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Important issues Από τον Τύπο Interview on the issue of language in worship
Important issues Από τον Τύπο Interview on the issue of language in worship | Interview on the issue of language in worship |
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From the Director of the Volos Academy for Theological Studies
Dr Pantelis Kalaitzidis newspaper "Thessalia"
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Discussion and reflection on the issue of the language used in the religious worship in our country is not something new. Today, however, it is becoming more intense, and the proposed changes are now seen as essential. This issue of the language of religious worship was discussed last Saturday at a one-day conference organized by the Volos Academy for Theological Studies, in which exceptionally interesting views and suggestions were exchanged. The director of the Academy, Dr Pantelis Kalaïtzidis, analyzes with us today in “Thessalia” the contours of the debate over the issue of changing the language of our religious services.
 “In recent years, as is well known, an intense debate has developed around the question of the language of worship, and various views and proposals have been advanced as to how to best confront the issue. Many argue that the younger generations in particular (although not exclusively) face a serious problem understanding the ecclesiastical liturgical language, which results in their further alienation from the life of the Church. For this reason, distinguished hierarchs and educated priests have proposed simplifying the language of the liturgical readings, the prayers, and some ecclesiastical services, such as baptism and marriage, citing the urgent pastoral need as well as the perennial tradition of the Orthodox Church, which has never recognized any doctrine of ‘holy languages.’ Others, however, counter that Orthodox worship is not interested in understanding but rather participation in the mystery, and they underscore the dangers such changes would pose to our linguistic and national tradition. The Volos Academy for Theological Studies, in conjunction with the Young People’s Association of the Holy Metropolis of Demetrias, thus organized a one-day conference on the issue and, earnestly desiring for the discussion to be truly multi-vocal, invited speakers from these various positions to sit down at the same table, and managed to have a serious dialogue and exchange of views, even if it was not completely devoid of tension and hyperbole. We consider it a very significant step toward a more genuine and authentic ecclesiastical life.”However, the larger question posed by this line of thought is: How much of the liturgical language is comprehensible to the vast majority of people who comprise the body of the Church? “I have the impression,” said Dr Kalaïtzidis, “that the language of the Church, the language of the liturgical readings and the hymnody, is not understandable to most people, especially the young people. There are those within the Church, however, who have erected great walls and who see the world and life through blinders, and they will never accept what is, in fact, reality. Nevertheless, I would like to note that this problem is not limited to the teaching of ancient Greek in school or the institution of Demotic Greek in 1976. It is also connected with broader cultural developments, with the triumph of the image over the word, with the change of language codes, etc.” The Director of the Volos Academy for Theological Studies considers the simplification of the liturgical language something more than just a necessity; he also sees it as unavoidable. “My feeling,” he noted, “is that it is both essential and, in the long term, inevitable. However, it is not that simple. It also has its price and its difficulties, and the real problem is the inevitable loss of the great linguistic and hymnological tradition connected with Byzantium and ecumenical Hellenism. Personally, I do not see any other problem, certainly none on a theological or dogmatic level. Those who do claim such problems are probably not familiar with the basics of theology, or they consciously ignore the criteria handed down to us by the historical experience of the Church and its dogmatic and canonical tradition. While they imagine that they are fighting against papism, in fact they have introduced into Orthodoxy the most outdated medieval western dogma, that of ‘holy languages’ and the ‘untranslatability’ of the Bible and the liturgical texts. Fueled by this ignorance and fanaticism, many otherwise well-meaning believers overreact to the steps carefully undertaken by the pastors of the Church to ameliorate the language problem, and some even take it to the threat of schism. Nevertheless, I believe that responsible pastors will continue to try to simplify the prose parts of worship (the prayers and readings), guided by the pressing pastoral needs as well as the priority of theological and ecclesiological criteria over the cultural and the national.” Finally, Dr Kalaïtzidis concedes that innovation and renewal are long overdue within Orthodoxy. As he notes: “It is rather difficult to speak in the Orthodox Church about innovation. For primarily historical reasons, which we do not have time to analyze here, the Orthodox world seems to have gradually distanced itself from the process of continual renewal (as occurred, for example, in the era of the Fathers), instead feeling safe and secure in its stagnation and paralysis. This pervasive conservatism sanctified various local traditions, and temporary solutions to practical problems began to take on the air of eternal dogmatic truths. It is thus characteristic that today, to return to the topics we addressed in today’s interview, we cannot change anything in our Church. Not just the language we use in worship, but even the time we start worship! Even though the clear historical and theological truth (as exemplified, once again, by the Fathers) categorically refutes this mentality, our Church has been handcuffed by fanatical views and fundamentalist protests. If the Church continues to ignore “the signs of the times,” he concludes, “I am afraid that it runs the risk of decline and irreversible marginalization within history.” |
