Did John Paul 2 go against Third Council of Constantinople by praying with non Catholic faiths?

[Rockypath]

I would like to refute the following statement by a Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) member who does not appear to like our John Paul 2.

“Who can deny that JP2 (and Benedict XVI) for that matter worshipped with the Jews and EOC in their “holy” buildings…and yet …Third Council of Constantinople, 680-681 AD: “If any ecclesiastic or layman shall go into the synagogue of the Jews or the meeting-houses of the heretics to join in prayer with them, let them be deposed and deprived of communion. If any bishop or priest or deacon shall join in prayer with heretics, let him be suspended from communion.”

Thanks

 

[Fr.Charles_Grondin]

Disciplinary canons can be changed by future councils or Pontiffs. For example Canon XX of the Council of Nicea forbids kneeling on Sundays and on Pentecost. Kneeling has been part of the Latin Church’s liturgies for centuries.

However, your friend has a major problem in that what he is quoting to you is not from the 3rd Council of Constantinople. No such canon is to be found from that Council.

What he is quoting is from what is referred to as the “Apostolic Canons” or the “Canon of the Apostles” (canon 64). It was a pseudepigraphic work. Various ancient figures in the Church were suspicious of it and it never received wide acceptance outside of being a window into a wing of early Christian thought.

Some of the canons from this work have been adopted by other Councils and Pontiffs but not all. For example:

Canon 66 condemns fasting on a Sunday with the penalty being clergy deposed and laity excommunicated.

Canons 46 & 47 appear to claim baptism of heretics to be invalid, however the Latin Church has never claimed this and even proclaimed otherwise.

Pope John Paul II did not violate a canon from the 3rd Council of Constantinople. The Church is free to change its disciplinary canons and therefore cannot bind a future Pope or Council.