AsiaNews.it, Italy
June 3 2004
Rome and Moscow: a willing separation?
by Vladimir Rozanskij
Proselytism is a trivial problem compared to necessity of
evangelising the world. A Russian expert analyses the results
obtained by the Orthodox-Catholic Group.
Moscow (AsiaNews) – Cardinal Walter Kasper’s recent visit to Russia
is beginning to be show its first fruits. Probably, the most important
result of the trip is the organisation of the Joint (Orthodox-Catholic)
Working Group. The Joint Group, which started its activity in May,
is established to analyse the various existing controversies between
the two Churches, and to suggest possible solutions.
Members of the group unofficially reported that the relationship
between the Catholic and Orthodox participants was welcoming
and friendly, despite the difficult issues that the Group had to
discuss: the legitimacy of the “acts of proselytism” on the part of
the catholic Church in the 15 years since the borders to the former
Soviet countries opened.
The peaceful atmosphere that pervaded the Group’s meetings does
not spring from any great achievement, but from the spirit of
diversity that animates the protagonists of this new season of
ecumenical dialogue. Almost with a sense of freedom, in fact, the
representatives of the two sister-Churches were asked neither to work
for a re-unification, nor to organise improbable meetings between
their highest ecclesial authorities. The task is not so difficult,
and corresponds to the present reality: The Churches will take an
inventory of the rights and wrongs of the relationship between the
two ecclesiastical communities with a view to avoid ‘stepping on each
other’s toes’ in the future.
More than to ‘reunite the family’, as it were, this step is more
like asking lawyers to divide assets and define the terms of
the mutual, willing separation between two parties. Despite the
doctrine of marriage (which in the Orthodox Church is not as strict
as in Catholicism), nowadays even Catholics seem to appreciate the
advantages of a peaceful “separation”. Before Vatican II the Catholic
Church referred to Christians of other denominations as “dissidents”.
After the Council they became “brothers” (even if affected by some
minor imperfections), to be welcomed back home. Now, it looks like
they are turning into “willing divorcees”.
“Microscopic” proselytism
Therefore, the Group discussed ‘concrete things’, listing the names
and surnames of those who have offended and betrayed the mission
of the Churches. In truth, it would have been better if the Group
had considered some important statistics as well, to give the true
dimensions of the problem of ‘Catholic proselytism’. In Russia there
are officially 500,000 Catholics, but only 50,000 of them actually go
to church. Most important, there are only 5,000 Russians who turned
to the Church of Rome without having any kind of Catholic tradition
in their families (ie. A German or Polish grandmother). Among them,
only 2,000 had some link with the Orthodox Church in their past. In
Russia live 150 million people.
Truthfully, the Group considered some statistics. An orthodox
representative quoted the “offensive” words spoken by Verbist Fr.
Jerzy Jagodzinski, who questioned the Orthodox nature of the Russian
population observing that, “only 1.2% of people in Moscow participated
to the Easter celebrations”, 120,000 out of 10 million. Actually,
Jagodzinski was being generous with the Orthodox church: Moscow’s
authorities confirmed that “for Easter less than 1% of the population
attended any kind of religious service”. In the last ten years, there
are twenty times more churches than there was under communism, with
building being built or re-opened. Yet in relation to the immediate
post-communism years, only one third of people now attend the services.
Ultimately, it seems that the practical things discussed by the
Group concern only “those provincial reports of strategic activities
to convert people of Orthodox roots to another faith and another
culture.” According to Vsevolod Chaplin, the head of the Orthodox
delegation.. These kind of ‘provincial reports’ is a constant in
Russian history, which prefers ‘informing’ and secret accusations to
flagrant crimes. The Group was informed of supposed grave violations
that happened in remote locations, above all in the Siberian city of
Novosibirsk. Here Catholics are believed to be have been incited in
various sectors, especially within schools, hospitals, universities
and through TV programs. It is important to notice that Novosibirsk,
which is 4.000 km away from Moscow, was the place of deportation of
those considered dangerous by the Communist regime- free-thinkers and
undesirable ethnicities. German Catholics built their church there in
Soviet times. The Catholic activities, therefore, must be explained
in context of the Catholic roots of many living there.
In truth, the real reason behind the reports is something else.
Novosibirsk in fact is a city were Jesuits have concentrated their
efforts, the “Catholic devils” of Russian literature, an expression
of the inferiority complex of the Orthodox towards Western culture.
The local bishop, Mons. Jozif Werth, (a Russian German) is a Jesuit
himself and has called many in his Community to collaborate with him,
excluding the invitation, however, to Jesuits of the eastern rites, in
order not to provoke the distrust of Orthodox authorities. It is as if
the Orthodox Church would say, ‘They have tried again to convert us,
this time starting from the extreme peripheries. But again, we have
unmasked them!’
Targeting children’s activities
Another point of attack of the Orthodox Inquisition are “activities for
children”. Here and there, (in fact, always in the most inaccessible
places: Murmansk, Angarsk, Sakhalin) Catholics have been accused
of using schools and orphanages “for profit”, to take the souls of
those who would be the future sons of Orthodoxy. The fathers of the
Work Don Calabria would be the worst ones. According to Orthodox
authorities, these priests used to meet in a secret place not far
from Moscow airport, in order to organise their plots against the
local church. Actually, the fathers (from Verona) invested a large
amount of money, more than all the money from their Brazilian and
African missions combined, to buy and restore a completely abandoned
tourist center. They wanted to transform it into a modern school,
with independent heating. After 10 years, they have not still not
obtained the permission to open the school. They wanted was to
show the Russian people that Christians can propose an educational
method which is absolutely “secular” in its nature and appreciated
in the world. Paradoxically, they ended up in becoming the symbol of
Catholic proselytism, without even having begun their work. Today
the Rodnichock Center, run by the Fathers, is used only by groups
of children who are always escorted by their lay tutors. The Fathers
entirely pay for their vacations, but not even a single one of these
children has become Catholic.
Fr. Igor Kovalevskij (head of the Catholic delegation of the Group)
has held the role of the peacemaker. He acknowledged that “there are
some cases that have generated misunderstandings, as they could be
interpreted as acts of proselytism”. Patriarch Aleksij II has taken
advantage of Fr. Kovalevskij’s words by declaring, in the presence of
Pierferdinando Casini (the President of the Italian Congress) that
“for the first time their was official recognition of the existence
of the problem of proselytism in the territory of the Patriarchy of
Moscow, above all on the part of religious orders”. We don’t know how
much MP Casini has appreciated these updates of the Joint Working
Group. What is certain is that Orthodox authorities have always
been suspicious about religious orders. Probably, they cannot fully
understand either the independence of the orders from the dioceses
(such thing does not exist in the East), or their missionary nature
(and almost all the Orders have the word ‘missionary’ in their name).
It is not a coincidence that in the past someone accused even the
Indian nuns of Mother Theresa- who were called to Armenia by the
government after the earthquake of 1998- or proselytising.
Evangelisation
In truth, Kovalevskij emphasised that the Catholic Church rejects
proselytism at every level. He added that the Catholic Church has
no intention to proselytise in Russia, as this is a country where
it is not necessary to spread the Gospel. After all, Russia has a
long Christian tradition. It is not the situation of New Guinea or
an African country where it is necessary to preach the Gospel. These
affirmations seem to be not in line with the real situation of the
country. Kovalevskij concluded by saying that “our relationships
with the Orthodox church are cold, but it is not winter yet”, echoing
Patriarch Aleksij who declared that “there are some clouds” over our
relationship. In this way, with the use of these weather metaphors,
the ecumenical dialogue has taken a new direction, to divide itself
peacefully rather than to unite. Perhaps one can see also the design
of Divine Providence, useful, not only to define new connections
between Christians, but also into affect conflicts on an international
level. Psychological and spiritual confines, more than geographical
and political ones, show the urgency of proclaiming the Gospel of
unity and peace in a world upset by conflicts and accusations for
so long. Only in this Gospel will we be able to find our proper
“ecclesial territories”.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress