The Pope with then-Metropolitan Kirill in December 2007. (CNS/Reuters)
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, also 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.
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Great news!I am orthodox but I see the unity with Rome as a historical and moral step.We have so much in common.At the beginning the Church was one.
This is incredible news! I am a Roman Catholic and I cannot wait for this to happen! I still don’t understand the hold up…
The two sister churches are both Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic. However, we are not yet ONE Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. It saddens to see that so few people in my country know what the Orthodox Church is and exactly how special it is to Rome and the rest of the world. It also pains me to see that to this day people are persecuting the Roman Church for things that are untrue (ex: People say the Pope is the King of the Catholic Church when in reality he is known as the “first among equals” meaning the Pope was once counted as a Patriarch.)I really hope people will realize how much we need eachother.
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I’m Roman Catholic, however, was recently reading an Orthodox winter newsletter that alluded to a possible reunification between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox. I’m so excited! I’ve prayed a lot for this.
With thousands of Anglican (bishops and priests) coming into communion with the RCC next month, and then hopefully a reunion with the Orthodox Church not far ahead in the distant future, perhaps other protestant denominations can follow the lead… so that we can be “One” as Christ intended!
I was reared Roman Catholic, lost my faith during the turbulent sixties-early seventies, returned to Christ in the mid-nineteen seventies as an evangelical/Protestant/restorationist Christian, and now am an Eastern Orthodox Christian with an ex-Protestant wife and four living grandchildren. I want very much to re-unite with the Catholic Church, the richness of which I never properly appreciated in my youth. HELP!!!
@William Bean
Why not try an eastern Catholic Church? I hear that some of those eastern rites Churches look and feel more like an Orthodox Church than a Roman Catholic Church, and you’d be in communion with the Catholic Church… best of both worlds! :-)
I am an Orthodox Coptic Christian and I can’t wait till we unite again. In order for Evil to get to us it is easier for him to break us down. I believe that Evil has separated us and it is the love that Jesus has taught us over and over again that will bring us together. All we can do is pray and God always answers.
“Your Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” We must repent and learn to trust God completely. We ought to be humble and acknowledge that we are dust in order to truly glorify our Father, through our Savior Jesus His Son, by the grace of the Holy Spirit. “I appeal to you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree and that there be no dissensions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment.” (1 Cor 1:10 RSV) If the Church, the Body of Christ is divided it is because love and humility is lacking. Jesus left us with one Church. Today, His Body is shredded and torn to pieces. “Every Easter season I must drink of the cup of your division since this cup is forced on Me… …the more time passes for them to unite the dates of Easter, the more severe their sentence this generation will receive.” (May 31, 1994 TLIG) We must pray for the unification of the dates of Easter. We are recrucifying Jesus when one part of His Body is celebrating His Resurrection while the other part is entering His Passion. Unity begins not with a treaty, but in the heart. The first step is to unify the dates of Easter, out of pure love for Jesus, so that every Christian heart is united in the Passion and the Resurrection of our Lord, with one mind, on one date, and then trust the Holy Spirit totally to do the rest in us.
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