Universitatea Ovidius Constana

THEOLOGIA PONTICA

REVISTA CENTRULUI DE CERCETRI TEOLOGICE, INTERCULTURALE I ECUMENICE SF. IOAN CASSIAN

DIALOG CRETIN

I INTERCULTURALITATE

ANUL III (2010), NR. 1-2

REDACIA I ADMINISTRAIA: Facultatea de Teologie Ortodox Universitatea Ovidius

Aleea Universitii, nr. 1, Constana Telefon: 040241670900

Colectivul redacional

Preedinte: Arhiepiscop Dr. TEODOSIE

Decanul Facultii de Teologie Ortodox a Universitii Ovidius Constana

Membri: Pr. prof. dr. Ioan SAUCA

Institutul Ecumenic de la Bossey (Elveia)

Pr. prof. dr. Adrian NICULCEA Facultatea de Teologie Ortodox Constana

Pr. Marie-Jacques de BELSUNCE Comunitatea Sfntul Ioan Bucureti

Prof. univ. dr. pr. Iosif BISOC, OFMConv. Institutul Teologic Romano-Catolic Franciscan din Roman

Pr. prof. dr. Alexandru IONI Facultatea de Teologie Ortodox Constana

Pr.conf. dr. Nechita RUNCAN Facultatea de Teologie Ortodox Constana

Ass. prof. dr. Emil TRAYTCHEV Decanul Facultii Theologie a Universitii din Sofia

Drd. Marina VASINA Institutul de cercetare iconografic din Sankt Petersburg

Pr. lect. dr. Mihail SPTRELU Secretar AIDRom Bucureti

Redactor responsabil:

Pr. prof. dr. Vasile NECHITA nechita_vasile53@yahoo.com

Secretari redacie:

Pr. drd. Constantin CIOBANU Drd. Constantin RUSU

Drd. Ioan DURA

ISSN 1844 2870 Editura - acreditat CNCSIS Tel: 0332421250; vasi98iasi@yahoo.com; www.vasiliana98.ro Redactor: Florentin Busuioc Iai - Romnia

Publicm orice material legat de profilul de cercetare al Centrului de Cercetri Teologice, Interculturale i Ecumenice Sf. Ioan Cassian Responsabilitatea pentru coninutul fiecrui text aparine, n exclusivitate, autorului Materialele trimise pentru publicare nu se restituie

CUPRINS

From World Mission to Interreligious Witness: Visiming ecumenics in the 21st century - Dublin 14-25 iunie 2010 ................................................................................... 5

ECUMENICAL DIALOG TODAY

Archbishop D. Teodosius PETRESCU, Romanian Orthodox Spirituality and Ecumenical Dialog ............................................................................................................. 9 D. D., Professor, Fr. Vasile NECHITA, Edinburgh 1910-2010. Achievements, Disillusions and Hopes / Perspectives ......................................................................... 15

DIALOGUL ORTODOX-ROMANO-CATOLIC

Prof. univ. dr. pr. Vasile CITIRIG, Aspecte dogmatice n mariologia Papei Ioan Paul al II-lea ...................................................................................................................... 40 Lect. D. Ilie MELNICIUC, Biblical Statements About Passion, Death and Christs Resurrection in Niceean Creed ...................................................................................... 48 Pr. asist. dr. Corneliu-Drago BLAN, Slujirea nvtoreasc a preoiei sacramentale ..................................................................................................................... 61

STUDII

Prof. univ. dr. Gheorghe F. ANGHELESCU, De la istorie la eshatologie. Un demers mpotriva pervertirii timpului ....................................................................................... 69 Drd. Ioan DURA, Regula Fidei i deconstrucia nvturii de credin. Simbolul niceo-constantinopolitan n condiia postmodernismului ...................................... 81 Drd. Constantin C. RUSU, Raionalitatea teologic i filosofia tiinei o interogare hermeneutic radical ..................................................................................................... 95

DIALOG INTERRELIGIOS

Ph. D. Ioan DURA, Brahman Ekamevdvityam: The Undifferentiated Absolute in Advaita Vednta ............................................................................................................ 112 Ph. D. Fr. Constantin CIOBANU, Ethnic and Religious Pluralism in Dobrudja Country (Romania) ........................................................................................................ 119

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LOCUL ORTODOXIEI ROMNETI N DIALOGUL ECUMENIC

Ph.D., Student Paula BUD, Naming and Thinking God in Orthodoxy .................. 132 Hieromonk Benedict GEORGESCU, Romanian Orthodoxy A Bridge Between Orient and Occident ...................................................................................................... 143 Ph D. Bogdan Florin CHIRILU, The Trinitarian Love into a United Europe .... 152 Lt. col. Carol-Teodor PETERFI, Ethnic Religious Dimension of Security ............ 163 Masters Degree Student Corneliu CHIVU, Rediscovering the Patristic Orthodox Spirituality in the Occidental Space A Chance to Recovering the Christian Unity of Europe from the First Millenium ................................................................ 182 Masters Degree Student Doru Emanuel PANTAZI, Church's Mission in a Secular Europe .............................................................................................................................. 193 Elena TBU, The Romanian Orthodox Christianity in a Pluralist World ......... 207

DIALOG TEOLOGIE-ECONOMIE

Prof. univ. dr. Tiberiu BRILEAN, Teoeconomia ........................................................ 219

NSEMNRI

Pr. prof. univ. dr. Alexandru M. IONI, Visarion Puiu mitropolitul pribeag i condamnat la moarte ..................................................................................................... 223

CRI N AGORA

Mijlocitori ntre cretinismul oriental i cel occidental: Alexandru Surdu, Izvoare de filosofie romneasc (Pr. prof. univ. dr. Vasile NECHITA) .................... 241 Cunoaterea i acceptarea alteritii religioase: Nicu Gavrilu, Mama protilor e mereu gravid. Sociologia patologiilor cotidiene, (Drd. Bogdan-Ciprian NECHITA) ........................................................................................................................ 250

RECENZII

Juan Mateos, S.J., Utrenia bizantin (Pr. drd. Florin DRGOI) ............................... 255 Teologie ortodox n destin romnesc - Printele Profesor Ilie Moldovan la 80 de ani (Drd. Doru Emanuel PANTAZI) .............................................................................. 260 www.ecumenismdobrogean.ro...................................................................................... 268

FROM WORLD MISSION TO INTERRELIGIOUS WITNESS: VISIMING ECUMENICS

IN THE 21st CENTURY Dublin 14 - 25 iunie 2010

Aniversarea unui secol de la Conferina de la Edimburg

considerat a fi momentul hotrtor pentru afirmarea voinei de colaborare ecumenic dintre Bisericile cretine n domeniul misiunii, dar i al aprofundrii unor nvturi de credin divergente a prilejuit cunoscutei Irish School of Ecumenics din Dublin organizarea unui program intensiv cu o larg participare internaional (aproximativ 20 de universiti), interconfesional i interreligioas, sub genericul: Translating God(s): Intercultural Theology and Interreligious studies (Dublin, June 14-25, 2010), ale crei lucrri s-au desfurat n patru secii: 1. Naming and Thinking God in Europe Today; 2. From World Mission to Interreligious Witness; 3. Dialogues of Religious i 4. Fluid Religious and New Modernity, n perioada 16-18 iunie 2010.

Din partea Facultii de Teologie a Universitii Ovidius din Constana la aceast ntrunire ecumenic au participat: nalt Preasfinitul Dr. Teodosie Arhiepiscop al Tomisului, decanul Facultii de Teologie, Preacucernicul Preot dr. Vasile Nechita, profesor de Misiologie i Ecumenism, Domnul profesor Rzvan Ionescu, doctoranzi, masteranzi i studeni; nalt Preasfinitul Teodosie a susinut referatul n cadrul seciei nti Romanian Orthodox Spirituality and Ecumenical Dialog , iar Preacucernicul Printe profesor Vasile Nechita n cadrul celei de a doua secii Edinburgh 1910-2010. Achievements, Disillusions and Hopes / Perspectives , care sunt publicate integral n prezentul numr al revistei noastre.

Dintre referatele susinute n cele patru grupe amintim: Felix Wilfred, From World Mission to World Christianity: Revisting Christian Witness from the Global South; Maria Clara Bingemer (Rio de Janeiro), Solange Lefevre (Montreal), Eloi Messi Metago (Yaounde), Regina Ammicht-Qinn (Tubingen), Elaine Wainwright (Auckland) i Felix Wilfred (Chennai) cu privire la subtema The Public Character of Faith and Theology; iar Robert J. Shreiter (Chicago), Christian Witness in New Modernity: Traiectories in Intercultural Theology, Will Storrar (Priceton),

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Religion and Theology in Public Life; Ina Merdjanova (Sofia), Eastern Orthodox Christianity in a Pluralism World; Ataullah Siddiqui (Leicester), Islam and Public Witness: Issues in Dawah and Religious Pluralism; Lisa Sowle Cahil (Boston), Diego Irarrazaval (Santiago), Susan Ross (Chicago), Silvia Scatena (Modena) i Marie-Theres Wacker (Munster) cu privire la Cultures of Faith in the Public Square, Catherine Cornille (Boston), The Role of Witness in Interreligious Dialogue; Ram-Prasad Chakravarthi (Lancester), Interreligious and Witness: Examining the Terms from Hindu Perspectives; Linda Hogan (Dublin) i John D Arcy May (Dublin), Ecumenics an Intercultural, Intereligious and Public Theology.

ntrunirea s-a ncheiat cu Panel & Plenum, n cadrul cruia sub genericul: Dissent, Witness and Public Theology au fost refereni: Erik Borgman (Tubingen), Hille Haker (Frankfurt), Ina Merdjanova (Sofia), Ataullah Siddaqui (Leicester) i Will Storrar (Princeton).

Participanii la aceast ntrunire, n cadrul discuiilor pe grup i particulare, au putut lega prietenii, identifica noi teme de discuie i prioriti n mrturisirea lui Hristos astzi, precum i a proiecta noi ntlniri de acest gen n cadrul instituiilor de nvmnt teologic, al departamentelor specializate n susinerea dialogului intercretin i interreligios sau al organismelor locale, zonale sau regionale preocupate de asemenea dezbateri privind locul Teologiei n spaiul public i oportunitile pe care le ofer diferitele medii interculturale, cum este cazul Dobrogei n care pot fi gsite deopotriv o reprezentativ diversitate religioas precum i o multietnicitate, caracterizate prin colaborare i convieuire panic de secole.

Ct privete pe doctoranzii, masteranzii i studenii facultii noastre care au luat parte la aceast ntrunire ecumenic, precum i la un trend, desfurat ntre 14 i 25 iunie 2010, sub egida Trinity College Dublin, putem afirma c a fost n primul rnd o benefic ntlnire cu tineri aparinnd altor Biserici cretine, cu care au legat prietenii; roadele acestora se vor vedea n decursul anilor ce vor urma. Sperm c aceste prime contacte s fie continuate i de altele, nct ele s devin o constant a slujirii noastre.

Dintre temele abordate de refereni sau dezbtute n cadrul discuiilor pe grupe merit a fi amintite: Naming and Thinking God in Europe Today; Geographies of God Talk in Southeast Europe; God in Europe Is there an Europe God?; The European Condition: God Talk in Secular Contexts; Translating God(s): From Crosscultural Translation to Interreligious Witness; Dialogue, Research, Democracy: The Concept of Revelation in a Culture of Debate; Contemporary Perspectives in the Theology of Religious;

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Islamic Theology and the Interreligious Frontiers in Turkey; Christian Minorities in the Middle East and their Effects on Muslim. Christian Relations in Europe; Qur an, Islam and Other Faiths; Seeking the God Who is Real Enough to be Absent: Hindu and Christian Insights; Translator s Implicit Codes, Avoiding Hidden Agendas in the Interreligious Study of South Asia; Comparative Theology with Hinduism or Islam; The Crucifixion of Christ in Indo Islamic Painting; Perspectives on India and the West: Politics, Religion and Art; Fluid Religion and New Modernity: a Baltic Perspective; Fluid Religions and De/Traditionalization in Central Europe; Cultures, Fluid Religions and Orthodoxy in Southeast Europe; Flexible Religion: Challenge to Modern Theology; Fluid Religions and the Ethics of New Modernity i Ambassadors of Intercultural Theology and Interreligious Studies. Chiar i o simpl lectur a titlurilor acestor referate poate covinge pe oricine de seriozitatea cu care a fost abordat complexa problematic legat de dialogul interreligios i intercretin n contextul postmodernismului i al globalizrii.

Nu cred c ar fi o exagerare dac a afirma c pentru toi cei care am plecat din prile dobrogene n cea mai vestic ar a Uniunii Europene - acest pelerinaj s-a desfurat sub binecuvntata ocrotire a celor doi sfini ai Bisericii lui Hristos, deopotriv rugtori i misionari, care au fost aproape contemporani: Sfntul Ioan Cassian i Sfntul Patrick; dac sfntul dobrogean fcea apel la trezvie, la pzirea fiecrui cretin de a nu cdea n cursa vrjmaului i la cultivarea discernmntului duhovnicesc, cunoscut i sub numele de dreapta socotin, lumintorul Irlandei n frumoasa rugciune numit i Platoa chema pe orice cretin s se angajeze cu toat fiina n slujirea fr ezitare i cu mult bucurie a Evangheliei lui Hristos.

Amintind de mrturisirea patronului Irlandei pe ct de limpede pe att de emoionant: Domnul mi-a dat darul inestimabil de a readuce la viaa n El multe popoare, prin opera mea, i de a-i conduce la plintatea vieii cretine; dac Domnul mi-a fcut acest mare dar doresc s-mi consacru toate puterile mele pentru aceast cauz att de actual pentru zilele noastre, nu putem s nu fim micai de zelul su misionar i s nu ne impropriem ca pe un crez misionar cel puin urmtorul pasaj din Lorica sa, cum se mai cheam amintita rugciune:

M ridic astzi Pentru ca puterea lui Dumnezeu s m

povuiasc Tria lui Dumnezeu s m sprijinesc

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nelepciunea lui Dumnezeu s m nvee Ochiul lui Dumnezeu s vegheze asupra mea Urechea lui Dumnezeu s m aud Cuvntul lui Dumnezeu s-mi dea grai Mna lui Dumnezeu s m povuiasc Calea lui Dumnezeu s rmn n faa

mea... Aducem pe aceast cale mulumiri Domnilor Norbert

Hintersteiner i Peter Admirand pentru ntreaga solicitudine artat, att nainte ct i pe parcursul ntrunirii; deopotriv, i pentru interesul i aprecierile privind contribuia delegaiei noastre, asigurndu-i de aleasa noastr consideraie i preuire, precum i de continua sporire din partea noastr a eforturilor de susinere a dialogului intercretin i interreligios, pentru a fi Ambasadors of Intercultural Theology and Interreligious Studies.

Nu mai puin se cuvine a aduce clduroase mulumiri i prinilor ortodoci romni de la Biserica romneasc din Dublin , precum i credincioilor mpreun cu care ne-am rugat; n mod deosebit, familiei Printelui Godffrey ODonnell, pentru dragostea pe care o are fa de Ortodoxia romneasc. Cuvintele i gesturile tuturor celor cu care am mprtit bucuria de a aduce mpreun laud lui Dumnezeu ne vor rmne vii n suflete, pentru c i ele fac parte din experiena duhovniceasc pe care ne-a prilejuit-o periplul spriritual n locurile pe care vechii greci le considerau a fi mult-cutatele cmpii Elisee...

Srbtoarea Sfntului Patrick, 17 martie 2011

Drd. pr. Constantin CIOBANU

ECUMENICAL DIALOG TODAY

ROMANIAN ORTHODOX SPIRITUALITY

AND ECUMENICAL DIALOG

By His Eminence, University Professor Dr. TEODOSIUS PETRESCU,

The Archbishop of Tomis The Romanian Orthodox Spirituality enjoys a distinct status within the frame of universal Orthodoxy, status which is conferred on it by the unique mode in which the nations history was blended with the history of the Church, and the identity of faith was taken upon itself as the national identity. It is a well known fact by all the historians that the Romanian nation was born as a Christian one. The symbiosis between the unity of faith and the unity of nation constitute a permanent characteristic of the Romanian people, and it is precisely for this reason that, from the historical birth of the Romanian people until today, the ethnical characteristic was identical with the religious one. Thus, the Orthodoxy and the Romanian spirit represented two indestructible and indivisible characteristics of the Romanian people. This reality can be noticed both within the frame of historic data and of the natural development of this nation, and, particularly, in the literary works which refer to the Romanian people. In these novels, short stories or poems, the Romanian individual is presented as the faithful man who Christianizes the space and the social and historic context in which he carries on his existence. In the life of the Romanian, God is presented as a personal, alive, and protective reality. He is part and parcel of the social program of the Romanian, and is close to him in all the moments of his life. While noticing these realities which speak of a profound sensibility and seriousness of ontological religiosity of the Romanian individual, Father Dumitru Stniloae has elaborated on it in a unique chapter of his book, The Orthodox Dogmatic Theology, called: The knowledge of God under the concrete circumstances of life.1 The complex manner by which God is present and works in the mans life, but especially the ability of the Romanian Orthodox faithful to relate himself to God, as his Creator and Savior, has brought about Father Stniloae to discover the beauties of the Christian piety and living. Thus, in the inhabitants of his village he sees clear examples of theologians who, by their behavior, life, prayers and discussions bring God down in their midst and live according to His will.

1 Pr. Prof. Dr. Dumitru Stniloae, Teologia Dogmatic Ortodox, vol. 1, ediia a doua, Ed.

Instutului Biblic i de Misiune al B.O.R., Bucureti, 1996, pp. 99-103: God is known by each faithful in His providential action by which he is led in the particular circumstances of his life, sometimes by being presented with some goods, at other times by being pedagogically deprived of them...It is an exciting, oppresive, afflicting, joyful knowledge which awakens in our being the responsibility and warms up the prayer, and makes our being to get closer to God. In it, our being experiences practically the goodness, the power, the justice, and the wisdom of God, His attentive care towards us, Gods special plan with it. In this relationship, the human being is living a relationship of particular intimacy with God as the supreme Person (Ibidem, pp. 99-100).

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On the other hand, the Romanian nation has never waged any conquering war. As the great Romanian poet, Mihai Eminescu, said, the Romanian people has defended its poverty, its needs and its nation in the hope of the Cross and with the joy of Christs Resurrection. All the time, in front of the armies and of the soldiers, who were going to lay down their lives to defend their mother-country and their ancestors faith, to complete again the nation, for our dignity and liberty, as these heroes are remembered at each Divine Liturgy during the moment of Great Entrance with the honorable Gifts2 were found the priests with the sign of the Cross, and this truth is confessed by the national Anthem of Romania, also. All of these facts and sensible realities of the Romanian peoples being help us understand that there is no delimitation between the faith and nation. The symbiosis between the ethnic and the religious or between Orthodoxy and Romanian spirit does represent the unique status of the Romanian people in the space of the new Europe. The Romanian spirit is a synthesis between the definite and the indefinite, between equilibrium and impulsiveness. By his nature, the Romanian faithful is calm, meditative, non-violent and poised. This equilibrium becomes a pillar of conscience and of the will and generates self-control which brings about the spiritual progress. A Christian reigning prince, Neagoe Basarab, teaches his son to be temperate and poised: For the wise gentleman, all of his thoughts and reckonings are just. Since the mind stays in the just mans body as the flag stays in the midst of war, and all the army looks for the flag The Romanian man knows that equilibrium is tantamount to reasonableness and to an existential normalcy lived in community through communion, which inhibits the instinct and increases the love for neighbor, and which is somehow in contradiction with the impassioned love which stems from individualism. In the context of love the Orthodox conscience is characterized by: contemplation, modesty, spiritual simple-mindedness, and the joy in the Lord by externalizing the religious feelings. These coordinates are the measure of the spiritual authenticity in the Romanian Orthodox Spirituality and have the focusing on Christ, the ideal of holiness, the repentance, the prayer, and the community spirit as distinctive garments. From a Christ-centered point of view, we have to point out that the dimensions of the Romanian Orthodox Spirituality are totally internal. The Holy Communion is a reference system for the religious life of the Romanian individual, the flight towards God means deification, and because of this the essential traits of the Eastern spirituality have both an apofatic and a dynamic character in the ceaseless ascent towards God. The holiness experienced by the Romanian faithful is based on sensibility, seriousness, and humility. What seems paradoxical for some and normal for others, for the Romanian Spirituality is the fact that the history wrote down some moments when the Romanian individuals love and magnanimity were not limited by frontiers. Thus, the conquerors were treated with gifts and with the choicest meals, and in so doing they were fulfilling the Saviors word, Who says: Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the just and on the unjust (Matthew 5:44-45). This is

2 Liturghier, Ed. Institutului Biblic i de Misiune al BOR, Bucureti, 2000, pp. 152-217.

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the ideal of holiness, the likeness with the Creator. Yet, while speaking of the Romanians holiness and sanctification, we have to emphasize that they are part and parcel of the Romanian Orthodox souls structure. For instance, in the East it is the people, and not the ecclesiastical authority, who first feels the holiness, in other words, the official canonization is only a confirmation of the canonization by the Christian people (the spontaneous veneration brought to the one who has fallen asleep). In our Eastern spirituality the repentance does not destroy the man; on the contrary, it proposes the psycho-physical integrity of the dispassionate one and not his decomposition into non-being. Our Eastern Orthodox spirituality does not know such excesses as those from Syria and Egypt. The meaning of repentance is to come back to what is proper to the nature. From this theological perspective we may assert that the Orthodox Spirituality has helped the Romanian believer to cultivate his poetic and mystical sensibility in the spirit of the authentic values of the Holy Scripture. The veracity of this assertion is based on the genuine Christianity preached by the holy Apostle Andrew who persuaded the Romanian people to take seriously its destiny and its historic responsibility. It is not for nothing in the Romanian Christian tradition that Romania is the Mother of Gods garden! At all time, the preaching of holy Apostle Andrew, has led, and is still mystically leading, similar to a divine echo, the Romanian peoples destiny; it is for this reason that he was chosen as the Romanias protector saint, thus guaranteeing the identity between the Orthodoxy of our times faith and the Apostolic Orthodoxy of his time. It is the same type of veritable and popular Christianity which was lived by the Apostles, by the martyrs and by the faithful of the first Christian centuries. It was said that Romania is three centuries behind the Occident. In a way, this is true. We have not had an extremely great number of men of culture; yet we have had some. Even if they have gone to schools in the Occident, they have known how to overlap the Romanian realities with a culture and a faith which have led to the preservation of both the national and the faith identity. We have not had, and do not have with one single exception to offer opulent buildings and knightly ranks; yet we have known how to stay close to the nations sufferings, by promoting the social apostleship, as a fulfillment of the divine word: If someone says, I love God, and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? (I John 4:20). We love God and we love the land which was given to us by God. In fact, the Romanian land is part and parcel of the Romanian individual, and vice versa. This unity has given birth to martyrs since the watchwind from Oituz in 1917 sounded like this: No trespassing on this place! The Romanian people have not lived to philosophize. They have known how to defend themselves with the sword in their hands against the Ottoman invasion, and thus became the watchmen of Europe. In this context, they have come into a much more intimate contact with the truth of faith, and implicitly with God. For the Romanian individual, the experiencing of faith and not the theological systematization is of a vital importance. The Romanians talent, to have been born as a poet, brings him closer to Gods Mystery. It is easy to notice, from the behavior and the attitude of todays believers, who regularly attend the church, that the Orthodox Romanian does not attempt at rationally, or scholastically exhaust Gods Mystery; he tries rather to

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respect it by ascetical living and by prayer. The trust in God is so great that the usual response offered in various circumstances is: If God so wills. No, that is not the question of resignation or of the flight from responsibility; the matter is rather of acceptance, of respect and unconditionally accomplishing the divine will, since God loves His children and does not wish them any evil thing. Another reference characteristic of the Romanian Orthodox spirituality refers to the quality of being predisposed to sacrifice. The sacrifice is a Christian quality of the Romanian people, and this tribute has been constantly paid throughout the history; a testimony in this sense are the martyrly lives of the Romanian reigning princes, of the clergy, of the soldiers, of the intellectuals or of the peasants, who have rather preferred to die than to betray their faith and nation, and by whose blood, the history of our mother-country and of our ancient Church has been written. Another aspect of the sacrifice is the one of exceeding oneself. The legend of the Arge Monastery renders manifest the life as a sacrifice, its altar being found in the Church. The monastery could not be built excepting through a human sacrifice. The master Manole had to sacrifice his wife, and he did not hesitate to do this thing. This is a proof of divine feeling and thinking since when one dies for another ones sake is likened to the Son, but when one must sacrifice the life of his dearest being, one is likened to the Father. A village with a few families is counted as a village only if it has the church. A village, named Stejaru, has only 5 families. The force of the following day is given by the look they take to its monastery in the morning. There is, also, a traditional vision of the Romanian Orthodox Spirituality. We call it the deification of man by grace, and it is made manifest by mans ascending and ennobling. At a formal level, the matter is of the famous sculpture of Constantin Brncui, the Column of the Infinite, which goes thoroughly into the Romanian Christians aspiration to ceaselessly ascend towards God. On the Folklore side, the Romanian folk dress is representative. The harmony of colors points out the complexity of feelings and of the psychic conditions. The folks special dress spiritualizes the body by the synthesis of colors which make sense depending on the circumstance (the dark means wailing only if one fears death). In Maramure, at Spna, we have a joyful cemetery in which the colors do compete with the joyful spirit of the Romanian guy who sees in death the beginning of a new life. As to the Romanian melos, it is not materialized only into a regional variety of songs; the accent falls on the personal interpretation enframed by a composing fixed rule. This canon comprises, also, the beautiful Romanian language, rich in expressions and metaphors, the language which was born in the hearth of Romanian Christian monasteries and churches. The melodiousness of the language is nuancing the divine mystery which the elegiac songs typical of Romanian lyrical folk poetry and music attempt to decypher. The man is a man only in communion. By himself, he is dehumanized. The faithful Romanian is solidar both with the quick and with the dead being both fond of the bottle and serious the service for the dead sends him, on Great and Holy Friday, after the office of Lamentations, to the cemetery with lit candles. The memorial services and the memorial meals are proofs of the unceasing communication with the departed loved ones. They need the light as a ceremonial custom, and we need the light as an experience! And if God is love, the Romanian faithful loves with purity, from his heart, and if God is the Light, the Romanian

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Orthodox Spirituality models the souls of its believers in order for them to be able to live within the light. To the Tomanian people the Occidental mystic of darkness is unknown, since to us, the darkness is nothing else but the absence of light. I would like to point out, also, something else: the divine self-emptying has allowed us, the Romanians to get so close to God as to say: God, the dear One, or The little Father, or to the Holy Virgin, our little Mother, or our Mother, and these expressions are betraying the spiritual delicacy born of faith. The possessive pronoun is indicative of the most precious thing: in the Romanian Orthodox Spirituality, the value of each person could be seen only in the light of communion. A distinctive note in this discourse is represented, also, by the Romanian way of understanding and practising the hesychast style of life. After the passing away of Paisie Velicicovski, the current of the prayer at the Romanian people was divided in two branches: one in Moldavia around the Neamu, Secu, and Sihstria monasteries, and another one in Wallachia around the Cldruani and Cenica monasteries.3 Both camps have made some principle corrections, that is, they moved the accent from the unceasing prayer to ascetic life, obedience, labor and administration. This correction made to Paisies exclusiveness and its placing into a more realistic matrix has represented the Romanian moment of the history of Romanian Orthodox Spirituality. In 1962, although Jean Danielou and Nikos Nissiotis remarked the complementarity of the two spiritualities the Eastern one and the Western one it is proper to make more precise that the hesychast prayer, even though it was in great honor, it was accepted by the Romanian monks only in certain epochs. Nevertheless, the monks have gone thoroughly into the active life, by focusing themselves on obedience, humility, poverty and service to others. Another reference moment was Ioanichie de la Sihstria when an attempt was made at the renewing the vows, sometimes accompanied by the changing of the name and by taking on a more severe canon made up of prayer, prostrations, and the lack of talk, one being allowed to utter seven words in one day, at the most. There was, also, an attempt to revive the Paisies rules by the agency of Ioan Kulaghin, but they have not succeeded in creating a tradition. During the recent times, the Romanian orientation bears more and more the name of Cernica monasterys spirituality. The spiritual ascent is dual and consecutive: the asceticism and the contemplation. The order of the two dimensions cannot be reversed; they cannot be superposed either. They are mystical conditions which can be killed by publicity. Father Rousseau has pointed out correctly two essential traits of the spiritual life in the Orthodox Spirituality: the discretion and the care to pay respect to tradition. In concluding, we may say that all of these qualities which are born, consolidated, and preserved by the Orthodox Spirituality constitute starting points and living examples for the attitude of our Church in comparison with the other Christian confessions and non-Christian religions. While being the only Orthodox Church which speaks a language of Latin origin, and possessing a Christianity of authentically Apostolic structure, the Romanian Orthodox Church may and must be presented as a

3 The magazine Sobornost, vol. The tradition of life, the study St. Calinicus: Abbot, Bishop,

Man of God, by the Patriarch Justinian, pp. 11-17.

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strong ring of connection between the Churches and the Confessions from Occident and Orient.4 On the other hand, the mystic values of the depths of sensibility of the Romanian peoples being, the seriousness and the simple-mindedness of relation as against God may constitute a significant point in the dialogue between Orthodoxy and the Oriental religions of all nuances. The fact that the Romanian Orthodox Spirituality is not familiar with the tendency of offending or disdaining other cultural or religious traditions must make aware the other Christian confessions and non-Christian religions of the seriousness of the dialogue and of the constant preoccupation of the Romanian Orthodox Church to confess the truth and to make manifest the love of Christ. In this sense, one may talk, also, about the ability of Romanian Orthodoxy to suffer side by side with other brothers into humanity and to be joyful at the same time together with them. It is exactly because of this that we must not forget the fact that these truths have been, and are confessed by the Romanian Orthodox Church not only at a theoretical level, but especially at a practical level by helping those who suffer, regardless of their faith and nationality. It suffice to bring the example related to the 2004 tsunami of Thailand, when the Romanian Patriarchate has organized a series of collections in all the Orthodox parishes of our country to help those who found themselves in great straits, on the rocks. We believe that these life deeds can bring near the way of dialogue to receiving the truth and to showing respect and mutual love.

Translated by: The Rev. Dr. Dumitru Mcil

4 Dumitru Popescu, Omul fr rddcini, Ed. Nemira, Bucureti, 2001, pp. 95-96.

EDINBURGH 1910-2010. ACHIEVEMENTS, DISILLUSIONS AND HOPES / PERSPECTIVES

Fr. Vasile NECHITA,

D. D., Professor nechita_vasile53@yahoo.com

Faculty of Orthodox Theology Ovidius University in Constana

Preliminaries The Church of Christ had from the very beginning the consciousness of its

ecumenicity and unity. Born on the day of Pentecost, in Jerusalem, the Church gathered together God-fearing Jews and people from every nation under heaven [Acts 2: 5]. Especially on this occasion, the apostles were assigned the mission of preaching the Gospel into all the world [Mark 16: 15] and to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem [Luke 24, 47]. Thus, the Jerusalem Church became- as Father Andrei Scrima pointed it out as well5- not only the witness of the ecclesial ecumenicity, but also the model for that communion into which are invited all those who receive God s Word. At the Apostolic Council at Jerusalem there had been settled- under the guidance of the Holy Spirit: For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us [Acts 15: 28] and by all the apostles and the elders, with the whole Church those religious orders that had to be brought to the knowledge of the brethren who are from the Gentiles [Acts 15: 22- 23]. And especially after this important event of the ecclesiastical history, it can be said that the Church became the actual paradigm for the Christian unity and the guarantor for the preservation of the Orthodox faith: And when Paul and Barnabas had great dissension and debate with them, the brethren determined that Paul and Barnabas and some others of them should go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders concerning this issue ... and the apostles and the elders came together to look into this matter [Acts 15: 2, 6].

Therefore, one can clearly understand the reason why Saint Paul the Apostle, during his missionary activity among the Romans- from Jerusalem and round about as far as Illyricum I have fully preached the Gospel of Christ [Romans 15: 19]- and among his Galatian detractors as well- But when it pleased God...Who called me through His grace to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles... I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus. Then three years later I went up to Jerusalem to become acquainted with Cephas [Galatians 1: 15- 18], he turned to the authority of the Jerusalem Church.

Urged by the scissions and the disputes that took place in Corinth, the Apostle to the Gentiles comes and gives new explanations concerning the truth of the apostolic faith: By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a skilled master builder, and someone else is building on it... for no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ, He Who died for our sins according to the

5 Andr Scrima, Teme ecumenice, volum ngrijit i introducere de Anca Manolescu,

traducere din francez de Anca Manolescu, traducere din englez i note de Irina Vainovski-Mihai, Editura Humanitas, Bucureti, 2004, pp. 67-72.

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Scriptures; and He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures [ I Corinthians 3: 10- 11 and 15: 3- 4), a formula subsequently incorporated into the Niceno- Constantinopolitan Creed6.

The apostolic fathers, the apologists, the hierarchs, and the theologians of the early Christian centuries gave evidence of being in the same measure cognizant of the ecumenicity and the unity of the Church, striving for defending the thesaurus of faith they inherited from the Apostles, as it was explicitly stated by Saint Irenaeus of Lyon7. The increasing dangers that were threatening more and more the unity and the ecumenicity of the Church brought about the convening of the Ecumenical Councils that properly defended the Orthodox faith- defined by Vincent of Lerins as being that which has been believed everywhere, always and by all people- against the Arian attacks until the iconoclastic period. However, it had been impossible to avoid the schisms that were to affect the unity of the Church. Though the same ecumenical consciousness has been manifested during that period both by the Christian East and West, there were to be recorded, as unfortunate historical realities, the Schism of the Neocalcedoniana (Ancient Churches of the East) and the Great Schism between the Church of Rome and Eastern Patriarchates.

Unfortunately, all the attempts of reconciliation that took place at Lyon and Florence did not complete with the anticipated results; a short time afterwards, the division within the Western Church brought about by the Protestant Reformation made that the hope for a future reunification between Rome and Constantinople remain a thwarted dream of the past. Even so, there were some important initiatives in order to promote Christian reconciliation, initiatives which can not be overlooked. Of all these initiatives, it is worth mentioning those dating the 16th century and belonging to Erasmus- known as Prince of the Humanists- and to Nicholas Olahus, the bishop of Strigonium8.

The next century, there was to be registered the initiative that would promote the reunion between the Protestants and the Catholics, a desideratum especially encouraged by Leibniz, Pellison and Bossuet. Moreover, on this occasion it has been drawn up a project that was mentioning, among the other things, the following: We are sure that what has been accepted at the Council of Florence to the Greeks advantage- and not to the Bohemians (Hussites) - might be accepted to the Protestants advantage as well... If the centre of Catholicism agreed with all these claims of the Protestants, then these would promise, in their turn (that)...they would accept to take part to a serious and pacifist dialogue concerning the controversies that would still continue and to show the necessary determination so that the sacred thesaurus of the Catholic and apostolic faith, inherited by us through a perpetual traditon, could be preserved and perpetuated for posteriority.

6 Rino Fisichella, La Rivelazione: Evento e credibilita. Saggio di Teologia fondamentale,

Edizioni Dehoniane Bologna, 1989, p. 64; Pr. prof. dr. Vasile Nechita, Misiunea Bisericii. Ieri si azi, ediia a II-a, Editura Vasiliana 98, Iai, 2009, p. 154.

7 John Behr, Formarea Teologiei Cretine. Vol. 1: Drumul spre Niceea, Traducere din limba englez de Mihail G. Neamu, Editura Sophia, Bucureti, 2004, pp. 71-72; Diac. Ioan I. Ica jr., Canonul Ortodoxiei, Vol. 1: Canonul apostolic al primelor secole, Editura Deisis, Sibiu, 2008, p. 39.

8 Vasile Nechita, Umanismul de la gndirea scolastic la etica protestant, Editura Vasiliana98, Iai, 2002, pp. 30-34.

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Consequently, if it is not possible to come to a relevant conclusion through a conciliatory agreement, they are about to accept openly that which might be defined as legitimitate by an ecumenical council, relying on the whole issue that we have mentioned before, that is, at the beginning of this declaration- it deals with the essential features of the real Church, N/ A- so that the Protestant theologians and clergy (whose catholicity will not be called in question) should be allowed to take part to the sessions of the council in the same measure as the Catholics...9

In the framework of all these attempts to restore the Christian unity of the Church, we can not overlook the disputed endeavours of the Patriarch Kiril Lukaris to initiate a reconciliation dialogue and also those belonging to Milescu Spataru who tried to promote a genuine Orthodoxy and its sacramental life in the West. And this is just the proof of the fact that the Christian East has not been watching passively the realities in the West, although it was- more than once and because of political reasons10- the receiving end of either Roman- Catholic or Calvinist or Lutheran confessional attacks11.

The century of the evangelization missions In the 18th century, the pietistic trends have been followed by the so- called

evangelical awakenings that took place in different countries, especially in the Anglo- Saxon ones, and played an important part in the promotion- most often through particular initiatives- of a missionary consciousnessas encouraged by the idea of a Christian brotherhood, designed to comprise all the Curches; the novelty of this reality consists in the fact that thus, the confessional barriers have been more and more transcnded after long decades of dispute between the Protestants and the Catholics. It is also worth mentioning that during this century, the Orthodoxy saw an ascetical and filocalic spiritual renewal due to Saint Nikodemos the Hagiorite- who published the Philocalia in Greek- and to the Saint Paisie of Neamt, whose example was followed by a real pleiad of disciples, who were to translate the Philocalia into Russian, making use of different manuscripts and other Romanian adaptations of the pre- existent translations of the text. Unlike the Christian West, where the Reformation and the Counter- Reformation promoted a more agressive confessional missionarism- this fact being due in part to the spread of the Westmen in other continents as well- the East displayed a missionary spirit especially in defendence of the faith and in the thoroughgoing study of the patristic thinking which is mostly ascetical. That is why one could talk about a kind of spiritualization of its missionary conscience within the Orthodox space12.

Indeed, the 19th century can be considered the century of the Christian missions, especially if we think of the fact that many of the particular initiatives

9 It refers to Leibniz, Pelisson and Bossuet s efforts to draw up a reunification project,

in the view of the reconciliation between the Roman-Catholics and the Protestants. 10 Anthony E. Gilles, Fundamentalism. What Every Catholic Needs to Know, St. Anthony

Messenger Press, Cincinnati, 1984, p. 7. 11 Pr. prof. dr. Vasile Nechita, Misiunea Bisericii de la ecumenicitate la ecumenism, Editura

Garuda Art / Vasiliana 98, Chiinu-Iai, 2005, p. 124. 12 Daniel, Mitropolitul Moldovei i Bucovinei, Cuvnt nainte la Viaa Cuviosului Paisie de

la Neam (dup manuscrisul nr. 154 din Biblioteca Mnstirii Neam), Ediie ngrijit de Diac. Prof. Ioan Ivan, Editura Trinitas, Iai, 1997, pp. V-VII.

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undertaken in this sense, attained international dimensions because of the new possibilities of interrelations between people (Y. Congar). In this sense, industrialization, the invention of the steam machines used in ship engineering, enabled more performant movements, that is in more directions and on longer distances. That is why, during that period, the Christian missions appreciably spreaded their sphere of action, a fact that entailed a radical shift of perspective on the Christian mission.

Among the international associations that coordinated the various Christian missions, it is worth mentioning the following: Evangelische Allianz (1846)- this one was an association of people, and not of Churches, so that one could easily infer that all these were due their existence to the particular initiatives; then, the Lambeth Conference (1867); Presbyterian World Alliance (1857); Methodist Ecumenical Conference (1881); Union of Utrecht (1889); International Congregational Council (1891) and Baptist World Alliance (1905) developped a sustained activity of organizing numerous evangelization missions in the new European colonies over the seas. Another important fact that we ought to mention is that it also took place- for missionary reasons- numerous rapprochements especially between the Protestant denominations or the New Churches founded during the 19 th century. Thus, at the end of the XIX th century and at the beginning of the XXth century, there have been registered the setting up of the Union of Methodists in Canada and Australia, of the Presbyterians in Australia and the New Zealand, India etc. By means of all these associations and unions it has been promoted a missonary consciousness in a more elaborated way, it has been drafted a more complex strategy and especially it has been cultivated that feeling of togetherness, that is the wish to associate themselves with the other organisations and to work together13.

A new fact during this century was the foundation of several youth missionary associations. The new generations, educated in the spirit of this kind of missionary emulation were motivated to have a fresh look at the world, seen on the whole and especially considering its missionary urgencies, that is the evangelization within the wide- spreaded and poor regions of colonial territories. Thus, it has been set up Young Men s Christian Association (YMCA, 1844, 1854- 1855); Student Volunteer Movement for Foreign Missions (1886); World Student Christian Federation (1895), foremost of whom was John Mott; his association had a multiconfessional structure, fact that determined its most missionary character, reflected especially in its efforts to transcend- at any rate- confessional barriers.

During the same century- more exactly in 1875- it also took place in Munchen an important meeting between the Orthodox and the old Catholics. A topical point on the agenda was the debate around the possibility of union between the two confessions. From the part of the Orthodox Church participated His Grace, Melchisedec Stefanescu, Bishop of Roman. This was the first assembly of this kind- after that which had taken place in Florence- which seriously discussed around the question of restoring the diveded unity between the East and the West; unfortunately, they could not overcome the pronounced confessional accent. That is why, during the next period, it has not been registered any longer another interconfessional conference

13 Yves Congar, Chretiens en dialogue. Contributions catholiques a l Oecumenisme, Les

ditions du Cerf, Paris, 1964, pp. 25-32.

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of this kind. However, in 1875, it was founded in the Great Britain the Association for the promotion of the Christian Union; and in the last decade of the 19th century, the meeting between the Lord Halifax and the French Father (lazar) Fernand Poertal determined the setting up of The Anglo- Roman Review and the supporting of the acknowledgement of the Anglican ordainments whose validity had been cancelled through the papal bull entitled Apostolicae Curae, in 189614.

The Edinburgh Conference Unlike the Evangelical World Conference (1844) that entirely corresponded to

the aims that provided the starting point of its foundation- that is the maintenance of the authority of Holy Scriptures before the vast in scope phenomenon of scienticism and atheism- the new young men s Christian associations, especially the student groups, were to inaugurate a new type of interconfessional relationships, if we take into account that- besides the Protestants- these affiliated groups included Orthodox and Catholic youth as well; this new type of relationship was characterized not only by a distinct and cordial dialogue atmosphere, but also by a different manner of approaching various confessional conflicts, on the basis of the idea according to which the union may be achieved through mutual enrichment by the various confessions, by means of common prayer and common acts; and on no account by overlooking the separations (F. Lautman)15.

As concerns the expression of the unity in faith towards the same Holy Spirit, a special attention was paid to the Christian vigils for unity, a real means of invocating the assistance of the Holy Spirit for achieving the unity. Thus, in 1907, it arose the idea of organizing a Week (Octave) of Prayer for Christian Unity. Spencer Jones and Paul Wattson suggested that this should begin each year on the 18th of January and should end on the 24th day of the same month, especially if we take into consideration the fact that the 18th of January is the day of the Feast of Saint Peter Cathedral of Rome, and on the 25th of January is commemorated Saint Paul s conversion to Christianism (G. Cereti); on the same day, the Orthodox Church commemorates Saint Gregory, the Patriarch of Constantinople16. Thus, all these new relationships coined a kind of Christian pragmatism (that is, collaboration within the practical actions despite the doctrines that keep us apart), a spiritual dimension (the union in prayer) and a tent of innovation through the actions initiated by some charismatic leaders or basic communities, all these factors crystalysing the idea of an international conference of missionaries and of the heads of various missions.

In this sense, John Matt and Charles Brent played an important part, animated by the idea that the purpose of every missionary action is supposed to be the planting of an undivided Church of Christ in the bosom of each non- Christian nation. Likewise, they were those who convened the Conference of the delegations of

14 It refers to the great limitation of Rome concerning every ecumenical initiative in an

incipient stage. 15 Francoise Lautman, Ecumenismul cretin, n Enciclopedia religiilor, Giuseppe Annoscia

(Ed.), traducere n limba romn de Nicolae Constantinescu, PRO Editur i Tipografie, Bucureti, 2005, pp. 197-198.

16 Luigi Manca, I Padri della Chiesa nella prospettiva ecumenica, in Aspetti ecumenici nei Padri della Chiesa, numero speciale O Odigos XIII (1994), nr. 1, Centro ecumenico S. Nicola, Bari, pp. 79-83.

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missionary societies in 1910, in Edinburgh, reunited under as a motto: To confess Christ nowadays, which obviously alluded to the biblical fragment from Luke 24, 48: You are witnesses of these things. This fact did not represent only an absolute novelty, but it also laid through Ch. Brent s initiative- the foundation of the Ecumenical Movement, as it was pointed out by John Gibaut, the director of the Faith and Order Comission of the Ecumenical Council of Churches- in Sermon preached at the Ecumenical Centre, on the 18th of January, on the occasion of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, in 2010- more exactly that without the Edinburgh Conference, Christianity would not have seen any change since that moment until today. Likewise, Be sure of this fact: But for the Edinburgh Conference, no one would have been today member of the Ecumenical Center (of Geneva)17.

The outbreak of the First World War and its unfortunate consequences, the genocide of the Armenians in Turkey, the politics of English and French interests in the Near East and North Africa, brought about a series of tensions between the Muslims and the Christian missionaries- such as the Greco-Turkish War and the exchange of population between the two states- and made that many of the decisions of the Edinburgh Conference not be presently put into force, but- at the same time- contributed to the crystallization of some important directions of action. And this especially if we are taking into account the impact that had on the Ecumenical Movement- that was in an initial stage of its formation- the letter sent to all the Christian churches by the ecumenical patriarch of Constantinopole, a letter through which he expressed the wish of the Orthodox Church to collaborate with the other Churches within practical field. However, it also must be said that were also some dogmatic barriers especially considering that Orthodoxy managed to preserve intact the entire thesaurus of the apostolic faith18.

For short, the new international order the diplomatic and political circles were talking about- after the foundation of the Nations League, in connection with which the Romanian diplomat Nicolae Titulescu played a decisive part - will determine the Churches to adopt a more resolute attitude concerning ecumenism - a term for the first time used on the occasion of one of the meetings of the World Federation of Student Christian Associations, in 1919 - her resources in the same measure towards mission, practical actions with social and humanitarian character, but also towards the approach- not without difficulties - of the discussions and of the theological and historical thoroughgoing study19.

The proper Ecumenical Bodies and the presence of the Orthodox A. The International Council of Mission was founded in consequence of the

Edinburgh Conference; unlike the other two movements, this one managed to maintain its autonomy until 1961 when became part of the Ecumenical Council of Churches; the first meeting of the ICM took place in Jerusalem, in 1928; undoubtedly, the choice of the holy city for the first meeting of the Council had an important and simbolical significance; this first meeting was to be followed by many others held in Madras (1938), Whitby (1947), Willingen (1952) and Ghana (1958). Even after its

17 http:// www.oikoumene/en/ resource/documents. 18 Olivier Clment, Adevr i libertate. Ortodoxia n contemporaneitate: Convorbiri cu

Patriarhul Ecumenic Bartolomeu I, traducere de Mihai Maci, Editura Deisis, Sibiu, 1997, p. 19. 19 Cf. Yves Congar, op. cit., p. 29.

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integration in the Ecumenical Council of Churches, in 1961, the ICM maintained its specific organization, its declared purpose being that of contributing to the avoidance of a possible contest between those involved/ engaged in the Christian ministery.

B. In 1919, the American Robert Gardiner effected a memorable journey in order to invite the representatives of the Christian Churches to take part at the formation/ foundation of that ecumenical and intitutional body that was to debate all kind of questions concerning faith or the confessional differences, as Ch. Brent had already suggested in autumn, 1910: during this journey, have not been not avoided the Churches of Rome and Constantinople. The first conference of Faith and Order Movement took place in Lausanne (1927), with the declared purpose of providing a proper ambience for discussions and peaceful debates between different Churches, in order to discern the common points, on the one hand, and those that keep them apart, on the other hand; and finally, to create common fundamental bridges of communication. The sessions of the conference have been to a great extent influenced by Karl Barth s dialectical theology. They discussed and had debates around subjects such as: the appeal to Christian unity (the message of the Church is and will be forever the Christ s Gospel), the nature of the Church, the witness of faith nowadays, the ministery of the Church and the Holy Mysteries. The general atmosphere that characterized all the sessions and the debates of the conference was a spirit of repentnce and conversion to faith; and that is just the reason why it has been called the spirit of Lausanne20.

The second conference took place in Edinburgh (1937), the discussions being focused on various subjects, such as: the divine grace, the Church, the relationship between the Scripture and Tradition, God s Word and the Christian traditions, the communion of the saints, the Holy Mysteries, the ministry (the sacrament of priesthood), the ecclesial unity reflected in Christian life and religious cult. At Edinburgh conference, they came to the conclusion that in order to simplify the debates, it was absolutely necessary to make use of the method of the biblical argumentation; and it was also necessary that the various theological approaches and formulation should be analysed- appreciated or criticized- in the light of the Holy Scripture, in the spirit of our ancient tradition of Christian reconciliation, following the the example of the Jerusalem Apostolic Council at which, for the first time in the history of the Church, the strifes had been overcome through dialogue and through the very expostulation of the questions at issue.

C. The second movement- founded in consequence of the dialogues on the occasion of the Edinburgh Conference- has been entitled Life and Work, having the most common points with the proper missionary concerns; animated by the Lutheran Bishop Uppsala Nathan Sonderblom, the foundation meeting was held in Stokholm (1925) and from the very beginning, has been guided by the motto: The doctrine keeps us apart, while the ministry unifies, a principle that clearly shows an obvious influence of the liberal theology, that has in view not only a relativization of the dogmatical aspects and of the Christian teaching, but also a development of a sort of ecclesiology that relies on charitable ministery; and from here, also derives the vision of heavenly kingdom, which was to a great extent influenced by the principles that characterize the sociological therapy of the world we live in; and also from here, the

20 http:// www.oikoumene/en/resource/documents

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necessity of drafting a foundation project for a single ecumenical body through the union betwen the two movements; this project- drawn up in Edinburgh, in 1936- acknowledged at the conferences that were to be held the years to come, provided the future unification of the two movements- Faith and Order and Life and Work-, more exactly in 1938, in Utrecht, but the outbreak of the Second World War delayed the achievement of this desideratum21.

It is fitting to mention that during the inter- war period there were organized many congresses, meetings and debates that approached all kind of subjects around the mission of the church and the principles that were supposed to guide the theological dialogues and the practical actions of the ecumenical movement22. In this sense- in 1936, in Athens- Father George Florovsky launched the calling: Following the Holy Fathers...23.

The Ecumenical Council of Churches The foundation of the new ecumenical body was possible only in 1948,

through the fusion between the two movements. This moment coincides with the setting up of the Ecumenical Council of Churches, in Amsterdam, through the adhesion of 47 delegates, those representing the Orthodox Church being in a less number due to the fact that the great majority of the countries of Eastern and Central Europe was a constitutive part of the Soviet camp. Considered the 1st general Assembly of the Ecumenical Council of Churches, the ecumenical meeting whose sessions were guided by the motto: God s plan and the disoder of man, endorsed the new basic formula of the new ecumenical body: A brotherly association of Churches that acknowledged our Lord Jesus Christ as God and Saviour. Likewise, they specified that this council was not and could not be deemed as representing the authority of some kind of superchurches, but on the contrary, it had to be seen as an institutional organization promoting Christian unity24.

The second general Assembly of the Ecumenical Council of Churches took place in Evanston, in 1954, the discussions being this time around the subject: Christ, hope of the world. This ecumenical meeting affirmed openly that the time had come to make the transition from a synchronic ecumenism (seen from the point of view of space) to a diachronic one (seen from the point of view of time) not only in order to retrieve a past of common heritage, but also in order to promote a common future for all the Christian.

The third general Assembly- around the theme: Jesus Christ, the light of the world- took place in New Delhi (1961), its sessions being structured into three sections/ commissions, according to the three main subthemes: unity, witness and ministery. This ecumenical assembly represented a real moulded plate for the Ecumenical Council, being the most significative moment after the Edinburgh Conference. And this for two reasons.

21 Ibidem. 22 David A. Rausch, Fundamentalist Origins, in Marla J. Selvidge (ed.), Fundamentalism

Today. What Makes It So Attractive?, Foreword by Jerry Falwell, Brethren Press, Elgin, Illinois, 1984, p. 16.

23 Karl Christian Felmy, Dogmatica experientei ecleziale. Innoirea teologiei ortodoxe contemporane, introducere i traducere de Pr. prof. dr. Ioan I. Ic jr., Editura Deisis, Sibiu, 1999, pp. 66-67.

24 Oliver Clement, op. cit., p. 22.

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Firstly, on account of the fact that the Orthodox Churches affiliated with the Ecumenical Council of Churches, the importance of this event consisting in the fact that without the Orthodox presence, the Ecumenical movement would take risk of remaining just a Protestant concern to which the Orthodox and the Roman- Catholic observers were used to take part. But the Orthodox Churches brought in the Ecumenical Council of the Churches the whole beauty and splendour of their religious cult, the thesaurus of the untouched faith, the profoundness of the patristic thinking and manner of life. All these stood for a true enrichment of the ecumenical patrimony, as the ever- memorable Patriarch Justin Marina affirmed in a declaration for a French TV station. The enter of the Orthodox Churches into the Ecumenical Council of Churches determined the Roman- Catholics to change radically their position toward the ecumenism, a fact reflected in the decisions of the Second Vatican Council (1920)25.

Secondly, a fact of utmost importance was that the International Council of Mission became part of the structures of the Ecumenical Council, although it maintained its specific organization. Surely, this fact had an unquestionable importance, especially if we remember that the Christian missions were supposed to take into consideration the Christian heritage which Orthodoxy brought in the ecumenical Council of Churches: the reflection of the true unity into diversity without being necessary any association or union between the Orthodox Churches, and the achievement of a kind of rapprochment between the various families of Churches. It also must be pointed out the fact that, throughout the centuries, this unity in diversity was expressed through a genuine liturgical, dogmatical and canonical communion. And this fact was fully appreciated by the representatives of the Mission Department of the Ecumenical Council of Churches. That is why, some of the Orthodox theologians- among whom Fr. Ion Bria, too- have been admitted into the missionary structures of this commission26.

The fact that the new basic formula of the Ecumenical Council of Churches has been endorsed at the New Delhi Assembly confirms that which we have already stated above, that is, the integration of the Orthodox Churches into this Council of Churches brought a radical shift in the ecumenical perspective; the Ecumenical Council of Churches defined itself from that moment on as a brotherly association of the Churches that witness Our Lord Jesus Christ as true God and Saviour, according to the Scriptures; and that makes considerable efforts in order to give full swing to the common calling of giving glory and honour to the One God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit; this basic formula had to be taken into account by all the Churches in their missionary activity. Thus, a new vision of the unity of the Church at a local level has been coined, a vision that was to enrich the perspectives concerning the approach of the ecumenicity and unity of the Church of Christ at the meetings that were to take place in the following years27.

The forth general Assembly of the Ecumenical Council of Churches took place in Uppsala, in 1968, and focused on the main theme: I am making everything new (Revelation 21: 5) and also on the other subthemes, such as: the catholicity of the

25 Pr. prof. dr. Vasile Nechita, Misiunea Bisericii de la ecumenicitate la ecumenism, p. 122. 26 Pr. prof. dr. Ion Bria, Al Doilea Botez. Itinerarele unei credine i teologii de deschidere

(Autobiografie), Editura Reintregirea, Alba Iulia, 2007, pp. 65-70; Liturghia dup liturghie. O tipologie a misiunii apostolice i a mrturiei cretine azi, Athena Publishing, Bucureti, 1996, pp. 13-22.

27 http://www.oikoumene/en /resource/documents

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Church and the Holy Spirit, the renewal of the mission, the economical and social developments, justice and peace in connection with the international problems, the religious cult in a secularized world, and also the new life style (hippy) and its impact on the Christian living. As one can easily see, the concerns regarding the answer that the Church of Christ was supposed to give as regards the postmodern challenges, announced by the so- called liberalization of the private- or intimate- or family life in America, had made already their presence be felt. In connection with this, there have been registered several criticisms pro and against intercommunion; and this especially from the part of the younger members- it is true that these, in comparison with those belonging to other categories were of/ in a less number- who endorsed a more liberal attitude as concerns the approach of the relationship between the witness of faith and the partaking of the Holy Communion.

At the next general Assemblies of the Ecumenical Council of Churches have been registered some conflictual tensions between the Protestants and the Orthodox, especially after the endorsement of the so- called ordination of women as vicars and bishops; concerning this dilemma of the Orthodox, the ever memorable Patriarch Justin Moisescu couched a concise and at the same time illustrating answer as follows: When has the Reformation made a more serious error ? When it did not accept the priesthood or now, when they are ordaining women- against the tradition of the Church? Unfortunately, in time, the delicate questions within the dialogue between the Orthodox and the Protestants increased, but this was not to brake that the other issues find their welcome elucidations. Among the difficult questions that would bring about the so- called Orthodox crisis within the Ecumenical Council of Churches, it was also the scandal determined by the intervention of Dr. Chung Hynn Kyun at the general Assembly of Canberra (1991); this and the ordination of women were to lead to the formation of a special Comission in connection with the Orthodox participation in the sessions of the Ecumenical Council of Churches (Thessaloniki, 1998) that- at the general Assembly that was held in Harrare (1998)- was to announce the decision of the Orthodox Churches that they would not withdraw from the Ecumenical Council of Churches unless their requests were to be taken into account.

This attitude became more radical especially after the meeting that took place between the religious leaders of the Orthodox Churches in Jerusalim, on the occasion of the celebration of two millenium since Christ had been born and after the drift- by the representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church- of a document entitled Fundamental Principles of the attitude endorsed by the Russian Orthodox Church towards other Christian confessions, but also after the coinage of the general moderation of the Orthodox towards the ecumenism that used to adopt an attitude much more tolerant concerning proselytism, a position expressed during the session dedicated to the Christian missions in Athens. Thus, the Central Committee of the Ecumenical Council of Churches analyzed- in 2002 and 2004- the possibility to make some amendments to the Constitution and to the Regulations of the Ecumenical Council of Churches through the replacement of its procedures of parliamentary voting by a model based on mutual consent when making the decisions. Likewise, it was pointed out the necessity of making a more distinct delimitation between confessional and interconfessional cult- by the two categories of reprezentatives that participated in debates and in the making of decisions within the Ecumenical Council of Churches: members and associated Churches. In this sense, it has been

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taken into account the clearly expressed request; and that is why they made many efforts in order to give full swing to the demand expressed by the Orthodox Churches and which referred to the practice of the voting based on mutual consent rather than that consisting in numerical percentage, at the same time being taken into account the fact that one third of the Christian faithful of the Ecumenical Council were belonging to the Orthodox Churches. Moreover, it has been expressed the request according to which the new Churches that were to be admitted into the ECC had to accept the teaching about the Blessed Trinity28.

Taking into account all these Orthodox requests, the general Assembly that was held in Porto Alegre (2006), formulated the admission criteria within the Ecumenical Council of Churches:

In order that the request should be approved, the Church- as a candidate- must have set her seal explicitly concerning the endorsement of the basic formula on which the Ecumenical Council of Churches is grounded ( Constitution, Art. 1) and it also has to comply with the following criteria: a. The Church shall possess the right of making by herself the decision of standing as a candidate without being necessary the requirement of its authorization by any other legislative body or person; b. The Church shall prove the fact of possessing a permanent autonomy concerning its existence and organization; c. The Church shall acknowledge the fundamental interdependence of the Churches, especially of those belonging to the same confession. The Church shall develop constructive and ecumenical relationships with other Churches from its own country or region where it is carrying on its activity. This normally supposes the fact that the respective Church should be a member in the National Council of Churches or in any other similar body or regional ecumenical organization29.

An absolute novelty in the ecumenical movement was represented by the replacement of the theological and specific organization criteria of a given Christian group that could be designated as a Church. After they have taken back the statement that the Churches are supposed to have set their seal explicitly as concerns their adhesion to the basic formula of the Ecumenical Council of Churches (Constitution, Art. I and III), the following criteria have been presented:

A. Theological Criteria: 1. In its existence and missionary activity, the Church confesses its faith in One God Who

is a Trinity, according to the Scriptures, as reflected in Nicene- Constantinopolitan Creed as well;

2. There is in this Church a ministery of preaching the Gospel, but also a service of the Holy Sacraments, according to its doctrinal teaching;

3. The Church baptizes in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit- and altogether it understands the necessity of acknowledging other Churches baptism as well;

4. The Church confesses the presence and the activity of Christ and of the Holy Spirit beyond its own boundaries and it prays for all the Christans to receive from God the wisdom to make the other member Churches also believe in the Blessed Trinity and in the redemptory grace of God.

28 Ronald Robertson, Bisericile cretine de Rsrit. O scurt prezentare, traducere de

Clemente Ftu i Oana Capan, Editura Sapientia, Iai, 2004, pp. 64-98. 29 http://www.oikoumene/en/resource/documents

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5. The Church also acknowledges in the case of other member Churches of the Ecumenical Council of Churches those elements that correspond to the true Church, even if she does not consider them as being Churches in the real acceptation of the word (Declaration of Toronto).

B. Organization Criteria 1. The Church shall prove permanently its autonomy concerning its existence and

organization. 2. The Church shall posssess the right to make the decision of standing as a candidate and to

belong further to the fellowship of the Ecumenical Council of Churches, without any obligation to get the authorization from the part of any other legislative body or person.

3. As a rule - a Church that wants to candidate - shall comprise at least 50 000 believers. For special reasons, the central committee may not take into account the enforcement of this criterion and accept a certain Church that does not discharge all these conditions.

4. The Churches shall acknowledge the fundamental interdependence of the member Churches that belong to the community of the Ecumenical Council of Churches, especially the interplay of those belonging to the same confession. They shall do their best in order to create constructive ecumenical relationships with the other Churches from the same country or region. This normally supposes the fact they should be members in the National Council of Churches or in other similar body and also in an regional or subregional ecumenical organization30. Unfortunately, these changes- that entailed an institutional and cultural

mutation within the Ecumenical Council of Churches- were the consequence of the urges of the Orthodox Churches- foremost of whom were the Russian and the Greek Churches- that warned that they were going to endorse the radical attitude of the Bulgarian, Georgian and Serbian Orthodox Churches. Likewise, in consequence of these severe criticisms regarding the themes proposed for debates and universal approval, at the general Assembly that was held in Porto- Alegre- it has been endorsed- as we have already mentioned before- the consensual system of voting; this supposed a spirit of mutual confidence, but also a common commitment of discerning together Christ s will. For all these reasons, it can be said that in 2005 and 2006, a major change in the existence of the Ecumenical Council of Churches and implicitly in the ecumenical movement took place. Although there are many questions to be solved can also be said that that the 21st century had begun for the point of view of ecumenism under the sign of change, reflected in fact in the text about ecclesiology as well: Called to be one Church31.

For its great importance, this ecumenical document is worth mentioning as an expected anticipation of the commemorations that will take place in 2010. Firstly, it is pointed out the fact that the Churches do not forget- and they can not do so- that they are permanently called to reaffirm their commitment to look for unity and to consolidate the dialogue. In this sense, the document represents an invitation addressed to Churches ; the unity is supposed to be the result of all the Christians efforts, guided by the the sanctifying power of the same Holy Spirit. In addition to the spiritual tone - totally different from the language used in the documents endorsed at the previous assemblies- the paper we are talking about also contains a significative notification: that is, the ecumenical faith of the Church can not be other than the

30Ibidem. 31Ibidem.

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apostloic one, set forth in the Nicene- Constantinopolitan Creed: We believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church, to reproduce the terminology used by the Nicene- Constantinopolitan Symbol of Faith (381). The singleness of the Church is the reflected image of the One God Who is also a Trinity of divine Persons existing in a perfect communion (3)...

We affirm that there is only one and the same apostolic faith so/ just as there is only one and the same Body of Christ. Nevertheless, there might legitimately be more wordings for the faith of the Church. The life of the Church, as a new life into Christ, is unique. And it is ought to mention that this life of the Church is built by means of different kinds of spiritual gifts and service (5)...

The catholicity of the Church expresses the plenitude, the integrity and the wholiness of her life into Christ, through the Holy Spirit, at every time and in every place.This mystery is reflected in each community consisting in its baptized believers, community into which the faith is witnessed and materialized in the faithful s lives, the Gospel is preached and the Holy Mysteries served. Each Church is the catholic Church, and not only a part of it. Each Church is the catholic church, even if it is not the whole Church. Each Church expresses through its existence in the world its catholicity, especially when it is in communion with other Churches... We state that the catholicity of the Church is affirmed in the most visible way through the partaking in the Holy Communion and through a mutual, well- established, reconciled service (6)...

The missionary activity is part and parcel of the life of the Church. Through its ministery, the Church gives full swing to her call to preach the Gospel and to offer the living God to the whole creation (11)...32.

A century that has not come to an end yet In this way one could refer to the last 100 years since the Edinburgh

Conference, an anniversary moment that is to be commemorated in many parts of the world. However, a survey of the great significance it had for ecumenism- and in fact for the appearance and the affirmation of this new phenomenon in the existence of the Church of Christ- would not be complete without mentioning the document entitled En route vers 2010. La Mission au XXIe sicle and endorsed on the 6th of July 2007, after a part of the Christian Churches have been consulted on the achievements and the disillusions that the ecumenical movement had produced and also on the expectations related to the new orientation- brought about and also conditionned by the settlement of the general crisis that characterizes ecumenism nowadays- which in consequence of the decisions made at Alegre, was to be registered by the mission of the Church, by its calling to confess Christ and by the respiritualization of contemporary man33.

From the very beginning it must be said that- despite the critical moments that the ecumenical movement has to face with nowadays and despite the situation of the contemporary religious life- and maybe that is precisely why- it is expected that, at 100 years since the Edinburgh Conference took place, without any delay, the representatives of numerous missionary trends and of various ecclesial communities bring more creativity in order to open new missionary perspectives for present- day Christians. Likewise, it is also expected that at this anniversary reunion the Church

32 Ibidem. 33 Karen Armstrong, The Battle for God. Fundamentalism in Judaism, Christianity and Islam,

Harper Colins Publishers, London, 2000, p. 216.

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have the opportunity to celebrate what God has done for the expansion of His Church all over the world throughout the century that has just come to an end and to offer Him in prayer the 21st century witness of the Churches. In order to give a full swing to the calling of God, the ecumenist missionaries and theologians are supposed to give always heed to an essential aspect: namely, that it is absolutely necessary that the biblical calling to apostolate should be reaffirmed and couched in our contemporary contexts, in terms of the mission of the Church into the world, with a special stress laid upon evangelization- the only viable solution, through the eradication of the moral and spiritual confusion that dominated the spectrum of the world we are living in.

In addition to all these notifications, there is also a significative aspect to be pointed out, that is, a dialogue focused on mission is supoosed to be commited between the chiefs of the ancient missionary movements in the North and those of the missionary missions in the South and East (concerning the dynamics of the new missionary movements), between the chiefs of Churches and those of the missionary activities (who is doing what), between the reprezentatives of the various Christian traditions (on the definition regarding a theology of mission).

In this sense, the guiding lines- related to the debates that are to take place on the occasion of the jubilee manifestations- will be drawn up such as to support the heads of the Churches and of the missions to analyse and estimate what are the most effective missionary models within the different contexts the Churches and the missions are belonging to. But this not without drawing up a plan of a broadned collaboration strategy, able to give a stronger impetus on the fulfillment of the missionary mandate.

Finally, as it is asserted in the preamble of the above mentioned document, it is necessary to encourage, on the basis of a critical assessement, a new vision on the contemporary world situation, a vision inspired by the plan of God in terms of the redemption of the whole creation through Christ and of a renewed ethos in matter of spirituality and mission; all these deziderata are wanted to be achieved in the life of the Churches from everywhere.

If from all these notifications- held up in the chapter A. Hoped Results- one can not clearly distinguish the shifts in perspective or the failures that ask for the above mentioned renewal, not the same thing can be said about the next chapter- in fact the one which we are the most interested in- entitled B. The decentralized study and the methods of dialogue. The mission unfolded into meekness and hope- which includes the notification according to which instead of a single center, as in 1910, there will be more points of meeting and discussion. It is also mentioned there that this time not only the main Protestant tendencies will be taken into account, as it was the case at Edinburgh, one hundred years ago, because this year the participants in the conference belong to all the Christian religions, and the debates that will take place do not confine themselves to the North Atlantic region just because the South region is to be priviledged, being thus acknowledged as the new centre of gravity of Christianism; it also must be taken into account that the percentage of the white Christians diminished from 80 % to a little bit over 45 %, and also the fact that, at the beginning of this last millenium, Christianity was represented in proportion of 70% by the South, according to the information provided by World Christian Encyclopaedia and by the book written by Jim Collins- entitled Good the Great Not to mention the fact that- unlike the proportion of 70% of Evangelists who are living in the North, those belonging to Pentecost denomination represent the South; of the 33. 380 Christian denominations,

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not even a third is located in the North- lately, it can be seen in the South a spectacular increase of the different types of religious sincretism, particularly of those having a spiritualist and occultist character. Suffice it to say that only in West Africa have been recorded such religious phenomena which jeopardize not only the proper understanding of the traditional concept regarding Christianism34 -and the religious phenomenon in general- but also the real percept of ecumenism itself. But such kinds of syncretism- many times Christian in name only- usually express their wish to become part of the ecumenical bodies through virulent proselytism, a fact that compromises the Christian mission and brakes the building of the necessary communication bridges for a further dialogue. Other types of syncretism, like those belonging to Zionism tendency- for instance, the Kimbanguist Church, with an increasing number of advocates- unexpectedly renounce at being a member in the Ecumenical Council of Churches; and in this case, they simply refuse to take into account the ecumenical regulations concerning the mutual responsability provided by the Constitution of the Ecumenical Council of Churches35.

In the above mentioned chapter and on the basis of the results of the surveys effectuated in 2004 and 2005- are presented the nine missionary themes that were to stand for the starting point for the subsequent debates dedicated to the anniversary of the Edinburgh Conference:

1) The Mission Principles. This subchapter deals with the redefinition of the mission principles that rely on the relation extant between the trinitarian percept of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit- and theoria, on the one hand, and also on the experience acquired in consequence of the practising of the mission, on the other hand; at the same time, it can not be overlooked the major influence that the dogma of the Holy Trinity exerts on the Chris