SESSION OF INTERPARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY ON ORTHODOXY OPENS IN ATHENS
by Gennady Melnik
The jubilee twenty-fifth general assembly of the Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy (IAO), devoted to the topic "Parliamentary democracy and Christian values," opened on Monday evening in Athens in the Byzantine Christian Museum.
Participants in the ceremonial event included Greek President Prokopios Pavlopoulos; the chairman of the Greek parliament, Nikolaos Voutsis; the vice-speaker of the State Duma of the RF, Irina Yarovaya; the ambassadors of Russia and Kazakhstan; Archbishop of Athens and all-Greece Ieronymos; the chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the RPTs, Metropolitan of Volokolamsk Ilarion; Metropolitan of Gaul Emmanuel; and heads of churches of a number of African states, deputies, and politicians.
"At an extremely critical period in the world, the assembly gives the opportunity to emphasize the fundamental significance of Orthodoxy as a real ark of principles and values not only for believers but also for humanity as a whole. The irreplaceable contribution of Christianity, and Orthodoxy in particular, consists in the fact that it added to the ancient Greek spirit and Roman tradition, which are two of the three pillars of our modern European culture, the recognition of the dignity of humanity," said Greek President Pavlopoulos.
He said that over the course of centuries Orthodoxy has taught the life-affirming principles and values of humanism, peace, democracy and law, and social justice.
The Greek president presented a commemorative plaque to the chairman of the general assembly of IAO, Sergei Popov, who is leaving that position.
In a letter of greetings that was read by Metropolitan of Volokolamsk Ilarion, Patriarch of Moscow and all-Rus Kirill called for strengthening pan-Orthodox unity. "Now this unity, unfortunately, is under threat in Ukraine, where the canonical Orthodox Church is enduring unprecedented pressure and is subjected to discrimination. Our common task is to prevent a possible elevation of this pressure, including under the influence of external forces. We must not remain indifferent to the suffering of our brothers and sisters and to the extermination of the most ancient Christian communities in the East," Patriarch Kirill thinks.
State Duma Vice-speaker Irina Yarovaya said that modern politics must not destroy the spiritual and moral foundations but draw upon the strengths in moral and profound traditions.
Official parliamentary delegations from 25 countries of the world are participating in IAO: Albania, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Estonia, Croatia, Kazakhstan, Cyprus, Belarus, Moldova, Ukraine, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Montenegro, Jordan, Latvia, Lebanon, Syria, Palestine and, from time to time, Lithuania and Finland. Also participating are individual deputy groups and deputies from Australia, Uganda, Sudan, Mozambique, Congo, Ethiopia, Egypt, Chile, Argentina, the U.S.A., and Canada.
An exhibit of icons was timed to coincide with the opening of IAO; they participated in an international competition of the art of iconography. Several dozen icons were devoted to the resurrection of Christ. This subject was chosen because the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the chief and fundamental event of the Christian faith, life, and theology, the organizers explained. Pascha is the holiday of holidays and the hope and light for millions of believers of the planet, and it is celebrated, even though on different dates, with the same passion and joy by all Christians.
The competition was aimed at finding and demonstrating modern means of artistic expression and representation of the resurrection of the Lord, which will rely on and draw from established types of "Byzantine" iconography.
The winners of the competition were Kelaidi Olimpiada (Greece), Verdes Bogdan Georg (Romania) and Demchuk Ivanka (Ukraine). An icon from the brush of the Russian Yury Zemtsov was awarded a certificate of merit. (tr. by PDS, posted 26 June 2018)
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