DOMINUS IESUS

[Dan-Man916]

Greg,

After reading that, it sounds like the Orthodox have absolutely no intention of budging, and that unity will occur only when all ecclesial communities come to see their way of thinking.
I certainly don’t see them making the steps that the Vatican has been willing to make to foster reconciliation.

 

[Myhrr]

From Greg’s link:

(Because I’m quoting from it doesn’t mean I agree with everything said in it, in particular it’s politically charged)

1.2. The Church of Christ is one and unique (St. Cyprian of Carthage, On the Unity of the Church). The unity of the Church, the Body of Christ, is based on the fact that she has one Head, the Lord Jesus Christ (Eph. 5:23), and that working in her is one Holy Spirit Who gives life to the Body of the Church and unites all her members with Christ as her Head.

This is the real reason that unity isn’t possible between the RCPC and any Orthodox Church.

No Orthodox can ever accept anyone as head of the Church in place of Christ, it’s a denial of our baptism.

However, biblegateway.com/cgi-bin/bible?passage=JOHN+10:15-17&language=english&version=KJV&showfn=on&showxref=on

Does your Church think the ‘one flock’ refers to itself? Why?

 

[GrzeszDeL]

Of course we Catholics think that the “one fold” is the Catholic Church. If I did not think that the Catholic Church was the “one fold” I would not be Catholic. I can hardly blame the Orthodox for claiming to be the “one fold,” however; I would think them mighty foolish if they thought that the Orthodox Church was not Christ’s one flock, and yet they remained a part of it.

Meanwhile, in all fairness Dan, I guess that the Orthodox do not seem any more stubborn to me in their document than we Catholics seem in ours. Far from seeing this as an obstacle, I am very gratified to see this. It means that the Orthodox (unlike many other Christian communions, especially Protestant ones) consider that the Christian Faith is something important enough to care about. I had much rather try to engage in ecumenical dialogue with folks who care about the points of disagreement than with those who feel that the whole thing is just (to borrow Cherub’s infelicitous phrase) “words about words.” At the risk of defaming those who are not around to defend themselves, this is why I would often feel very frustrated in talking with a certain B-net member who shall remain nameless. He was frequently willing to say “who cares” about Catholic dogmas in order to foster reconciliation. The Orthodox statement I linked above shows no such tendency (just like Dominus Jesus) and I think that this is all to the good. If I have to pay with indifference in order to buy unity, then the cost is too much.