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Parts of Ecumenical Charter unacceptable to Russian Orthodox Church

Moscow, February 28, Interfax - Secretary of the Moscow Patriarchate department for external church relations on inter-Christian issues Father Igor Vyzhanov has pointed out several fundamental contradictions in the provisions of the Ecumenical Charter of European Christians, which the Russian Orthodox Church refuses to accept.

"The Ecumenical Charter is an embodiment of the inferiority complex of European Christian Churches, their surrender to world challenges," he said at a Wednesday Moscow meeting with representatives of churches from European, CIS and Baltic countries.

The document adopted by European Christian Churches in 2001 "on the one hand says that the division of Christians is abnormal, but on the other that this division reflects objective diversity," he said.

"The spirit of political correctness prevails. The charter proclaims Christianity the spiritual foundation of Europe but at the same time encourages cultural and religious pluralism," the official said.

The charter also contains many contradictory statements, for instance, on relations with Jews "inviting Christians to repent for the persecution of Jews."

He said the Russian Orthodox Church has publicly criticized the charter many times by special statements "but evidently had no impact on European Christians." He added that the criticism "is deeply philosophical not simply stylistic."

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