Patriarch Bartholomew urges dissenters to return to canonical church.

STRELNA, near St. Petersburg, May 31 (Itar-Tass) - Archbishop of
Constantinople and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew on Sunday urged
dissenters in Ukraine to return to the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church
of the Moscow Patriarchate.
"They shouldn't hesitate, let them join the canonical Church which is
a ship of rescue," Patriarch Bartholomew said in a televised interview
with the Russia-24 news channel.
The head of the Orthodox Church of Constantinople said that he would
like the schism to be over and wished that Metropolitan Vladimir, the head
of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, could live to
see this problem solved. "Whatever our Church does, it does with respect
for the existing canonical order," Patriarch Bartholomew emphasized.
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church split in the 1990s after the collapse of
the USSR. New Ukrainian politicians decided to set up an independent
Ukrainian Church by separating it from the Russian Orthodox Church. As a
result, two dissenter organizations (the Kiev Patriarchate and the
Autocephalous Church) appeared in Ukraine in addition to the Ukrainian
Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate.
In 2008, the former Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko invited the
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew to Kiev. Yushchenko hoped that the latter
would support his idea of the independent Ukrainian Church. However,
Patriarch Bartholomew preferred to distance himself from that problem.
On Sunday, May 30, Patriarch Bartholomew met the Patriarch of Moscow
and All Russia Kirill to discuss the preparations for summoning an
All-Orthodox council.
"We decided to step up the process of convening the Holy Great Council
of the Orthodox Church. Today, this is the main task for the Orthodox
world," Patriarch Bartholomew said in his interview with the Russia-24
news channel as he summed up the results of his 10-day visit to Russia.
He said that he had personally contributed to intensification of
preparations 19 years before when he became the head of the Church of
Constantinople. The exact date hasn't yet been set or announced but it's
possible that the Council may take place already next year.
"We will finish considering themes for the Council meeting by the end
of this year or in the beginning of the next one," Patriarch Bartholomew
said.
He added that the agenda had already been set and included ten themes,
such as the procedure of proclaiming the autonomy of Orthodox churches,
the question of hierarchy in Orthodox churches and also the question of
the "fast".
The Ecumenical Patriarch said the All-Orthodox Council might go father
than discussing internal church issues and might also consider problems of
modern civilization, including environment.
"The Church tries to keep pace with time not by sacrificing its
teaching but by searching for solutions to contemporary challenges," the
head of the Church of Constantinople said.
Two years ago the Ecumenical Patriarch who has been studying
environmental issues for many years insisted on setting up a special
commission for environment.
Patriarch Bartholomew said that eight symposiums had taken place. They
drew together representatives of all Orthodox churches as well as
representatives of other religions to establish contacts between church
representatives and scientists.
Patriarch Bartholomew has ended his 10-day trip to Russia where he
visited the holy sites of St. Petersburg. Together with Patriarch of
Moscow and All Russia Kirill he went to the Tsar Village, an imperial
summer residence near St. Petersburg. Patriarch Bartholomew was eager to
see the famous Amber Room.
The official title of the head of the Orthodox Church of
Constantinople is His All Holiness, Archbishop of Constantinople, New Rome
and the Ecumenical Patriarch.
Historically, the oldest Church of Constantinople has been holding the
leading positions among 15 autonomous Orthodox Churches of the world.

. CSTO Parliamentary Assembly to hold meeting in Armenia.

YEREVAN, May 31 (Itar-Tass) - Political and economic cooperation of
countries-members of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO)
and their interaction at international organizations will dominate the
agenda of the first visiting session of the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly to
be hosted by Armenia on Monday.
Parliamentary delegations from Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia
and Tajikistan will attend the meeting to be chaired by Russian State Duma
Speaker Boris Gryzlov.
Armenian President Serge Sargsyan, Parliamentary Speaker Onik Abramyan
and Defence Minister Seiran Oganyan will receive the heads of parliaments
of the CSTO member states.

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