Archbishop in talks with Russian Orthodox leaders

THE PRIMATE of the Anglican Church in North America, the Most Rev Foley Beach, has flown to Moscow for a series of meetings with the leaders of the Russian Orthodox Church.

On 24 August Archbishop Beach met with Metropolitan Hilarion, chairman of the Department of External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate at the monastery of the Holy Trinity and St Sergius, and later in the day with Patriarch Cyril (Kirill).

In a message read to the Anglican delegation, Cyril stated: “Your church went through a very difficult period of its history, and the faithful took courage and had the ability to respond to a great temptation.

“There are two models of the behaviour of the Church and of Christians. One involves obedience to the secular power and the powerful forces that have an impact on social development. The other model involves the ability to speak the truth and to remain faithful to the Christian message.”

According to a press release from the DECR, the church leaders discussed a wide range of subjects including the recent innovations in moral teaching on human sexuality.

The question of women clergy was also raised during the meeting, with Metropolitan Hilarion telling the ACNA that Moscow believed the consecration of women as bishops had impaired relations between the Orthodox and the Church of England.

Following the consecration of Gene Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire, the Russian Orthodox Church ended all ecumenical relations with the Episcopal Church of the USA. In recent years, however, they have forged links with the ACNA and grown closer to the GAFCON movement within the Anglican Communion.

Though divided by doctrine and discipline, Anglicans and the Orthodox should stand in common cause against the forces of modernity, Archbishop Beach said.

“Globalisation has increased the effect that we have on one another, and at a time when the family is being threatened by forces that would seek to redefine marriage, normalise sexual compromise, and fund the slaughter of unborn children, it is an encouragement to have a strong and unwavering partner in the Russian Orthodox Church on these issues,” he told Cyril.