Πολλά λέγονται για την επιρροή του Φιλίππου στον πρίγκιπα Κάρολο και το ενδεχόμενο ο Κάρολος να έχει κάνει μεταστροφή ως προς την πίστη του. Πολλοί τον κατατάσσουν ως «κρυπτο-Ορθόδοξο» και μάλιστα – ισχυρίζονται ορισμένοι ότι – αυτή είναι η πραγματική αιτία πίσω από τη φήμη ότι σκοπεύει να αρνηθεί τον θρόνο. Να σημειωθεί ότι ο βασιλιάς του Ηνωμένου Βασιλείου είναι ταυτόχρονα και εξ ορισμού ο αρχηγός της Αγγλικανικής Εκκλησίας.
Δείτε στην παρακάτω φωτογραφία δύο Ορθόδοξες εικόνες στις κολώνες δεξιά κι αριστερά, οι οποίες έχουν αναρτηθεί στο Αββαείο όπου σήμερα θα τελεστεί ο γάμος του πρίγκιπα William. Μία ακόμη ένδειξη ότι η βασιλική οικογένεια της Μεγάλης Βρετανίας, μ’ αυτόν τον τρόπο, αποτίει φόρο τιμής στην Ορθοδοξία.
ΕΝΗΜΕΡΩΣΗ: Τελικά οι εικόνες αυτές βρίσκονται στο Αββαείο τουλάχιστον για πέντε χρόνια. Δείτε, για παράδειγμα την πιο κάτω φωτογραφία από τη Wikipedia. Συνεπώς η ανάρτησή τους έχει να κάνει περισσότερο με τη γενικότερη επιρροή της Ορθοδοξίας στις Δυτικές εκφάνσεις του Χριστιανισμού τις τελευταίες δεκαετίες (τάση, την οποία έχει επισημάνει στα κείμενα και στις ομιλίες του ο π. Νικόλαος Λουδοβίκος για παράδειγμα), παρά με τη συγκεκριμένη χρονική στιγμή και την επιθυμία του Καρόλου. Ίσως τα δύο να συσχετίζονται ως ένα βαθμό, αλλά εν πάση περιπτώσει, οι εικόνες βρίσκονται εκεί αρκετά χρόνια.
Με την ευκαιρία του παραπάνω θέματος, κάναμε μία μικρή έρευνα και βρήκαμε τα εξής ενδιαφέροντα κείμενα
Prince Charles has converted in Orthodox Christian Church
“We are hurtling into an abyss of depravity, profligacy, plunder, theft
and complete immorality. The only place I see where there may be the
beginning of some sort of regeneration is in Russia”.
HRH Prince Charles, quoted in the Russian journal ‘Den’ in September 1992.When in 1948 HRH Princess Elizabeth, the present Queen, married the
Greek Orthodox Prince Philip, the present Duke of Edinburgh, he was
officially required to cease to be Orthodox (although he never ceased to
make the Orthodox sign of the cross in public). His devout mother had
become an Orthodox nun on being widowed, and she can be seen dressed as
an Orthodox nun on the balcony of Buckingham Palace in photographs on
various public occasions in the 1950’s. Inside the palace a small
Orthodox chapel was set up for her use. This was dismantled after her
death in 1969 and her remains were buried at a Russian Orthodox convent
in Jerusalem, as she had wished.
After many years of not practicing his faith, HRH Prince Philip returned
to Orthodoxy in the early 1990’s. In an article of that time written by
Giles Milton (‘The Spectator’, 14 March 1992), it was revealed that in
May 1991 he had spoken in private to a Russian Orthodox bishop in London
and for June 1993 he was planning a meeting with the Patriarch of
Constantinople, a visit to the Holy Mountain of Athos in Northern Greece
and a visit to the Patriarch of Moscow. In the same article, the
Prince’s words to an Orthodox conference on Ecology in Crete in November
1991 were also quoted:
‘The Orthodox Church has always known that every form of religious
expression, worship, prayer, festival, preaching, monastic life or
mysticism – can provide the inspiration to a practical response to the
ecological crisis’.
In some ways it should not therefore be surprising that HRH Prince
Charles, his son and heir to the throne, should also be taking a keen
interest in the Orthodox Church. Although rumors of this interest
reached our ears in the mid-nineties, a recent article in “the Sunday
Express’ (28 April 2002) suggests that his interest has grown much more
serious.
The article, entitled “Is Charles turning his back on the Church’ (i.e.
the Church of England), reports that: ‘Prince Charles has become so fed
up with the Church of England he has been having one to one instruction
in the Greek Orthodox religion. Friends say that he has made a
‘spiritual commitment’ to Greek Orthodoxy, but constitutional
implications make it impossible for him to consider a full conversion’. A
close friend of the Prince is said to have informed the reporters of
the national newspaper that: ‘The Church of England’s absolutely
pathetic attitude drives him mad – trying to be everything to everybody,
and in the end standing for nothing’. It is asserted that Charles fell
in love with Orthodox Christianity when he first visited the Holy
Mountain of Athos with its two thousand Orthodox monks of all
nationalities in 1996.
After this Princ Charles regularly, every year, visits Holy Mount Athos where he spends
time in spiritual meditation.
In accordance with some resources the secret conversion took place in 2003 on his visit to
monastery of Vatopedi on the Holy Mountain Athos, where he spent four
hours alone with the Abbot in specially prepared ‘spiritual ceremony’.
It is also affirmed that Prince Philip had very strong influence on his
son in getting this importunate decision.
There are many indications that may confirm that extraordinary event.
For example both Prince Charles and Princ Philip are patrons of organization called
“The Friends of Mount Athos”. Prince Charles is also patron of very well
known English composer Sir John Tavener who also converted in Orthodox
Church in 1977, now living in Greece.
In 2001 Princ Charles organized the concert of his Masterpieces in Westminster Abby.
Finally two months ago Prince Charles donated $1.2 to Serbian monastery Hilandar.
His two sons prince William and Harry have have also been baptized in Orthodox Church.
The implications are enormous considering that, as a future king, prince
Charles is supposed to be the head of Church Of England which has been
in deep crises for a long period of time.
http://www.freerepub…ws/958837/posts
http://www.bbc.co.uk…s/tavener.shtml
Και
Is HRH the Prince of Wales considering entering the Orthodox Church?
‘We are hurtling into an abyss of depravity, profligacy,
plunder, theft, complete immorality. The only place I see where there
may be the beginning of some sort of regeneration is in Russia’.HRH
Prince Charles, quoted in the Russian journal ‘Den’ in September 1992.
Over
the centuries several members of European reigning families have converted
to the Orthodox Church, from the Swedish King Magnus in the Middle Ages,
to members of Royal Houses in Denmark and Germany. According to the research
of a good friend and Oxford scholar, Archbishop Macarius (Tyllirides)
of Zimbabwe, in England in the sixteenth-century King Henry VIII, wishing
to quit Catholicism, informed himself about the Orthodox Faith. Shortly
after, Queen Elizabeth I enquired about becoming Orthodox with a view
to marrying a member of the Russian Royal Family. In the nineteenth century
two of Queen Victoria’s grand-daughters not only became Orthodox, but
also became Orthodox Saints – the New Martyrs Alexandra and Elizabeth.When
in 1948 HRH Princess Elizabeth, the present Queen, married the Greek Orthodox
Prince Philip, the present Duke of Edinburgh, he was officially required
to cease to be Orthodox (although he never ceased to make the Orthodox
sign of the cross in public). His devout mother had become an Orthodox
nun on being widowed, and she can be seen dressed as an Orthodox nun on
the balcony of Buckingham Palace in photographs on various public occasions
in the 1950’s. Inside the palace a small Orthodox chapel was set up for
her use. This was dismantled after her death in 1969 and her remains were
buried at a Russian Orthodox convent in Jerusalem, as she had wished.
After
many years of not practising his faith, HRH Prince Philip returned to
Orthodoxy in the early 1990’s. In an article of that time written by Giles
Milton (‘The Spectator’, 14 March 1992), it was revealed that in May 1991
he had spoken in private to a Russian Orthodox bishop in London and for
June 1993 he was planning a meeting with the Patriarch of Constantinople,
a visit to the Holy Mountain of Athos in Northern Greece and a visit to
the Patriarch of Moscow. In the same article, the Prince’s words to an
Orthodox conference on Ecology in Crete in November 1991 were also quoted:‘The
Orthodox Church has always known that every form of religious expression,
worship, prayer, festival, preaching, monastic life or mysticism – can
provide the inspiration to a practical response to the ecological crisis’.In
some ways it should not therefore be surprising that HRH Prince Charles,
his son and heir to the throne, should also be taking a keen interest
in the Orthodox Church. Although rumours of this interest reached our
ears in the mid-nineties, a recent article in “the Sunday Express’
(28 April 2002) suggests that his interest has grown much more serious.The
article, entitled “Is Charles turning his back on the Church’ (i.e.
the Church of England), reports that: ‘Prince Charles has become so fed
up with the Church of England he has been having one to one instruction
in the Greek Orthodox religion. Friends say that he has made a ‘spiritual
commitment’ to Greek Orthodoxy, but constitutional implications make it
impossible for him to consider a full conversion’. A close friend of the
Prince is said to have informed the reporters of the national newspaper
that: ‘The Church of England’s absolutely pathetic attitude drives him
mad – trying to be everything to everybody, and in the end standing for
nothing’. It is asserted that Charles fell in love with Orthodox Christianity
when he first visited the Holy Mountain of Athos with its two thousand
Orthodox monks of all nationalities in 1996. On another visit to the monastery
of Vatopedi on the Holy Mountain, he spent four hours talking alone to
the Abbot. It is claimed that there was some sort of ‘spiritual ceremony’.
(Surely this can only be the Prince’s induction as a catechumen of the
Orthodox Church?). It is also affirmed that Prince Philip, who is a patron
of the Friends of Mount Athos, had an influence on his son, but that the
final catalyst was the tragic death of Princess Diana in 1997. “This
was when he really got hooked because they gave him a lot of comfort,
and that was when the great bond started”, quotes the article.Although
the article contains many factual errors and a certain amount of journalistic
hype, the possible future conversion of Prince Charles, secret or otherwise,
to the Orthodox Church would be the highest-profile conversion to the
Orthodox Church in this country in the last one hundred years. For Orthodox
it should not altogether be surprising, for he is carried by the prayers
of his devout nun-grandmother, and Orthodox Christians never underestimate
the powers of a mother’s prayers over up to three generations of descendants.
Whatever the situation, we will continue to pray that ‘the Lord God will
remember in His Kingdom HRH The Prince of Wales’ at the Great Entrance
at every Divine Liturgy. As ever, we await that God’s Will may be done
in the great work of the Reconversion of England and all these Islands
to the Orthodox Faith. May the Paschal light of Bright Monday illumine
the hearts of all.Christ
is Risen!
Is Risen Indeed!Seekings
House
Bright Monday 2002Fr
Andrew.
http://www.orthodoxengland.org.uk/hrh.htm
.