Storm clouds in the East

Rome — and Poland — are buzzing with rumour, counter-rumour and denial: will Pope John Paul and Patriarch Alexis of the Russian Orthodox Church meet in Vienna on 21 June or won’t they? Perhaps by the time this article is published there will have been an announcement that puts paid to the rumours, but even an eventual negative provides a timely stimulus to consider relations between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches.

One argument against the likelihood of a meeting between the Pope and the Russian Patriarch is obvious: there has been no preparation. The Patriarch will be in Vienna on his way to the European Ecumenical Assembly in Graz and the Pope wants to meet him. The Pope has spoken prophetically about his desire to see the reunion of East and West, to reverse the basic division in Christendom of nearly a millennium, before the year 2000. Yet his health and the ticking of the clock make this an unattainable goal, at least in human terms.
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Posted: June 14, 1997 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=6590
Categories: The Tablet • In this article: Catholic, ecumenism, John Paul II, Moscow Patriarchate, Orthodox Transmis : 14 juin 1997 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=6590
Catégorie : The Tablet • Dans cet article : Catholic, ecumenism, John Paul II, Moscow Patriarchate, Orthodox

The wound that will not heal

When Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople made a month-long tour of 16 cities in the United States in October and November, he was feted with honours at Washington’s Jesuit-run Georgetown University and greeted with splendour in Baltimore’s Catholic cathedral. As so often in inter-Church relations, however, the conciliatory declarations belied bitter realities.

Ironically, the sharp downturn in Catholic-Orthodox relations during the past six months came into the open after one of the Pope’s most impassioned appeals for Christian unity. The occasion John Paul II picked was a Eucharistic Congress held in May at Wroclaw in Poland. “In this our second millennium, when the unity of Christ’s disciples has suffered tragic divisions between East and West, prayer for the rediscovery of full unity is a special obligation”, the Pope said. “Can we bear joint and effective witness to Christ if we are not reconciled with one another? Can we be reconciled with one another without forgiving one another?”
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Posted: December 6, 1997 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=6598
Categories: The Tablet • In this article: Catholic, dialogue, ecumenism, Orthodox Transmis : 6 décembre 1997 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=6598
Catégorie : The Tablet • Dans cet article : Catholic, dialogue, ecumenism, Orthodox

No new dogmas please

As a child, a friend of mine used to be told by his nanny: Before you say anything, ask yourself: Is it true? Is it kind? Is it necessary? The same three questions may well be asked about the current proposal to define Mary as Co-Redeemer.

Is it true? The answer to that question depends on the way in which we interpret the title Co-Redeemer, along with the related titles Mediator of All Graces and Advocate of the People of God. As a member of the Orthodox Church I have no objection to these three titles in themselves — provided that they are rightly understood.

Indeed, closely similar language occurs in the prayers and hymns used in the Christian East. With the greatest frequency in Orthodox worship we say to the Virgin Mary, Most Holy Mother of God, save us. In our invocations to other members of the Communion of Saints, including St John the Baptist, except on very rare occasions we never say more than … pray for us.
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Posted: January 17, 1998 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=6670
Categories: The Tablet • In this article: Catholic, doctrine, ecumenism, Mary, Orthodox Transmis : 17 janvier 1998 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=6670
Catégorie : The Tablet • Dans cet article : Catholic, doctrine, ecumenism, Mary, Orthodox

Orthodox churches hold WCC at arms’ length

A pan-Orthodox conference that took place from April 29 to May 2, 1998, at Thessaloniki, Greece, was devoted to relations between Orthodoxy and the ecumenical movement – a topic which has caused concern among very many people not only in the Russian but also other Local Orthodox Churches.
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Posted: May 8, 1998 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=2
Categories: Communiqué, News • In this article: Orthodox, WCC Transmis : 8 mai 1998 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=2
Catégorie : Communiqué, News • Dans cet article : Orthodox, WCC

Lutheran-Orthodox Dialogue Issues ‘Common Statement’

[CHICAGO | ELCA News] Talks between the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas have arrived at “A Lutheran-Orthodox Common Statement on Faith in the Holy Trinity.” The 13-paragraph communique explains the emphasis of both traditions on the Nicene Creed and draws attention to a
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Posted: February 19, 1999 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=4980
Categories: Communiqué, ELCA News • In this article: dialogue, Lutheran, Orthodox Transmis : 19 février 1999 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=4980
Catégorie : Communiqué, ELCA News • Dans cet article : dialogue, Lutheran, Orthodox

After Many Delays, WCC Prepares to Deal with Orthodox Complaints

by Stephen Brown, Ecumenical News Service [GENEVA] A special commission set up by the World Council of Churches (WCC) in a bid to resolve complaints by its Orthodox member churches is scheduled to hold its first meeting in December. The scheduling of the meeting follows a series of delays and apparent unwillingness by some Orthodox
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Posted: September 2, 1999 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=4949
Categories: ENI • In this article: Orthodox, WCC Transmis : 2 septembre 1999 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=4949
Catégorie : ENI • Dans cet article : Orthodox, WCC

Inaugural Meeting of the Special Commission on Orthodox Participation

[WCC News] The Special Commission on Orthodox participation in the World Council of Churches (WCC) will meet from 6 to 8 December in Morges, on Lac Léman, Switzerland. At its inaugural meeting the Commission will deal chiefly with matters of planning and procedure for the series of its Protestant-Orthodox discussions to be held over the
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Posted: December 3, 1999 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=4986
Categories: WCC News • In this article: Orthodox, WCC Transmis : 3 décembre 1999 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=4986
Catégorie : WCC News • Dans cet article : Orthodox, WCC

Lectures open windows to Eastern Christianity

Windows To The East, an annual public lecture series on Eastern Christianity, will take place Thursday and Friday at St. Thomas More College. Dr. Myroslaw Tataryn, associate professor of religious studies at University of Saskatchewan, is one of the organizers. As he explains, Windows To The East is part of an on-going lecture series that
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Posted: January 29, 2000 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=6029
Categories: News • In this article: dialogue, Orthodox, Ukrainian Catholic Transmis : 29 janvier 2000 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=6029
Catégorie : News • Dans cet article : dialogue, Orthodox, Ukrainian Catholic

Orthodox-Catholic relations at an impasse after Baltimore talks

‘Bitter differences’ lead to dead-end, Polish ecumenist says by Jonathan Luxmoore, Ecumenical News International [WARSAW] High-level talks between the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches which ended in the United States recently were marred by “methodological deficiencies” and a “polemical atmosphere,” leaving relations between the two Christian communions at a dead-end, according to an expert on
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Posted: August 9, 2000 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=4962
Categories: ENI • In this article: Catholic, dialogue, Orthodox Transmis : 9 aoüt 2000 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=4962
Catégorie : ENI • Dans cet article : Catholic, dialogue, Orthodox

The Pope and the Orthodox

by Andrew Britz, OSB (Editor, Prairie Messenger) Pope John Paul II has never made it a secret: As the first Slavic pope, as a church leader from eastern Europe, he dreamed of being God’s instrument to bridge the millennium-old schism between East and West. Over the years, out of sensitivity to the Orthodox patriarch of Moscow,
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Posted: November 15, 2000 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=19
Categories: News • In this article: Catholic, Orthodox Transmis : 15 novembre 2000 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=19
Catégorie : News • Dans cet article : Catholic, Orthodox