The two churches expressed dismay. The patriarchs of both the Russian and Georgian Orthodox Churches issued immediate appeals for peace. The strong urgings were all the more striking for the Russian patriarch, Aleksy II, who rarely differs publicly with the Kremlin.
“Today, blood is being shed and people are perishing in South Ossetia, and my heart deeply grieves over it,” Patriarch Aleksy said in a statement on Aug. 8 as the fighting raged. “Orthodox Christians are among those who have raised their hands against each other. Orthodox peoples called by the Lord to live in fraternity and love are in conflict.”
"Two days later, in a sermon in Tbilisi, Patriarch Ilia II of the Georgian Orthodox Church said that “one thing concerns us very deeply — that Orthodox Russians are bombing Orthodox Georgians.”
According to the church’s Web site, he added: “This is an unprecedented act of relations between our countries. Reinforce your prayer and God will save Georgia.”
The ties between the Orthodox churches did prove strong enough to offer some relief to civilians swept up in the conflict. Bringing food and aid, the Georgian patriarch made a pastoral visit to Gori, a central Georgian city, while it was occupied by Russian forces." (Read the whole article here)
I thought the whole article was interesting but this paragraph jumped out at me:
“This is an especially painful situation for us because four Orthodox peoples are in conflict,” said Deacon Andrei Kuraev, an outspoken Russian Orthodox missionary noted for his Web site, his books and his sermons at rock concerts by bands that have embraced Orthodoxy. He said that Orthodox segments of South Ossetia’s and Abkhazia’s populations did not wish to be under the Orthodox Church in Georgia."
I wanted to know more about him. So, I did what one does when one wants information.
1 comment:
I thought it was a good article, I know that Get Religion had some quibbles, but you know, on the whole, it encapsulated it well.
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