Bp. Hilarion on Christianophobia in Europe

On 24 January 2008 the President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso met with the representatives of the Orthodox Churches to the European Union. Present at the meeting were Metropolitan Emmanuel of France (Patriarchate of Constantinople), Bishop Hilarion of Vienna and Austria (Moscow Patriarchate), Bishop Porphyrios of Neapolis (Church of Cyprus) and Metropolitan Athanasios of Akhaia (Church of Greece). A number of issues were raised related to the ongoing dialogue between the Orthodox Churches and the European Institutions.

Addressing Mr Barroso, Bishop Hilarion raised the issue of growing Christianophobia in Europe: ‘We often hear about anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, and very little is said about Christianophobia, which gains strength in many European countries. It exists in many different forms, including the removal of Christian symbols from the public sphere, the denigration of Christianity and refusal to recognize Christian heritage of Europe, the persecution of people who openly express Christian convictions and who choose to live according to Christian moral standards.’

The representative of the Russian Orthodox Church referred to a recent debate about Christianophobia in the UK Parliament and argued that similar debates would be timely and necessary within the European Institutions. Representatives of Christian Churches of Europe must be invited to take part in such debates.

Bishop Hilarion also informed the European Commission President about recent initiatives of the Russian Orthodox Church with regard to the discussion of the notion of human rights. ‘This notion’, commented the Bishop, ‘is often used to promote dubious moral standards and to undermine traditional institutions, such as marriage, family, childbirth. In the name of the human rights, abortion and euthanasia are propagated, and the “right to death” is considered more important than the right to life.’

‘We believe, however, that liberal concepts must not be promoted at the expense of traditional ones. We also believe the notion of human rights must be counterbalanced by the notion of human responsibility and accountability. Everyone is accountable not only to him- or herself, but also to other people and to the society,’ concluded Bishop Hilarion. From Orthodoxeurope.org

Read more about christianophobia.

HT: Fr. John