During the recent ecumenical meeting of “Synaxis” in Romania, on the theme “Blessed are the peacemakers”, the witness of certain figures was explored in greater depth. Here are two inspiring witnesses for today’s Church, one from the West, the other from the East.
by Martin Hoegger, www.hoegger.org
Maurizio Bevilacqua, a Claretian and specialist in consecrated life (Rome), reflects on forgiveness and peace in the light of Francis of Assisi’s famous “Canticle of Brother Sun”. He notes that it is easy to give this text an aesthetic or romantic interpretation, but this does not correspond to Francis’ intention. In fact, in 1225, when he wrote this song, Francis was almost blind and ill, and died the following year.
In fact, we need to highlight the centrality of Francis’ spiritual quest. For him, the experience of fraternity and living together is fundamental: in Christ, we are all brothers and sisters, all equal.
Towards the end of his life, he suffered greatly from the lack of love between the governor (the “podestat”) of the city of Assisi and the bishop. “It is a great shame that no one is trying to restore peace and harmony between them,” he wrote. It was then, two months before his death, that he added the stanza on forgiveness:
“Be praised, my Lord, through those who forgive for love of you; through those who endure sickness and trial. Happy those who endure in peace, for by you, Most High, they will be crowned.”
M. Bevilacqua gives an interpretation of this verse. If Francis left the world, it was to be fraternal towards everyone. He could not accept that the State and the Church should hate each other.
Francis is convinced that reconciliation requires above all the ability to forgive. But he does not hide the fact that forgiveness can involve tribulations. The path of the Gospel has never been a guarantee of tranquility and human success.
Why did Francis want to introduce the theme of forgiveness into this hymn? To perceive a profound harmony between the praise of creatures and the praise of forgiveness! He calls for a universal brotherhood that excludes no one and includes creation.
Sister Magdalen, from the Monastery of Saint John the Baptist (Essex, England), introduced us to the spirituality of Saint Silouane, a monk from Mount Athos who died in 1938, and who lived the beatitude of peace by teaching and living love of enemies.
Saint Sophrony, a disciple of Saint Silouane, reminds us that “those who truly preach the peace of Christ must never lose sight of Golgotha… This is why the true Church that lives love of enemies will always be persecuted.”
It is the Holy Spirit who teaches us to love our enemies and to pray for them so that they may be saved. Silouane prayed every night. His main prayer was that all the peoples of the world would welcome the Holy Spirit and be saved. He concentrated on what was essential: salvation.
He knew that even in a Christian community there can be hostility. To have peace in our souls, we have to get used to loving the person who has offended us and praying for him or her immediately.
As a novice, Silouane saw Christ in a vision, who taught him to love his enemies. From then on, he wanted to imitate Christ, who prayed for those who had crucified him.
For Silouane, love of enemies is the criterion for verifying the reality and depth of our love for God. He who refuses to love his enemies will not know the Lord.
Love of enemies is also an ecclesiological criterion: the persecuted Church that prays for its enemies is the true Church, rather than the Church that organizes uprisings and even wars against the enemies of the truth.
Silouane shows us that, whatever the external situation, inner peace is preserved if we cling to God’s will.
However, peace is not always possible because of the human tendency for domination or revenge. But those who believe in the Resurrection never give up their work for peace.
Silouane sees a link between peace, love of enemies and humility. “The soul of the humble man is like the sea; if you throw a stone into the sea, it clouds the surface of the waters for a moment, then sinks into the depths. If we lose our peace, we must repent to find it again.
Silouane proposes a rich theology of “synergy”: grace increases when we bless those who curse us, but he is also aware that we can only love our enemies by the grace of the Holy Spirit.
S. Magdalen ends her rich presentation with this prayer by Silouane, which expresses his spirituality very well:
“Lord, teach us by your Holy Spirit to love our enemies and to pray for them with tears. Lord, pour out the Holy Spirit over the earth so that all peoples may know you and learn of your love. Lord, as you prayed for your enemies, so teach us too, through the Holy Spirit, to love our enemies”.
In modern societies, it has become fashionable to go to the family doctor and leave his office with a prescription for medicine. That makes us live the day with peace of mind. But what we do not know is that, with that small gesture of going to the pharmacy, giving the prescription to the person who attends us in that establishment and fully trusting the product they give us, without being interested, even one iota in knowing the indications of the medicine may be putting us in danger.
We are told by doctors or pharmacy clerks that reading the notebook, the leaflet, is not necessary. What’s more, if you are a consumer of a certain age, or if your eyesight is no longer what it used to be, or do not try, although perhaps with a magnifying glass you will achieve it. An old global marketing strategy, to discourage locals and strangers.
Do you think it is clear to the doctor or pharmacist that this medicine can cure them?
To get an answer I have gone to a book that fell into my hands a few days ago, published by Peninsula, in Spain: Chronicle of an intoxicated society. Its author Joan-Ramón Laporte. Born in Barcelona in 1948, he was 76 years old at the time, now dedicated to research, he was a professor of Therapeutics and Clinical Pharmacology at the University of Barcelona and head of the clinical pharmacology service at the Vall d’Hebron Hospital in Barcelona. In addition, throughout his career he founded the Catalan Institute of Pharmacology, a school for great professionals and promoted the creation of various scientific societies and research networks of national and international scope in Europe and Latin America, among many other things. Therefore, it seems to me an expert voice to be able to answer the previous question.
Without going into the book, which I must still confess that I have not “gutted”, “underlined” and studied as it deserves, I think that taking advantage of the generosity of its years of experience they will allow me to reproduce part of the first two paragraphs of the introduction to the same book, which by the way leaves many doors open for us to continue investigating.
“… In 2022, Spanish doctors wrote 1,100 million prescriptions for medicines. Out of 10 people, three take a drug for sleep or depression, two or three take omeprazole, and two take a cholesterol medication. Consumption is concentrated among the elderly and the poorest. Women receive twice as many psychotropic drugs as men. The poorest eight times more than the richest. Older people seven times more than younger adults.”
1,100 million prescriptions in 2022! Only in Spain.
According to the words of Joan-Ramón Laporte, it is clear that there are medications that, used at a specific time, will relieve pain, “cure” a disease and alleviate its symptoms…But they can also cause a new disease.
The series about doctors and hospitals, especially in the USA, permanently keep an eye on this question. How many times has an efficient, upright doctor whose commissions for prescribing according to which treatments should not be excessively high, discovered overmedication in a patient and tried to remedy it? How many times has the health system based on consumption allowed you to do it?
We are more profitable for the pharmaceutical industry as long as we take more drugs. Regardless of whether we are cured or not. What’s more, the home pharmacies hidden in the drawers of bedside tables or in cupboards full of pills, syrups, etc., are a current account where the State puts our tax money. The curious and unhealthy feeling that everything is free in the medical field is absurdly a lie. Someone pays and if the State does it, we do it.
Joan-Ramón Laporte, in his aforementioned book comments: In fact, we are suffering from a silent epidemic of adverse effects of medicines, which in Spain are the cause of more than half a million hospital admissions and at least 16,000 deaths a year, as well as dozens of cases of diseases as varied as severe bleeding, femur fractures, etc. pneumonia, cancer, violence and aggression, suicide, myocardial infarction and other heart diseases, stroke, dementia and Alzheimer’s disease,…
All of the above is written among the contraindications of many of the medications we take. And if we listen to the written words of the expert, who should we blame for the half a million hospital admissions due to the mismanagement (concern) that doctors make of the drugs they prescribe to us? And about the 16,000 deaths, deaths per year, who are responsible?
If we were talking about criminality in the field of police security and we were given a figure like this, data like these, with five hundred thousand injured and a scandalous number of deaths, we would be talking about the negligent attitude of our state security forces and bodies. Why not do the same with our doctors?
I sincerely believe that honest doctors should be the first to question the health system that surrounds us, and try to modify their attitude, comfortable, both personally and unionically, with the industrial network that exists behind the pill that the final consumer takes. The pharmaceutical industries are not charity angels as demonstrated every day in the hundreds of millions that pay for negligence around the world and by the profit and loss accounts they present at the same time, where they have earned billions at the expense of making consumers addicted.
Review the medications you take and don’t hesitate to talk to your doctor about their contraindications. And if you see that you take a lot of pills, seek a second opinion and lower your doses little by little, with the help of experts, in order to try to get out of a wheel that, as they tell you, leaves 16,000 deaths a year and half a million hospital admissions, according to the words of an expert such as Pharmacologist Joan-Ramón Laporte.
The Churches have a rich tradition of peace. They all remind us that peace is not first and foremost a program, something external, but begins within us. A peaceful heart is a peacemaker. During the recent ecumenical meeting of “Synaxe” in Romania, this theme was explored in greater depth.
by Martin Hoegger, www.hoegger.org
Dom Johan Geysens, from the Benedictine monastery of Chevetogne in Belgium, talks about peace of heart in the Christian tradition, with some important spiritual figures. In his “Life of Saint Benedict”, Gregory the Great says that he “dwelt with himself”. That’s why he feared no one.
In his Imitation of Jesus Christ, T. A. Kempis emphasizes inner peace in response to external demands. “It is by resisting the passions and not by giving in to them that we find true inner peace… it is the way of the cross that leads to continual mortification”, he writes. The necessary condition for finding peace is therefore interior conversion: “Leave yourself and you will enjoy great interior peace”!
Among the Spanish mystics, Teresa of Avila warned of the importance of vigilance against intrusive thoughts: “Let nothing trouble you, nor afflict you”. For John of the Cross, peace is not possible in the night of the soul.
Peace is lived in the contradictions of this world, not outside. Thus, Thérèse of Lisieux testifies to an experience of solidarity with sinners, and Thomas Merton with the concerns of modern man. Today, Christians must also work for universal peace, fighting against situations of violence and injustice that affect the poor most of all. They are called to embody God’s peace, this “eschatological gift that calls for our collaboration”.
Romanian witnesses to the peace of Christ
Romanian Metropolitan Serafim reminds us that in Orthodoxy, the Hesychast tradition also emphasizes interiorization. All prayer must be prayer of the heart, not just the so-called “Jesus’ prayer”. Meditation must descend into our hearts through asceticism and prayer. Without them, we cannot acquire peace of heart.
He illustrated his remarks by presenting some of the great Romanian witnesses of monasticism. The Brâncoveanu monastery was revived thanks to Father Arseni Boca, a priest gifted in several arts, particularly painting. He created a spiritual movement with Dumitru Stanilonae, a great Romanian theologian of the 20ᵉ century. Together, they re-translated and enriched the Philocaly, a collection of Church Fathers, adding several Fathers and commenting on them. They published four volumes until the start of the Communist regime in 1948. Both were then thrown into prison. In 1959, 5,000 monks were expelled from the monasteries and more than 2,000 ecclesiastics from different churches were imprisoned.
How can we keep our heart in peace in these circumstances? It’s God’s grace, but it also requires constant attention. Two apparently contradictory maxims form the basis of this spirituality: “all is grace”, and “give your blood to acquire grace”! Asceticism and prayer must be held together.
Arseni Boca had the gift of preaching and clairvoyance. Crowds came to him, and many miracles were attributed to him. He emphasized also the importance of the Christian family. Today, pilgrimages to his tomb never cease.
Serafim Popescu was known for his great kindness and simplicity of heart. Theofil Paraïan, born blind and a disciple of Serafim, was ordained a priest despite his disability. A great confessor and lecturer after the fall of communism, he was invited by all the universities.
Father Cleopa knew the psalter by heart, as well as many of the writings of the Fathers of the Church, which he quoted during his sermons. He spent nine years in prison. Father Yohanikè published hundreds of interviews with monks and nuns containing great wisdom.
After the fall of communism, more than 2,000 new churches were built, as well as more than 100 monasteries. But this extraordinary revival has dried up. Monastic life has less appeal than it did at the end of communism. There are also fewer vocations to the priesthood.
Archbishop Serafim is grateful to God because he has known more than 50 spiritual fathers and mothers and has been marked for life by their company and visits to monasteries.
True and false ecumenism
Bela Visky is a Protestant pastor and professor of theology in Cluj. He belongs to the Hungarian minority, which numbers one million in Romania, and talks to us about the question of how different religious communities live together.
Referring to a commentary by Dietrich Bonhoeffer on the Beatitude of the Peacemakers, he states that the Christian must actively procure peace, not just passively live it. The Christian welcomes others by wishing them peace and prefers to suffer than to cause others to suffer. This is how the various religious communities should relate to each other.
In Transylvania, Protestants have a proud tradition of tolerance. Today, there are two kinds of ecumenism. One is genuine, the other is not. False ecumenism had the blessing of the dictator during communism. It was purely external and a means of propaganda. The current mistrust of some Christians towards ecumenism is rooted in a reaction to this false ecumenism.
True ecumenism is internal and comes from the experience of persecution during communism, where real friendships were made in prisons. For example, Nicolae Steinhardt’s friendship with Lutherans and Greek Catholics. B. Visky recommends reading Nicolae Steinhardt’s “Diary of Bliss”, in which this Jewish convert to Orthodoxy recounts his joy at the presence of Christ in prison with Christians from other Churches.
His generation of pastors is the heir to these two contradictory types of ecumenism. In general, the churches live in parallel, except during the Week of Prayer for Unity. When he asks his students the question: “Is ecumenism optional or is it part of the DNA of the structure of Christian existence”, the answers will vary greatly depending on the student’s convictions.
John, chapter 16. 1 – 33. The end of Christ’s farewell discourse with the apostles: about the coming persecution; the going of Christ to the Father; the work of the Holy Spirit; the happy outcome of the trials to which the apostles will be subjected; hearing their prayers; the scattering of Christ’s disciples.
In the first 11 verses, which form the end of the second consolatory speech, Christ warns the apostles of the persecutions that await them, and then, announcing again His departure to the Father, promises that the Comforter will come to the apostles, who will rebuke the world that is at war against Christ and the apostles.
16:1. I have told you this so that you will not be deceived.
“This,” i.e., of the persecutions awaiting the apostles (John 15:18ff.)
“lest you be deceived.” Knowing about upcoming suffering is helpful because the expected doesn’t hit us as much as the unexpected.
16:2. They will drive you out of the synagogues; even a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is doing God a service.
“cast out of the synagogues” – cf. the interpretation of John 9:22, 34. In the eyes of the Jews, the apostles appear as apostates from the father’s faith.
“anyone who kills you.” From this it is clear that the apostles will be outlawed, so that anyone who meets them will have the right to put them to death. Subsequently, it was explicitly established in the Talmud (treatise of Bemidbar Rabba, reference to Holzmann, 329,1) that whoever kills an unrighteous person thereby offers a sacrifice to God.
16:3. And so they will do to you, because they knew neither the Father nor Me.
Christ repeats (cf. John 15:21) that the reason for such a hostile attitude towards the apostles will be that they, the Jews, do not properly know either the Father or Christ.
16:4. But I have told you this, so when the hour comes, remember that I told you; and I did not speak this to you at first, because I was with you.
The Lord did not tell the apostles about the sufferings that awaited them at the beginning of their following of Christ. The reason for this is that He Himself was constantly with them. In case of troubles that could befall the apostles, Christ was always able to comfort them. But now He was separating from the apostles, and they were to know all that awaited them.
Hence, there is reason to conclude that the evangelist Matthew placed in the words of Christ to the apostles, when he sent them to preach (Matthew 10:16 – 31), predictions about the sufferings that awaited them, not because the Lord then revealed to the disciples the fate that awaited them, but because he wanted to unite in one section all the instructions of Christ to the disciples as preachers of the Gospel.
16:5. And now I go to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me: where are you going?
16:6. But because I told you this, your heart was filled with sadness.
The Lord’s words about His departure deeply struck the disciples, but they felt sorry for themselves more than for their Master. They thought what would happen to them, but they did not ask themselves what fate awaited Christ. It was as if they had forgotten about Thomas’s question, oppressed by the grief of Christ’s departure (cf. John 14:5).
16:7. But I tell you the truth: it is better for you that I go away; for if I do not depart, the Comforter will not come to you; if I depart, I will send Him to you;
16:8. and He, coming, will reprove the world for sin, for righteousness, and for judgment:
“it’s better for you”. The Lord condescends to this state of the disciples and wishes to dispel their oppressive sorrow by telling them that the Comforter will come to them.
“will rebuke the world.” Christ had previously spoken of this Comforter and of His work among the apostles and other believers (John 14:16), but now He speaks of His importance to the unbelieving world. After all, the interpreters differ on the question before whom the Holy Spirit will appear as a rebuke or witness for Christ – whether before the world or only before the believers. Some say that the Lord is speaking here that through the work of the Holy Spirit the truth of Christ and the unrighteousness of the world will become clear, but only to the minds of believers.
“To them shall be revealed all the sin of the world, all its iniquity, and that destruction to which it is condemned… And what could the Spirit reveal to the spiritually deaf and blind, what could He tell to the dead? But He was able to teach through them those who could perceive Him…” (K. Silchenkov).
We cannot agree with such an interpretation, because firstly, the Lord above (John 15:26) has already said that the Spirit will testify about Christ to the world, and secondly, it would be strange to suppose that the world, which is was so loved by the Father (John 3:16, 17) and for whose salvation the Son of God came (John 1:29; 4:42), will be deprived of the influence of the Holy Spirit.
Some claim that the world did not heed the rebuke, which is, however, noted here as a fact (“he will rebuke,” v. 8). We must say that the Greek verb used here, ἐλέγχειν (“to reprove”) does not mean “bring a person to a full awareness of his guilt”, but only “bring strong evidence, which, however, can be ignored by the majority of listeners” (cf. John 8 :46, 3:20, 3:20, 3:20, 3:20, 3:20, 3:20). :46, 3:20, 7:7). In view of this, it is better to adhere to the opinion that this is mainly about the attitude of the Comforter to the unbelieving and hostile to Christ world, before which the Comforter will appear as a witness.
What will the Comforter denounce or testify about? Of sin in general, of truth in general, of judgment in general (all Greek nouns standing here – ἀμαρτία, δικαιοσύνη, κρίσις – stand without an article and therefore mean something abstract). The world does not properly understand these three things. He does evil, and yet he is sure that it is not evil, but good, that he does not sin. He mixes good with evil and considers immorality as a natural phenomenon, showing that he has no concept of justice or righteousness at all, does not even believe in its existence. Finally, he does not believe in the divine court, where everyone’s fate must be decided according to his deeds. Here are these truths foreign to the understanding of the world, the Comforter Spirit must clarify to the world and prove that sin, and truth, and judgment exist.
16:9. for sin that they do not believe in Me;
How will the Spirit explain this to the world? Sin is revealed through the unbelief that the world has shown in relation to Christ (instead of: “that they do not believe” it is more correct to translate: “because they do not believe”: the particle ὁτι, according to the context has here the meaning of cause). In nothing is sin so clearly revealed as in the world’s unbelief in Christ (cf. John 3:20; 15:22). The world hates Christ not because there was anything in Him worthy of hatred, but because sinfulness, having conquered people, makes them not accept the high demands that Christ has for them (cf. John 5:44).
16:10. for righteousness, that I go to My Father, and ye shall see Me no more;
The Holy Spirit will also testify to the existence of righteousness, again in relation to Christ. The ascension of Christ to the Father is evidence that righteousness is an attribute of God, rewarding great works with exaltation, but it also exists as an attribute or work of Christ, Who by His exaltation will prove that He is righteous and holy (1 Jn. 2:1, 29; Acts 3:14; 1 Pet. 3:18), although He was a sinner (John 9:24). The Holy Spirit, especially through the preachers of Christ, will reveal the meaning of the separation of Christ from the apostles, who now perceived this separation as a sad and not a joyful event. But after the Comforter Spirit descends upon them, they will understand and begin to explain to others the true meaning of this withdrawal of Christ, which is proof of the existence of righteousness. Apostle Peter mostly spoke in this way to the Jews about Christ’s ascension (Acts 2:36; 3:15).
16:11. and for judgment, that the prince of this world is condemned.
Finally, the Holy Spirit will explain to the world that there is a judgment – with the example of the condemnation of the culprit of Christ’s death (John 13:2, 27) – the devil, the prince of this sinful world. Since the Lord regards His death as already accomplished, so also for the condemnation of the devil pronounced upon him by Divine justice for this bloody and unrighteous deed (he has put to death the One Who, being sinless, he had no right to deprive of life – cf . Rom. 6:23), He also speaks of a fait accompli (“condemned”).
In the early Church, the condemnation of the devil was manifested in the cases of the expulsion of demons by the apostles, who performed these miracles by the power of the Holy Spirit. Moreover, in the apostolic epistles the devil is presented as having already been expelled from the society of people who have believed in Christ: he only walks around the Church, like a roaring hungry lion (1 Pet. 5:8), spreads his nets again outside the Church, for to capture those believers who can go beyond the bounds of the Church (1 Tim. 3:7). In a word, the condemnation of the devil, the victory over him, was for the minds of believers a fact that happened, and they convinced the whole world of it.
16:12. I have much more to tell you; but now you can’t bear it.
Verses 12 to 33 contain Christ’s third consolation speech. Here He speaks to the apostles, on the one hand, about the future sending of the Holy Spirit, who will instruct them in all truth, and, on the other hand, about His coming or returning to them after His resurrection, when they will learn many things from Him , which until then they did not know. If they now felt strong in faith because of what they had already heard from Christ, He tells them that the strength of their faith was not yet so great as to save them from fear at the sight of what was to come. with their Master. Christ concludes His discourse by exhorting the disciples to bear the coming trial with courage.
“a lot”. Christ cannot tell the disciples all that he had to impart to them: in their present state it is difficult for them to perceive the “much” that Christ had. It is very likely that it included what the Lord revealed to them during the forty days after His resurrection (Acts 1:3) and which then became a major part of Christian tradition.
16:13. And when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all truth; for he will not speak of himself, but what he hears he will speak, and he will tell you the future.
“all truth.” Above Christ spoke of the work of the Holy Spirit for the world. Now He speaks of the importance of the Spirit for the personal lives of Christ’s disciples. Here the activity of the Spirit will bear so much fruit that it will abundantly satisfy the thirst for the knowledge of truth, which it was impossible for the disciples to quench after the departure of their Master. The Holy Spirit, as the Spirit of truth (cf. John 14:17 and 25:26), will give them full knowledge of all truth, or rather all (πᾶσα) truth, which was previously communicated to them by Christ alone in general.
“will guide you.” However, these words do not mean that the students will learn the entire content of the teaching about God, that there will be no flaws in their knowledge. Christ says only that the Spirit will give them this, and whether they will accept all that is offered to them will depend on whether they yield to the leading of the Spirit. The Spirit will be their guide in learning the truth (instead of ὁδηγήσει in some ancient codices it reads ὁδηγός ἔσται).
“for He will not speak of Himself.” The property of the Spirit, by virtue of which He is the source of revelation, is based on the fact that He will as little as Christ (John 7:17; 14:10) speak “of Himself,” i.e. .He will not start anything new in teaching the disciples the truth, but like Christ (John 3:32; 8:26; 12:49) he will speak only what he receives or “hears” (ἀκούει υ Tischendorf, 8- o edition) from the Father (in the Russian translation “he will hear”, future tense).
“and will tell you the future.” The special activity of the Spirit will be to reveal the eschatological teachings. At times Christ’s disciples might be discouraged by the victories which evil often wins in the world, and then the Spirit would open before them the veil of the future and encourage them by painting before their spiritual eyes a picture of the future final victory of good.
16:14. He will glorify Me, because he will take from Mine and announce it to you.
Christ repeats again that the Spirit will not establish a new Church, but will only “glorify Christ”, i.e. will lead to the desired revelation of what, after the withdrawal of Christ, remained unrevealed and unfinished in Christ’s Church.
From this it appears how groundless are the opinions of the possibility of the recent opening of some new Church or Kingdom of the Spirit, which is to take the place of the Kingdom of the Son or His Church.
16:15. All that the Father hath is Mine; therefore I said that he will take from Mine and announce it to you.
For verse 13 says that the Spirit will declare what he hears from the Father, and verse 14 says that he will take from the Son (“of Mine”, i.e., what I have) to removes this apparent contradiction, Christ notes that all things belong to the Son that belong to the Father (John 17:10; cf. Luke 15:31).
Source in Russian: Explanatory Bible, or Commentaries on all the books of the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments: In 7 volumes / Ed. prof. A. P. Lopukhin. – Ed. 4th. – Moscow: Dar, 2009, 1232 pp.
Fifty-one Nobel laureates have signed an open letter calling for an end to hostilities in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip. It was published in the French newspaper “Le Monde”.
The authors call for an immediate ceasefire, the exchange of all prisoners, the release of the hostages and the return of the bodies of the dead to their loved ones, as well as the opening of peace talks.
The letter is addressed to the belligerents, Pope Francis, Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, the Dalai Lama, the United Nations, the European Parliament and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
It notes that there are now no fewer than 55 armed conflicts in the world, and the consequences of the war between Russia and Ukraine “have affected various countries, causing an increase in hunger in Africa, a migration crisis in Europe, bringing with the water , the bread and milk on the tables of the inhabitants of all six continents tons of noxious substances emitted by each bombardment”.
“The number of people killed and injured in central Europe will exceed one million people by the end of this year. This is happening for the first time since World War II,” the address added.
“During this war, the world’s defense budgets have grown so much that they are comparable to the resources sufficient to slow global climate change.” By killing each other, people are simultaneously killing the planet.”
“Weapons spending would also be enough to eradicate world hunger for the next eighty years. Imagine for a moment: no one will suffer from hunger anymore, no one will die of hunger, no child will be malnourished. However, instead of working all our lives, we waste our resources sowing death.”
“Who are the victims of war today? – ask the Nobel laureates. – These are mostly people aged thirty to forty. Each of them therefore lost about forty years of the life they expected to have. So when a hundred thousand people are killed, it represents the loss of four million years of life – with discoveries not made, children not born, orphans suffering.”
The authors of the letter ask the leaders of the world’s religions to address their followers and all the world’s citizens and governments on behalf of the God Whose they serve, just in time for the Olympic Games.
“May the billions of people who will be watching join this prayer.” Give our children the opportunity to outlive us. Let’s not kill each other, let’s save the planet.”
Among the signatories are virologist Francoise Barre-Sinoussi (Nobel Prize for the discovery of HIV), scientist Emmanuel Charpentier (Nobel Prize for the development of a method of genome editing), Alain Heger (Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the discovery and development of conductive polymers), as well and dozens of other scientists who made discoveries in the fields of chemistry, medicine and physics. In addition, the text was signed by Russian opposition journalist Dmitry Muratov (Nobel Peace Prize, editor-in-chief of Novaya Gazeta) and Belarusian writer Svetlana Aleksievich (Nobel Prize for Literature, living in exile).
The Holy Synod of the Romanian Patriarchate approved the proposals for the canonization of sixteen new saints, most of them confessors, martyrs and ascetics of the 20th century.
The 16 new saints include:
•Archimandrite Sofian Boghiu, abbot of St Anthimos Monastery in Bucharest, with the title Confessor Saint Sofian of St Anthimos Monastery, commemorated on September 16;
•Father Dumitru Stăniloae, theology professor in Sibiu and Bucharest, with the title the Holy Confessor Priest Dumitru Stăniloae, commemorated on October 4;
•Father Constantin Sârbu, with the title the Holy Priest-Martyr Constantine Sârbu, commemorated on October 23;
•Protosyncellus Arsenie Boca, with the title Confessor Saint Arsenius of Prislop, commemorated on November 28;
•Father Ilie Lăcătușu, with the title the Holy Confessor Priest Elijah Lăcătușu, commemorated on July 22;
•Hieroschemamonk Paisie Olaru, confessor of Sihăstria Monastery, with the title Saint Paisius of Sihăstria, commemorated on December 2;
•Archimandrite Cleopa Ilie, abbot of Sihăstria Monastery, with the title Saint Cleopas of Sihăstria, commemorated on December 2;
•Archimandrite Dometie Manolache, with the title Saint Dometius the Merciful of Râmeț, commemorated on July 6;
•Archimandrite Serafim Popescu, abbot of Sâmbăta de Sus Monastery, with the title Saint Seraphim the Enduring of Sâmbăta de Sus, commemorated on December 20;
•Father Liviu Galaction Munteanu, theology professor in Cluj-Napoca, with the title the Holy Priest-Martyr Liviu Galaction of Cluj, commemorated on March 8;
•Archimandrite Gherasim Iscu, abbot of Tismana Monastery, with the title Venerable Martyr Gerasimus of Tismana, commemorated on December 26;
•Archimandrite Visarion Toia, abbot of Lainici Monastery, with the title Venerable Martyr Bessarion of Lainici, commemorated on November 10;
•Protosyncellus Calistrat Bobu, confessor at Timișeni Monastery and Vasiova Monastery, with the title Saint Callistratus of Timișeni and Vasiova, commemorated on May 10;
•Father Ilarion Felea, theology professor in Arad, with the title the Holy Priest-Martyr Hilarion Felea, commemorated on September 18;
•Protosyncellys Iraclie Flocea, exarch of the monasteries of the Archdiocese of Chișinău, with the title Saint Heraclius of Bessarabia, commemorated on August 3;
•Archpriest Alexandru Baltaga with the title the Holy Priest-Martyr Alexander of Bessarabia, commemorated on August 8.
Among the new saints there are three professors of theology who will be honored as martyrs – the famous throughout the Orthodox world Fr. Dumitru Staniloae (1903 – 1993), who will be honored on October 4, Fr. Hilarion Felea (1903 – 1961), professor of theology in the city of Arad, whose memory will be celebrated on September 18, and Fr. Liviu Galaction Munteanu (1898 – 1961), professor of theology in Cluj-Napoca (March 8).
In hagiology section will also be included Archim Cleopas (Ilie) – abbot of the “Sikhastiria” monastery, whose memory will be celebrated on December 2, as well as another brother of this monastery – Hieroshimonk Paisius (Olaru), whose memory will also be celebrated on December 2.
The liturgical texts in their memory are about to be completed, and the canonization itself will take place at the next meeting of the Holy Synod.
Source: Press Office of the Romanian Patriarchate
Illustrative Photo: The historical church “Dormition of the Virgin” at the monastery of Brâncoveanu, Sâmbăta de Sus/Sibiu, Romania
“Synaxe”, an ecumenical association over 50 years old, brought together some forty members of various Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant communities in the monastery of Brâncoveanu, near Sibiu in Romania. An intense week of sharing, reflection and prayer on the Beatitude “Blessed are the peacemakers”.
During this meeting, which I was delighted to attend, this beatitude was explored from a variety of angles; it unfolded and expanded. How can I be more of a peacemaker? This question will stay with me for a long time, especially in contexts where it is difficult to live out love for one’s enemies.
So many wars are tearing humanity apart. The war in Ukraine has caused great trauma in society. According to Taras Dmytryk, who, from Ukraine, took part in a video conference, it will take at least three generations to heal. Just as reconciliation took time after the Second World War, it will take a great deal of work to achieve reconciliation after the war in this country. Christians have a sacred duty to commit themselves to this. The “Synaxe” meetings, which he has often attended, inspire and encourage him. They remind him that true peace comes from above; it is a grace given by God. That’s why it’s essential to pray without ceasing, a task to which consecrated people devote themselves.
“The peace blessed by Christ is the result and fruit of the purification of the heart and union with God”, says Athenagoras, orthodox Metropolitan of Benelux and President of Synaxis.
The foundation of peace is laid by Christ, who by his incarnation and redemptive work reconciled humanity with God. Peace has three dimensions: Peace with God, with oneself and with one’s neighbor: “If a person does not taste peace in his soul and with God… he cannot offer it to others. Each of us gives to others what we have, not what we don’t have”, he adds.
Peace is not a concept or a political program, but Christ himself who heals and forgives. It must be sought everywhere, especially with those closest to us. It is part of ordinary Christian life, but often seems absent from the followers of Christ. For Athenagoras, hatred among them is one of the “gravest sins”!
Peace begins with encounter
Peace begins by meeting others and listening to them: “we need hospitality of the face and of the ear”, he says. Cardinal Mercier said: “To unite, we must love one another; to love one another, we must know one another. To get to know each other, we have to go out and meet each other”.
Peace is sustained by prayer, which must be humble: “You will never love someone for whom you do not pray. Prayer opens a channel within us to participate in God’s love for the other person”.
In a beautiful message, Anne Burghardt, General Secretary of the Lutheran World Federation, writes: “By highlighting this theme, you remind us all that consecrated life, life in community, in its many forms, offers a unique sign in the midst of conflicting powers and, if I may say so, a resistance offered by prayer”.
She also recalls the thinking of Pope Francis, for whom “walking together” (synodality) defines who we are as Christians. “During this walk, we dialogue, we pray, we commit ourselves to a common service for all those in need”.
Peace, fruit of the Holy Spirit.
Brother Guillaume, from the Taizé Community, has been living in Bangladesh for 47 years. He lives among simple people and wants to offer us simple words. He began with a song in Bengali, the 6th most widely spoken language in the world. Then a Taizé song inspired by the letter to the Romans: “The Kingdom of God is justice and peace. And joy in the Holy Spirit” (1, 4.7).
According to the letter to the Galatians, peace is one of the fruits of the Spirit (5:22). All these fruits must be enriched. On the other hand, we have to fight against our own nature to find peace. The first Christians did this and became free people filled with the gifts of the Spirit. We don’t often hear this today, but it is essential.
According to Seraphim of Sarov, the aim of the Christian life is to be constantly indwelt by the Holy Spirit (“the acquisition of the Spirit”, as he put it). To achieve this, we must fight against our passions; peace of mind comes through many tribulations.
Personal liberation is not enough. We have to help each other and live in justice. Peace cannot exist without justice and, as we have sung, “the kingdom of God is justice and peace” (1, 4.7).
Above all, peace is built if we become reconciled people, welcoming the gifts of others. “There is unity among us to the extent that we draw closer to Christ”. These words from a monk on Mount Athos had a deep impact on Brother Guillaume.
How can we bear witness to the peace of Christ in Bangladesh, where there are only 0.5% Christians? First of all, we have to see the beauty of the country and the courage of the people who live a very difficult life. Then proclaim the Gospel, as far as possible, by our example, by being close to everyone, especially the poor and the sick.
To bring peace, we need to get close to people and build trust by working together. This is not easy, because people keep to themselves. Instead of seeing what’s wrong with other Christians, we need to appreciate how Christ is present in their Church: what gifts he has given.
Finally, peace is linked to the simplicity of life, content with little. Gandhi understood this very well; for him, greed leads to a lack of peace, while simplicity leads to openness to others. People with smartphones are eager for news, but uninterested in the people next to them on the bus. On the other hand, poor people who don’t have much are more interested in getting to know others. The same is true of churches that were convinced they had all the truth, but were not interested in other churches, nor did they need them.
Not a single TV channel, streaming platform or cinema in Russia will show the competitions from the Summer Olympics in Paris, which begin on July 26, sports.ru writes. This happened for the first time in 40 years, when in 1984 the USSR boycotted the Olympics in Los Angeles.
The official explanation is that this time only 16 athletes will participate under a neutral flag, without an anthem and in “unpopular sports”. The unofficial thing is that this is a purely political decision of the Kremlin, and heads of federations call those who agreed to participate traitors, homeless people and foreign agents.
Paris Mayor on Russians at the 2024 Olympics: It would be better if they didn’t come
Anne Hidalgo condemned the International Olympic Committee’s decision regarding representatives of the aggressor country, she said already in March.
According to the official, it would be good if athletes from the terrorist country did not participate in international competitions.
“I prefer that they not come. We cannot act as if the invasion does not exist. We cannot act as if Putin is not a dictator who is threatening all of Europe today.”
At the same time, she added that such sanctions cannot be imposed against Israeli athletes, since Israel’s actions are different from Russia’s aggression.
“There can be no talk of imposing sanctions against Israel in connection with the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Because Israel is a democratic country,” the mayor told Reuters.
Ivan Aivazovsky is known as the best marine artist in the world, although he also painted other landscapes, battle scenes and many portraits. He is defined as a representative of romanticism, although there are many realistic elements in his paintings.
There are few artists who received such huge recognition during their lifetime as he did. He was named “Academician” of the Russian Navy, de facto State Councilor of Russia, de facto Privy Councilor of Russia, “Professor of Marine Painting” of the Petersburg Academy and its Honorary Member, Member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Science and Art, Member of Academy of Florence, Honorary Member of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Stuttgart, Honorary Member of the Moscow Art Society, etc.
Aivazovsky is the author of more than 6000 paintings, which makes him a real world record holder among the masters of the brush. The most interesting thing is that the world would not have seen a huge part of the paintings of this incredibly talented artist if he had actually died in 1843, when the ship he was traveling on in the Bay of Biscay was almost sunk by a terrible sea storm. In the commotion surrounding the shipwreck, newspapers ran headlines about Aivazovsky’s death, but he survived and lived for another 57 years after being declared “dead”. He died on May 2, 1900. The inscription is engraved on his sarcophagus:
“Born mortal, he left an immortal memory of himself.”
Ivan Aivazovsky was born on July 29, 1817 in the Feodosia region /a port on the Crimean Peninsula/, Russian Empire, in the family of Armenians. He has three sisters and one brother – the historian Gabriel Aivazovsky.
Young Ivan Aivazovsky received his first parochial education in the local Armenian church. Plays the violin, takes lessons from a local architect. He enrolled to study Landscape at the St. Petersburg Art Academy and while still a student received a silver medal for his paintings. He was assigned as an assistant to the French landscape painter Philippe Tanner, but a conflict arose between the two, after which Aivazovsky enrolled in the Battle Painting class and participated in the exercises of the Baltic Sea Fleet in the Gulf of Finland. From this period is his painting “Spokoystvie”, which won a gold medal and earned him a diploma from the academy, 2 years ahead of schedule. He left for the Crimea, where he met three admirals. With their patronage he was sent to study in Europe. Constantly travels: to Venice, Berlin, Vienna, Rome, Naples, tours Switzerland, Germany, Holland, Great Britain, etc. He was strongly influenced by Italian painting and held several exhibitions in Italy.
He was invited to exhibit his paintings at the Louvre. Aivazovsky is the only representative of Russia at an international exhibition organized in the famous museum. He continues to travel – to Portugal, Spain, Malta. It was during one of these trips that he was shipwrecked and pronounced “dead”. After his “resurrection”, he was briefly in Paris and Amsterdam, and then returned to Russia.
The most fruitful period of his life begins. He became the official artist of the Russian Navy and initially painted commissioned views of Russian port cities. He also undertook a journey through the Greek islands of the Aegean Sea. After his return, he decided to settle in his hometown and build his own studio. He continues to paint marine paintings and is already very famous. He was raised by the Russian imperial court to the rank of aristocrat. In the meantime, he married an English governess, from whom he had four daughters, but in 1877 he divorced his wife and his second marriage was with an Armenian woman.
Creative success accompanied Aivazovsky throughout his life, but his real rise began sometime after the Crimean War, when he began to paint pictures of battle scenes. His works were exhibited during the Ottoman siege of Sevastopol. In the 1960s, he painted paintings inspired by Greek nationalism and the unification of Italy. For the first time, he went to the Caucasus, where he painted mountain landscapes. The time of his great international recognition is coming.
The Academy of Fine Arts in Florence asked the artist to create a self-portrait to be exhibited in the iconic Uffizi Gallery. The Turkish Sultan Abdul Aziz awarded him the “Osmaniye” order, which Aivazovsky later – in 1894 returned to him, together with other Turkish medals, through the Turkish consul in Feodosia, because of the Armenian massacres. Broken to the bottom of his soul by the genocide of his people, he also sends a message to the Sultan to “throw his orders and medals into the sea”. Aivazovsky painted several paintings about these tragic events. One of them is the “Massacre of Armenians near Trabazon”.
In 1880, Aivazovsky opened a gallery in his home. At the time, it was the third in Russia, after the Hermitage and the Tretyakov Gallery. The artist continues to travel around the world, on invitations to exhibitions in Italy, France, Great Britain. He celebrated his 50-year creative activity with an exhibition in London.
Two years before he died, a famous meeting took place between Aivazovsky and another great Russian genius – Chekhov. How the great master of the pen described the great master of the brush, in one letter: “In him are combined a general, a priest, an artist, an Armenian, a local old peasant and Othello”. Indeed, an extremely accurate description for such a multifaceted personality as Aivazovsky. In the last years of his life, the artist opened an art school in Feodosia, provided water for the city from his own estate, built a historical museum, made the construction of a commercial port and a connection with the railway network of the country.
Of the nearly 6,000 paintings painted by Aivazovsky, most of them are related to the sea. It is curious that he painted his seascapes from memory and far from the shore. His ability to convey the movement of sea waves without observing them closely is astounding. Moreover, Aivazovsky, in his more mature period, painted his seascapes on large-scale canvases, on which the effect is even more spectacular. With his second wife, Aivazovsky took a trip to America – to New York and Washington. He painted Niagara Falls.
He is admired by the best artists in the world. Ivan Aivazovsky died on May 2, 1900. His dying wish was to be buried in the yard of an Armenian church. His sarcophagus, made of white marble, was designed by the great Italian sculptor Bioggioli.
We cannot separate respect for the earth from the quality of human life. A “zoom in” on the relational aspect of nature in various religious traditions was the theme of a round table during the interreligious conference organized by the Focolare Movement (June 2024)
Stefania Papa, from the University of Campania and active in “Eco-one” (Focolare ecological initiative), highlights the importance of this relational aspect of nature. Putting yourself in this logic offers an invaluable resource for change.
She wonders how come two trees can live next to each other. And why do smaller trees, with less light, continue to live? The answer is that there is close cooperation between them. But, through their activities, humans have modified more than half of the functioning of the ecosystem. It has created impacts with global consequences.
Harmony, essence of nature
For her, the true essence of nature is not exploitation but harmony. “We are nature, but we have placed ourselves outside of it, without sensitivity. However, the value of a human being does not come from what he knows or what he has, but from his ability to go beyond himself,” she says.
Europe is a melting pot of immense variety. Diverse religions offer wisdom resources to promote sustainability. Many initiatives have emerged in recent years in the Focolare Movement. S. Papa gives some examples: in Sicily, a pact of collective responsibility was drawn up; more than 600 trees were planted. In Switzerland, a significant reduction in electricity consumption was made in a meeting center thanks to solar panels. In Hungary, a bicycle collection was carried out for people in need. “These are small actions, but they have a significant impact and color the sky with rainbows,” she concludes.
The sacred forest
Charles Fobellah, director of three schools in Cameroon, is a traditional leader of the Bangwa people, where Focolare spirituality flourishes. He explains that, in his culture, the sacred forest is at the center of spiritual life. It is reserved for worship and must not be inhabited or cultivated. A place of palaver, meetings and burials of princes, it is also a place of communion with God, where we ask him for protection and blessing. For its people, peace is a community affair. A person is at peace when he or she is in right relationship with God, nature and others.
The “Dice of Love”
Stella John, a member of the Focolare Movement in Pakistan,shares an experience of putting the Golden Rule into practice with children from very modest backgrounds, using the “love dice”. Each week a different motto is lived from this dice. Parents are surprised to see their children doing good deeds at home and with their friends. Praying for peace has also become a daily gesture to open oneself to the suffering of humanity. Just as respect for creation is infused in a concrete way, for example by avoiding the use of plastic. Just as the practice of forgiveness restores harmony to our relationships, we must seek harmony with creation.
Together for a greener Africa
The “Together for a Greener Africa” project brings together Lilly Seidler on stageand Samer Fasheko, from Germany, with Valentine Agbo-Panzo , from Benin . In the spirit of universal fraternity, this association wants to bring positive changes to nature. It is an interfaith project bringing together people from various countries. Some examples are given: installation of solar panels in hospitals and schools, construction of wells, installation of refrigeration systems, among others.
Nature and monastic life
Chintana Greger, a Buddhist nun from Thailand, began a path to inner peace while she was a student. She fought for peace and fraternity with anger and frustration. Discouraged, she decided to give up this fight. But, a monk guided her, and after the death of her father, she withdrew into solitude and practiced Vipasana meditation. She then decided to become a nun. Monastic life allowed her to lead a life closer to nature, in a monastery of 500 people.
“Without meditation, our lives are disordered. Eating little, talking little, sleeping little, using only what is essential for life, practicing meditation diligently and mindfulness bring flavor to life,” she says. She notes that living to the rhythm of nature promotes meditation. “Nature is our life. When peace comes, wisdom follows. Renouncing self-centeredness is the greatest happiness.”
A path of harmony
An interfaith group from Argentina, led by Silvina Chemen, a rabbi in Buenos Aires, presents its activities. “We can no longer live without each other,” she said happily. “Days of peace” were organized, as well as pilgrimages to Israel, Shabbats experienced together, as well as shared readings of the Gospel, the Pentateuch and the Koran. Its members invite each other to Christian Easter and Jewish Passover, as well as to the fast-breaking meal during Ramadan.
A woman experiencing this for the first time said “here there is God”. The group also engages in charitable activities distributing food, blankets and clothing. After the tragedy of October 7, Jews, Christians and Muslims lived Shabbat together so as not to allow this situation to divide them. “The path of faith is a path of harmony until we truly feel brothers and sisters ,” concludes S. Chemen.
