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Letter #30, 2018: Russia's tragedy[2018-05-24][Engleză]Thursday, May 24, 2018"But the priority of God, we have forgotten, concerns us all." Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI, in the Russina-language preface to a new translation of his book The Spirit of the Liturgy, presented yesteday, May 23, in Moscow "If God is not the most important, then the whole scale of values ââis changed. By rejecting God, man condemns himself to necessity, which then subjects him to all material forces, contrary to his dignity." Emeritus Pope Benedict, in the same preface. The subjection of man to necessity is the essential consequence of a materialistic prgmatism which denies the reality of the spiritual, the transcendant, therefore, the reality of God. It is, in essence, atheism and this subjection to necessity is not worthy of man, Ratzinger is saying. However, during the 20th century, Russia passed through 70 years of official, government-imposed atheism, an experience which deeply marked the Russian soul (Below, a photo of the Romanov family from 1913) "I am writing to invite you to join with me on a pilgrimage to the heart of Russia on one of the most solemn and historic of occasions. I propose to travel to the Ural mountains, the border between Europe and Asia, to the city of Ekaterinburg, on the 100th anniversary of a tragic event in that city: the execution of Tsar Nicholas II, his wife Tsarina Alexandra, and their five children, Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia, and Alexei. That execution occurred on July 17, 1918. On July 17, 2018, exactly 100 years later, the Russian Orthodox Church will celebrate a solemn liturgy of remembrance in Ekaterinburg, which will remember the death of the Romanovs. I invite you to join me." Invitation to join a pilgrimage this July to Russia (see below) "There will be one purpose only: to stand as witnesses, to give testimony to our solidarity with all who are caught up in the violence of civil wars and revolutions, in a place where the executions occurred and at a time exactly 100 years after the executions which seem fitting... We do not wish to make any sort of political statement at all, in any form. We wish only to bear witness to our solidarity with all who suffer in the convulsions of civil war, especially children, but also the parents of children, who suffer great pangs of sorrow at the brutality that man is capable of visiting on other men, especially on the most innocent." From the invitation ================== Eleven Russians meet Pope Francis in Rome.... There was a little-noted event on Wednesday, May 23, in Rome -- a small group of young Russian Orthodox men met briefly with Pope Francis. At a time when Orthodoxy and Catholicism remain divided, at a time when the media in the West report ceaselessly on the evidently deepening political and military tensions between Russia and the West, this meeting was a sign of something different. A sign of opening, or dialogue, of possible friendship, or possible collaboration... of possible peace between brother traditons and brother Churches. After all, the Orthodox trace their spiritual patrimony back to St. Andrew, the brother of... St. Peter... The meeting was sponsored, in part, by the Foundation which we created in 2012 to try to bring the "two lungs" of Christianity into greater harmony -- the "Urbi et Orbi" Foundation. Here is a brief Osservatore Romano report on the meeting (link): WEDNESDAY 23 MAY 2018 Vatican City 11 young Orthodox greet Pope Francis The Osservatore Romano This morning's general audience was also an occasion to relaunch ecumenical dialogue: for the third consecutive year, in the framework of cultural exchanges between the Holy See and the Patriarchate of Moscow, eleven Orthodox youths led by Bishop Arsenij of Juriev greeted personally the Pope. They are in Rome, from May 19 to 26, for a study visit that will allow them to get to know the Catholic Church closely. "This initiative has a fraternal character of reciprocity and exchange, because the same type of visit is also carried out by Catholic priests who are welcomed in Moscow by Patriarch Kirill," explains Fr. Hyacinthe Destivelle, official of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the unity of Christians. (L'Osservatore Romano, 23-24 May 2018) ======================= Meanwhile, in Moscow... (Below, Metropolita Hilarion presents Emeritus Pope Benedict with a Russia translation of his book on the liturgy in Rome one year ago, in April 2017; the book was presented in oscow yesterday) At the same time, also on Wednesday, May 23, in Moscow, there was a presentation of a book by Emeritus Pope Benedict on the liturgy by the "foreign minister" of the Russian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev) of Volokolamsk, 51, known also for his musical compositions, including his moving The Passion According to St. Matthew. Here is a notice of this presentation, translated from the French (link): Presentation in Moscow of the Russian edition of Joseph Ratzinger's book: "The Spirit of the Liturgy" The book opens with a prefatory note signed by Metropolitan Hilarion: "I hope this book will not only contribute to open the minds of our contemporaries toward Catholicism, but will also help our own authors to solve some of the problems of Orthodox theology such as the anthropological aspects of the liturgy or the theological foundations of religious music. "This book can nourish reflection on the questions concerning the life of the Church in the contemporary world, in a simple dialogue with the civil society and the culture." On 23 May, at the Library of Foreign Literature Mr. I. Rudimino (Moscow - 1 Nikolayamskaya Street) will be presented the Russian edition of The Spirit of the Liturgy by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI (Joseph Ratzinger). The Russian version of the book was published by the charitable fund St. Gregory the Theologian in 2017. This publication celebrates the 90th anniversary of the author [April 16, 2017]. The book will be presented by Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, President of the Department of External Ecclesiastical Relations, and Archbishop Celestino Migliore, Apostolic Nuncio to the Russian Federation. The book considers all aspects of liturgical life. In the German edition, the author writes: "The liturgy of the Church has been the focus of my life from my earliest years and, at the Faculty of Theology, the center of my research." The author writes in the new preface to the Russian edition: "In the consciousness of the man of today, the subject of God, and therefore the liturgy, is not considered primordial. We run after anything whatsoever, as if the question of God can always be postponed. We can say that the monastic life is totally different from the life in the world, and we are absolutely right. But the priority of God, we have forgotten, concerns us all. If God is not the most important, then the whole scale of values ââis changed. By rejecting God, man condemns himself to necessity, which then subjects him to all material forces, contrary to his dignity." ========================= A Pilgrimage to Ekaterinburg Friday, May 18, 2018 Dear Friend, I am writing to invite you to join with me on a pilgrimage to the heart of Russia on one of the most solemn and historic of occasions. I propose to travel to the Ural mountains, the border between Europe and Asia, to the city of Ekaterinburg, on the 100th anniversary of a tragic event in that city: the execution of Tsar Nicholas II, his wife Tsarina Alexandra, and their five children, Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia, and Alexei. That execution occurred on July 17, 1918. On July 17, 2018, exactly 100 years later, the Russian Orthodox Church will celebrate a solemn liturgy of remembrance in Ekaterinburg, which will remember the death of the Romanovs. There will be one purpose only: to stand as witnesses, to give testimony to our solidarity with all who are caught up in the violence of civil wars and revolutions, in a place where the executions occurred and at a time exactly 100 years after the executions which seem fitting. We do not intend to support monarchy as a form of government, or to support any claim of any branch of the Romanov family to rule Russia. We do not wish to make any sort of political statement at all, in any form. We wish only to bear witness to our solidarity with all who suffer in the convulsions of civil war, especially children, but also the parents of children, who suffer great pangs of sorrow at the brutality that man is capable of visiting on other men, especially on the most innocent. It will be a long journey, perhaps a tiring journey. But we have been assured that the journey will be safe, that there will be old friends who will meet us and guide us when we arrive in Ekaterinburg, that we will be welcomed as respected guests, and that we will be received with honor as representatives of the Urbi et Orbi Foundation, as Roman Catholics, as friends of the Russian people and of the Russian Orthodox Church. After Ekaterinburg we will spend four full days in Moscow, where we will have special meetings, and then fly to Rome, where we will stay near or inside Vatican City, for four more nights. (This final portion of the trip is optional, but we strongly encourage our pilgrims to make this journey with us to the Eternal City, where we will report back to Vatican officials on what we have seen and heard in Russia.) This pilgrimage will be historic in the highest sense of the term: a pilgrimage to a place of great historical tragedy, on the 17th of July, 2018, on the 100th anniversary of the execution. Each of us will be able afterwards to say I was present, to remember and to commemorate, on that anniversary. And, in the current American-Russian impasse, it might help that some Americans show their concern for Russias past, and Russias suffering, in this way. One important note: to travel to Russia, you must receive a Visa to enter the country. We will help you obtain the Visa, but it must be done during the month of June, and it will take about one weeks time, so we must have your decision about the trip by June 15, no later and much better if considerably earlier. So the deadline for a decision on this trip is June 15, just four weeks away. If you are interested, please write to me by return email. Below is a proposed schedule for this trip. We do not yet know the price, but air fare, lodging and meals will amount to several thousand dollars. We will of course help with all details, from obtaining the visa to reserving all airplane tickets. Sursa: www.InsideTheVatican.com Contor Accesări: 778, Ultimul acces: 2026-07-29 12:36:09
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