On OCtober 20, 2015, toward the end of the Synod of Bishops, Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev of Moscow, shown here as participants were leaving the Synod Hall, delivered a powerful address (excerpts below)
Excerpts of the address by Russian Orthodox Metropolitan Hilarion to the Catholic Synod of Bishops on the Family, October 20, 2015
By Metropolitan Hilarion
Your Holiness! Your Beatitudes, Eminences and Excellencies!
In our restless and disturbing world, the human person needs a firm and unshakeable foundation upon which he can rest and upon which he can build his life with confidence. At the same time, secular society, aimed primarily at the gratification of individual needs, is incapable of giving the human person clear moral direction. The crisis of traditional values which we see in the consumer society leads to a contradiction between various preferences, including those in the realm of family relationships. Thus, feminism views motherhood as an obstacle to a woman’s self-realization, while by contrast having a baby is more often proclaimed as a right to be attained by all means possible. More often the family is viewed as a union of persons regardless of their gender, and the human person can “choose” his or her gender according to personal taste…
These challenges and threats are common to all the Christian Churches which seek out answers to them, proceeding from the mission that Christ has placed upon them — to bring humanity to salvation… We ought never to forget the words of St. Paul addressed to the Christians of Rome: “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Rom. 12: 2)… We are witnessing the betrayal of Christianity by those who are prepared to accommodate themselves to a secular, godless and Churchless world…
The authorities of some European countries and America, in spite of numerous protests, including those by Catholics, continue to advocate policies aimed at the destruction of the very concept of the family… Immediately after the departure of Pope Francis from the USA, President Barack Obama openly declared that gay rights are more important than religious freedom…
Catholics here are found at the forefront of the struggle, and it is against the Catholic Church that a campaign of discrediting and lies is waged. Therefore courage in vindicating Christian beliefs and fidelity to Church tradition are particularly necessary in our times…
Solidarity among the Churches and all people of good will is essential for guarding the family from the challenges of the secular world and thereby protecting our future. I hope that one of the fruits of the Assembly of the Synod will be the further development of Orthodox-Catholic co-operation in this direction…
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