B16’s fellow countryman, Cardinal Kasper, is proposing a synod of reunion with the Orthodox and an alliance with Protestants against the secularism raging in Europe.
EXCERPTS:
The Vatican representative for ecumenism proposed a synod of reconciliation to the Orthodox and an alliance with the offspring of the Protestant Reformation to rediscover the Christian roots of Europe.
Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, made the proposals Wednesday when addressing the Italian National Eucharistic Congress.
The cardinal was joined in the ceremony by Orthodox Archbishop Kirill of Yaroslavl and Rostov of the Moscow Patriarchate, and Lutheran Bishop Eero Huovinen of Helsinki, Finland.
Cardinal Kasper began his address by recalling that in Bari a synod of Greek and Latin bishops took place in 1098.
"Why not hope that here, in Bari, 1,000 years after the synod of 1098, in 2098 — and why not before? We might again celebrate a synod of Greek and Latin bishops, a synod of reconciliation," he said.
(NOTE TO SELF: Must . . . resist . . . temptation . . . to refer to . . . head of Pontificial Commission for Promoting Christian Unity . . . as . . . "Kasper the Friendly Cardinal." . . . Must . . . Reistst . . . )
I like how he said “alliance” with the Protestants because there is no such thing as reunion with Protestant communities, as there is no figurehead to represent them in doctrine or in person. Reunion here will come on an individual level. IMHO, reunion with the Orthodox churches will be a catalyst for massive conversion from the Protestant world.
Furthermore, Paul, there is no “there” there when it comes to Protestants. Meaning, they are not Churches, per se, but just groupings of people, so it is impossible to reunite with a Church that does not exist. The Orthodox are properly members of Churches, so reunion is possible.
Veni, Sancte Spiritus.
Paul said: “reunion with the Orthodox churches will be a catalyst for massive conversion from the Protestant world.”
In another comment, someone said: “Ironically, every move the Church makes towards ecumenism with Protestants only drives the Orthodox even further away.”
It seems to me that both of these statements are very true, and should be remembered by Catholics involved in ecumenical discussions. There is no real possibility of “reunion” with Protestant communities, since they are not Churches – they can only convert into the Catholic Church. But reunion with the Orthodox is possible, and in fact, could lead to many conversions with individual Protestants.
It seems to me that the best first step in reuniting all Christians is focusing on Catholic/Orthodox reunion, then move forward from there.
The best first step would be for the Catholic Church to purify itself. It’s hard to talk of reunion and conversion when the Church is tearing itself apart.
“It’s hard to talk of reunion and conversion when the Church is tearing itself apart.”
True, but unfortunately we’ve been doing it for 2,000 years. We’ll never completely be purified this side of heaven, so we need to move forward best we can.
(This is not to suggest that we shouldn’t constantly call ourselves to conversion and purification – we most definitely should do that).
I second everyone’s opinion. If possible the Pope should, in preperation of reunion with the East, also work hard to heal the Western schisms such as the Old Catholics, National Polish churches, SSPX, and heed the call for a universal indult of the Latin Mass. I know the last option is very touchy for many people, but I think Tradtionalists need a formal outlet for their liturgical disciplines to ward off any future schism. As Pope John Paul II said (paraphrasing): “unity not unicity”.
I know the last option is very touchy for many people, but I think Tradtionalists need a formal outlet for their liturgical disciplines to ward off any future schism.
It shouldn’t be controversial since if the Orthodox can be said to be on anyone’s side in the Catholic Church, it is the side of the traditionalists (at least as far as liturgy, prayer, and fasting disciplines are concerned).
True, but unfortunately we’ve been doing it for 2,000 years. We’ll never completely be purified this side of heaven, so we need to move forward best we can.
The Church right now is in the midst of what is perhaps Her greatest crisis. There is virtually no unity among Catholics today on any subject. For example, we can’t insist that the Orthodox adhere to the Apostolic teaching on contraception if we’re not adhering to it ourselves! I think our own unity is a prerequisite for unity with others.
This is a false dilemma, I think. I don’t think that the consent and obedience of the sheep is a prerequisite to our shepherds hammering out (to mix occupational metaphors) the terms of theological unity with the shepherds of Christ’s other sheep. What matters is not first of all the extent to which individual Catholics or Orthodox support or depart from the teachings of their respective Churches, but the extent to which the teachings of those Churches relative to one another are determined by competent authority within each Church to be consonant, complementary, convergent, or contradictory.
This is a false dilemma, I think. I don’t think that the consent and obedience of the sheep is a prerequisite to our shepherds hammering out (to mix occupational metaphors) the terms of theological unity with the shepherds of Christ’s other sheep.
I wasn’t speaking of the sheep but of the shepherds. I’m not talking about the Orthodox practice of contraception; I’m talking about its acceptance of contraception.
We have been heartily assured that the wheat and the tares will grow together until harvest. Until then, we must do what we can with what we have.
I know. MY point was that the widespread Catholic dissent on this issue is no insurmountable obstacle to the Catholic and Orthodox bishops hashing out just what sacred tradition does in fact teach on the subject.
In other words, it’s not like first all Catholics have to toe the line, then we can talk to the Orthodox about it (which is more or less what it seemed to me you were saying above).
Of course it would HELP if all Catholics toed the line. But ecumenical discussion should proceed regardless.
I have recently visited and participated in Masses at Byzantine Rite, Maronite, and Ukrainian Byzantine Catholic Churches. I have also attended Divine Liturgy at the Greek Orthodox Cathedral. There is beauty and Truth in all of the rites. We as Catholics need to avoid the triumphalism that comes too easily to us as we look at the “backward Orthodox”. Equally the Orthodox will need to see that many of the very real complaints that led to the Great Schism no longer exist. The truth is Constantinople and Rome both lost what they could only be together. We are one Holy Catholic and Apostolic church. When we find a way to bridge the gaps, the Church will once again breathe with both lungs.
Maybe, like Nixon going to China, we need a man like B16 with the strength of his convictions who has spent his life protect the Church and a holy man like the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew equally strong in his convictions to be able to look at one another accept the differences and find joy in our common faith.
Of course it won’t be as easy as two old friends meeting for lunch after years apart. There are many issues to address and hard feelings on both sides. But with the help of the Holy Spirit the united Church could be a beacon of hope and witness of the Truth to Protestants and non-Christians the world over.
I just wandered into this discussion and so may have missed this. But can any kind of reunion take place when the presupposition is that the Orthodox are just Catholics without the Pope? The Eastern Churches never went thru scholasticism and its mechanistic approach to the faith. Their’s is still the ancient patristic theology and is very spiritually oriented. If you read Father Schmemann’s “For the Life of the World”, you’ll even find a different understanding of the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist.
Anyway, just interested in other folks thoughts on this, since I don’t hear a lot of my fellow Catholics considering if reunion is just a pipe dream or not at this point in history.