Our Society's Two New Friends: Spanish Orthodox and Romanian Catholic

Jose Pino Rodriquez (Iniciativo Oriente Cristiano, Madrid), Fr Eduard-William Fartan (Romanian Catholic Mission in London), Fr Mark Woodruff (Vice Chairman of Society of St John Chrysostom) and Archpriest Mykola Matwywskij (Economos, Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of the Holy Family of London)

The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2014 ended with two marvellous new encounters for the Society. After the Saturday vigil Divine Liturgy at the Holy Family Cathedral in London's Mayfair, served by Fr Mykola and Fr Mark, we met Sr Jose Pino Rodriquez, a lay Byzantine in Spain & Portugal, who has established the Iniciativa Orient Cristiano, to raise awareness of Eastern Christianity in Spain and to build ecumenical links between Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants, especially East-West Catholic-Orthodox reunion. He was accompanied by Fr Rafael (see below), a priest of the Spanish Reformed Church. We were later joined by Fr Edward-William Fartan, who came to London in 2012 to establish a mission for Romanian Catholics in the United Kingdom.

Earlier in the day, Senor Rodriquez and Fr Rafael had made visits to Hagia Sophia Orthodox Cathedral, for Mass at Westminster Cathedral and Choral Evensong at Westminster Abbey. On Sunday the visited Oxford's Orthodox Parish of the Annunciation, Canterbury Road, to see Metropolitan Kallistos, Fr Ian Graham and members of our sister Society, the Fellowship of St Alban & St Sergius. On Monday, they will go to Cambridge to visit the Institute of Orthodox Christian Studies.



Fr Rafael (Spanish Reformed Church), Fr Mark and Fr Eduard-William at supper after the Liturgy