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Photo: Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I embrace.
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This summer, His Beatitude attended the CRANS MONTANA FORUM ON CENTRAL TO FAR-EASTERN EUROPE: Building the New World Power from June 29 to July 1, 2016 – Vienna (Austria)
His Beatitude Gregorios III Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, of Alexandria and of Jerusalem
Big names get together at the Crans Montana Forum
(Excerpt from EuroNews.com) - Politicians, business leaders and representatives of international organisations came together in the heart of Vienna, Austria, for the 27th annual Crans Montana Forum.
Attendees discussed a wide range of subjects from the role of women in decision-making to renewable energies – the main angle being the rise of central-eastern Europe as a new power – and the migration crisis.
One of the most memorable comments was that of Gregorios III, the Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, Alexandria and Jerusalem, who had a – perhaps surprising – view on the reception of Syrian refugees in Europe.
“This is a double-edged sword. We are not happy when we hear ‘Syrians welcome,’ because we want them to stay with us at home, especially when we see all the problems they have to go through,” he explained.
“But I think Germany, especially Germany, and Sweden really invited too many people. They should have been more circumspect at the beginning. My own relatives lived in very good security conditions, under my protection, and even they found an excuse to leave!”
Most attendees agreed that peace in Syria should be the long-term solution….
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CWN - There is no conflict between religion and science, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow said in a recent talk to scientists.
Speaking in Sarov-- Russia’s center for nuclear research-- the head of the Russian Orthodox Church said that “science, religion and art are different ways of examining the world and the man, of examining the world by the man,” according to the Interfax news agency.
Science, he continued, examines “how and why,” while religion address the question of “what for.”
“It is naive to read Genesis as the text book on anthropogenesis,” he said. “At the same time, it is counterproductive to search for an answer on the sense of life in textbooks on biology and physics.”
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CWN - The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople has shot down rumors that it might recognize a new ecclesiastical jurisdiction in Ukraine.
The Ecumenical Patriarchate is guided by a desire for "the unity of the Orthodox Church in Ukraine," said Archbishop Job, a spokesman for Patriarch Bartholomew. He said that the creation of a new jurisdiction would "only aggravate the problem."
Reports that the Ecumenical Patriarchate might intervene in Ukraine arose after Archbishop Job, on a visit to Kiev, reportedly spoke of Ukraine as part of the canonical territory of Constantinople. The Russian Orthodox Church claims Ukraine as part of its own canonical territory.
Conflicts among the Orthodox churches of Ukraine have led to the creation of three different, competing Orthodox bodies. The resulting tensions have been aggravated by the country's political crisis. Archbishop Job observed: "Everyone-- Ukrainians and Orthodox Christians worldwide-- are tired of this division."
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CWN - Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros has expressed concern that demonstrations in the US against anti-Christian violence in Egypt could have a negative effect.
The demonstrations, organized by Copts living in the US, could "cause serious damage to Egypt," the Coptic prelate argued, suggesting that the publicity surrounding events such as a White House sit-in might spark tensions between Egyptian officials and the country's Christian minority.
"We, in Egypt, know how to address our problems," Pope Tawadros said. He suggested that Egyptians who left the country several years ago should heed the pleas of those still living there.
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CWN = Chaldean Catholic Patriarch Louis Sako has suggested a plan for the reconstruction of Iraq, based on the possibility that a new offensive will drive the Islamic State out of the region around Mosul and the Nineveh Plains.
The Iraqi prelate said that if families who fled from that region are able to return to their homes, the process of reconstruction should be based on a rejection of violence, a determination to stop terrorism, a firm understanding that religion must not be invoked to support violence, and a commitment to peaceful coexistence.
The Chaldean Patriarch conceded that he was looking beyond current problems to imagine better days. At the moment, he said, “terrorism has not been defeated yet; the conflicts are not over; violations of human rights are still growing at different levels; the efforts for national reconciliation came to a halt; and the promises of eradicating corruption, reforming, establishing a civil government, and fighting against unemployment, poverty, illiteracy and diseases, did not go beyond being promises only.”
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CWN - Christians are an “endangered species” in the Middle East today, Syriac Catholic Patriarch Ignatius III Younan said in an August 2 address to the Knights of Columbus convention in Toronto.
“The very existence of Eastern Churches, those churches that come from the apostles’ time, is at stake, in danger,” the Syrian prelate said. He said that Islamic aggression endangered the existence of the faith in the region, and denounced the apathy of Western leaders.
The Syriac Patriarch went on to criticize nations that have formed alliances with Islamic states despite the failure of the latter to respect fundamental human rights, particularly the right to religious freedom. “It’s not honest or sincere to be allied to such a regime, and to say we have an annual report about religious freedom,” he said, in what appeared to be a clear reference to the US.
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