In his Ecclesiastical History Eusebius of Caesarea praises Irenaeus of Lyons in a unique manner. He affirms, Ireneaus deserves well his name «since he was a peacemaker by name and by conduct». As a bishop in Gaul, but of Asian origin, Irenaeus negotiated for peace between the Churches of Asia and Phrygia, on the one hand, and Rome and the other Churches of the christian world, on the other, on the question of Montanism and one the quarell over the Easter date. He wrote the «Letter of the Martyrs of Lyons» (177 AD) in order to give the Churches of Asia and Phrygia an example of peaceful Church behaviour, authentically prophetical and deeply inspired by Christ's humility. During the Easter controversy (about 190 AD), he writes to Victor of Rome, again in the name of the Churches of Gaul, in order to convince him of the supreme importance of peace among the Churches. Moreover, in his Ad-versus Haereses, IV, 33, 5-6, he warns against false prophesy and, in particular, against those bishops who cause division in the Church. According to Irenaeus, charity, which characterizes the truly spiritual christian, must always prevail. On the other hand, the disagreement on the liturgical celebration of Easter emphasizes the unanimous agreement of the bishops in matters of faith.

Augustme Nikitin

The author considers common and diverse aspects of Eastern and Western spirituality and ascetics. The key figures for this comparison are St. Francis and St. Seraphim.

The article deals with the relations between representatives of the Church of England and the Eastern Orthodox Patriarchates which go back to the 17th century. In the 19th century, contacts between the Churches became much wider than at any previous time and led to the first agreements between the Archbishop of Canterbury and Orthodox Patriarchates. Relations between the Churches were

closely connected with the Oxford Movement which revived the Apostolic spirit and Tradition of the Fathers, leading to significant changes in the Anglican Church.

The Patriarch of Constantinopole permitted Orthodox clergy in 1868 to bury and in 1874 to baptize and to marry those Anglicans who lived in his diocese and could not find an Anglican priest. The 19th century offers interesting examples of friendly relations between the Eastern and Anglican Churches.

The author considers the role of the Russian Orthodox Church in the ecumenical movement and its understanding of the membership in the WCC.

The significance of spiritual mission of the Russian Orthodox Diaspora is investigated. The author pays special attention to the St. Sergius Institute (Paris) which became the academic center of Western Orthodoxy. Now it is the time for Russia to take the baton.

The unhappy break in communion, at the beginning of 1996, between the patriarchates of Moscow and Constantinopole — now heald, at any rate for the time being — may well turn out to have fulfilled a very useful purpose. It will perhaps serve as a salutary warning, not only to the ecumenical patriarchate and to the Church of Russia, but to the Orthodox Charch as a whole.

The article focuses on the phenomenon of «unia» in the context of relationship between Eastern and Western Christianity. Now both, Catholic and Orthodox Churches, mutually renounced the ecclesiological model of unia

as a legitimate way to achieve unity of Churches. But in the same time ecclesiastical and spiritual heritage of still existing Uniate Churches should not be simply annulled and their so-called «unification devotion» should be reevaluated according to ecumenical criteria.

In this case the present historical analysis of the Russian Catholic movement does not pretend to be a claim for restoration of the Russian Catholic Church, but to have an insight into practically forgotten aspects of «preecumenical» activities of Russian Catholics of Eastern rite. The short-living dialogue between some representatives of Orthodox clergy and Russian Catholics proves to be a unique historical experience of Catholic-Orthodox rapprochement in the first decades of the XX century in Russia.

Goals and Methods in the Official Theological Dialogue between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches

The author analyses obstacles to the dialogue between the sister-Churches and challenges of the present situation. The dialogue is a way to unity. Whether it will be achieved or not depends on readiness of the Churches to accept results of theological investigation.

The article shows how the Student Christian Movement (SCM) was formed at the end of the 19th century on a wave of missionary activity. The founding force of this association of young people was the call to evangelize the world within the lifetime of the current generation. From the 1920s social problems in their own countries provided a new stimulus to the association for a second generation of young ecumenists.

This article surveys the history and current state of the ecumenical movement in Sweden. In this situation of tolerance the official Swedish-Lutheran Church has cooperated very well over the last fifteen years with independent groups of faithful Christians who stand on the fringes of their communities. This has come about through the co-ordination of social services and non-church activities, the involvement of educational institutions, regularly combined services of worship, and the surmounting of theological differences. Out of this has emerged the creation of linked parishes and societies by Christians of different confessions.

Ecumenical ideas of V. Solovyov, one of the pioneers and theoreticians of ecumenical theology and the philosopher of all-unity (sobornost), are considered. Solovyov showed that hopes for Church unity are connected not with compromises in dogmatics, but with the catholicity of the Church as the body of Christ.

The paper deals with the evolution of the religious-philosophical thought of P. Chaadaev and V. Solovyov on Islam. Chaadaev was the first to reflect upon the positive role of non-Christian monotheistic East in the spiritual development of humankind. Solovyov investigated the role of Islam in God's plan for the history in more details.

Tolerance means understanding and being well-disposed to one's self and to others. That it is necessary for dialogue between Christians is the main thesis of this article. Every participant in ecumenical dialogue has the right to search for truth if he wishes, and he has the right to make mistakes. Tolerance is not indifference to one's own tradition. It means being strongly rooted in it and yet having an open mind to the spiritual richness of other traditions. It means also the ability to accept the values of another community, the ability to change and still to be faithful to one's own heritage.