ADDRESS
By
His
All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch BARTHOLOMEW
To the Central Committee
of the World Council of Churches
(Orthodox Academy,
Crete, September 3, 2012)
Beloved friends in the
Lord,
We are sincerely
delighted to be here with you as grateful benefciaries of the generous
hospitality of the historical Church of Crete. It is through the “fair
havens” (the Kaloi Loimenes) of this apostolic island that St. Paul, the
great “apostle to the gentiles,” sailed on his way to Rome on his 4th
missionary journey, leaving behind Titus as its frst bishop ad his trusted
colleague.
We are also pleased that
you are convening here at the beautiful Orthodox Academy of Crete, this
precious gem of the Ecumenical Patriarchate that combines theoretical
exploration and practical application. This institution has a long, proven
record of integrating theological study and ecumenical witness.
Your presence here during these days confrms this tradition.
Moreover, we were deeply
honored by the kind invitation to address you as distinguished members of
the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches and spontaneously
accepted to subsume this signifcant meeting under the auspices of
the Ecumenical Patriarchate for the second time. The frst such blessed occasion
was in Heraklion, Crete, almost 45 years ago.
The commitment of the
Ecumenical Patriarchate to the vision and mission of the World Council of
Churches – from the early formative and creative years through even the
more diffcult and contentious moments – has always been unwavering
and paramount. Indeed, our own admiration and dedication to
the service and ministry of the World Council of Churches is
amply evident in our extensive participation in numerous executive
roles and responsibilities over many decades. In more recent years,
on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the WCC, we addressed
the Central Committee in Geneva in 2008; on these very grounds,
we spoke to the plenary of the Faith and Order Commission in
2009; and we communicated a message via video to the
International Ecumenical Peace Convocation held in Jamaica last
year.
Given all this, we would
like to bring to your attention three concepts highlighted in the Apostle
Paul’s Letter to Titus that pertain to the sub-themes of your forthcoming
10th General Assembly next year in Busan, South Korea, which comprises
a humble prayer that the “God of Life [may] lead us to justice
and peace.”
Life is God's gift to
humankind and to all creation. It is a gift that emerges from the
Trinitarian love and God’s love for the world. The Father loves the Son,
while the Holy Spirit strengthens this divine love among the three persons
and toward the world. According to the Church Fathers, this gift of life
is the result of God’s mystery as Father and “Maker of all things, both
visible and invisible.” Creation on the other hand has to live in the
fullness of freedom and in pursuit of justice and peace. When
humanity experiences such freedom and justice, then it realizes the
prefguration of God’s Kingdom and the anticipation of the
divine transfguration.
Turning, then, to St.
Paul’s Letter to Titus, we observe that the frst concept concerns St.
Paul’s advice to “teach what befts sound doctrine.” (2.1) Life Together in
Faith: Unity and Mission is the frst sub-theme of the General Assembly in
Korea. This is a clear reminder of the foundation of our unity and mission
as an ecumenical body. For we must at all times remember –
always reminding ourselves and respectfully reminding others – that we constitute
a fellowship of churches that confess the Lord Jesus Christ as God and
Savior, ultimately seeking and under no circumstances neglecting our
calling to visible unity in one faith “that the world may believe.” (John
17.21) We must be careful that, again in the inspired words of Paul to
Titus, “in everything we may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior” (2.10)
and that “the word of God is not discredited.” (2.5)
The second concept
relates to St. Paul’s recognition that “truth accords with godliness”
(1.1), that authentic “peace comes from God” (1.4), and that “the grace of
God has appeared for the salvation of the whole world.” (2.11) Life
Together in Hope: For Justice, Peace and Reconciliation in the World is
the second sub-theme of the upcoming General Assembly. “Godliness” implies
doing the right thing by all people and by all of God’s creation; it
involves honoring and upholding the rights of every person as well as
of every living creature. Our doctrine and tradition should
inform our life and spirituality; our creed should conform to our
worship; or, to adopt the language of the programs of the World Council
of Churches, our “faith” should complement our “order.”
Finally, the third
sub-theme of next year’s General Assembly is Life Together in Love: For a
Common Future. There is a key term that appears in chapter 1, verse 8, of
Paul’s Letter to Titus. The word is philoxenos, which signifes
“hospitable.” The bishop – or, we could expand this to include every
faithful Christian and, indeed, every “lover of goodness” (1.8) as “God’s
steward” (1.7) – is called to be both gracious and generous, kind
and accommodating. The expression philoxenos literally
designates someone who loves strangers. It denotes someone who is
not intolerant and exclusive of those who are different or
appear foreign. It is the welcoming and embracing of the other – the
every other, regardless of religion, race, ethnicity, color, creed and
gender – in whom we are to envisage the unique and living image of
God. It is the antithesis of racism and xenophobia. We must strive
to overcome eastern and western divides of cults and cultures;
we must struggle to heal northern and southern divides of peoples and
countries.
Dear friends, our
prayers are with you as you prepare to organize an Assembly that will
proclaim a new message and vision for the years ahead. We also pray for
all those involved in these preparations – the members of the Central
Committee, the Secretary General, the Assembly Planning Committee under
the leadership of His Eminence Metropolitan Gennadios, and
each member of the Committee and Staff, as well the Korean
Host Committee – so that the WCC member Churches and the
entire ecumenical family may experience a peaceful and
festive Assembly.
We are called to invoke
and embrace God’s justice and peace. If we resist justice and peace, then
we are instruments of evil in the world. In some ways, the theme of next
year’s Assembly – “God of life, lead us to justice and peace” – is
diametrically opposed to the petition in the Lord’s Prayer that God may
“lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”
Permit us to close with
words from St. Paul’s Letter to Titus: “My beloved children in our common
faith, may the grace and peace of God the Father and Christ Jesus our
Savior … be with you all. Amen.” (Titus
1.4 and 3.15)
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