Thanks

Bose, 10 September 2011
XIX International Ecumenical Conference
on Orthodox spirituality
by ENZO BIANCHI
I wish to remind us all that this our conferences from the very beginning have had the blessing of the Patriarchate of Constantinople and of the Patriarchate of Moscow

Bose, Wednesday 7 - Saturday 10 September 2011

in collaboration with the Orthodox Churches

 

To end these days I wish simply to express a great thank-you to the Lord. It is the Lord who always accompanies us in these conferences, it is the Lord who stands among us with his mercy and his love. It is the Lord who lets us meet each other, listen to one another, exchange gifts, the gifts that our Churches have and that should be shared among those who say they are Christians. We will certainly express our thanks in prayer, but it is also an earnest, profound sentiment that is in our hearts, hence we absolutely have to recognize it at the end of our meetings. I recall that archbishop Alexis of Düsseldorf used to say that meetings between Christians are like a light lit in an enormous space: it seems to illuminate and warm only a small portion, yet, no matter how large, how vast that space may be, the darkness there is not absolute! Yes, the Spirit is active, is life-giving, takes the initiative, casts His appeals, sows germs of life, and, as a spiritual elder of Athos used to say, makes us understand that nous ne devons jamais oublier ni cesser de voir le mystérieus cheminement de Dieu dans les âmes et les communautés chrètiennes, quand au lieu d’affrontements il y a une mise en commun des problèmes, un grande et humble patience qui sa ne pas se hâter, qui estattentive à se reconnaître et à ne pas étouffer un germe de vie…

I wish to remind us all that this our conferences from the very beginning have had the blessing of the Patriarchate of Constantinople and of the Patriarchate of Moscow, who have always sustained and encouraged us, and that for some years now this collaboration has happily been extended to the other Orthodox Churches, who have shown support and sympathy for this initiative, the spirit of which is wee described by what the unforgettable patriarch Athenagoras used to say: quand on se rencontre dans l’amour on applique la vraie théologie!

Thus, I feel the obligation to thank:

The patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I, whom we assure of our prayer on the imminent twentieth anniversary of his ministry and with whom we rejoice over the recent decree of the Turkish government concerning the restitution of confiscated properties; the metropolitan his delegate Elpidophoros of Bursa, for many years the indefatigable general secretary of the holy and sacred Synod, elected only a short while ago hegumenos of the Holy Trinity monastery on Halki, which houses the Institute of Theology that we hope will be opened shortly.

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, metropolitan Ilarion, president of the Department for external affairs, an old and dear friend of our community, engaged in a great action of forging human and ecclesial ties (in the last few days he visited patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem and patriarch Ignatius IV of Antioch): how can it be forgotten that he wanted to be personally present with great attention and sensitivity, at the 50th anniversary of his diaconal ordination that patriarch Bartholomew commemorated on the island of Imbros where he was born, and just before that at the enthronization of metropolitan Elpidophoros, who is here among us? I also thank the members of the delegation, archbishop Kliment of Krasnoslobodsk and fr Arsenij ?ernikin.