Is it true that Prince Charles converted to Orthodoxy? Anglo-Russian Orthodox Church Prince of Wales Mystery Mount Athos Orthodoxy.
At the end of December 2019, the Montenegrin authorities adopted the law “On Freedom of Religion…”, on the basis of which the state set out to take away from the Serbian Orthodox Church all its real estate – churches and monasteries. The people, led by pastors, rose to defend their shrines. In the cities of Serbia and Montenegro, for the second month, mass protests have not stopped - religious processions, prayer standings. Radmila Voinovich, a member of the Union of Writers of Serbia and Russia, a professor, a well-known church and public figure, shared with us a story about the ongoing events: “For about 30 years, Montenegro has been headed by Milo Djukanovic, sometimes as prime minister, sometimes as president.
Lack of faith is one of the signs of the end times. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth? (Luke 18:8) - the Holy Scripture tells us. Faith is not just words. These are righteous deeds and deeds. Many call themselves Orthodox, but few observe fasts, as required by the Typicon. Many consider themselves to be churched, but few understand the true meaning of this word. Churching is inseparable being in the Church of Christ, it is life with God and in God. Not so that he came, lit a candle, paid tribute to the rite or the Sacrament, and, returning home, left the Orthodox image and clung to the sinful sweets of this world.
Before his death, at a reception with Pope John Paul I, Metropolitan Nikodim (Rotov) managed to tell the pontiff about his ideas for the reformation and modernization of the Russian Orthodox Church. He said that Russian Orthodoxy, in his person, was ready to kneel before the Vatican throne and recognize the primacy of the authority of the Bishop of Rome. Rotov said that as soon as he becomes a patriarch (and this is inevitable, because the Soviet godless authorities support him in every possible way), he will immediately begin to reshape the principle of governance in the Church - affirming, instead of catholicity, reckless obedience to the pope-patriarch, following the example of papism ...
British Prince Charles has been visiting Mount Athos regularly since 1996, sometimes several times a year. It happens that he lives for a long time in the cell of the Orthodox Vatopedi monastery, observing the required restrictions and participating in divine services. In her free time, she paints landscapes of the Holy Mountain in watercolor.
Crypto Orthodox?
During the wedding of Charles in Westminster there were several Orthodox icons. On his honeymoon, Charles visited Athos, leaving the newlywed on a yacht - women are not allowed to enter Athos. Moreover, Charles organized a reception attended by the world's beau monde, raising money for the renovation of the Hilandar monastery on Holy Athos, writes Pravoslavie i mir. The reception was attended by 100 guests. Hilandar Monastery was seriously damaged by a fire 14 years ago, and Prince Charles personally donated £650,000 to the monastery. He actively participates in the activities of the Friends of Mount Athos society, which unites the British and Americans.
Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, head of the Moscow Patriarchate's department for external church relations, said that Charles has "sincere feelings for Orthodoxy." There are persistent rumors about the secret Orthodoxy of Charles. One of the most famous and authoritative modern Orthodox theologians, Metropolitan Kallistos (Ware) of Diokleia, fundamentally disagrees with this opinion. He points out that as the heir to the British crown and the possible head of the Anglican Church, Charles does not have the right to choose his own religion. Recall that the first hierarch of the Anglican Church is the British monarch.
New Russian Tsar?
Perhaps the involvement in Orthodoxy was awakened in his son by the Duke of Edinburgh Philip, a Greek by birth, who once changed Orthodoxy to Anglicanism.
Charles' roots belong to the House of Romanov. He is the great-great-great-grandson of Grand Duchess Olga Konstantinovna. Charles's grandfather, the Greek Prince Andrei, served in the Nevsky Imperial Regiment from 1908. It is significant that the first wife of Charles, Lady Diana, was related to another royal dynasty of Russia - the Rurikovich. In addition to the Athos monasteries, Charles visited the Solovetsky Monastery.
As you know, among the Russian monarchists there are disagreements about who is the true representative of the Romanov dynasty and the pretender to the Russian throne, despite the very illusory chances of Russia returning to the monarchy. And Prince Charles, despite his lack of public statements on this subject, is considered by very influential monarchists as a possible Russian Tsar. There are rumors about possible contacts between Charles and members of the so-called Athos Brotherhood, an informal group of high-ranking Russian officials and businessmen who regularly visit Mount Athos. Such a serious thing as a throne does not tolerate noise, hubbub and unnecessary publicity. However, the chances of taking the British throne from Charles is immeasurably higher than the Russian one. If only because the first is reality, the second is dreams.
Prince Charles of Wales has a long and sincere interest in Orthodoxy. However, due to his position in the state, the heir to the British throne and the potential head of the Anglican Church can hardly change his religion. This was the essence of the answer given by one of the most famous and authoritative modern Orthodox theologians, Metropolitan Kallistos (Ware) of Diocleia to the question about the attitude of the House of Windsor towards Orthodoxy at a meeting with the parishioners of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Washington.
One of those gathered drew attention to the fact that in Westminster Abbey in London, where the wedding ceremony of Charles's son, Prince William and his wife took place last year, at the very beginning of the central gallery hung large Orthodox icons. This is what prompted the question.
“Indeed, the works of a Russian icon painter are hung there,” Metropolitan Kallistos said, referring to Sergei Fedorov. “I find this significant,” he added, explaining that the famous cathedral is constantly besieged by crowds of tourists who need to be reminded that this is not a museum, but a “house of prayer”. And icons, in his opinion, “best of all create the proper atmosphere” and become for many a “window” through which people discover Orthodoxy for themselves.
Turning to the essence of the matter, Vladyka first of all emphasized that “Queen Elizabeth herself is without any doubt a deeply and sincerely believing Christian.” “In her last speeches, the last year or two, she began to speak much more openly and directly about her Christian faith,” he added.
The Orthodox hierarch, an Englishman, recalled that the coronation ceremony in the UK is accompanied by a rite of anointing, which is not preserved everywhere. “And I am sure that Queen Elizabeth herself is very serious about the fact that she is a Christian empress,” he said.
The Metropolitan also stressed that the British crown is a symbol of the country's unity. “Of course, the American presidency can serve as such a symbol, but this is not always the case, since specific parties nominate presidential candidates,” he explained. In his opinion, the presence of a national leader who stands above inter-party fights is especially important in times of crisis; In this context, he shared his childhood memories of how, during the years of the Second World War, after the brutal nighttime German bombing of London, King George and his wife visited the most affected areas in the morning.
Vladyka further recalled that the husband of Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip, comes from a Greek royal family and was baptized in Orthodoxy. By marrying a British princess, he converted to the Anglican faith, although he was not required to do so. “When we met with him, he said: “Well, yes, I was baptized in Orthodoxy, and I continue to consider myself Orthodox, but at the same time I am now an Anglican,” the metropolitan said to the laughter of the audience. “I could answer that I don’t completely agree with this, but I thought it best to remain silent, since everything was said in a friendly way,” he admitted.
“The heir to the throne, Prince Charles, undoubtedly shows a keen interest in Orthodoxy and has a number of Orthodox friends with whom he discusses aspects of the Orthodox faith,” the speaker continued. — He made many pilgrimages to Mount Athos. But if he became Orthodox, this would create very serious constitutional difficulties (in terms of government, Great Britain is a constitutional monarchy, although formally there is no single basic law there - approx. ITAR-TASS). So, probably, he cannot abandon Anglicanism, but he will also take into account the Orthodox context.”
Vladyka Kallistos is co-chairman of the mixed commission for Orthodox-Anglican dialogue. He was asked about the prospects for rapprochement between the two churches, but he repeated his well-known point of view that this is hindered primarily by the presence of different currents in Anglicanism itself. As he recalled, along with the conservative and very close to Orthodoxy “high church”, there are also “evangelical and extremely liberal” directions, “to imagine unity” with which it is “impossible” for the Orthodox. For all that, the metropolitan is "for the continuation of the dialogue," albeit without the hope of "immediate achievement of practical results."
Prince Charles of Wales has a long and sincere interest in Orthodoxy.
However, due to his position in the state, the heir to the British throne and the potential head of the Anglican Church can hardly change his religion.
This opinion was expressed at a meeting with the parishioners of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Washington, DC by one of the most famous and authoritative contemporary Orthodox theologians, Metropolitan Kallistos of Diokleia (Ware).
In Westminster Abbey in London, where the wedding ceremony of Charles's son, Prince William, and his wife took place last year, large Orthodox icons hung at the very beginning of the central gallery. One of the participants in the meeting with Metropolitan Kallistos drew attention to this and asked a question about the attitude of the House of Windsor towards Orthodoxy.
Indeed, the works of a Russian icon painter (Sergei Fedorov - Ed.) are hung there, I find this significant, - said Metropolitan Kallist. - The famous cathedral is constantly besieged by crowds of tourists who need to be reminded that this is not a museum, but a "house of prayer".
Vladyka emphasized that "Queen Elizabeth herself is without a doubt a deeply and sincerely believing Christian." "In the last year or two, she has begun to speak much more openly and directly about her Christian faith," he added.
The Orthodox hierarch, an Englishman by nationality, noted that the presence of a national leader who stands above inter-party fights is especially important in crisis periods and shared his childhood memories of how, during the years of the Second World War, after the brutal nighttime German bombing of London, King George and his wife visited the most affected areas in the morning.
Vladyka recalled that Prince Philip, the husband of Queen Elizabeth, comes from a Greek royal family and was baptized in Orthodoxy. By marrying a British princess, he converted to the Anglican faith, although he was not required to do so. “When we met with him, he said: “Well, yes, I was baptized in Orthodoxy, and I continue to consider myself Orthodox. But at the same time, I am now an Anglican,” the Metropolitan said to the friendly laughter of the audience. “I could answer that I do not completely agree with this, but I considered it better to remain silent, since everything was said in a friendly way,” he admitted.
“The heir to the throne, Prince Charles, undoubtedly shows a lively interest in Orthodoxy and has a number of Orthodox friends with whom he discusses aspects of the Orthodox faith,” the metropolitan said. “He made pilgrimages to the holy Mount Athos many times. serious constitutional difficulties. So, probably, he cannot abandon Anglicanism, but he will also take into account the Orthodox context."
Since Vladyka Kallistos is co-chairman of the mixed commission for Orthodox-Anglican dialogue, he was asked about the prospects for rapprochement between the two churches. In his opinion, this is hampered primarily by the presence of different currents in Anglicanism itself. Along with the conservative "high church" which is very close to Orthodoxy, there are also "evangelical and extremely liberal" tendencies, "to imagine unity" with which it is "impossible" for the Orthodox. For all that, the metropolitan is "for the continuation of the dialogue", albeit without the hope of "immediate achievement of practical results."
Saint John
Interestingly, the ROCOR Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, where the meeting took place, was founded in 1949 by Archbishop John (Maximovich), who was canonized in 1994. In his youth, the current metropolitan - then still non-Orthodox Timothy Ware - met with Vladyka John. And she still "remembers very distinctly" her first meeting with him in France, at Versailles.
This happened at the liturgy that Archbishop John used to serve daily. The day was a weekday, in a small house church there were only a monk-singer and some old woman. Having taken out the cup with the Holy Gifts, the priest gazed at the unfamiliar young guest until he shook his head negatively. Later, he still insisted that he come up and take the anointing with oil from the lamp.
“Later, I thought about why he looked at me like that, as if insisting that I go to communion,” said the metropolitan. belonged. He must have understood the situation I was in. And in his own way he let me know: do not delay too long. Go to church - to our Orthodox church - and take communion. And I took it as a sign ... "
"Any serious acquaintance with another person is essentially providential," Vladyka said.
About high-flying birds
Ware converted to Orthodoxy a few months later. It happened in 1958. Then he asceticised in a monastery on the Greek island of Patmos, made pilgrimages to Jerusalem and Mount Athos, and in 1966 became a priest and monk with the name Kallistos. Since that time, he has been teaching at Oxford University for 35 years, and has trained a whole galaxy of theologians and church historians.
Among his wards was the current chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeev). With a broad smile, Vladyka Kallistos noted that in this case, even without any visionary gift, a "high-flying bird" could be seen.
According to him, Fr. Hilarion, while remaining a "humble monk", at the same time was distinguished by "extreme purposefulness, ... a clear understanding of why he came to Oxford and what he wants to study." He wrote his doctoral dissertation on St. Simeon the New Theologian "faster than any other" candidate in his mentor's memory, and later this work was published by Oxford University Press. "They rarely publish doctoral dissertations, only the best ones," Vladyka explained.
He himself, in his opinion, is not endowed with "the clairvoyance characteristic of St. John." However, he also had situations when, at confessions, in response to a simple question, did they tell everything, the penitents were amazed at his insight.
For his advanced years, the hierarch, born in 1934, looks excellent. The lecture on the Jesus Prayer, for the sake of which the meeting was organized, he read standing up, jokingly: "so as not to lull yourself to sleep." Although there was no such danger, his lively and figurative speech, full of vivid comparisons and curious reminiscences, clearly showed that he had the gift of simply and intelligibly speaking about the most complex matters, revealing the relationship between the mortal and the eternal.
(Prince Charles inspects the Solovetsky Monastery)
I have already written more than once that the main patron of Orthodox churches in the world is the English royal family. Those who are interested can find in my LiveJournal links to posts about the guardianship of Prince Charles of the Orthodox monastic republic on Athos, about the planting of Orthodoxy in Africa by the Anglican Church (now Charles has also taken custody of Orthodox shrines in Bosnia and Kosovo).
90% of Orthodox do not want or cannot explain these facts. Another 9% accept, but make a common mistake - that the same Prince Charles is Orthodox (like his father Philip).
Orthodox people admire Prince Charles like this:
“Among other guests at his wedding was a mezzo-soprano from Russia - a soloist of the Mariinsky Theater, whose patron is Prince Charles. At the request of Charles, Ekaterina Semenchuk performed a fragment of the Russian Orthodox "Symbol of Faith", which the prince liked.
And the monks:
“Once a monk from this monastery told me the following story. He has an obedience - to look after one temple, I helped him. We came there, cleaned everything, put candles and he says:
- Do you know that this temple was built by the English Prince Charles?
I say:
What was Prince Charles doing here?
- Prince Charles is an Orthodox person.
- How can this be?
- Do you remember who was the granddaughter of the English Queen Victoria? This is Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, the holy martyr. It is no coincidence that the holy martyrs stand before God and pray for their relatives; it is no coincidence that everything happens through their prayers.
I was surprised because, due to the religious structure of England, Prince Charles should be part of the Anglican Church, and it is wonderful that he prays in the Orthodox way on Athos. He has his own cell not only in Vatopedi, but also in the Serbian monastery of Hilandar. Recently, after the fire in Hilandar, Prince Charles donated a very substantial amount for restoration. I can imagine what conflicting feelings are tearing this man apart, and in this sense he immediately became sympathetic to me.
http://www.russned.ru/palomnichestvo/ivan-rosa-afon-menyayuschiisya
But these 9% of the Orthodox make the main mistake. And it consists in the fact that not Prince Charles is Orthodox, but they, the Orthodox, are Anglicans. More precisely, at the level of top managers of the two churches, no distinction is made between them.
Here, for example, is what they write on the official website of the Russian Orthodox Church about this:
The relations of the Russian Orthodox Church with the Anglicans have a special character, due both to their antiquity and to the special spirit of interest and mutual respect and attention in which they were traditionally conducted. The dialogue with the Anglicans, interrupted by the revolutionary change of power in Russia, was resumed in 1956 at a theological interview in Moscow, when the topics of "Relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Anglican Church", "On Holy Scripture and Holy Tradition", "the doctrine and its formulation" were discussed. ", "The Symbol of Faith and Councils", "Sacraments, Their Essence and Quantity", "Orthodox Customs". Since 1976, the Russian Orthodox Church has been participating in a pan-Orthodox dialogue with the Anglicans.
http://www.mospat.ru/index.php?mid=205
“But the visit of the Anglican theologian to Russia turned out to be very fruitful. William Palmer was warmly received. He was received by both the Chief Procurator of the Synod, Count Protasov, and the Metropolitan of Moscow, St. Philaret. Church historian Muraviev, Archpriest Kutnevich and other members of the Synod took part in the theological discussions. Palmer candidly argued that in the most important dogmas of the faith, the Anglican Church stands on the same positions as the Orthodox. He set out his views in the "Introduction to the 39 Articles", in which he interpreted the Anglican creed in the spirit of the "High Church".
The interlocutors showed sincere interest. The Anglican theologian assured that Protestantism was a past stage for the Church of England, that the spirit of the Apostolic Indivisible Church of the Holy Fathers was being revived in it, and that the union of churches would be useful to the Orthodox, as it would protect them from the influence of Protestantism, which, according to Palmer, threatened the Orthodox, the danger which they still cannot comprehend.
The response of Chief Prosecutor Protasov was favorable: “Your intentions are very good, and we will do everything to help you. It is our duty to strive for the unity of the Church, and we pray for this.”
After leaving Russia, Palmer kept in touch with his Russian friends. So, he corresponded with the famous philosopher-theologian Alexei Khomyakov (like other Slavophiles, Khomyakov loved and respected England, was interested in the religious life of this country). The publication in England in 1895 of the correspondence between Palmer and Khomyakov, which is an interesting, deep, talented discussion about the fate of Christian churches, about Orthodoxy, became a real event. It was read and highly appreciated by the English Prime Minister W. Gladstone, a theologian by education. Bishop Wordsworth recommended it for reading to all young priests.
In 1888, Anglican-Orthodox relations rose to a new state level. That year Russia celebrated the nine hundredth anniversary of baptism, and this event became a national holiday. On the occasion of the celebration, the Archbishop of Canterbury sent a congratulatory letter to Russia, which, with its sincerity and warmth, made a very favorable impression (no other Western church responded). The Anglican ambassadors headed by W. Bekbek were greeted as guests of honor.
In a reply letter, Metropolitan Platon of Kyiv, unexpectedly for the Anglicans, raised the question of the unification of the churches, assuring the archbishop that the Orthodox desire a union, and asking him to inform them on the conditions under which the Anglicans consider the union possible. Archbishop Benson replied on behalf of the bishops of the Church of England that, firstly, communion in the sacraments was necessary, and secondly, the recognition of apostolic succession in the Church of England.