December 11, 2009
by Sandro Magister

ROME – In a terse statement two days ago, Russia and the Church of Rome announced "the establishment of diplomatic relations between them, at the level of apostolic nunciature on the part of the Holy See, and of embassy on the part of the Russian Federation."

Six days earlier, on December 3, Pope Benedict XVI had received in audience Dmitri Medvedev, president of the Russian Federation, to whom he had given a Russian-language copy of the encyclical "Caritas in Veritate," and with whom he had discussed "cultural and social topics of common interest, like the value of the family and the contribution of believers to the life of Russia."

But it is not only with the authorities of the Russian state that the Church of Rome now has relations defined by both sides as "friendly."

With the Orthodox Church of Moscow as well, spring appears to have sprung.

One signal of this came at the same time as Medvedev's visit to Italy. A book was presented in Rome on December 2, published by the patriarchate of Moscow and containing the main speeches about Europe made over the past ten years by Joseph Ratzinger, as cardinal and pope.

The entire volume is in two languages, Italian and Russian. The title is taken from an expression that Benedict XVI used in Prague: "Europa, patria spirituale [Europe, spiritual homeland]." And its extensive introduction is signed by the president of the patriarchate's department for external Church relations, Archbishop Hilarion of Volokolamsk (in the photo), an authority of the highest order: suffice it to say that the previous occupant of this post, Kirill, is today the patriarch of the Orthodox Church of Moscow "and all Rus."

An extract from the introduction to the book is reproduced further below. And it is of great interest for grasping the perspective from which the patriarchate of Moscow looks at its own role in Europe.

It is a Europe forged by Christianity, but now attacked by a "militant secularism" against which two forces above all are leading the counteroffensive: the Church of Rome in the West, and the Orthodox Church in the East.

Those who expect an Orthodox Church removed from time, made up only of remote traditions and archaic liturgies, will come away shaken from reading the introduction to this book.

The guideline here is being set by a document of great vigor, unprecedented in the entire history of Orthodoxy. Its title is: "The foundations of the social doctrine of the Russian Orthodox Church," and was published by the council of Russian bishops in 2000.

The image that emerges from it is that of a Russian Orthodox Church that refuses to let itself be locked up in a ghetto, but on the contrary hurls itself against the secularist onslaught with all the peaceful weapons at its disposal, not excluding civil disobedience against laws "that oblige the commission of a sin in the eyes of God."

It is a text that is also striking for its frank, politically incorrect language, unusual for the pen of a high Church authority.

But before reading it, it is interesting to take note of a few of the book's unique features.

Its publication is not the result of official ecumenical contacts. Neither the pontifical council for Christian unity headed by Cardinal Walter Kasper nor any other Vatican office is at the origin of it.

The actual organizers and publishers are on the one side the department for external Church relations of the patriarchate of Moscow, and on the other side an international association based in Rome: "Sofia: Idea Russa, Idea d'Europa."

This association is run by Pierluca Azzaro, a professor of the history of political thought at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, who also edited the book. And he acts through the "Foro di dialogo delle società civili di Italia e di Russia," with Italian co-president Luisa Todini, CEO of a big construction company and former European parliament in the party of Silvio Berlusconi, and Russian co-president Vladimir A. Dmitriev, chairman of Vnesheconombank.

The Forum was created at the end of 2004, through the joint initiative of Berlusconi and Russian president Vladimir Putin. And it was this Forum that organized the public presentation in Rome last December 2 of the book by Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI, at the offices of the ministry for economic development, with the participation of two other ministers, for culture and for education, and a sizable crowd of businessmen, diplomats, experts in geopolitics.

The speaker representing the Russian cultural world was the rector of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, Anatoly V. Torkunov, and for the world of Italian culture, the rector of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Lorenzo Ornaghi.

For the patriarchate of Moscow, there was the secretary of the department for external Church relations, Sergij Zvonarev, while for the pontifical council for Christian unity there was Monsignor Milan Zust, a specialist on relations with Orthodoxy.

The title of the meeting was: "The the role of the Churches in the cultural integration of Europe."

Here, now, are the views on this topic of the "foreign minister" of the Church of Moscow:

The help that the Russian Orthodox Church can give to Europe
by Hilarion Alfeyev, Archbishop of Volokolamsk

Introduction to: Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI,
"Europa, patria spirituale," Moscow/Rome, 2009

When traveling in Europe, especially in the traditionally Protestant countries, I am always astonished at seeing not a few churches abandoned by their congregations, especially the ones turned into pubs, clubs, shops, or places of profane activities of yet another kind. There is something profoundly deplorable in this sad spectacle. I come from a country in which for many decades the churches were used for nonreligious purposes. Many places of worship were completely destroyed, others were turned into "museums of atheism," and still others modified to be used as secular institutions. This was one of the traits of the so-called "militant atheism" that dominated for seventy years in my country, and collapsed only in fairly recent times. But what is the cause of similar phenomena in Western Europe? Why has the space for religion in Western society been reduced in such a significant way in recent decades? Why does religion have less and less space in the public sphere? And again: why has this contraction of the religious presence in Europe coincided with processes of consolidation on the political, financial, economic, and social level? [...]

Just after the second world war, when Europe was in ruins, there was a clear need for a pan-European solidarity, for the survival not only of the continent, but of the whole world. [...] The presence of a "big brother" behind the Iron Curtain also drove the West to work for integration and unification.

At first, this process had only economic, military, and political dimensions. And nonetheless, with the passing of time the need for a common cultural space, a single European civilization, became increasingly urgent. It was thus believed necessary to develop a new, universal ideology that, by reducing the ideological and religious tensions that existed among the various peoples, would be able to ensure tranquil coexistence among the various cultures in the framework of a single European civilization.

In order to create an ideology of such vast magnitude, it was necessary to reduce all the cultural, ideological, and religious traditions of Europe to a common denominator. The role of this denominator was taken on by post-Christian Western humanism, the essential principles of which were formulated in the age of the Enlightenment, and "tested" during the French Revolution.

The model of a new Europe based on this ideology presupposes the construction of an explicitly secularist society, in which religion can have a place only in the private sphere. In compliance with this secularized model, religion must be separated from both state and society: it must have no influence on social development, nor interfere in political life. Such a model not only reduces to zero the social dimension of all religion, it also constitutes a challenge to the missionary vocation of many religious communities. For the Christian Churches, this model represents a genuine intimidation, because it undermines their possibility of preaching the Gospel to "all the nations," of proclaiming Christ to the world. [...]

In the Soviet Union, religion was persecuted for seventy years. There were various waves of persecution, and each of these had its particular character. At the end of the 1920's and in the 1930's, the persecutions were more cruel. Many of the clergy were put to death; all of the monasteries, the theological schools, and most of the churches were closed. A less brutal period followed the end of the second world war, when some of the monasteries were reopened together with a few schools. During the 1960's, a new wave of severe persecutions began, aimed at a total annihilation of religion that was supposed to be completed by the beginning of the 1980's.

But midway through the 1980's, not only was the Church still alive, it was growing, albeit slowly. [...] One thing never changed, however: the ban that kept religion from leaving the ghetto to which it had been confined by the atheist regime. [...]

Now, the processes that are currently taking place in Europe bear some resemblance to those in the Soviet Union. For religion, militant secularism is as dangerous as militant atheism was. Both of them tend to exclude religion from the public and political sphere, relegating it to a ghetto, confining it to the realm of private devotion. The unwritten rules of "political correctness" are increasingly applied to religious institutions. In many cases, this implies the fact that believers can no longer express their convictions openly, in that publicly expressing their religious conviction could be considered a violation of the rights of those who do not share it. [...]

The results of this policy are evident. In some countries, especially in those that do not have a Catholic or Orthodox majority, the majestic cathedrals that up until a few decades ago contained thousands of faithful in prayer are half empty; the theological seminaries are closing for lack of vocations; the religious communities are not renewing their numbers; Church property is being sold; the places of worship are being turned into centers for earthly activities. Once again, it is undeniable that in many cases, it is the Churches themselves that are responsible for the situation, but the destructive effect of secularism must not be underestimated. Religion is really being expelled from the public sphere, increasingly marginalized by secularized society. And this in spite of the fact that in all of the West and in Europe in particular, most of the people still believe in God. [...]

The Russian Orthodox Church, with its unique experience of surviving the harshest persecutions, struggling against militant atheism, reemerging from the ghetto when the political situation changed, recovering its place in society and redefining its social responsibilities, can therefore be of help to Europe [...] Russia and the other republics of the former Soviet Union, unlike many countries in Western Europe, are experiencing a period of religious revival: millions of people are returning to God; everywhere churches and monasteries are being built. The Russian Orthodox Church, which today is undoubtedly one of the most rapidly growing Churches in the world, has no shortage of vocations: on the contrary, thousands of young men are entering its theological schools to consecrate their lives to God. [...]

"The foundations of the social doctrine of the Russian Orthodox Church," a document adopted by the council of bishops in 2000, is the written proof of the fact that this Church [...] has an intellectual potential such that it is able to provide balanced and comprehensible answers. After reading this document, which is the first text of its kind in the entire history of Orthodox Christianity, anyone can see that it belongs to a Church that no longer lives in the ghetto, but rather finds itself at the height of its powers. Heavily damaged by militant atheism, this Church was never destroyed. On the contrary, it emerged from its experience in the fire of persecution renewed and rejuvenated. Having descended into Hades and risen from the dead, this Church truly has much to say to the world. [...]

For the Russian Orthodox Church, there cannot be only one ideological model, nor a single system of spiritual and moral values to impose indiscriminately on all European countries. The Russian Orthodox Church hopes for a Europe based on authentic pluralism, a Europe in which the diversity of cultural, spiritual, and religious traditions is fully represented. This plurality of traditions must be reflected in every legal document, and respected by every court in its decisions. If the laws and if those decisions are based exclusively on principles rooted in Western secularist humanism – with its particular conception of peace, tolerance, freedom, justice, respect for human rights, and so on – they risk not being accepted by a large part of the European population, and in particular by those who, by virtue of their belonging to a religious tradition, have a perspective different from those same principles. [...]

The totalitarian dictatorship of the past cannot be replaced with a new dictatorship of pan-European government mechanisms. [...] For the Russian Orthodox Church, every state must have a right to legislate as it believes on that which concerns the state of marriage and the family, questions of bioethics, educational models. The countries of Orthodox tradition, for example, do not accept laws that legalize euthanasia, homosexual marriage, drug trafficking, the maintenance of brothels, pornography, and so on.

Moreover, we believe that every country must have the right to develop its own model of relations between state and Church. Legislation that is limited solely to guaranteeing citizens the right to religious freedom creates, in reality, the conditions for a savage competition among religions and confessions. We must instead create together the conditions to keep the democratic freedoms of an individual, including his right to religious self-determination, from clashing with the rights of the national communities, and to preserve his integrity and fidelity to his own traditions, social ethics, and religion. These are elements of particular importance, especially when it comes to creating regulations for destructive and extremist movements of a religious nature, as also when proof is obtained of the violation of religious liberty on the part of traditional religions, the expansion of which in some parts of Europe threatens public and social order. [...]

Wherever no guarantees are given to the religious communities, collisions and clashes between religious institutions on the one hand and the secularized world on the other will be inevitable. These clashes may take place on various levels and in relation to various questions, but it is not difficult to predict that, in most of the cases, they will revolve around topics touching on morality, which the religious communities on the one hand and modern society on the other understand in different ways. There is already a fairly glaring divergence between the system of values existing in the traditional religions and the one that is characteristic of the secularized world.

"The foundations of the social doctrine" is not a manual for private use: it is a public document in which the Russian Orthodox Church expresses its official positions openly and explicitly. The language of the document differs from that of secularized society: the notion of sin, for example, is practicallyabsent from the vocabulary of secularism. Nonetheless, the Church maintains that it has every right to express its positions publicly, not only when they agree with generally accepted opinions, but also when they disagree.

There are many positions developed in "The foundations of the social doctrine of the Russian Orthodox Church" that may not correspond to the standards of secularism. For example, the Church considers abortion "a grave sin," equal to homicide, and declares that "from the moment of conception, any action against the life of the future human being is criminal." The Church also rejects, as "against nature and morally inadmissible," so-called "surrogate motherhood," together with any form of extracorporeal insemination. Human cloning is maintained to be "an unequivocal challenge to the very nature of the human being and to the image of God impressed on him, an integral part of which is the freedom and uniqueness of the person." Treatment that makes use of the fetus is considered "absolutely inadmissible." Euthanasia is condemned as "a form of homicide or suicide." Changing sexes is considered a "rebellion against the Creator" that the Church does not allow: if anyone of a sex different from his original one should present himself for baptism, he would be baptized according to the "sex to which he belonged at the moment of birth." [...]

The church must be recognized as having the right to follow its own canonical traditions, preferring these to secularized law in the cases in which there should be overlapping or outright contrast. According to the social doctrine of the Russian Orthodox Church, "when human law completely rejects the divine norm that has absolute value, replacing it with one that is contrary, then this latter ceases to be law and becomes illegal, no matter what the legal garments in which it is clad."

Therefore, "in everything concerning the exlusively earthly order of things, the Orthodox Christian must obey the law, as imperfect and unfavorable as it may be. And nonetheless, whenever respect for the law threatens his eternal salvation and involves apostasy or the obligation to commit a sin in the eyes of God and of neighbor, the Christian is called to profess his faith boldly, out of love of God and of his truth, and for the salvation of his soul, for eternal life. He must denounce by legal means the clear violation committed by society or by the state against the laws and commandments of God. And if this action should prove impossible or ineffective, then he must move on to civil disobedience." (IV, 9)

Obviously, disobedience of civil law is an extreme measure that a particular Church might adopt in exceptional circumstances. It is nonetheless a possibility that must not be excluded a priori, in case a system of secularized values should become the only one operating in Europe. [...]

I believe that solidarity among European Christians must become increasingly more manifest, with the gradual progression of the process of defining a common European system of values. It is only together that Christians, with the representatives of the other traditional religions in Europe, will be able to safeguard their own identity, combat militant secularism, and confront the other challenges of modernity. The Russian Orthodox Church is ready to collaborate on the interconfessional level, the interreligious level, the political level, the social level, and all other levels with those who are not indifferent to the future identity of Europe, with all those who believe that traditional religious values are an integral part of that identity.

Finally, I would like to comment on the recent decision of the European Court of Human Rights against Italy, meaning the ban on displaying the crucifix in Italian schools. This decision goes against the right of each state to preserve its own traditions and its own identity, that is, it offends the inviolable principle of the authentic pluralism of traditions. It is an unacceptable manifestation of militant secularism. The activity of the European Court must not turn into a cynical farce. The ultraliberal attitude that prevailed in the adoption of that decision must not dominate in Europe. The origins of Europe are Christian. The crucifix is a universal symbol, and it is absolutely inadmissible that, in order to satisfy ultraliberal and atheistic standards, Europe and social institutions should be deprived of the symbols that for so many centuries formed and united people. The crucifix is not a symbol of violence, but of reconciliation. I think that in all of these areas, we can collaborate with the Catholic Church in defending Christian tradition from militant secularism and aggressive liberalism.

In this context, I would like to conclude by asking the following question: are we building a completely atheist and secularist Europe, where God is expelled from society and religion driven into the ghetto of the private, or will the new Europe be a true home for the different religions, thus becoming authentically in a pluralist? I think this is the question the Churches in Europe and the religious communities must ask, a question that the politicians have a duty to answer. It is around this question that the dialogue between European religious communities and political institutions should be centered.

Order of Corporate Reunion
The text of Archbishop Hilarion's introduction to the book by Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI "Europa, patria spirituale" was reproduced almost in its entirety on December 2 by "L'Osservatore Romano."