Home page News
Metropolitan Hilarion: In today’s society the …

Metropolitan Hilarion: In today’s society the voice of the Church often becomes a voice crying in the wilderness

Before the beginning of the 4th Orthodox-Catholic Forum on Religion and Cultural Diversity: Challenges for the Christian Churches in Europe to take place from June 2 to 5, 2014, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, head of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations, answered questions from Byelorussian journalists.

 

- The forum is to deal with challenges facing the Christian Churches in Europe.What primary problems and challenges would you bring out?

 

- The processes taking place in Western Europe are of much concern for us because what actually happens is a conscious rejection of the Christian heritage by many European states. What do we see when we take a walk in the most famous streets in Europe? First of all, we see Christian churches: Notre Dame in Paris, Westminster Abbey in London, St. Peter’s in Rome. Even the appearance of European cities shows that Europe was a Christian continent. Of course, in Europe there have always lived people of other religions, but Christianity was a dominant religion and remains such because most of Europeans still preserve to a greater or lesser extent their links with the Christian roots. But at present a situation has developed in Europe in which it is atheism that has become a dominant ideology, or the form of pluralism which presupposes that religion should have no place in public space and that religion can exist only in the private life of individuals.

We are not happy with this situation, of course. We believe that Christian Churches should have a right to voice their point of view, including in the public space. It grieves us to see the adoption of laws which contradict not only the Christian moral teaching but the traditional morality altogether, on which people’s life has been built for centuries, for instance, to see the attempts to equalize same-sex unions with marriages. In fact it is conscious and systemic dismantling of traditional family values.

- And how this situation can be changed? The Church has no legislative power to adopt or change laws, nor any governmental levers… What instruments do you have and how effective are they?

 

- The most important instrument at the Church’s disposal is her own voice, which should resound and be heard by all those who are capable of hearkening to it. Of course, the Church’s voice often becomes a voice crying in the wilderness. Nevertheless we keep speaking and will continue bearing witness to the values which, we believe, are of indisputable significance.

In doing so, we are not going to impose anything on anybody. We do not impose theological views or the religious worldview, but we speak of the values that relate to real human life and that the family needs to be fostered and a human life needs to be valued from its conception to natural death. These are simple things which the modern society finds difficult to perceive.

- Your Eminence, last November there was an Orthodox-Catholic Russian-Polish dialogue in Warsaw. Considering the recent political developments, is there a fear that this dialogue may be stopped, or there is still a hope that the next forum planned for Moscow will take place and the dialogue between Polish Catholics and Russian Orthodox will continue?

 

- I think, this dialogue will continue, but I deeply regret the fact that the Polish Bishops’ Conference expressed support for the forces in Ukraine which destabilize the public order and are guilty of people’s deaths. I think it was a great mistake of Polish Catholic Bishops, just as a great mistake was, in my opinion, the support for the Uniates expressed by the Latin Rite Catholics. The Uniates in Ukraine show an outrageous behaviour. It should be said that in history there were many cases where they used political power to come out against the Orthodox Church.

Uniatism, in general, was a certain special project of the Catholic Church for converting Orthodox to Catholicism. It is no secret for anybody. But, regrettably, this special project remains the same even today. While we conduct dialogue and organize joint forums with the Roman Catholic Church, the Uniates concurrently continue their activities aimed to undermine Orthodoxy. The whole rhetoric of the Uniates in Ukraine boils down to the attempts to divide the united multinational Russian Orthodox Church, to tear Ukraine away from Russia, and their ultimate goal is to subject all the Orthodox to the pope. As a matter of fact, the Uniates do not conceal it.

I think, Uniatism is a very serious problem which we have encountered in the Orthodox-Catholic relations, and when we try to push these relations forward, the Uniates by their dishonest actions keep throwing us back.

Share:
Representatives of the Local Orthodox Churches participate in Patriarchal service on the occasion of Saints Cyril and Methodius Day.

24.05.2025

Congratulatory Address by the members of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church to His Holiness Patriarch Kirill on the occasion of his name’s day.

24.05.2025

Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church participates in the Paschal reception at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia

20.05.2025

His Holiness Patriarch Kirill congratulates Pope Leo XIV on his election to the See of Rome

09.05.2025

His Holiness Patriarch Kirill meets with President of Venezuela Nicolás Maduro

08.05.2025

His Holiness Patriarch Kirill meets with the President of Cuba

08.05.2025

Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church awarded highest order of the Republic of Serbia

08.05.2025

His Holiness Patriarch Kirill meets with President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić

08.05.2025

His Holiness Patriarch Kirill: AFU attack on the church in Belgorod region indicates lack of Christian faith of those who committed it 

07.05.2025

His Holiness Patriarch Kirill meets with Sheikh ul-Islam Allahshukur Pashazade, Chairman of the Caucasus Muslims’ Board

05.05.2025

His Holiness Patriarch Kirill meets with President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev

03.05.2025

His Holiness Patriarch Kirill arrives in Baku

03.05.2025

His Holiness Patriarch Kirill sends condolences following the explosion at Iranian port of Bandar Abbas

27.04.2025

Primates of the Russian and Serbian Orthodox Churches сelebrate Liturgy at Holy Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius

25.04.2025

Primates of the Russian and Serbian Orthodox Churches meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin

23.04.2025

Metropolitan Hilarion: Many things in a person's life depend on faith

29.08.2021

Metropolitan Hilarion: The Holy Spirit is the main treasure of the Christian soul

01.08.2021

Metropolitan Hilarion: Holiness is a constant striving to imitate the Lord Jesus Christ

27.06.2021

Metropolitan Hilarion: God does not want to condemn, but to save us

07.03.2021

Metropolitan Hilarion: The Lord always grants to us the opportunity to display our talents

24.01.2021

Metropolitan Hilarion: The Lord has imbued the waters of Jordan with his divine presence to wash away human sins

19.01.2021

Metropolitan Hilarion: to repent means to change your way of life

17.01.2021

On commemoration day of St. Catherine, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk officiated at the Church of St. Catherine the Great Martyr In-the-Fields  the representation of the Orthodox Church in America

07.12.2020

Metropolitan Hilarion: We can always show compassion for people

29.11.2020

Metropolitan Hilarion celebrates on commemoration day of St. Varlaam of Khutyn at the church of ‘Joy to All the Afflicted’ icon of the Mother of God

19.11.2020

Metropolitan Hilarion: We should remember that the life of each human being is in the hands of God

06.11.2020

Metropolitan Hilarion: For God there is nothing impossible

25.10.2020

Metropoplitan Hilarion: The cross which was an instrument of dishonourable execution becomes the symbol of salvation for millions of people

27.09.2020

Metropolitan Hilarion: Eucharist is the wedding feast, to which Lord Jesus Christ invites each of us

13.09.2020

Metropolitan Hilarion: Faith alone is not enough for salvation

30.08.2020

Page is available in the following languages
Feedback

Fields marked by * are mandatory required

Send a message
Рус Укр Eng Deu Ελλ Fra Ita Бълг ქარ Срп Rom عرب