Is Catholic-Orthodox Unity in Sight?

[lemonbeam]

The Catholic Archbishop of Moscow has given a remarkably upbeat assessment of relations with the Orthodox Church, saying unity between Catholics and Orthodox could be achieved “within a few months.”

In an interview today in Italy’s Corriere della Sera newspaper, Archbishop Paolo Pezzi said the miracle of reunification “is possible, indeed it has never been so close.” The archbishop added that Catholic-Orthodox reunification, the end of the historic schism that has divided them for a millennium, and spiritual communion between the two churches “could happen soon, within a few months.”

“Basically we were united for a thousand years,” Archbishop Pezzi said. “Then for another thousand we were divided. Now the path to rapprochement is at its peak, and the third millennium of the Church could begin as a sign of unity.” He said there were “no formal obstacles” but that “everything depends on a real desire for communion.”

On the part of the Catholic Church, he added, “the desire is very much alive.”

Archbishop Pezzi, 49, whose proper title is Metropolitan Archbishop of the Mother of God Archdiocese in Moscow, said that now there are “no real obstacles” on the path towards full communion and reunification. On issues of modernity, Catholics and Orthodox Christians feel the same way, he said: “Nothing separates us on bioethics, the family, and the protection of life.”

Also on matters of doctrine, the two churches are essentially in agreement. “There remains the question of papal primacy,” Archbishop Pezzi acknowledged, “and this will be a concern at the next meeting of the Catholic-Orthodox Commission. But to me, it doesn’t seem impossible to reach an agreement.”

Prospects for union with the Orthodox have increased markedly in recent years with the election of Pope Benedict XVI, whose work as a theologian in greatly admired in Orthodox circles. Benedict is also without the burden of the difficult political history between Poland and Russia, which hindered Polish Pope John Paul II from making as much progress as he would have liked regarding Catholic-Orthodox unity.

Relations have also been greatly helped by the election of Patriarch Kirill I earlier this year as leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, which is by far the largest of the national churches in the Orthodox Church. As the former head of the Moscow Patriarchate’s department for external relations, Kirill met Benedict on several occasions before and after he became Pope, and the Russian Orthodox Patriarch is well acquainted with the Roman Curia and with Catholicism.

ncregister.com/daily/catholic-orthodox_unity_in_sight/

 

[HyeDetroit]

A thousand years…

Such a long time, I hope reunification happens-

 

[DavidMark]

The Dispensation of Bahá’u’lláh is at least one thousand solar years from the beginning of His Faith. During that time, the embryonic World Order He spiritually initiated, in authentic Texts, will grow and develop and come into the open consciousness of mankind, and come to be seen as “the last refuge for a tottering civilization”.

The principle of the Oneness of Mankind – the pivot round which all the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh revolve – is no mere outburst of ignorant emotionalism or an expression of vague and pious hope.
Its appeal is not to be merely identified with a reawakening of the spirit of brotherhood and good-will among men, nor does it aim solely at the fostering of harmonious cooperation among individual peoples and nations.
Its implications are deeper, its claims greater than any which the Prophets of old were allowed to advance.
Its message is applicable not only to the individual, but concerns itself primarily with the nature of those essential relationships that must bind all the states and nations as members of one human family.
It does not constitute merely the enunciation of an ideal, but stands inseparably associated with an institution adequate to embody its truth, demonstrate its validity, and perpetuate its influence.
It implies an organic change in the structure of present-day society, a change such as the world has not yet experienced.
It constitutes a challenge, at once bold and universal, to outworn shibboleths of national creeds – creeds that have had their day and which must, in the ordinary course of events as shaped and controlled by Providence, give way to a new gospel, fundamentally different from, and infinitely superior to, what the world has already conceived.
It calls for no less than the reconstruction and the demilitarization of the whole civilized world – a world organically unified in all the essential aspects of its life, its political machinery, its spiritual aspiration, its trade and finance, its script and language, and yet infinite in the diversity of the national characteristics of its federated units. (Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha’u’llah, p. 42)

 

[Karl_Keating]

It would have been helpful if the Catholic archbishop had given us even a short list of facts that suggest that unity could come “in a matter of months.” As it stands, his opinion looks like the wishful thinking of a gushing co-ed.

One could have said any time in the last thousand years that unity could be just a few months away–if the leadership of the Orthodox churches weren’t so opposed to it, if that leadership hadn’t inculcated a strong anti-Catholic sense in its people, and if those churches didn’t reject certain defined Catholic doctrines.

Aside from that, a piece of cake!

 

[KyivAndrew]

Lemonbeam.

Firstly, Patriarch Kirill (the one in the aforementioned article) is only the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, and with it, a very controversial past reaching back to Soviet times.

Secondly, the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church is not the Leader of the Orthodox Church, or first among Patriarchs – that title goes to the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople (Greek Orthodox).

Thirdly, Patriarch Kirill is already crossing swords with the EC (Ecumenical Patriarch) over the canonical situation of the Orthodox Church in Ukraine. Moscow wishes the Ukrainian Orthodox Church subjugated to Moscow, the EC is considering giving it Autocephalous status currently. They can’t see eye to eye over the canonical status of churches in Ukraine, never mind with the Vatican (months)

Lastly, and most importantly for me as a Ukrainian Catholic, the Russian Patriarch will not even consider speaking positively to the situation of Ukraine’s Catholics who suffered horrendously in the Soviet Union and were forced basically at gunpoint to become Russian Orthodox. Thankfully, the Ukrainian Catholic Church is burgeoning now in Ukraine.

Hope this helps clarify, God Bless, Andrew

 

[PadraigPearce]

If we could ever put aside all the politics and just look at the theological issues, is there enough common ground to think about a reunion, or have the Catholic and Orthodox diverged too much in the last thousand years? It appears that a lot of the things we Catholics have defined as dogma don’t specifically contradict Orthodox theology, but they would prefer if those things had never been defined. If it weren’t for the ugly politics and nationalism that probably caused the split in the first place, does anyone think we could just sort of agree that many of our theological differences (not all, but many) are just a case of using different terminology to describe the same things?

 

[Polaris]

It would have been helpful if the Catholic archbishop had given us even a short list of facts that suggest that unity could come “in a matter of months.” As it stands, his opinion looks like the wishful thinking of a gushing co-ed.

One could have said any time in the last thousand years that unity could be just a few months away–if the leadership of the Orthodox churches weren’t so opposed to it, if that leadership hadn’t inculcated a strong anti-Catholic sense in its people, and if those churches didn’t reject certain defined Catholic doctrines.

Aside from that, a piece of cake!

The attacks by CAF against the miracle of the holy flame, the destruction of the Orthodox/Eastern Catholic forum here, banning of almost all the educated orthodox individuals here including a Orthodox priest with the added bonus of lying over their status and now an insult to a Bishop of your own church by comparing his opinion, to a “gushing Co-eds” for hoping for unification soon even after he said “everything depends on a real desire for communion.”

You are right about it not happening any time soon, but I do not think the Orthodox are the only ones against unification.

 

[Karl_Keating]

The attacks by CAF against the miracle of the holy flame, the destruction of the Orthodox/Eastern Catholic forum here, banning of almost all the educated orthodox individuals here including a Orthodox priest with the added bonus of lying over their status …

With respect to the “miracle of the holy flame,” you are referring to something I wrote a few years ago. I said I didn’t think it was a miracle at all. If someone insists that it is, fine–I think he’s wrong, but he won’t get booted from CAF for that. We allow differences of opinion.

The one-time Orthodox/Eastern Catholic forum was ended because of persistent problems with some of the participants–most of the troublemakers were Orthodox, but some were Catholics. They simply would not abide by the forum rules.

If you think we’ve banned “almost all the educated orthodox individuals here,” what does that say about your opinion of the many Orthodox who still participate in these forums? Do you think they’re uneducated? However that may be, certain Orthodox participants were banned because (see previous paragraph) they just wouldn’t abide by the rules.

Over the years, people from all religious persuasions have been banned, and most of them have been Catholics. In each case they were banned for not “playing by the rules.” They weren’t banned merely for expressing an opinion that Catholics might disagree with.