Orthodox: oecumenisch en bij de tijd!

‘Het Groot en Heilig Concilie’ ligt ondertussen al meer dan twee jaar achter ons. De orthodoxe kerken keurden daar enkele belangrijke documenten goed die richting moeten geven aan het bij de tijd brengen van de Orthodoxe geloofsgemeenschap. Oud-Katholieken hebben altijd een bijzondere band gehad met de Orthodoxie zozeer zelfs dat men ze ‘Orthodoxen van de Westerse Ritus’ zou mogen noemen. We zijn trots op het theologisch akkoord dat tussen alle Orthodoxe Kerken en de kerken van de Unie van Utrecht tot stand kwam en dat in 1987 gepubliceerd kon worden. Tegen die achtergrond is het begrijpelijk dat de Aartsbisschop van Utrecht als oecumenisch waarnemer uitgenodigd was op het genoemde Concilie. Én is het ook te begrijpen dat vorige week vrijdag enkele van de conciliedocumenten in een bijzondere bisschoppen vergadering bestudeerd werden. We werken immers in Nederland nauw samen met de Orthodoxe en Oriëntaalse kerken, zoals we dat ook met de Anglicaanse kerk doen. Die samenwerking krijgt gestalte in het zogenaamde ‘Overleg Episcopaalse Kerken’ dat beschouwd kan worden als een eigen groep binnen de ledenkerken van de Nederlandse Raad van Kerken. De bisschoppen van die kerken kwamen bijeen om naar een presentatie van de teksten door Aartsbisschop Job van Telmessos te luisteren. Aartsbisschop Job was de woordvoerder van het Concilie en is een hooggeacht theoloog van het Oecumenisch Patriarchaat. De bisschoppen stelde achteraf een verklaring op die u hieronder kunt lezen.

Aartsbisschop Job gaf ook twee inleidingen op de druk bezochte ontmoetingsdag die naar jaarlijkse gewoonte, afgelopen zaterdag in Utrecht georganiseerd werd door datzelfde platform. Met 130 deelnemers zat de Gertudiskapel afgeladen vol. Op die dag werd ook het nieuwe boek van Ds Jaap van Slageren, theologisch adviseur van het Platform, gepresenteerd. Het betreft een interviewboek met Mor Polycarpus, Aartsbisschop van de Syrisch-Orthodoxe Kerk voor Nederland.

Overleg Episcopale Kerken

Meeting of bishops and representatives of bishops of the member churches of the Dutch ‘Platform of Episcopal Churches’

Utrecht, Old-Catholic Cathedral, February 15, 2019.

Grateful to God who allowed us, Bishops and representatives of the churches that are members of the Overleg Episkopale Kerken – the Dutch Platform of Episcopal Churches, bringing together in dialogue Orthodox, Oriental, Old Catholic and Anglican churches, for the opportunity to meet with one another, we have taken knowledge of three important documents that were issued by the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church, that met in Crete from June 19 to 26, 2016.

We are thankful for the presence of Archbishop Job of Telmessos, professor of the Institute of Superior Studies of Orthodox Theology at the Orthodox Centre of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Chambésy and permanent representative of the Ecumenical Patriarchate at the World Council of Churches in Geneva, and with the blessing of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, one of the main spokesmen of the Holy and Great Council, who introduced to us these Council documents:

The relations of the Orthodox Church with the rest of the Christian World.

The Orthodox Church and the Dialogue with the Contemporary World.

The Encyclical of the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church

Reflecting on these documents we had a fruitful exchange on our common understanding of our mission as churches in today’s world.

Receiving the inspiration and the ideas of the Council, we would like to express our joy and appreciation for the work done by the esteemed participants on the Council who had the courage to face some of the most crucial problems of our calling as Christians and Churches in today’s world. We hope that the efforts of the Council will take fruit and we commit ourselves to further reflection on the content of the three selected documents of the Council as well as to engage ourselves in distributing them.

On the point of the ecumenical position of the Orthodox Church, we welcome the clear decision for further commitment to the ecumenical movement and for taking part in the work of the important ecumenical bodies. We welcome the condemnation of all fundamentalist and anti-ecumenical tendencies and the readiness to establish relationships with other Churches beyond the own jurisdiction. Together we want to build on the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church and are ready to take every initiative that enables the visible unity of Christians to draw nearer.

Therefore we affirm our readiness to collaborate with one another within the framework of the Overleg Episkopale Kerken - Platform of Episcopal Churches as one of the pillars on which the Dutch Council of Churches is based. Looking at the Church of the first Millennium, we learn that a common reference to Scripture, to the Apostolic Creed and to the ministry of episcope are the necessary criteria for the unity of Christians and their Churches. We are thankful that we already found one another on that basis. We intend to invite the Roman Catholic Church to send an observer to the meetings of the Platform.

On the issue of our relationship to the modern world, we affirm our common responsibility in confronting the developments in today’s world with the values of the Gospel. The issues listed by the Council – as there are: the family, the problem of war and peace, the human rights, social justice, poverty and migration, the limits of science and the environmental crisis – are crucial challenges for us as Christians, as well as for non-Christians. We commit ourselves to invite our fellow-believers within the Dutch Council of Churches, but also in other contexts, if possible, to involve ourselves in further reflection and action. We pray to have the courage and the strength to face them and to engage in a dialogue of hope.

The participants,

-H.E. Metropolitan Athenagoras of Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg (Ecumenical Patriarchy)

-H.E. Isaac Barakat (Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of Germany and Central Europe

-fr. Basilios Khamis (Antiochian Orthodox Church)

-fr. Hildo Bos, representant mgr. Elisey, Russian-orthodox Church and observer to the meeting

-fr. Theodoor van der Voort, representant mgr. Jean of Charioupolis

-H.E. Archbishop Joris Vercammen, archbishop of Utrecht (Old-Catholic Church)

-H.E. Bishop Dirk Jan Schoon, bishop of Haarlem (Old-Catholic Church)

Staff:

-fr. Victor Scheijde (Old-Catholic Church)

-Marina van der Waag, secretary/notulist

Amersfoort, Bisschoppelijk Bureau, 22 februari 2019