Here is Sandro Magister's belated report on the book of essays on Europe and its perils by Cardinal Ratzinger/Benedict XVI published by the Russian Orthodox Church in a bilingual Italian-Russian edition, as reported by ZENIT and posted on Page 47 of this thread last December 1.
benedettoxviforum.freeforumzone.leonardo.it/discussione.aspx?idd=8527...
A new spring for Rome and Moscow
For the first time, the Russian Orthodox Church has published a book with texts by a Pope -
Benedict XVI. The topic is Europe.
The objective is a holy alliance in defense of the Christian Tradition.
ROME, December 11, 2009 – In a terse statement two days ago, Russia and the Church of Rome announced "the establishment of diplomatic relations between them, at the level of apostolic nunciature on the part of the Holy See, and of embassy on the part of the Russian Federation."
Six days earlier, on December 3, Pope Benedict XVI had received in audience Dmitri Medvedev, president of the Russian Federation, to whom he had given a Russian-language copy of the encyclical "Caritas in Veritate," and with whom he had discussed "cultural and social topics of common interest, like the value of the family and the contribution of believers to the life of Russia."
But it is not only with the authorities of the Russian state that the Church of Rome now has relations defined by both sides as "friendly." There appears to be a new springtime, too, in relations with the Russian Orthodox Church and its 'Vatican' - the Patriarchate of Moscow.
One signal of this came at the same time as Medvedev's visit to Italy. A book was presented in Rome on December 2, published by the patriarchate of Moscow and containing the main speeches about Europe made over the past ten years by Joseph Ratzinger, as cardinal and Pope.
Left photo was taken during Archbishop Hilarion's visit to the Vatican last month. Right, the bilingual book. Interesting note: the byline in Russian is Joseph Ratzinger/Papa Riomskii [Pope of Rome] Benedict XVI.
The volume is bilingual in Italian and Russian. The title is taken from an expression that Benedict XVI used in Prague: "Europa, patria spirituale [Europe, spiritual homeland]." And its extensive introduction is signed by the president of the patriarchate's department for external Church relations, Archbishop Hilarion of Volokolamsk, an authority of the highest order.
Suffice it to say that the previous occupant of this post, Kirill, is today the Patriarch of the Orthodox Church of Moscow "and all Rus."
An extract from the introduction to the book is reproduced further below. It is of great interest for grasping the perspective from which the patriarchate of Moscow looks at its own role in Europe.
It is a Europe forged by Christianity, but now attacked by a "militant secularism" against which two forces above all are leading the counteroffensive: the Church of Rome in the West, and the Orthodox Church in the East.
Those who expect an Orthodox Church removed from time, made up only of remote traditions and archaic liturgies, will come away
shaken from reading the introduction to this book.
[Having translated the entire lengthy introduction by Hilarion, 'shaken' seems rather inappropriate. Better-informed, yes, because Hilarion writes an effective and concise exposition of the history of the Russian Church since the Russian Revolution of 1917 to the present. We do not generally get to read much about what the Church of Russia is doing internally, but Hilarion tells a gripping story from the inside.
But 'shaken', no! Because the Patriarchate of Moscow has nonetheless been quite active in its PR work within Europe - much of it Kirill's work when he was the 'foreign minister' - making clear its positions on Europe's runaway secularization regularly and even relentlessly.]
The guideline here is being set by a document of great vigor, unprecedented in the entire history of Orthodoxy. Its title is: "The foundations of the social doctrine of the Russian Orthodox Church," and was published by the council of Russian bishops in 2000.
The image that emerges from it is that of a Russian Orthodox Church that refuses to let itself be locked up in a ghetto, but on the contrary hurls itself against the secularist onslaught with all the peaceful weapons at its disposal, not excluding civil disobedience against laws "that oblige the commission of a sin in the eyes of God."
[There seems to be some confusion here. Hilarion cites the social doctrine document not as part of his historical overview, but to define the relationship of the Russian Church to modern society - like a Russian Gaudium et spes - but more concrete in specifying how it proposes to counteract secularization by upholding and promoting the Christian tradition. Hilarion's entire essay is entitled 'Europe and the intimidations of secularism'.]
It is a text that is also striking for its frank, politically incorrect language, unusual for the pen of a high Church authority.
But before reading it, it is interesting to take note of a few of the book's unique features.
Its publication is not the result of official ecumenical contacts. Neither the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity headed by Cardinal Walter Kasper nor any other Vatican office had anything to do with it.
The actual organizers and publishers are the department for external Church relations of the patriarchate of Moscow and a Rome-based asscoation called Sofia, which promotes "Idea Russa, Idea d’Europa."
This association is run by Pierluca Azzaro, a professor of the history of political thought at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, who also edited the book. And he acts through the "Foro di dialogo delle società civili di Italia e di Russia," whose co-presidents are Luisa Todini, CEO of a big construction company and former European Parliament member in the party of Silvio Berlusconi; and Vladimir A. Dmitriev, chairman of Vnesheconombank.
The Forum was created at the end of 2004, through the joint initiative of Berlusconi and Russian president Vladimir Putin.
[The Forum is a project of the Russian-Italian friendship society, which holds it in Rome or Moscow during the bi-annual meetingsd between their heads of government held alternately in their respective capitals.]
It was this Forum that organized the public presentation in Rome last December 2 of the book by Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI, at the offices of the Ministry for Economic Development, with the participation of two other ministers, for culture and for education, and a sizable crowd of businessmen, diplomats, experts in geopolitics.
The speaker representing the Russian cultural world was the rector of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, Anatoly V. Torkunov, and for the world of Italian culture, the rector of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Lorenzo Ornaghi.
For the Patriarchate of Moscow, there was the secretary of the department for external Church relations, Sergij Zvonarev, while for the pontifical council for Christian unity there was Monsignor Milan Zust, a specialist on relations with Orthodoxy.
The title of the meeting was: "The role of the Churches in the cultural integration of Europe."
[Magister then posts an English translation of excerpts
chiesa.espresso.repubblica.it/articolo/1341357?eng=y
from Hilarion's lengthy Introduction to the book, published in Italian by L'Osservatore Romano on December 2.
I posted a full translation in Page 3 of the ISSUES thread on Dec. 3,
benedettoxviforum.freeforumzone.leonardo.it/discussione.aspx?idd=872...
because as excellent as Hilarion's Introduction is, it said not a word about Cardinal Ratzinger, Benedict XVI, nor the book it purports to introduce!
I am surprised that no one so far, not even Magister, has pointed out this very obvious omission - they're all too polite. But to my mind, it is a rank discourtesy. As I commented earlier, what would it have cost Hilarion to add just one sentence, at least, to tie up everything he wrote to the positions expressed by Benedict XVI in the book? I'm also surprised the ubiquitous John Allen has not commented on this story at all.?]
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 15/12/2009 00:55]