Teze community - communities - heretical organizations - all heresies. Taizé community - reference Attitude of Protestant churches to Taizé

On Great Wednesday, with the blessing of His Holiness the Patriarch, almost 200 young people from the Teze community will begin a pilgrimage to Moscow. They will attend divine services in Moscow parishes, on Good Friday they will go to the Butovo training ground, on Easter night they will share the joy with the Orthodox - and only then will they go to a Catholic or a Protestant church. Who are they and why did they decide to “study” Orthodoxy so closely?

Taizé is a monastic community in France, founded in 1940 by brother Roger (Roger Schutz). Now there are more than 100 brothers out of 25 different countries- Catholics and Protestants. The brothers invite young people from all over the world to meet in Taizé and elsewhere. To Russia for Holy Week In 2011, several monk brothers and about two hundred young people will come, visiting the community periodically.

The connection between Taizé and Russia has been going on for many years. Already in the 1960s, representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church could visit the community. In the 1970s and 80s, Brother Roger and other brothers were invited to Russia. Meetings with the hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church became a sign of solidarity with Russian believers at a time when leaving the country was impossible.

In 1988, after an invitation to celebrate the millennium of the Baptism of Rus', Brother Roger decided to print a million copies of the New Testament in the Synodal Translation in the community to send them to Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kiev and Minsk. It was a time when Scripture was hard to find. In the early 1990s, when the borders opened, young people from Moscow, St. Petersburg and other cities began to come in large groups to the meetings in Taizé and the European Youth Meetings at the end of the year.

Brother Roger, who founded the community, fell in love with Orthodoxy as a child. “During the First World War, some Russians had to leave their country. They were Orthodox. My mother adopted some of them and I heard them talking among themselves. Mom told me about the trials they had gone through. Later, in our youth, we lived near the Russian Orthodox Church. We used to go there and participate in the service, listen to the beauty of the hymns, and I peered into the suffering on the faces of these Christians who came from Russia,” recalled Brother Roger.

In February 1962, Brother Roger visited Patriarch Athenagoras in Constantinople, Patriarch Kirill in Sofia, and Patriarch German in Belgrade. “Patriarch Athenagoras invited us to make a pilgrimage to Istanbul with him. Whenever our car passed the place where one of the Christian martyrs was killed, it slowed down, almost stopping the car. We made the sign of the cross and only then continued to move.”

At the grand opening of the Church of Concord, where community services are held, on August 5 and 6, 1962, representatives of the Orthodox Church were present - including Archpriest Vsevolod Shpiller and Archpriest Vladimir Kotlyarov from the Moscow Patriarchate.

During a visit to Istanbul in February 1962, Patriarch Athenagoras expressed the idea of ​​organizing a place like Teza for the Orthodox, where people of different backgrounds, backgrounds, and life circumstances could come for joint prayer and spiritual search. According to the original plan, they wanted to do this on the island of Patmos, but brother Roger suggested that this should take place in the village of Teze itself. In December of the same year, he gave his written blessing to the patriarchal "methochia" in Teza.

At the end of December 1962, Metropolitan Nikodim (Rotov) of the Moscow Patriarchate spent two days in Teza. At this time, he consecrated the icon of the Vladimir Mother of God, which was located in the church of the community. It was a time of fraternal meeting, and later Metropolitan Nikodim wrote to brother Roger about his gratitude and called on the community of God's blessing.

On Bright Monday 1963, the foundation stone of the Orthodox Center in Teza was laid. This was done in the presence of representatives of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, Bishop Anthony (Blum) from London and Bishop Vladimir (Kotlyarov, now Metropolitan of St. Petersburg and Ladoga) from the Moscow Patriarchate. Later Father Vsevolod Shpiller and Pavel Yevdokimov, the theologian of the "Parisian" school of Russian emigration, also came. Two years later the Orthodox chapel was consecrated; its grand opening was attended by Bishop Anthony (Blum) from London and Bishop Vasily from Brussels, representing Moscow.

Among those who lived in the Orthodox center - "Metohii" - in Teza were Father Damaskin (Papandreou), who later became the Metropolitan of the Patriarchate of Constantinople in Switzerland, and Father Dometian (Topuzliev), now Metropolitan of Vidinsky in Bulgaria. The latter wrote: “Patriarch Athenagoras sent me to Teze in 1965 and I lived there until 1969. At this time, I met with Brother Roger, whose personality greatly influenced Christians. He was like a brother to me, and the meeting with him was imprinted on my whole life. His openness and brotherly attitude, which I met in Taizé, have stayed with me for the rest of my life.”

From May 17 to May 21, 1967, Metropolitan Alexy of Tallinn, the future Patriarch Alexy II, took part in the "Christian peace conference" held in Teza. In 1969, Father Damaskin (Papandreou) was appointed head of the Orthodox Center in Chambesy in Switzerland, then in 1970 - a bishop, in 1982 - a metropolitan of Switzerland, and in 2003 - a metropolitan of Adrianople. In 1970, Brother Roger once again visited Patriarch Athenagoras, who gave him the image of the Mother of God, which remained in his room until the death of Brother Roger.

In 1972, several brothers from the community visited the Soviet Union for the first time, via Finland. They stopped in Leningrad, Novgorod, Moscow, Smolensk and Minsk and then left via Poland.

In June 1978 Brother Roger visited Moscow, Zagorsk and Leningrad and met with Metropolitan Nikodim (Rotov). In the same year later, Brother Roger was in Rome at the time when Metropolitan Nikodim was dying. Twenty years after his death, Brother Roger drank to Patriarch Alexy II: “Twenty years ago, beloved Metropolitan Nikodim passed into eternal life. We first met him when he visited Teze in December 1962. He consecrated the icon of the Mother of God in our church. I saw him a year later, during the celebration of the millennium of the founding of Athos monasticism. How could we forget his beautiful voice when he sang the praises of God in the Russian monastery? I visited him for a few days in June 1978 at his Russian parish. He ordained new priests. Vladyka Nikodim invited us to a meal and a meeting with the seminarians. Metropolitan Kirill (now His Holiness Patriarch Kirill) was then the rector of the seminary. We remember him today together with the young people from Russia who came to Teze.”

In November 1979 Teze was visited by an Orthodox delegation, which included the future Patriarch Kirill.

In 1988, Brother Roger spent three weeks in Russia, being invited to the celebration of the millennium of the Baptism of Rus'. He visited Moscow, Kyiv and Yaroslavl, and also attended the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church, held at the Trinity-Sergius Lavra in Zagorsk. Five thousand Bibles in the Synodal translation were printed for the celebration. Brother Roger told one of the bishops how in the past the congregation sent a million New Testaments to Latin America at the request of the local Church. In response, the Russian bishops said that Russia needed not a million, but twenty million New Testaments. Returning to Taizé, Brother Roger decided that it would be possible to send a million copies of the New Testament in the Synodal Translation to Russia for the Orthodox Church, printing them in France. Those were the times Soviet Union, but nine boxcars with the New Testament arrived at their destination - Moscow, Leningrad, Minsk and Kyiv - and the Holy Scriptures were distributed.

At the end of August 1989, Metropolitan Filaret of Minsk and Slutsk, head of the department for external church relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, visited Teze. And a year later, on March 31 and April 1, 1990, Teze was visited by Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, the new head of the Department for External Church Relations and the future Patriarch Kirill.

In April 1997, Brother Roger received the International Service to Humanism Award from the University of Notre Dame (Indiana, USA). He donated $10,000, which was awarded along with the prize, to Patriarch Alexy II for charity.

With the blessing of Patriarch Alexy II, the Paris Archbishop of the Moscow Patriarchate handed over an antimension in Teze, so that Russian priests could serve the Liturgy in the church in Teze on February 13, 1998.

Then Brother Alois, who after the death of Brother Roger became Prior of Teze, visited Constantinople and met with Patriarch Bartholomew.

May 28 - June 3, 2006 Brother Alois visited Moscow and met with Patriarch Alexy II. He also attended the funeral of Patriarch Alexy II in December 2008 and the enthronement of Patriarch Kirill in January 2009. The new Patriarch honored Brother Alois with a personal reception.

Every year, the Patriarchs of Moscow and Constantinople send greeting messages to the annual European meetings held by the Taizé community and bless their participants. Messages were also received on the day of the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Teze community on August 16, 2010.

When the borders opened, contacts expanded. Not only did the brothers visit the Orthodox, but many young Orthodox also took part in the meetings held by Teze. Teze always asks that groups of pilgrims receive the blessing of the ruling bishop if they wish to visit the community, and that, if possible, they be accompanied by a priest. The Orthodox liturgy is served in the church in Teza two or three times a week during the summer months.

And now, on Easter 2011, brother Alois and several other brothers of the community will spend several days on a pilgrimage to Moscow from Wednesday, April 20 to Monday, April 25. Young people from different countries will come with them to discover the depth of Orthodox worship and Russian spirituality. Orthodox families - parishioners of several Moscow churches - will receive pilgrims at home. Including twenty young people will live in the families of the parishioners of the Church of St. Tatiana at Moscow State University. Young people will attend divine services in the host parishes, on Good Friday they will visit the Butovo Polygon and the Church of the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia, and on Holy Saturday they will have an excursion around Moscow parishes. Members of the Teze community prepared for this trip, studied Orthodox worship; The Department for External Church Relations prepared parallel sequences for the services of Holy Week and Easter in Church Slavonic and in the native languages ​​of the pilgrims. Volunteers will comment on what is happening and help guests find their way in Moscow and in Orthodox churches. We look forward to joyful fellowship in the days leading up to Paschal and Paschal.

English text: Br Matthew from Taize

Translation from English and adaptation of the text: Alexandra Sopova

The village of Taizé is located in the south of Burgundy, near Lyon (southeastern France). Here in 1940, twenty-five-year-old Roger Schutze (French by mother) moved from Switzerland. For several years he suffered from a severe form of tuberculosis, and during this time he gradually came to the decision to create a community that could live "the basic realities of the gospel - simplicity and kindness of heart." During the Second World War, he began to actively help refugees and hiding Jews, which was facilitated by the very location of Taizé - close to the demarcation line between the occupied part of the country and the "free territory" of the Vichy regime. Brother Roger bought an abandoned house with outbuildings and organized a "transit point" there. In the autumn of 1942, the underground center was discovered - brother Roger had to temporarily flee. The opportunity to return appeared only in 1944, during which time several more brothers managed to join the monk. They began to live together. In 1945, a young man who lived near Taizé created an association that took care of boys orphaned during the war years. He suggested that the brothers take in some children and teenagers in Taizé, which was done. On Sundays, the brothers also hosted German prisoners of war from a nearby camp. Gradually, new young people joined the community, and on Easter 1949, the first "Taizé brothers" took vows of celibacy, the community of material and spiritual goods and the maximum simplicity of life. Today, the Taizé community has more than a hundred brothers - Catholics and members of various Protestant churches, representatives of twenty-five nationalities. Every year, from early spring to late autumn, young people from different continents come to Taizé, in order, according to the ideologists of the movement, “to make an inner pilgrimage to the sources of faith in God, and not to gain the courage to build relationships between people based on on trust."
During some summer weeks, more than 5,000 young people from around 75 countries gather in the village at the same time. They lead the most free way of life, no one formally obliges them to anything. It is proposed only three times a day for everyone - brothers, sisters, guests - to gather together for prayer, joint praise of God in songs (in a radically Protestant spirit) and "silence". The brethren live by the fruits of their own labor, they do not accept gifts or donations for their own use. When one of the brothers receives an inheritance, the community passes it on to the poor. Already in the 1950s, some brothers began to settle in disadvantaged regions "to be with those who suffer from poverty and division." Today, small Taizé communities have been established in Asia, Africa and South America. The brothers try, by their own admission, to live as much as possible, just like their neighbors, and "to be a sign of love among the poorest, street children, prisoners, dying, those whose hearts are wounded by abandonment, broken relationships." Taizé was visited by representatives of the hierarchy of many Christian denominations. The community hosted Pope John Paul II, three Archbishops of Canterbury, Orthodox hierarchs, fourteen Lutheran bishops of Sweden and hundreds of priests from all over the world. In the afternoon, “discussion and prayer” groups are organized with approximately the following thematic specialization: “Is forgiveness possible?”, “The challenge of globalization”, “How to respond to God's call?”, “What kind of Europe do we want to see?” etc. Some topics are related to visual arts and music. Since the late 1950s, thousands of young people from all over the world, mostly between the ages of 17 and 30, have come to Taizé for ecumenical Christian prayer meetings - often surprising in their deliberately "informal" nature. In 1966, the sisters of St. Andrew the Apostle, an international Catholic community founded in the 13th century, settled in a nearby village and took over part of the work of receiving pilgrims. Later they were joined by a small group of Ursuline sisters from Poland. Since 1962, the Tazet brothers and the “young friends” of the community have constantly visited the countries of Eastern Europe under various pretexts. After the fall of the Iron Curtain, work was intensified to attract unchurched young people from the states of the former socialist camp to ecumenical events in France, as well as representatives of the most “liberal” Orthodox communities of the CIS countries (the Moscow church of Cosmas and Damian in Shubin, etc.). Brother Roger Schütze also a well-known Catholic writer of a social and ecumenical orientation. Three books were written by the organizer Taizé in collaboration with the nun Teresa of Calcutta (the essay "Mary - Mother of Reconciliation" was translated into Russian - Ateliers et Presses de Taize, 1988).

In July 2012, young parishioners of the Transfiguration Church in the town of Rakov (Volozhinsky district, Minsk region), led by rector Archpriest Sergiy Lepin, visited the Taizé Community (France).

The group included representatives of the youth brotherhood of the Apostle John the Theologian at the missionary (!) department of the Minsk diocese.

The Spaso-Preobrazhensky parish organizes a trip to Teze for the second time. Previously, the Community also received a delegation from the Minsk parish of the Icon of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow,” headed by Protodeacon Yaroslav Bliznyuk.

Today the community has about a hundred "brothers" - Catholics and members of various Protestant denominations, more than twenty-five nationalities. Teze community is one of the largest centers of spiritual corruption of youth from more than 25 countries of the world.

The current rector of the community, “Brother” Alois, a German Catholic born in 1954, attaches great importance contacts with world Orthodoxy. In particular, in the fall of 2011, he came to Minsk to participate in the international forum "Orthodox-Catholic Dialogue", which was held with the blessing of the Patriarchal Exarch of All Belarus, Metropolitan Filaret.

The leader of the group, Archpriest Sergiy Lepin, celebrated the Liturgy at Teza. The ecumenical community sympathetically provides this opportunity to Orthodox guests.

For 2 weeks, the group visited more than a dozen cities in France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Hungary and the Czech Republic.
Young people from Belarus also visited Cluny Abbey, the center of the movement for the reform of Catholic “monasticism” in the 10th-11th centuries.

Teze

Teze, otherwise Taizé, Communaute de Taize, Taize Community - a pseudo-monastic ecumenical and pacifist community, a textbook phenomenon of mass religion (a kind of mass culture). The ideology of T. is unprincipled idealism and globalist “Euro-spirituality”.

Founded in 1940 by Calvinist pastor Roger Schütz (1915-2005) in the village of Thézet in Burgundy in the French department of Saone-et-Loire. Since 2005, the “prior” of the community has been the Catholic monk Alois (b. 1954). By 2010, the community included 100 “brothers”.

Beginning in 1949, T. members take vows reminiscent of monastic vows: celibacy, common property, submission to the authority of the “prior”. The “brothers” wear ordinary secular clothes, but during worship they dress in white robes.

At first, only Protestants and Anglicans were members of T. In 1969, the first Catholic became a member of the community. Since then, the gradual transition of T. to Catholicism begins.

There are small T. communities in India, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Algeria, Brazil, Kenya, Senegal, and the United States. Of these, only the representation of T. in New York plays a prominent role.

Since the 1960s T. becomes a place of pilgrimage for young people. The first international youth meeting in T. took place in 1966. In 1974 the first “Youth Council” met.

In 1978, Mr.. T. initiates the pacifist "Pilgrimage of trust on earth." “Brother” Roger bequeathed to the community to expand the scope of its activities, so in 2006 in Calcutta, India, a meeting was held as part of the “Pilgrimage of Trust”.

Since 1978, Mr.. T. organizes "Christmas meetings", which are usually held in one of the major European cities from December 28 to January 1. Every year, tens of thousands of young people take part in these meetings, which are prepared by the efforts of local parishes and the families of the parishioners of the host city.

T. receives up to 100 thousand people annually. Catholic nuns, mainly from the Order of St. Andrew.

More than 5,000 young people gather in T. at the same time in the summer. They lead the wildest lifestyle. They are only invited three times a day to gather together with the “brothers” for prayer and “silence”.

In the afternoon, “discussion and prayer” groups are organized on approximately the following topics: “Is forgiveness possible?”, “The challenge of globalization”, “How to respond to God's call?”, “What kind of Europe do we want to see?” etc. Some topics are related to visual arts and music.

All T.'s activities are devoted to meditation and indoctrination in an adogmatic, unprincipled way. This makes T. a phenomenon of mass culture with a characteristic combination of the incongruous and profanity.

The missionary department of the Minsk diocese introduces Orthodox youth to soul-destroying things. It is not the first time that parish youth brotherhoods, with the assistance of this diocesan body, have made "pilgrimage" trips to the countries of the corrupted West under the auspices of the European meeting from the community of Taizé.

The last such "enlightenment" trip took place in July 2012, it was attended by young parishioners of the Church of the Transfiguration of the Savior in the town of Rakov (Volozhinsky district, Minsk region), headed by rector Fr. Sergiy Lepin. Previously, the "hospitable" community received a delegation from the Minsk parish of the icon of the Mother of God "Joy of All Who Sorrow", which was headed by Protodeacon Yaroslav Bliznyuk. For a couple of weeks, our compatriots have joined the culture and "spirituality" of such people as: France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Hungary, Czech Republic.

Let's also add that the Ukrainian youth delegation is also a "traditional" guest at the European "Days of Trust" organized by Taizé. On the eve of the new year 2012, again, our compatriots in Germany, at the invitation of Catholics and Protestants, spent 5 days with them in common prayers(!) and discussions on spiritual, social, economic and cultural issues. The agenda of the “Days of Trust” also included meetings with representatives of the Berlin community and a visit to the Great Mosque…

From the dictionary of anti-modernism about Taizé.

Teze, otherwise Taize, Communaute de Taize, Taize Community is a pseudo-monastic ecumenical and pacifist community, a textbook phenomenon of mass religion (a kind of mass culture). The ideology of T. is unprincipled idealism and "Euro-spiritualism."

Founded in 1940 by Calvinist pastor Roger Schütz (1915-2005) in the village of Thézet in Burgundy in the French department of Saone-et-Loire. Since 2005, the "prior" of the community has been the Catholic monk Alois (b. 1954). By 2010, the community included 100 "brothers".

Beginning in 1949, T. members took vows reminiscent of monastic vows: celibacy, common property, submission to the authority of the “prior”. The “brothers” wear ordinary secular clothes, but during worship they dress in white robes.

At first, only Protestants and Anglicans were members of T. In 1969, the first Catholic became a member of the community. Since then, the gradual transition of T. to Catholicism begins.

There are small T. communities in India, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Algeria, Brazil, Kenya, Senegal, and the United States. Of these, only the representation of T. in New York plays a prominent role.

Since the 1960s T. becomes a place of pilgrimage for young people. The first international youth meeting in T. took place in 1966. In 1974, the first "Youth Council" met.

In 1978, T. initiates the pacifist Pilgrimage of Trust on Earth. "Brother" Roger bequeathed to the community to expand the scope of its activities, so in 2006 in Calcutta, India, a meeting was held as part of the "Pilgrimage of Trust".

Since 1978, Mr.. T. organizes "Christmas meetings", which are usually held in one of the major European cities from December 28 to January 1. Every year, tens of thousands of young people take part in these meetings, which are prepared by the efforts of local parishes and the families of the parishioners of the host city.

T. receives up to 100 thousand people annually. Catholic nuns, mainly from the Order of St. Andrew.

More than 5,000 young people gather in T. at the same time in the summer. They lead the wildest lifestyle. They are only invited three times a day to gather together with the "brothers" for prayer and "silence".

In the afternoon, “discussion and prayer” groups are organized on approximately the following topics: “Is forgiveness possible?”, “The challenge of globalization”, “How to respond to God's call?”, “What kind of Europe do we want to see?” etc. Some topics are related to visual arts and music.

All T.'s activities are devoted to meditation and indoctrination in an adogmatic, unprincipled way. This makes T. a phenomenon of mass culture with a characteristic combination of the incongruous and profanity.