Κυκλοφορεί το ελληνόγλωσσο νιουσλέττερ μας, με τίτλο ΕΚΚΛΗΣΙΑΣΤΙΚΑ ΝΕΑ, κάθε εβδομάδα. Γράψτε μας αν δεν θέλετε να σας στέλνουμε το αγγλόφωνο ecclesia report. Προσοχή: οι ειδήσεις δεν είναι οι ίδιες!

The North American Orthodox-Catholic Theological Consultation has met in Canada. It convened at Saint Paul University in Ottawa, Ontario, from October 31, to November 2, 2002

The main focus of this meeting was a continued examination of the filioque question. The original version of the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed that dates from the 4th century and is still used by the Orthodox states that the Holy Spirit "proceeds from the Father." The word filioque ("and from the Son") was later added to the Latin version of this Creed used in the West, so that the phrase would read that the Holy Spirit "proceeds from the Father and the Son." This modification appeared in some areas of Western Europe as early as the 5th century but was accepted in Rome only in the 11th century. This change in the wording of the Creed and the underlying variations in understanding the origin and procession of the Holy Spirit within the Trinity have long been considered a church-dividing issue between our two communions. The Consultation has been studying this question since 1999 in the hope of eventually releasing an agreed statement.

The Consultation members also discussed major events in the lives of the two churches that had taken place since the last meeting. These included the meeting of US Catholic Bishops in Dallas in June, the visit of Romanian Patriarch Teoctist to Rome, autonomy for the Antiochian Archdiocese, the Israeli government’s non-recognition of Patriarch Irinaios of Jerusalem, the situation of the Catholic Church in Russia and relations between the Catholic Church and the Moscow Patriarchate, Orthodox participation in the World Council of Churches, the Clergy/Laity Congress of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese and the proposed new Archdiocesan Charter, developments in SCOBA, the document Reflections on Covenant and Mission produced by the dialogue between the USCCB and the National Council of Synagogues, the election and enthronization of Metropolitan Herman of the OCA, the Joint Declaration on Environmental Ethics signed by the Pope and Ecumenical Patriarch, the visit of a Constantinopolitan delegation to Rome for the feast of Ss. Peter and Paul last June, the enthronization of a new Archbishop of the Romanian Orthodox Missionary Archdiocese in America and Canada, the October meeting of the Joint Committee of Orthodox and Catholic Bishops, and the Byzantine Spirituality Conference that was held in Pittsburgh on October 5th.

In a direct rebuke to the French and German delegations at the United Nations, the European Parliament overwhelmingly asked for an international ban on all forms of human cloning. Voting 271 to 154, the Parliament endorsed an amendment to a biotechnology report in which it "repeats its insistence that there should be a universal and specific ban at the level of the United Nations on the cloning of human beings at all stages of formation and development and urges the Commission and the Member States to work towards this end."
This amendment reflects growing European disagreement with the French and German governments, which have been seeking a UN ban on the cloning of human beings for live-birth purposes, but not the cloning of human beings to be used and destroyed in medical experiments.

The Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, has made it known that he believes Christianity and Freemasonry are "incompatible," and that he will not appoint Church of England clergy to "senior posts" if they are members of the "secret organization."

The move is a bold one in the context of England, where Anglicanism and Freemasonry have long been intertwined, and where many clergy and churchgoers who belong to the 350,000-member fraternity admit no incompatibility.

The Palestinian Christian is an endangered species. When the modern state of Israel was established there were about 400,000 of us. Two years ago the number was down to 80,000. Now it’s down to 60,000. At that rate, in a few years there will be none of us left. Palestinian Christians within Israel fare little better. On the face of it, their number has grown by 20,000 since 1991. But this is misleading, for the census classification “Christian” includes some 20,000 recent non-Arab migrants from the former Soviet Union. So why are Palestinian Christians abandoning their homeland? We have lost hope, that’s why. We are treated as non-people. Few outside the Middle East even know we exist, and those who do, conveniently forget.

I refer, of course, to the American religious right. They see the modern Israel as a harbinger of the Second Coming, at which time Christians will go to paradise, and all others (presumably including Jews) to hell. To this end they lend military and moral support to Israel. Even by the double-dealing standards of international diplomacy, this is a breathtakingly cynical bargain. It is hard to know who is using whom more: the Christian right for offering secular power in the expectation that the Jewish state will be destroyed by a greater spiritual one, or the Israeli right for accepting their offer. What we do know is that both sides are abusing the Palestinians. Apparently we don’t enter into anyone’s calculations.

The views of the Israeli right are well known: They want us gone. Less well known are the views of the American religious right. Senator James Inhofe, R-Okla., said: “God appeared to Abraham and said: ‘I am giving you this land,’ the West Bank. This is not a political battle at all. It is a contest over whether or not the word of God is true.” House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, was even more forthright: “I’m content to have Israel grab the entire West Bank. … I happen to believe that the Palestinians should leave.”

There is a phrase for this: ethnic cleansing. Why do American Christians stand by while their leaders advocate the expulsion of fellow Christians? Could it be that they do not know that the Holy Land has been a home to Christians since, well … since Christ? Do not think I am asking for special treatment for Christians. Ethnic cleansing is evil whoever does it and to whomever it is done. Palestinian Christians -- Maronite Catholics, Orthodox, Lutherans, Armenians, Baptists, Copts and Assyrians -- have been rubbing shoulders with each other and with other religions -- Muslims, Jews, Druze and most recently Baha’is -- for centuries. We want to do so for centuries more. But we can’t if we are driven out by despair.

What we seek is support: material, moral, political and spiritual. As Palestinians, we grieve for what we have lost, and few people (the Ashkenazi Jews are one) have lost more than us. But grief can be assuaged by the fellowship of friends.