Archbishop Anastasio #2

[Continued from For a Change: An Orthodox Christian Book. sch 4/1/23.]

More choice bits from  Archbishop Anastasio's In Albania: Cross and Resurrection (St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 2016). Don't think this book or its ideas are applicable only to Albania.

...Western societies with political, scientific,and military power at their disposal, are obliged to proceed toward a creative self-criticism in order to perceive their responsibility in these new universal dimensions. Peace and security, about which everyone speaks, will be secured by a concern for social justice and the development of impoverished societies on the planet.It would be deplorable - spiritually, politically, and strategically - for us to permit, whether through indifference or arrogance, the evolution of a ne multiform "proletariat," which would forcefully seek to impose itself and further exploit the spiritual "atomic energy" of religion.

p. 194 

***

...After all there is no such thing as either a uniform Christian would or a homogenous Islamic world. The decisive factor in a globalized economy is the worship of money, which influences the rhythm of our whole life. Consumerism is developing into another kind of "religion." Essentially, it is applied materialism, without the inhibition of moral values, which are crucial for social balance in the regional and international levels.

p. 201

*** 

Freedom, too, has its limitations; it does not imply arbitrariness. The fundamental limitation of freedom is responsibility. you set a certain limitation and say to yourself that this is where my freedom terminates. Whereas faith opens horizons; it speaks to the meaning of life - even if someone is able to doubt this faith; and it gives substance to one's relations with others. Even the universe has its won framework. So I don't perceive faith as a limitation; I regard it as a form of liberation from egocentrism

p. 257

*** 

...Faith cannot be imposed by force. That Is precisely the grandeur of Christian faith. It provides an indication and potential for freedom of choice.

p. 259 

sch

3/31/20 

[Continued in  Archbishop Anastasio #3 sch 4/1/23.]