I’m not particularly interested in involving myself in this thread, but I will make a few comments.
It seems to me use of that term was incorrect (not to mention derogatory) prior to the joint declaration.
The meaning of “ethnic truth” is quite unclear. The ACoE and the Chaldean Church share a common lineage.
Perhaps I’m missing something, but to say that the ACoE holds “partial spiritual truth” seems to fly in the face of the above mentioned joint declaration.
How “nationalism rules over every decision” bears further clarification. And, while I suspect I know the answer, the term “ecclesiactical truth” does as well.
- Technically, the Nestorian heresy is considered a “misunderstanding” between the churches. Church of the East initially deemed being Nestorian as a positive after all, Nestorius is a saint within their church. Church of the East didn’t realize the stigma of the term until later on.
- I’m going to oversimplify this - in regard to ethnic truth - there is a small vocal segment of the Chaldean Catholic Church that believe themselves to be descendents of the ancient Chaldeans because of the church’s name. There is absolutely no historical connection between the Chaldean Church and the ancient Chaldean people. The Chaldean name was appropriated by the Vatican in order to make it easier to identify those Christians in the the region who were not in union with Rome. There are individuals within the church who push this Chaldean identity and division for the sake of monetary gain. The Church of the East acknowledges their Assyrian heritage. Ethnically, both churches have their roots with the Assyrian people. I am part Assyrian. This is one of the major reasons why Sako is willing to forsake the Chaldean name and his title for the sake of unity. Because of persecution (ISIS and so forth), the Assyrian people in diaspora are on the verge of extinction and can’t afford division. Spiritual truth is in reference to their not being in union with Rome and the rejection of various doctrines and councils.
If you want to delve into the ethnic debate see:
facebook.com/pages/Assyria/111581612210294?fref=ts
“Before I became a priest I was an Assyrian, before I became a bishop I was an Assyrian, I am an Assyrian today, tomorrow, forever, and I am proud of it.” Source: Mar Raphael J Bidawid, Patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church, 1974.
“I personally think that these different names serve to add confusion. The original name of our Church was the ‘Church of the East’ … When a portion of the Church of the East became Catholic in the 17th Century, the name given was ‘Chaldean’ based on the Magi kings who were believed by some to have come from what once had been the land of the Chaldean, to Bethlehem. The name ‘Chaldean’ does not represent an ethnicity, just a church… We have to separate what is ethnicity and what is religion… I myself, my sect is Chaldean, but ethnically, I am Assyrian.” Source: Mar Raphael J Bidawid, Patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church, 2003.
“The Portuguese found an Assyrian Church in India in Malabar in the 16th century. It was reunited with Rome in 1599 and strongly Latinized. In 1830 a Catholic patriarch, called “Chaldean” was created in Mesopotamia, so there now are some Assyrians in union with Rome.” Source: The Holy Spirit: Eastern Christian Traditions, by Stanley M. Burgess, Hendrickson Publishers Inc., 1989.
“Before the rise of Islam the Syrian Christian Church [Assyrian] had split into several communities. There was first the East Syrian Church or the Church of the East. This communion, established in the late second century, claims uninterrupted descent in its teachings, liturgy, consecration and tradition from the time the Edessene King Abgar allegedly wrote to Christ asking him to relieve him of an incurable disease and Christ promised to send him one of his disciples after his ascension. This is the church erroneously called Nestorian, after the Cilician Nestorius, whom it antedates by about two and a half centuries. The term Nestorian was applied to it at a late date by Roman Catholics to convey the stigma of heresy in contradistinction to those of its members who joined the Catholic Church as Uniats and received the name Chaldeans.” Source: History of Syria (Including Lebanon and Palestine) by Professor Philip Hitti (Professor of Semitic Literature at Princeton University), Macmillan and Co., Ltd, 1957.
