The task of reconstruction confronting the Russian Orthodox Church as it emerges from almost a century of communist rule is daunting.
Unlike the other Christian churches of central and eastern Europe, whose tribulations dated from the end of the second World War, the Russian Church suffered savage persecution from the earliest days of the Russian Revolution under Stalin and his successors, and while harassment eased from time to time during the Soviet period, it ceased only in recent years.
The Russian Church was therefore in chains during the most formative years of the modern ecumenical movement, the years of the World Council of Churches and Vatican II. Also, its earlier history contrasted at several points with that of Western Christendom where the reformation of the 16th century and the influence of the Enlightenment of the 18th century deeply influenced religious thought.
Now that the former communist states, Russia among them, are seeking a new and closer relationship with the West, the churches of the East assume a new importance for us, as the population of the EU comes to include more and more Orthodox.
It was to address the issues posed by this new relationship that the Church and Society Commission of the Conference of European Churches, representative of the Orthodox, Anglican and Protestant Churches of Europe, met last month in Moscow at the invitation of the Russian Orthodox Church.
The meeting was attended by Dr Kenneth Milne as an observer on behalf of the Irish Council of Churches, and there was much frank exchange of views on matters, theological and political, on which significant divisions exist.
Today the Friends of St Canice's Cathedral, Kilkenny, meet in the cathedral for their annual gathering to honour the late Margaret Daisy Phelan. Tonight in St Patrick's Church, Greystones, there will be a recital in aid of parish funds by the Pro Musica Choir from Dalarna, Sweden.
In New York, the Chapel Choir of Trinity College Dublin will sing the Vigil Mass in the Church of St Francis of Assisi. Tomorrow they will sing at the Eucharist in the Church of St Thomas, Fifth Avenue, and at Choral Evensong in the Cathedral of St John the Divine. The Trinity Chaplain, Dr Alan McCormack, will assist at both services.
Tomorrow, the Bishop of Cork, the Right Rev Paul Colton, will visit Schull and Crosshaven while in St Fin Barre's Cathedral the Millennium Flame, which is travelling around the world, will be received. In Dublin, the speaker in the "Hopes for the New Millennium" series of addresses at Choral Evensong will be the Chief Rabbi of Ireland, the Very Rev Gavin Broder.
On Tuesday, the Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, the Very Rev Dr R. B. MacCarthy, will preach in Sheffield Cathedral at the commissioning of Capt Tim Hyde as a church army officer to work in St Patrick's.
On Wednesday, the Bishop of Tuam, Dr Richard Henderson, will be in Iceland for a conference on religion and science which continues until July 8th. In St Patrick's Cathedral on Friday there will be a lunchtime concert by the joint church choir from Shreveport, Louisiana.
The Ross Tapestry Project has recently been launched in New Ross, Co Wexford. The tapestry, in 15 panels, aims to be the Bayeux Tapestry of Ireland. It will tell the story of the coming of the Normans to Ireland in the 12th century and the founding of New Ross as a port town at the beginning of the 13th century. It is envisaged that the tapestry will hang in St Mary's Church, New Ross.