After Hugs and Kisses - Now What?

[b23hqb]

??????????

After 1,000 years, now what?

http://mashable.com/2016/02/12/pope-russian-patriarch-meet/#ecULufUNHgqY

Others seem to feel it just a grandstand play by old Kirill

"But Orthodox observers say Kirill's willingness to finally meet with a pope has less to do with any new ecumenical impulse than grandstanding within the West and the Orthodox Church at a time when Russia is increasingly under fire from the West over its military actions in Syria and Ukraine. Kirill, a spiritual adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin, leads the most powerful of the 14 independent Orthodox churches that will meet this summer in Greece in the first such pan-Orthodox synod in centuries.

The Russian church has long sought greater influence over the Ecumenical Patriarch in Istanbul.

"This isn't benevolence. It's not a newfound desire for Christian unity," said George Demacopoulos, the Greek-Orthodox chairman of Orthodox Christian studies at Fordham University in New York. "It is almost entirely about (Kirill) posturing and trying to present himself as the leader of Orthodoxy."

My opinion - if it helps ease the genocide of non-muslims in that region, good.

Other than that, just another photo op in a losing communist country.

 

[PrchJrkr]

Chocolates and :bangbang:?

 

[3CATSAILOR]

??????????

After 1,000 years, now what?

http://mashable.com/2016/02/12/pope-russian-patriarch-meet/#ecULufUNHgqY

Others seem to feel it just a grandstand play by old Kirill

"But Orthodox observers say Kirill's willingness to finally meet with a pope has less to do with any new ecumenical impulse than grandstanding within the West and the Orthodox Church at a time when Russia is increasingly under fire from the West over its military actions in Syria and Ukraine. Kirill, a spiritual adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin, leads the most powerful of the 14 independent Orthodox churches that will meet this summer in Greece in the first such pan-Orthodox synod in centuries.

The Russian church has long sought greater influence over the Ecumenical Patriarch in Istanbul.

"This isn't benevolence. It's not a newfound desire for Christian unity," said George Demacopoulos, the Greek-Orthodox chairman of Orthodox Christian studies at Fordham University in New York. "It is almost entirely about (Kirill) posturing and trying to present himself as the leader of Orthodoxy."

My opinion - if it helps ease the genocide of non-muslims in that region, good.

Other than that, just another photo op in a losing communist country.

The Pope is the person that should have the Peace prize.

 

[TheLibertonian]

Yeah Kirill is very much in the pocket/hand/trousers/whatever of the Russian federation.

The fact is there's always been an internal split between the Greek orthodox church between those who support the traditional Greek orthodox and the more recent russian orthodox. Whether the power lies in Moscow or Istanbul depends on the individual patriarch of any given patriarchy.

So not only could this be secular maneuvering on the part of Patriarch Kirill for the benefit of Russian policy, it could also be internal politicking as his part to secure the Russian Orthodox position as the "third Rome".