic", and on the other the Slavs tend to be more implicit with it all - they don't seem as conscious they are doing it. For example, there is much in typical Slavic piety that is peculiar to Slavic culture and history, but they just assume it is "Orthodox" (and thus universal) as such.