‘Make Us One’
‘That They May Be
One’ The Russians are suddenly accepting
“If there is a will this union can
become reality in a very short time,” Greek Metropolitan Gerasimos
of San Francisco told the Register of
hopes for unity between the Roman Catholic and
The test, according to the member
of the Joint Committee of Orthodox and Catholic Bishops in the
Metropolitan Gerasimos’
hope is not the incautious optimism of an American bishop far removed from the
heart of conflict between Catholic and Orthodox. In
Consider these signs in
— In
— In
At that summit, French Cardinal
Roger Etchegaray was invited on Russian television to
express
His hope is well founded:
— The Joint International Commission
for Theological Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church,
stalled over the status of Eastern Catholic Churches since 2000, will resume on
the subject of papal primacy in
— In November, Ecumenical Patriarch
Bartholomew of Constantinople will welcome the Holy Father to
Catholic and Orthodox leaders who spoke with the Register agree that three factors have contributed to this renewal of activity and hope for unity between the two Churches.
Humble, Decisive Leader
“The Holy Father is a very holy
man who is smarter than the next 100 people put together — but he’s very
humble,” retired Washington Archbishop Cardinal Theodore McCarrick
said. As part of the Catholic delegation to the July summit in
Cardinal McCarrick said many of the Orthodox Churches “have serious problems because of political developments in their areas. The Holy Father appreciates that and wants to give help.” Cardinal McCarrick said he believes the Orthodox can see that the Holy Father “does not look at his help as something that will take them over, but as something that will give them strength.”
The Pope is well prepared for dialogue. As prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, “he has been involved in practically every ecumenical discussion in recent decades,” said Bishop Brian Farrell, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.
He is “personally close” to many Orthodox theologians and is “following closely the preparation for the next session of the Catholic-Orthodox theological dialogue.”
Metropolitan Gerasimos agrees that Pope Benedict is “very keen to the issues and well informed and he is decisive.”
He particularly sees hope in the Pope’s stewardship of the Catholic Church.
“Either because of the scandals or theological issues there have been questions in people’s minds about the stability of the Church,” Metropolitan Gerasimos said. “Theologically as well as pastorally, the reign of Benedict has begun making sure the Church is stable and has a position in society — a definitive position.”
Focus on the Issues
A consensus has developed among the Orthodox to “move by the impasse” which stalled the international Orthodox-Catholic adialogue in 2000.
Paulist Father Ronald Roberson, the
But, the former staffer at the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity said, “if one insists on solving the problem of uniatism without first resolving the question of primacy, it’s an unsolvable problem.”
For Catholics, Father Roberson said, “communion with the Bishop of Rome is the touchstone of the universal communion of the Church. For Eastern Churches, their tradition since the very beginning has been self governance.” The task in the international dialogue then will be to “find some way to balance those two poles.”
Pope John Paul II had in 1987
assured the Orthodox of his “readiness to fully recognize the Eastern tradition
of self-government,” Father Roberson said. Pope Benedict has taken that
symbolically a step further in the way the
The Pope no longer approves or
accepts the election of Eastern bishops; the
But primacy involves “more than letting someone choose their own bishops,” Metropolitan Gerasimos said. The greatest task of dialogue is to discuss primacy “with sincerity and honesty and prayer to find a way to interpret it … so it can stop being a stumbling block that everything just crushes up against.”
In Need of Christ
“All of us have heard the Lord Jesus say to us by prayer ‘that all may be one,’” Cardinal McCarrick said. “We’re not the only ones who listen to that. … Christians listen to it all over the world.”
The Orthodox in particular want to join with Catholics in bringing the light of Christ to a secularized and troubled world, he explained. Referring to recent Russian Orthodox overtures to work with the Catholic Church to battle secularism, Cardinal McCarrick said, “It is very interesting that in a country that had been known for its godless atheism there is a call that very much mirrors the call of Pope Benedict.”
The most important driving force of the recent rapprochement between East and West, Metropolitan Gerasimos said, “is the urgency of the Christian Church to have a united voice in today’s problems.” Since 2000, he said, “explosive events have taken place affecting issues of faith, security and freedom of religion.” Two-thirds of the world is suffering today, he said, “and the Gospel has not been preached. We are a minority in the world.”
Metropolitan Gerasimos said the situation of the world requires a “common stand” and that Christians must not be separated in “little camps perpetuating something that is not relevant today.”
The need of the world for the Gospel means that “churches today, much more than any time in our lives, have a command by Christ for more substantive work toward unity.”
>(CNS and Zenit
contributed to this report.)
Jack Smith writes from
A Pope Begs Forgiveness
“The Jubilee calls our attention to certain kinds of past and present sins that demand we invoke God’s mercy in a special way. I refer, above all, to the painful reality of the division among Christians. The wounds of the past, for which both sides share the guilt, continue to be a scandal for the world.”
— Pope John Paul II, 1999
“Merciful Father, on the night before his Passion, your Son prayed for the unity of those who believe in him: In disobedience to his will, however, believers have opposed one another, becoming divided, and have mutually condemned one another and fought against one another.”
— John Paul II, Confession of Sins and Asking for Forgiveness March 12, 2000
“For the occasions past and present, when sons and daughters of the Catholic Church have sinned by action or omission against their Orthodox brothers and sisters, may the Lord grant us the forgiveness we beg of him.”
— John Paul II, May 4, 2001, letter to Archbishop Christodoulos
- Keywords:
- August 13-19, 2006