Posted by Al
on 11/12/2008, 1:33 pm, in reply to "And some more from Bp HILARION (Alfeyev) of Vienna (MP)"
Leo-
I, too, wonder what he means by "The Church should also be able to react to new waves of immigration and incorporate new immigrants with their languages and cultures. The mission of the Orthodox Church in America with regard to the immigrants should consist not in Americanizing, but in Christianizing and “Orthodox-izing” them. Hence the need to be open to new possibilities offered by new immigration. "
One of the claims of the Brits, after the repose of +Anthony, was that Moscow was clamping down on the diocese there because they didn't like that people were "going native".
If the Church is a haven for people in a new land to maintain "separateness", then it has ceased to be the Church. Yes, the Church in America, as well as any country, should embrace new immigrants. But embracing does not mean creating ethnic ghettos to which people commute once a week , and then return to their heterogenous neighborhoods. Or overwhelming the existing parish to form an ethnic one.
Just as the "old countries" have a culture, an American culture exists. It is a culture of diversity, with a predominant language and an emerging secondary language. The error that many foreigners make is to confuse American diversity with a "cultureless" society. Paradoxically, especially amongst the Orthodox, the immigrants will learn and use the dominant language and customs of their new home to earn money, but demand that the existing residents of their new home adopt the "old country" language and customs in Church.
Interesting that the Church in America should not "Americanize" immigrants, but the Russian Church in the UK definitely showed some desire to "Rusify" the Brits.
Al
Paros Island, Greece
Responses:
