The Celebration of the Methodian Anniversary in Central and Eastern Europe

218 Chronicle The Celebration of the Methodian Anniversary in Central and Eastern Europe The llooth anniversary of the death of St Methodius faced relentless opposition from Methodius is being celebrated in a number the Frankish Bavarian clergy (who re of communist countries of central and east garded him and his disciples as interlopers), ern Europe, since it was there that and in time he had less and less support Methodius and his younger brother, Con from local rulers. But he continued his stantine-Cyril, the "Apostles of the Slavs" , pastoral activity, and his work of teaching carried out their missionary and educational and translating, with remarkable energy work. This began with the so-called "Mora and steadfastness until his death on 6 April vian mission" of 863, when Prince Rastislav 885. However, shortly after this his disciples of Moravia asked the Byzantine emperor were arrested and deported. Some of them Michael III to send him missionary-teachers probably settled in Croatia, where the Slav who could instruct his subjects in the Chris liturgy (Roman rite) was already quite tian faith in their own language. Rastislav widely used. Here, with the support of ruled a principality in the middle Danube Prince Boris and his son and successor Tsar region then inhabited by West Slavs, the an Symeon, the Slav liturgy (Byzantine rite) cestors of the modern Czechs and Slovaks. was firmly established, native priests were The Moravians were already Christian, trained and the corpus of translated litera thanks to the activity of Frankish mis ture greatly extended; it was in Bulgaria too sionaries; but the consolidation of the new that the first Original works in Old Church faith was making slow progress, because the Slavonic were written. Another important services and instruction were in Latin. change, made official in 893, was the re There was someone in Constantinople at placement of the glagolitic alphabet by the that time who was ideally suited to provide Cyrillic (called after Constantine's monastic what Rastislav required; this was Constan name though he was not responsible for it). tine the Philosopher, a teacher at the uni This alphabet was much closer to,Greek, versity of Constantinople, a native of Thes with which some Bulgarians were already salonika (where many people were familiar familiar. In the course of time this literary with spoken Slavonic) and a philologist of and liturgical heritage passed to the Serbs genius. It, is possible that he had already and the Russians, and also to the Roma been experimenting with an alphabet for nians who, although not Slavs, used Church the Slav language; certainly he produced Slavonic as both a liturgical and a chancery one very quickly when requested. This was language up to the seventeenth century. the so-called glagoliticalphabet. After translating certain basic Gospel readings VariedPorms of Celebration ipto Slavonic, Constantine and his brother It is natural that the anniversary of the ~ethodi\ls, together with a large band of death of Methodius should be celebrated in fellow-workers, set off for Moravia. 'Czechoslovakia, since that is where the Their work there was very successful, and work of the two brothers began. The cele after three and a half years the two brothers brations were beset with difficulties from felt they could return home. But first they the beginning. The new generation of went to Rome where their recently trans Catholics in Czechoslovakia (many of lated Slav liturgy (in both the Byzantine and whom are converts) is not easily thwarted the Roman' rite) was officially approved by either by state repressions or by the fact that Pope Hadrian 11 and celebrated in St their demands for greater religious freedom Peter's. Constantine died in Rome in 869; are not likely to be heeded. Early last year just before his death he assumed the monas they began spontaneously to collect signa tic name of Cyril. Methodius returned to tures on an invitation to the Pope to visit central Europe with the title of Archbishop Velehrad, the village bearing the same of Pannonia, entrusted by the Pope with name as the capital of the Great Moravian the task of building up a church in that Empire where St Methodius was invited to missionary area, using the Slav liturgy, and spread the' Gospel in Slavonic and where under Roman jurisdiction. the celebrations were to begin. It is reported This task proved to be full of difficulties. that as many as 20,000 names were col- Chronicle 219 lected, but the harassment ofthe organisers the Constitution and to the Declaration of grew so intense that the Primate, Cardinal Human Rights. It may have been this reso Tomasek, decided to ease the pressure on lute action by the 85-year-old Primate that believers by himself issuing an official invi enabled him to meet Catholic clergy on tation to the Pope on 8 February. The invi 9 April to mark the anniversary. It has been tation could be printed only in unofficial reported (the Times 23 April) that nearly Catholic bulletins. On 1 May, amidst a furi 1,000 priests ass~mbled at Velehrad (this ous anti-papal campaign in the official number represents one third of all Czecho media in Czechoslovakia, John Paul 11 slovak Catholic clergy), without any adver replied personally, saying that he would be tising of the event in the official' media. happy to visit Velehrad, even if only for one Even members of religious orders (banned day. He emphasised his Slav affinity with since 13 April 1950) attended in their the Czechs and SIQvaks. (St Methodius vestments and over 7,000 believers preached at a time when they had not yet gathered in and outside the church to hear been separated into different nations.) The Cardinal Tomasek read the letter from the regime viewed this as subversive, and the Pope. "We want the Pope," chanted the party professional atheist propagandists people in the street, in a clear show of de began their ideological counter-offensive. fiance reminiscent of scenes· in Poland. According to the line taken by one of them, "Methodius," said the Cardinal, "would Dr Jiff NosterSky, St Methodius and have urged the priests to steer clear of Czechoslovakia have become key strategi politics." And the ll-page letter from the cal points in a new Vatican Ostpolitik which Pope urged the priests, in the spirit, of by misusing historical figures such as Sts Methodius, to "continue intrepidly on the Cyril and Methodius, feeds on bourgeois path of evangelisation and testimony, even anti-communism, attempting thereby to if the situation at this moment in history wrest Czechoslovakia from the socialist makes it arduous, difficult and often even bloc. Moreover, the. Pope's appeals for bitter." evangelisation of the world are misusing the The Bulgarians are understandably feelings of believers, linked with the new proud of the contribution made by their an political ambitions of the Vatican. cestors to what is called"Slav Letters", and The Pope was not permitted to come to the work of Cyril and Methodius is com Czechoslovakia. Instead the Slovak party memorated every year on 24 May, which is secretary, Vasi! Bi!ak, suggested that Pat officially described as the Day of Bulgarian riarch Pimen of the Russian Orthodox Enlightenment and Culture. This year there Church should come and that it would not are to be additional Methodian celebrations be a bad idea if the Catholic Church in in the form of a nation-wide programme cif Czechoslovakia joined the Orthodox lectures, meetings and cultural activities. Church. To create an alternative to the This was inaugurated at a meeting held.in Catholic celebrations a state-sponsored Sofia onS April, attended by a distin thr~e-day celebration by the Orthodox of guished gathering of state officials and rep C~choslovakia took place on 22-24 March. resentatives of cultural and academic insti Speakers at this celebration included Vla tutions. These Methodian celebrations are dimir Jankli, director of the religious affairs under the personal patronage of Todor department of the Ministry of Cults, and a Zhivkov (General Secretary of the Central representative of the World Council of Committee of the Bulgarian Communist Churches. The campaign against the Party), and are described as "an essential Catholic celebrations reached a peak early part and continuation of the varied activities this year when the party weekly Tribuna re connected with the celebration of the ferred to the apostles as "altar boys". On 18, 1,3OOth anniv.ersary of the Bulgarian state". March Cardinal Tomasek wrote two letters, In this official commemoration the em one to Tribuna and the other to the govern phasis is on the work of Cyril and ment, in which he protested strongly against Methodius as teachers, on their champion such misinformation and political misin ship of the "national" language of the Slavs terpretation of religious history. "The im and on the part played by "the Bulgarian pression given", he wrote, "was that the people" in developing and disseminating Republic was under siege." He stressed the the literary heritage of the Moravian mis apolitical nature of the anniversary and de sion. The anniversary has been given wide fended the believers' rights by references to coverage in the press, and the April issue of 220 Chronicle the popular illustrated monthly Cyrillo Rijeka for all the people who wished to hear Methodian journal Za bukvite (The a lecture by a visiting scholar from Vienna. Alphabet) is almost entirely devoted to the By contrast the Orthodox Serbs, who still work of Cyril and Methodius, including use the Cyrillic alphabet and the Slav liturgy articles by foreign scholars. The Bulgarian (Eastern rite), seem strangely ,silent.

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