What a surprise... I think a case of ecumenism has been unveiled in ROCOR-L. It occured in 2002. Please see
http://www.stmaryattheelms.org.uk/
Click on Mary and read the text and see the photogrphs
Here is an extract
And so, on the 10th September 2002, 25 years later, 300 people came to the ceremony in which the Statue of Our Lady of Grace was blessed and installed by the Bishop of Richborough in the church of St Mary at the Elms. The statue, a replica of the statue at Nettuno, was carved by local artist Robert Mellamphy. The ceremony took place in the presence of the Bishop of St Edmundsbury & Ipswich, the Roman Catholic Dean of Ipswich (Monsignor Peter Leeming), Father Andrew Philips of the Orthodox Church and the Reverend Elizabeth Bellamy of the Methodist Church.
Those present heard readings from the Bible and the Quran relating to Mary, and joined in prayers for peace and unity read by the Meryemana group. Mgr. Leeming preached about the love of Mary and how she points us to Jesus.
Click here to see photos of the ceremony (may take a while to load).
The Meryemana Group is named after the house in Ephesus where Mary is believed to have lived in later life. It is a place of pilgrimage for both Christians and Muslims, who worship God together in peace under one roof - Mary's roof.
The Group believes that Christians can work, study and pray together in harmony under the motherly care of the Blessed Virgin Mary. They also believe that the hand of friendship can be extended to people of all faiths, showing the same warmth with which Mary greeted her Son's friends. Members continue to meet for prayer, friendship and learning.
This father Andrew Philips seems to be the same as the site www.orthodoxengland.org.uk On his website, he is clearly anti-ecumenist but he seems to have participated to a syncretic act. It seems the ROCOR has two personnality, like M Jekyll and M Hyde...
Well the apostasy had already began in 2002 and Lavre's declaration about his inflexibility on the topic of ecumenism served simply to lure people...
