Just the opposite, on F.Taratorkin commenting Metropolitan Kirill’s statement

JUST THE OPPOSITE, ON F.TARATORKIN COMMENTING METROPOLITAN KIRILL’S STATEMENT

Strana.Ru placed on March 22 an article by F.Taratorkin entitled “Metropolitan Kirill Delighted at Orthodox and Catholic Easter Coinciding in 2001”. It is a close rendition of an interview given by Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations, to the Interfax news agency. In it the metropolitan calls the world Christian community to celebrate Easter on the same day, as had been done for many centuries. He suggested that the common Paschal cycle might be calculated on the basis of the well-known decision of the First Ecumenical Council, used by the Orthodox Christians to this day to calculate the date of Pascha.

The DECR Communication Service believes it necessary to make this information more precise, as what Metropolitan Kirill voiced was a common church position that has been repeatedly stated by official representatives of the Russian and other Local Orthodox Churches in the dialogue with non-Orthodox Christians. In other words, he did not express a private theological opinion but reaffirmed the common Orthodox vision of the Paschal cycle problem.

Regarding the Orthodox Paschal cycle as the icon of time, the Church will continue to insist on the above-mentioned way of solving the problem the importance of which for the Christendom cannot be denied. She will do it regardless of whether the non-Orthodox Christians are ready to accept the rightness of this position.

In this light the commentary made by Mr.Taratorkin on Metropolitan Kirill’s statement in Strana.Ru appears inadequate. Without any apparent reason or logical motivation he suddenly comes to quite an unexpected conclusion that “the attempts to bring the Orthodox Paschal cycle in conformity with the Catholic one may only provoke new schisms and will not be supported by the Orthodox people”. Metropolitan Kirill clearly suggests just the opposite, namely, that the non-Orthodox Christians accept the Orthodox Paschal cycle. It means that the author of this quotation understood Metropolitan Kirill precisely on the contrary.

In this connection, the DECR Communication Service calls F.Taratorkin and his readers to separate commentary from citation more clearly in order to avoid misunderstanding.