MP Delegation To wcc

[Kollyvas]

(Note, the implication made heretically is that the Church is divided and only through their syncretic method, not Orthodoxy, can Unity and Truth be affirmed. Branch theory reinforced. And +Metropolitan Kyrill STILL maintains his loyalty. SHAMEFUL!!! Anaxios! Anaxios! Anaxios!--R)

http://www.wcc-assembly.info/en/news-me ... sform.html

Celebration and transformation on world?s churches? agenda

More articles and free photos at

www.wcc-assembly.info

The first Assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC) in the 21st century opens in Porto Alegre, Brazil, today, 14 February, under the theme “God, in your grace, transform the world”.

The Assembly, which meets every seven years, is the highest governing body of the WCC, the world’s broadest global gathering of churches and Christian organizations.

The diverse and dynamic event manifests the churches’ commitment to seeking unity, common witness and service to the world.

The gathering in Porto Alegre is the ninth assembly since the WCC was formally inaugurated in 1948 in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Attending this Assembly are 691 registered delegates from 348 member churches, over 500 other representatives, advisors and guests, and 350 staff, stewards and interpreters.

They will engage in five thematic plenaries, 22 ecumenical conversations, six committees, 90 Bible study groups and over 200 workshops and events.

The Assembly in Porto Alegre is seen as an opportunity for renewal of the WCC’s culture, following a report from a special commission on Orthodox participation and a move to consensus decision-making.

Committees will review the work of the Council since the Harare Assembly in 1998, and propose future priorities and policy guidelines. They also will present a slate of candidates for election to the WCC central committee, and propose an Assembly message to be shared with congregations throughout the world.

A feature of the Assembly will be its rich prayer life. There will be opening and closing celebrations, common morning and evening prayers outdoors in a tent, midday eucharist services in the university chapel and Sunday worship with local congregations.

Plenary themes include economic justice, Christian unity, overcoming violence, Christian identity and interreligious dialogue, the Assembly theme, and Latin America.

Other key issues include a focus on ecumenism in the 21st century, reflecting the growth in numbers and influence of Pentecostal and evangelical groupings.

The assembly will consider making public statements on issues such as nuclear disarmament, United Nations reform, terrorism and counter-terrorism, and water.

Prominent personalities at the assembly will be three Nobel Prize laureates (Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Adolfo Perez Esquivel and Ms Rigoberta Menchu), the archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, Walter Cardinal Kaspar, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, and Metropolitan Kyrill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad (Russian Orthodox Church).

It is expected that the refocusing of the WCC’s priorities will include a move to strengthen the involvement of a younger generation.

Young people gathered prior to the Assembly for community-building, ecumenical conversations and a meeting with WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia. Other pre-assembly events were organized for gatherings of Indigenous People, disability advocates, and women delegates to the Assembly.

Young people also will be prominent among the 2,300 people attending the associated Mutirao – a programme for churches, ecumenical organizations and individuals “coming together to make a difference”, including an exhibition, cultural celebrations, workshops, lectures and space for student and congregational groups to gather.

The Assembly concludes on 23 February.

Daily news, webcasts and video are available on the 9th Assembly website: www.wcc-assembly.info/

http://www.wcc-assembly.info/

Welcome to Porto Alegre
Inspired by its central theme, the Assembly's opening ceremony /PAGAN/ conveys, in music, drama and dance, a message about our capacity to transform the world, about the importance of material and spiritual communion, work and sharing. Some 50 actors from the Drama Warehouse, a Brazilian theatre troupe, are involved in the ceremony, and children from a poor neighbourhood welcome participants to Porto Alegre with a samba.

[AndyHolland]

There may be many who are Orthodox who are not, and many who are not Orthodox yet are. That is for the Lord to judge.

Now I must admit, I watched the Papal burial on the tube, and noticed Orthodox there. In fact, it did make me feel uncomfortable seeing that. Is that my own prejudice against the RC heirarchy (wearing watches on altar holding a Gospel), or was that conscience as a guide saying this was not of God? I don't honestly know. It will take time, facts and prayers to find out. Pagan antics at wcc meetings are foolish - do Orthodox attend such things specifically? One should directly witness in order to speak on such matters.

I believe the Orthodox Church is The Church. One can hold peace on many things and that is not unwise - on the contrary, it is the fullness of the law. We are called to speak against heresy boldly but in a spirit of love, lest we be tempted. History has proven again and again that over-reacting to one heresy often becomes the breeding ground of another. The devil indeed has two horns. A true anathema leaves it up to Jesus, and holding one's peace does leave it up to Jesus.

In accordance with the canon, if you have a specific accusation with facts, then make them in the proper place. Otherwise, consider how you may have violated the canon yourself by writing against clergy without specific proof and knowledge of specific wrong-doing. I have yet to read anywhere, including the sites you provided (read sometime ago), where specific allegations of specific wrong-doing are made. There is allot of hype, but not allot of facts. Forcing one to accept a conclusion logically based on canon is dangerous. If one applies one canon, one must be prepared to apply them all and the ones against speaking against heirarchs and Bishops are very important as well as any others.

Consider the example of St. Meletius who was very prudent and gentle.

What virgin brides the Lord allows in His chamber is His determination, not yours, mine or anyone's fleshy reading of the canon. The Lord knows the law better than the presumptous and the spirit of the law and the weightier matters of justice and mercy that are intrinsic to the law. Therefore, it is probably wiser to defer these things to the Lord.

Do we need to assume that everyone who attends these conferences is a heretic? Is that the opposite extreme that we should avoid?

andy holland
sinner

[Kollyvas]

Quote:

...There may be many who are Orthodox who are not, and many who are not Orthodox yet are. That is for the Lord to judge. ...

In other words, Orthodoxy, the Church, unity is a "mystical secret," none of us "really know." Well, a good illustration of the heretical ecclesiology of ecumenism. Which Father taught this and in what context?! The sites in question provide noteable Saints, Fathers, Canons to edify the people of God and dispel such heretical darkness. Denouncing heresy and heretical acts ARE THINGS WHICH INDEED CALL FOR A PUBLIC FORUM to prevent the contagion from spreading. YES, Orthodox Bishops DO HAVE THE CHARISMA AND OBLIGATION TO ANATHEMIZE SCHISM & HERESY, including your branch theory ecclesiology. INDEED, the 2000 SOBOR DEFINED the parameters OF ORTHODOX PARTICIPATION IN THE ecumenical movement to be "ORTHODOX WITNESS AND SOCIAL CONCERN," CONDEMNING THE VERY syncretism expressed by this "assembly." Selectively reading/understanding simply delegitimizes those who will not stand for Orthodoxy, FOR THEY ONLY RECOGNIZE THEIR AGENDA WHILE IGNORING THE WITNESS OF THE CHURCH. Learning & respecting the boundaries of the Church which the FATHERS, CANONS, SAINTs attest to would enlighten such ignorant heretical thought & activity, which is unworthy of an Orthodox Christian.
R

Quote:Do we need to assume that everyone who attends these conferences is a heretic? Is that the opposite extreme that we should avoid? ...
(What part of joint prayer, and DENIAL of Orthodoxy as the Church DID YOU NOT GET FROM the wcc communique?! HAVE FAITH IN THE CHURCH AND BE FAITHFUL TO IT.)

Answered (READ IT):

What is WRONG & BLASPHEMOUS is that Orthodox representatives will be CONSULTING with heretics on the meaning of grace, WHILE NOT WITNESSING THE FAITH, ie GRACE BEING THE LIFE IN THE ORTHODOX CHURCH. This is the penultimate definition of the heresy of ecumenism, viz. using syncretist formulas, which presuppose Orthodoxy to be morally equivalent to heresy, to arrive at quasi-dogmatic statements. ORTHODOX DOCTRINE IS EXPRESSED BY THE PATRISTIC MIND IN THE HOLY SPIRIT AND IS SOVEREIGN!!! This is an outrage and Orthodox participation without active witness is grave sin EVEN IF "separate statements are issued." ORTHODOX WITNESS, ESPECIALLY ON THE NATURE OF GRACE PRESUPPOSES EXCLUSIVITY--to present it as an addendum to heretical babel is a shameless and blasphemous sacriledge!!! True Orthodox witness WOULD BE THERE TO TEACH, not "consult" and then be relegated to a corner as some sort of museum relic...
Orthodoxia I Thanatos!
Rostislav Mikhailovich Malleev-Pokrovsky
Why is it wrong for Orthodoxy to insist on being the Church? Every Orthodox Liturgy is a TRUE ECUMENICAL ASSEMBLY.

...

[Kollyvas]

IS ORTHODOX UNITY EXPRESSED THROUGH "collective spituality"?!
R

http://www.wcc-assembly.info/en/news-me ... -gath.html

Women's Pre-Assembly Gathering

Women listen during a presentation at the pre-assembly gathering in Porto Alegre. About 200 women took part in the event.
How do women express the search for Christian unity against current societal challenges? About 200 women worked at that question as they participated in a pre-assembly gathering 11-13 February in Porto Alegre. At the conclusion of a Bible study on the second day of the gathering, the women displayed their unity through their collective spirituality, recognizing the gifts God has given and the manifestation of God’s grace for all humanity, without discrimination.

The meeting was planned by the World Council of Churches so that delegates to the 9th Assembly, which begins 14 February, would have an opportunity to meet and prepare for their participation over the next two weeks. Women will make up 37 percent of delegates at the 9th Assembly. Their participation in the debates and decision-making is expected to be crucial in advancing opportunities for and equal treatment of women within churches and in the ecumenical world.

[Kollyvas]

(Icons alongside other pictures as a "display." Kyrie Eleison! R)

http://www.wcc-assembly.info/en/news-me ... rayer.html

Pictures of Prayer

The Exhibition Hall has stalls focusing on human rights, the work of the church in the world, and its educational and social work. But visitors also notice one stall lined with vividly-coloured icons which would not look out of place in an Orthodox church or home – though these are created by four Brazilian Roman Catholics.

For Cica Anawate, Clarice Jaeger, Ismael Alves and Niura Arnt Fernandez, painting is a form of prayer. "We paint praying," says Cica, explaining that they listen to Gregorian chants as they work.

Each of the paintings is created with a particular person or situation in mind. "It transmits a great peace to us," she says. For those who take one of their paintings home, their work is a blessing, and a way in which God continues to speak to them.

[Kollyvas]

(Are these statements compatible with Orthodox witness?! This wcc is speaking IN LIEU of the Church. Anaxios!--R)

http://www.wcc-assembly.info/en/news-me ... om-is.html

God’s grace and wisdom is for all

Mutirão participant Bishop Saibo Mabo (pictured with WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia) preached at the pre-assembly meeting of indigenous peoples on February 12, using the three wise men to illustrate how the grace of God flows and leads us.

Bishop Mabo, National Torres Strait Islander Bishop in the Anglican Church of Australia, began his sermon by softly repeating words of Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal welcome: maiem, seu ngpa, maluna and qwa.

He said the three wise men came as one people with gifts from their respective cultures and worshipped our Lord Jesus. Today, he said, God wants all cultures and all races to find Jesus.

“God’s grace leads us indigenous peoples to deeper wisdom, knowledge, and understanding of truth. The good news of Jesus is the welcoming message, the message of welcome.

“Our Lord Jesus loves everyone and welcomes everyone.”

Bishop Mabo said, “God’s grace flows in us and through us to give us the spiritual understanding that God is the God of all creation … of people of every race and culture … with different languages, traditions and customs.

“God welcomes us and is saying today: maiem, seu ngpa, maluna and qwa.”

[AndyHolland]

Dear Kollyvas,

St. Mark did attend the council of Florence - so he did know what was going on and why it was a bad thing. He could speak directly to the evil because he observed it and others witnessed it as well.

"An heretic is not to be received as witness against a bishop, neither only one believer; for "in the mouth of two or three witnesses, every word shall be established."

Consider again that all of Mount Athos wrote a letter detailing several issues with the E.P., and all but one of those monastaries recanted and asked forgiveness. It is a serious thing to accuse people of wrong doing. You have to have facts, specifics and you must be willing to testify directly.

It is a very presumptuous sin to tell other people what their motives are and it is indicative of falsehood. You don't know your own heart, how can you presume to know another's?

Jesus Christ is the Lord, and God knows the heart - not man. Don't tell me what my motives are - because God knows and He is my defense.

If attending a meeting with heretics is to be condemned by the letter of law, then by that "logic" St. Mark would have to be condemned for attending the council of Florence. That is foolish "logic." The Latins discussed many silly things at the Council of Florence, and St. Mark and others gave Orthodox responses.

One might reasonably argue that participation in the wcc has done no good and the Orthodox should withdraw as it seems silly. I can certainly go along with that, but far be it from any sane laymen to presume heresy on actions of others in remote places without substantial direct evidence and multilple reliable observations of specific heretical actions and deeds.

Prudence and care are not sins, nor is teaching Orthodoxy to the unenlightened.

andy holland
sinner