Ecumenical fornication – a meeting-prayer of puppet Protestant leaders in Moscow

September 6, 2010 · Adam Bondaruk, Baptists, Victor Belykh, AUCECB, Persecution, Interview, KGB, Books, Unregistered Pentecostals, Nikolay Kotyakov, On Emigration, United Church of Evangelical Christians, Vestibule, Petr Saenko, Pentecostals, Religious Mafia, Slavik Radchuk, Contemporary Persecution, Security Services

In the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Moscow, as part of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, an ecumenical service of Orthodox and Protestants led by a Catholic took place.

Its motto was the words from the Gospel of Matthew: “For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them” (Mt 18:20).

Leaders and representatives of several Christian confessions gathered in the cathedral — pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ingria in Russia Igor Alisov, chairman of the Russian United Union of Christians of Evangelical Faith (ROSKhVE) Father Zvezdony, order-bearer — “bishop” of the charismatics — holder of a US green card and so on and so forth Sergey Ryakhovsky, representative of the Seventh-day Adventist Church Viktor Vitko, head of the external church relations department of the Russian Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists Vitaly Vlasenko, presiding bishop of the Russian Church of Christians of Evangelical Faith Pavel Okara. Pay attention! Sound and sane Protestant groups are not here! There are neither Initiative Baptists nor classical Pentecostals.

In the absence of the head of the Archdiocese of the Mother of God in Moscow, Archbishop Paolo Pezzi, the service was led by the secretary general of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Russia, priest Igor Kovalevsky.

After the reading of the Gospel, representatives of brotherly Christian Churches addressed the faithful with greetings. All stressed the significance of the event — the Day of Christian Unity.

Bishop Ryakhovsky called unity the main thing in the life of believers. “That for which we have gathered — unity in Jesus Christ — is the main thing for which we have been saved. Unity in Jesus Christ is a unique gift given to us from above,” he said. The representative of the Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists V.K. Vlasenko congratulated those gathered in the church on “the wonderful feast — the Day of Christian Unity.” In turn, P.N. Okara, describing the significance of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, noted: “Truly it is a great feast when we speak of unity.” The chairman of ROSKhVE, bishop Sergey Ryakhovsky, in his address commented on the Scripture passage read during the service — the story of the Good Samaritan, calling his deed “an example of sacrificial love.” He stressed that for Christians of different confessions, “the time to love one another has come.” “We have our faith. Despite the financial crisis, we live by the faith of Jesus Christ,” he said. The leader of the Union of Christians of Evangelical Faith noted that the foundation of Christianity is unity, and the future of this world religion may be under threat. “Today Christianity may become powerless, because the foundation is unity,” Sergey Ryakhovsky emphasized. He noted the importance of joint prayer: “Important are not words, but deeds, and they speak for themselves — we stand together in the church and pray. The Church of Christ is one, strong, and mighty. We believe in the words of the 17th chapter of the Gospel of John: ‘That they may all be one’ (John 17:21), and may God help us all.” In conclusion, he wished the representatives of Christian confessions to be victors in Jesus Christ.

The head of the external church relations department of the Russian Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists, Vitaly Vlasenko, in his greeting addressed the image of the Church as the body of Christ and the diversity of its members. Speaking of the Church, “the Lord spoke of His body, consisting of different people, with different skin colors, different social statuses, and — I believe — belonging to different confessions,” Vitaly Vlasenko noted. He repeated the Apostle Paul’s call for Christians not to be divided and to remember that “we are children of Christ,” and recalled “the great black preacher Martin Luther King.”

Discussing the problem of Christian unity, the representative of the Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists urged not to see in it mere uniformity. “Unity does not mean uniformity,” he emphasized. “The glory of God is manifested in the unity of the different.” He appealed to the faithful in the church to forget about differences: “Let us for a second lay aside our confessional dissimilarity to bow before the Cross, let us unite efforts in evangelism and social work, for more unites us than divides us.” Vitaly Vlasenko wished the gathered within the walls of the cathedral God’s blessing, peace, and goodwill.

Bishop of the Russian Church of Christians of Evangelical Faith Pavel Okara, during the ecumenical service, spoke about the meaning and grace that Christians find in the Lord’s name. He expressed the wish that believers would reflect on unity and strive for it not only on feast days, not only during the Week of Prayer. “May every weekday be filled with dreams of unity, prayers, and our actions,” said Pavel Okara. In his greeting, he addressed the text from the Second Book of Chronicles, which, by his own admission, had recently “captured” the bishop. In it, he emphasized, it speaks of a difficult time that befell the Jews. Briefly retelling the events described in the Old Testament, he noted that in the 23rd chapter of the book “an interesting action takes place” — the priest, in whom the light of faith had not gone out, “made a covenant with himself and the people, to be the people of the Lord.” “Let us remember,” said Pavel Okara to the participants of the ecumenical service, “that covenantal relationships with one another will help us to love one another, to find unity with one another. This is our choice. Let us remember that until we make the choice to be in covenantal relationships, it will be very difficult for us to find unity with brothers and sisters in Christ.”

Viktor Vitko, a representative of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, greeted everyone with the New Year and Christmas. “It is a past holiday,” he noted, “but it always remains in the hearts of believing Christians.” The Adventist representative reminded of the many challenges facing the whole world community and Christians today. In his address, he referred to the 29th chapter of the prophet Jeremiah and quoted this passage: “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart” (Jer. 29:11–13). “These words are my support,” Viktor Vitko stated. “We have gathered at this prayer service to seek Him,” Mr. Vitko emphasized. “I hope He lives in each of our hearts and that we draw even closer to Him.”

The welcoming address of Igor Alisov, pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran parish of the Holy Trinity in Moscow, was filled with personal observations and reflections. He also began by speaking about Christian unity. “Unity is the question that concerns only mature Christians,” the priest said. “In recent times, Christians in Russia have experienced several events that will influence their lives. These demand a serious response from us.” He noted with satisfaction that, despite all the difficulties and problems of the present time, believers have kept the ability to reflect. “Even today we have not forgotten how to think about such a global question as the unity of Christ’s Church. When we think about this, reflect, and pray, we hear the voice of Christ, who says that there must be unity in the world,” Igor Alisov said. “If a person does not feel love in his heart, he is far from the deep knowledge of faith to which Christ called His disciples,” he observed, naming love, forgiveness, brotherly love, and mutual support among Christian virtues. “It would be worth paying attention to tolerance toward believers of other confessions,” he added. He also called the ecumenical service that took place an important event. “Today we have yet another opportunity to reexamine our lives, to correct our mistakes,” said the representative of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. “If we say that the Holy Spirit fills our hearts, then virtues will nonetheless show themselves in our lives,” the pastor added. In his speech he mentioned the names of outstanding preachers and saints; Igor Alisov called Francis of Assisi, Sergius of Radonezh, Martin Luther, and Ivan Prokhanov “lamps.” “It is hard for the world to believe in God if the disciples are not already united today,” the pastor suggested. “Let us strengthen the hope for the universal unity of Christians that comes from prayer, and let us pray for unity today.”

Fr. Igor Kovalevsky, General Secretary of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Russia, also began his greeting by mentioning the nature of the Church. “Our Lord Jesus Christ founded the Church, of which He Himself is the head. But the Church is not only the Lord; it is also people,” he said. Noting that people can be “weak, foolish, and sinful,” Fr. Igor reminded that “it is precisely sin that led to division and fratricide.” According to him, “the problem of the Church’s unity is not only a problem of the Reformation era, nor the problem of 1054 … or the problem of the Council of Chalcedon.” “It was already difficult for the Apostle to the Gentiles,” Igor Kovalevsky emphasized. “Divisions exist in the Church, but the Lord has reconciled us to the Church, to nature, to one another. His redemptive sacrifice is our hope,” he observed. Speaking about the active discussions surrounding the essence and goals of the ecumenical movement and attempts to explain its nature, the Catholic priest urged not to forget what is most important. “The ecumenical movement is a striving to fulfill the Savior’s will ‘that they may all be one,’” he said. “I want to remind you that our prayer meeting today is not simply a subjective expression of will, not just a whim,” Fr. Igor declared. “It is the fulfillment of Christ’s will, and we must fulfill it constantly. I would like us to remember these words. Otherwise, what then should we strive for? The foundation is the Lord, who redeemed us. He is the giver of eternal life; we believe this, we believe in God, who is love.” He also named the traits that unite Christians – “faith in Christ, baptism, and readiness to witness about Christ.” “We are ready to evangelize, to preach the Gospel – this is our common calling,” Fr. Igor Kovalevsky stressed.

According to established tradition, the liturgy was accompanied by hymns, and the ecumenical service concluded with a performance by the choir of the parish of the Church of Christians of Evangelical Faith in Tsaritsyno, which had already participated more than once in events dedicated to the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. The choir sang the hymn “O, Grace – Saved by You!”

Criticism and Rejection of Ecumenism

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