See here, and here. Unless you are calling the man to repentance, I fail to see any justification for a prominent hierarch to meet with an indicted war criminal and almost certainly a murderer many times over. It reminds me of the old days when prominent Catholic clergy were openly cozy with Mafia bosses. To say that this was ill advised would be a gross understatement.
HT: Deacon Nicholas
2 comments:
Met. Anthony of Sourozh: “The Church cannot belong to any party, but at the same time it is neither non-partisan nor post-partisan. It should be the voice of conscience, one enlightened by the Divine light. In the ideal state, the Church should be able to say to any party or political current: this is worthy of man and God, and this is unworthy of man and God. Of course, this could be done from two positions: from a position of power and from a position of supreme powerlessness.
It seems to me, and I am deeply convinced of this, that the Church should never speak from a position of power. It should not be one power among others operating in one state or another; it should be, if you will, just as powerless as God, Who does not use force; Who only beckons us, opening up the beauty and truth of things without imposing them; Who is like our conscience, telling us the truth while leaving us free either to listen to truth and beauty or to reject them. It seems to me that the Church should be precisely like that; if the Church should gain the position of a powerful organization, one with the ability to coerce or direct events, then there will always be the risk that it will want to wield power; but as soon as the Church begins to wield power, it will lose its deepest essence”.
A lesson this Russian hierarch outside Russia might have learned but which is at the core of Imperial Christianity, whether the churches or Rome, New Rome, and Canterbury, and their descendants.
I concur. The Church has no business taking sides. However, one of the Church's important missions is to pursue mercy & justice. It may be necessary from time to time to either encourage or admonish side or the other in order to support that mission. But, "Imperial" Christianity is a non-starter.
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