The primate of the Anglican Church in North America has travelled to Russia to meet with leaders of the Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church.
The primate of the Anglican Church in North America has travelled to Russia to meet with leaders of the Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church. On 25 Aug 2015 the Most Rev. Foley Beach, accompanied by Bishops Ray Sutton, Keith Ackerman and Kevin Allen, met with Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate (pictured), to discuss the future of Anglican – Orthodox relations. According to a press release from the DECR, the church leaders discussed a wide range of subjects including the recent innovations in moral teaching on human sexuality. The question of women clergy was also raised during the meeting, with Metropolitan Hilarion telling the ANCA that Moscow believed the consecration of women as bishops had impaired relations between the Orthodox and the Church of England. Discussion of closer academic cooperation between Anglicans and the Orthodox were also raised. According to the DECR, the Anglican leaders reaffirmed the ACNA’s commitment to the traditional formularies of the Anglican Church. Archpriest Chad Hatfield, Chancellor of St Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary in New York, who had accompanied the ACNA delegation from the US, reported on the newly established links between Nashotah House and Ss Cyril and Methodius Theological Institute of Postgraduate Studies.
