Moscow Patriarchate’s “non interference” to a possible Serbian Orthodox invitation for the pope

The Moscow Patriarchate is trying to stop the Serbian Orthodox Church
from inviting Pope Benedict XVI to celebrations in 2013 marking the
1,700 years since Constantine’s edict, this according to international
commentators, following an interview by the Serbian daily Politika with Metropolitan Hilarion, head of the Patriarchate’s Department of External Church Relations.



During their council in May, Serbian Church leaders discussed the
possibility of inviting the pontiff to the event. For Serbian Orthodox,
the issue is a thorny one, complicated by the pope’s recent visit to
Croatia where he prayed on the grave of Card Aloysius Stepinac (1898
-1960).

For many Serbs, that act was an insult because they view the
Blessed as an accomplice of the Ustaše regime of Ante Pavelić.



The official statement issued after the council indicated that the issue
of Niš had been addressed but did not mention possible guests.



Rapidly, some media reported that a month earlier, in April, during his
trip to Serbia, Hilarion had expressed the Patriarchate’s opposition to
an invitation to Benedict XVI.



Celebrations are set to mark the anniversary of the Edict of Milan,
issued by Constantine. The Roman Emperor, who was born in Niš, is
remembered for ending religious persecutions and proclaiming the Roman
Empire’s neutrality vis-à-vis all religions.



As such, the event could provide an opportunity for a meeting between
the pope and Kirill, patriarch of Moscow, who will certainly be present.
This is why the Russian Orthodox Church wants to stop the Serbs. The
Moscow Patriarchate wants in fact to decide when and where the two
religious leaders should meet face to face.



“It is an internal matter of the Serbian Patriarchate,” Metropolitan Hilarion said in the interview with Politika. 

“As far as I know, there is no single position on the papal invitation
among Serbian Orthodox bishops, nor a single view about the meaning of
the anniversary” as an historical event “for the representatives of the
various Christian denominations or as an opportunity to express the
brotherly unity of local Orthodox Churches.”



For now, the Patriarchate’s official position is simply one of
“non-interference”, at least until the Serbs make their final decision.