The Ecumenical
Tasks of N.Berdjajew and his Contacts in Paris
by Klaus Bambauer
After his re-settlement to
Paris, N.Berdjajew transferred the institution of the Religious-philosophical
Academy to France and here he begun his expanded work as the chief editor of
the journal "Put'". Besides this, he was especially interested in the
Ecumenical movement.
The Ecumenical movement had
been prepared for by a number of different conferences. L.Zander wrote on this
theme in his article: Oekumenische Betrachtungen eines russischen Orthodoxen
(in his book: Unity without unification, Stuttgart 1959). There took place many
conferences: in Kopenhagen (1922), Stockholm (1925), Prague (1928),
Muerren/Switzerland (1930), Cambridge (1931), Geneva (1932) and in other towns
of Europe. Besides this, there also took place meetings of Orthodox Churches:
in Novi Sad (1923), in Sinai (Roumania, 1924), Athens (1926) and Sofia (1927).
These meetings brought with them a successful cooperation and exchange of ideas
between the Orthodox and Protestantism. And already as P.Florenskij clearly
pointed out in his article "Christianity and culture" (1924)
[published in German in: Voice of Orthodoxy 1/1990, 11pp, which here is not
translated]: "Lehrunterschiede sollten nicht um der Einheit willen
verschleiert werden, im Gegenteil, es ist extrem wichtig, sie klar
darzustellen. Aber wenn wir im Prozess ernsten Glauben und Liebe haben – nicht
jeder fuer sich, denn wir alle machen Fehler – sondern fuer den Einen, Der in
der universalen Kirche lebt und durch Den sie erhalten wird, dann werden fuer
uns diese Unterschiede nicht Grund zur Feindschaft werden, sondern vielmehr
fuer das Gefuehl von Solidaritaet des Christentums und der Ehrfurcht gegenueber
den Wegen der Vorsehung".
Different authors declared in
their articles concerning the Ecumenical movement, that an important impulse
was the religious-philosophical Academy, started up in Berlin by Berdjajew in
1922. In this connection also are mentioned the foundation of St. Serge/Paris,
and the Benedictine monk Lev Gillet (in 1927), who converted to the Orthodox
Church and for about 12 years was the head of the French Orthodox parish at
Montparnasse. Then he went off to England to there participate in the spiritual
leading of the St.-Alban and St. Sergius-brotherhood.
As the letter to Prof Fritz
Lieb shows (8th of January 1930, library of the University of Basel,
Switzerland), Berdjajew maintained contacts with L.Gillet. Already in 1909 Dr.
John Mott, one of the great pioneers of the Ecumenical movement, had invited
the youth (students) of St. Petersburg and Moscow to the search for the
interconfessional unity in Christ. Soon there were established these
interconfessional meetings in these towns. And in the years 1920-1930 these
student-communities in Russia made contact to the other groups abroad. There
thus took place the important meeting of 21-28 July 1925 in Archeron/France.
The participants were: N.Berdjajew, S.Besobrasow, B.Wyscheslawzew,
A.Kartaschew, G.Kullmann, L.Zander and many other people. (Cf. "Put'"
2/1926, p. 84-89).
The next conference took place
in January 1926 in Paris as a meeting of Orthodox, French Catholics and
Protestant people. This conference was in the rooms of the
religious-philosophical Academie (Paris). The impulse came from the Russian
side. From the Orthodox there took part: N.Berdjajew, B.Wyscheslawzew,
A.Kartaschew and Prince Trubetzkoj and so on. S.Bulgakow was prevented by
illness. From the Catholics took part: J.Maritain (*1882 in Paris), L.Gillet,
Father Laberthonnière, Father A.Jakoubisiak, Stanislas Fumet and others. The
Protestants were represented by Rev. M.Boegner, Rev. Lecerf and Prof. Jundt.
Some Christian students also took part.
On the first day N.Berdjajew gave the introduction by speech: "Sur
la nature de la fois" ["On the nature of faith"]. Some other
participants like Gillet and Lecerf gave lectures, too. As mentioned in the
remarks to the letter of the 8th of January 1930 to F.Lieb, still further
interconfessional meetings took place in Paris in a Russian house at
Montparnasse. It was mostly N.Berdjajew who was the organizer of these
meetings. Here he came to know J.Maritain (since 1925), who lived in Meudon
nearby to Clamart, providing them ability to meet often. Some other
participants were the widow of Leon Bloys, Rev. Boegner, Prof. Lesserer
(orthodox Calvinist), later on Charles du Bos (1882-1939), Gabriel Marcel
(1889-1973), Louis Massignon, precessor of Henry Corbin, the famous orientalist
and later president of the international Berdjajew-Society in Paris and Etienne
Gilson. Other friends of Berdjajew at that time had been: Jules Cain, Jacques
Madole, André Philippe, Madame Romain-Rolland (she was a Russian) and then the
later vice-president of the Berdjajew-Society, and Elaine Iswolskij, who wrote
down a manuscript "Berdjajew as we knew him". To this circle also
belonged Count Jean de Pange (*1881 Paris, +1957), he corresponded with the
famous German philosopher Peter Wust, who met Berdjajew the first time in May
1928 by an invitation of J.Maritain and de Pange.