Porvoo Communion Meeting and Primates’ Letter to Patriarch Kirill

LCiGB
Oct 14, 2022
3 min read

The meeting of Primates and Presiding Bishops of the Porvoo Communion of Churches took place in Tampere, Finland, 11th-13th October 2022; the LCiGB was represented by Rt Rev Tor Berger Jørgensen in the Primates group and Rev Meelis Süld in Porvoo Contact Group.

The meeting brought together Lutherans and Anglicans from the Nordic and Baltic region, British Isles and Iberian Peninsula on church leadership level, it was hosted was by the diocese of Tampere and the bishop Matti Repo. One of the issues discussed was widening of the Porvoo communion and transitivity between the member churches. The church leaders shared the lessons and challenges that their churches faced during and after Covid pandemic. The group discussed also the situation with Russia’s war in Ukraine and the Primates and Presiding Bishops decided to send a letter to the head of the Russian Orthodox Church with the call to become an ambassador of peace instead of being Putin’s instrument to justify the war (see the letter below). There was time for joint prayer and worship. The representatives from Porvoo churches also visited Marhaban-Tampere centre that provides a safe place, fellowship and assistance to refugees at Kaleva Church.

Please find here the official summary of the meeting:

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His Holiness Kirill

Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia

Russian Orthodox Church

Thursday 13^th October 2022

Your Holiness,

We, Primates and Presiding Bishops of the churches of the Porvoo Communion met in Tampere, Finland, 11-13 October, 2022. Together we want to express our horror at the war in Ukraine, particularly how deeply concerned we are at the renewed systematic targeting of civilians and local infrastructure in your neighbouring country of Ukraine by Russian military. These are acts against humanity, violating the principles of the Geneva conventions, and they bring the war into another level of cruelty and death for the Ukrainian people. At this moment, together we call upon you, Your Holiness, to do your utmost to convince the Russian President to immediately halt these attacks and end this war. We as churches should share the joint ecumenical commitments to follow Christ’s commission to love and to protect those most vulnerable, and to demonstrate that we all, including Your Holiness, should be peacemakers wherever we are.

We assure you of our prayers and trust that you will do everything in your power to influence those making these decisions that escalate the war and other decisions made to destabilize Ukraine. For the sake of all, including the soldiers and their families in Russia, we urge your Holiness to do whatever is in your power to bring this war to an end.

Yours in Christ,

Most Revd Dr Tapio Luoma, Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland

Most Revd and Right Honourable Stephen Cottrell, Church of England

Rt Right Revd Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, Church of Norway

Rt Revd Rinalds Grants, Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia

Most Revd Dr Antje Jackelén, Church of Sweden

Most Revd Dr Michael Jackson, Church of Ireland

Rt Revd Tor Berger Jørgensen, Lutheran Church in Great Britain

Rt Revd Carlos López Lozano, Reformed Episcopal Church of Spain

Rt Revd Jorge Pina Cabral, Lusitanian Church (Portugal)

Rt Revd Agnes M. Sigurðardóttir, Church of Iceland

Rt Revd Peter Skov-Jakobsen, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark