I have been saying that the Reformation is coming to an end: the orthodox believers of all denominations have more in common with each other than with the more “progressive” members of their own traditions. The need to work together for life and natural marriage is breaking down 500 years worth of historic mistrust and hostilities.
Now, comes this report, that maybe even the 1,000 year old separation between the Eastern and Western Churches may be healing.
Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, praised Pope Benedict and blasted Protestant bodies that have accepted women’s ordination and caved in to the secular culture on homosexuality.
Noting that the Pope is criticized by “liberal theologians and liberal mass media in the West,” Patriarch Kirill said that “on many public and moral issues his approach fully coincides with the approach of the Russian Orthodox Church. This gives us an opportunity to advocate Christian values together with the Catholic Church, in particular at international organizations and on the international arena.”
On the other hand, some Protestant bodies have “let sinful elements of the world enter their internal world and justify these elements, if they are offered by secular society … secular philosophical liberal stock phrases are repeated within Protestant churches and take root in religious thinking.”
This may be difficult for some of our RRR’s (= Regular Ruth Readers) to understand, since many modern people don’t have much sense of history. History is what happened in 1965. But trust me: for the Russian Patriarch to be saying nice things about the Bishop of Rome is a big deal.
H/T: American Papist