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František Dvorník, Velehrad Unionism and Church Unity

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František Dvorník, Velehrad Unionism and Church Unity Studia Bobolanum 32 nr 1 (2021): 227-240 DOI: 10.30439/2021.1.12 František Dvorník, Velehrad Unionism and Church Unity PAVEL AMBROS Sts Cyril and Methodius Faculty of Theology Palacký University Olomouc Olomouc ORCID: 0000-0001-6644-8308 František Dvorník, ruch zjednoczenia z Velehradu i jedność Kościoła. Streszczenie Celem artykułu jest ukazanie dotychczas zaniedbywanego aspektu twórczości 227 Franciszka Dvornika, a mianowicie, z jednej strony, wpływu ruchu zjednoczenia z Velehradu na jego formację naukową i osobistą, zwłaszcza u początku jego ka- riery naukowej, a z drugiej strony, rosnącego znaczenia osoby Dvornika dla ruchu zjednoczenia z Velehradu. Wzajemne oddziaływanie jest udokumentowane przez stopniowe przeobrażanie się tych korelacji (na tle modernistycznych napięć w teolo- gii katolickiej) i przez ukazanie protoekumenicznych tendencji ruchu zjednoczenia z Velehradu w kierunku sformułowanego przez samego Dvornika jasnego programu ekumenicznego. S ł o w a k l u c z o w e : Kongresy zjednoczenia, František Dvorník, św. Cyryl i św. Metody, ekumenizm, katolicki slawizm *** „The most significant figure in the history of Czech Byzantine studies was one of its leading founders, Msgr ThDr. Francis Dvorník (1893–1975). Francis Dvorník’s fame exceeded considerably the narrow limits of Czech national science, and there is no doubt that he ranked among the most emi- nent Byzantinists of the 20th century”1. His work attracted extraordinary 1 Vladimír Vavřínek, „Francis Dvornik – a World-Renowned Byzantinist”, Bytantinoslavica 76, nr 3 (2018): 7; article is output of research grant Theologian impulses of the Pope Francis pontificate – Velehrad dialogues 2018, IGA_CMTF_2018_005. Pawel Ambros attention in the field of ecumenism as well2. His cursory study reveals a well defined theme underlying each of his works, namely, concern for the re- union of East and West. To uncover the source of the inspiration behind this recurring theme, one is led without doubt to Velehrad. His interest in the ecumenical movement began right form his early years. Velehrad exerted an influence over Dvorník, which became increasingly meaningful to him as a student and later as a seminarian in Olomouc. The Moravian Metro- politan was particularly solicitous of the Cyrillo-Methodian heritage of the Czech local church. It became both an institution and a privileged mission3. Through their faith and their teaching, Saints Cyril and Methodius held together the Christian East and West, leading Pope Saint John Paul II to declare them forty years ago the ‘protectors of Europe’, saying: „In our times, times of division in Europe and division in the Church, the testimony of Saints Cyril and Methodius issues a call to unity. They are shared by all of us, and have ecumenical significance. In this place, the great Archbishop Antonín Cyril Stojan, initiator of the well-known Uniatic congresses that constituted the first steps towards modern ecumenism, responded to this call. We pray today, with great humility and full of fervour, that all believers may be of one soul and one heart”4. 228 The origins of Velehrad’s modern-day work for Christian unity can be found in the 19th century5. In 1850, a society called The Legacy of St. Cyril and St. Methodius (Dědictví sv. Cyrila a Metoděje) was founded in Brno. In the 1860s and 1870s, traditional Cyril and Methodius pilgrimages were re-established at Velehrad. In 1881, Pope Leo XIII donated the relics of St. Cyril to the church. The revivalist priest František Sušil († 1868) stamped a Cyrillo-Methodian character on Velehrad, as his student, the servant of God Antonin Cyril Stojan († 1921), founded The Apostolate of Saints Cyril and Methodius under the protection of the blessed Virgin Mary (Apoštolát sv. Cyrila a Metoděje pod ochranou blahoslavené Panny Marie) in 1891, 2 See Horace G. Lunt, „Bibliography of Francis Dvornik”, Harvard Slavic Studies, nr 2 (1954): 385-390; Vladimír Vavřínek, „Bibliography of Francis Dvorník 1954-1967“, Byzantinosla- vica, nr 29 (1968): 265-280; Sirarpie Der Nersessian, „Francis Dvornik”, Dumbarton Oaks Papers, nr 27 (1973): ii+1-10; Ludvík Nemec, „Dvornik’s Bibliography“, The Catholic Histo- rical Review, nr 59 (1973): 212-224; Ludvík Němec, „Dvorníkova bibliografie”,Proměny 3, nr 1 (1973): 87-98. 3 Leonard Górka, „Il dialogo tra i cattolici a gli ortodossi alla luce dell’insegnamento dei Con- gressi di Velehrad 1907–1939“, Unitas 38 (1983): 4-20 4 Jan Pavel II. v Československu. 21.-22. dubna 1990. Projevy, promluvy, poselství (Praha: Zvon, Praha 1990), 71-90. 5 See Pavel Ambros, II risveglio della tradizione cirillo-metodiana per la chiesa di Bohemia e Moravia d’oggi (Olomouc – Praha: Refugium, 2000); Mauricius Gordillo, „Velehrad e i suoi congressi unionistici (1907-1957)”, La Civiltà Cattolica 108, nr 2 (1957): 569-583; Michal Špaček, Apoštolát sv. Cyrila a Metoděje 1910-1948. Bibliografie časopisu věnovaného sjed- nocení Slovanů v Kristu a ukázky jeho unijního úsilí (Olomouc: Refugium, 2011). František Dvorník, Velehrad Unionism and Church Unity and The Velehrad Academy (Akademie velehradská) in 1910. The unionists of Velehrad were in active contact with those working for Christian unity in Europe: Jesuits Ivan S. Gagarin († 1882), Ivan M. Martynov († 1894) and Paul Pierling († 1922), Joseph Görres († 1848), the Slovenian bishop, Anton Martin Slomšek († 1862), the Bishop of Dakovo, Josip Juraj Strossmayer († 1905), and the Metropolitan of Lviv, Andrej Šeptický († 1944). Between 1907 and 1936, Uniatic congresses and meetings were held at Velehrad, in which significant representatives of the worldwide movement for unity took part. The unionist movement included many distinguished scientists: Josef Vajs († 1959), František Cinek († 1966), Josef Vašica († 1968), Fran- tišek Dvorník († 1975), and Vojtěch Tkadlčík († 1997)6. The ‘Velehrad Idea’ was made known across the world by Cardinal Tomáš Špidlík SJ († 2010). In 2007, Velehrad hosted the Jubilee congress, Towards a deeper solidarity among Christians in Europe7. Historically, unionism was sometimes connected with secondary na- tionalistic and political goals. The Velehrad congresses avoided such errors. They always prioritized theological goals that were oriented towards a con- crete impact on the life of the Church. They formulated general principles, based on which they built the concept of Church unity and its renewal. They showed the direction for further theological development, which emerged in 229 full at the Second Vatican Council. In particular, these were the following principles: the equality of both parties, openness of theological exploration, active participation of the laity in cooperation and responsibility for the fate of the Christian world, admission of guilt for the schism by both parties, thus by the Catholic party as well, and recognition of ecclesial values by the Orthodox Church. It was the dialogical method of the congresses that was to turn out to be of major importance8. Although Dvorník never became an uncritically enthusiastic adherent of unionism, in the same way as scientific zealots who were influenced by 6 See Vojtěch Tkadlčík, Minulost a budoucnost velehradských kongresů (Velehrad: Societas 1996); Vojtěch Tkadlčík, „Velehradská cesta k odloučeným bratřím“, Josef Myslivec, Křes- ťanský Východ a my (Praha: ČKCH, 1970): 43-67. 7 Pavel Ambros, Antoine Arjakovsky, ed., Towards a deeper Solidarity among Christians in Europe. Jubelee Velehrad Congress. Velehrad, Czech Republic, June 28 – July 1st 2007. On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the First velehrad Congress (1907-2007) (Olomouc: Refugium, 2007). 8 See Pavel Ambros, „Velehrad Unionist Movement”, Acta Universitatis Palackianae Olo- moucensis. Theologica Olomucensia, 9 (2008): 107-111; Leonard Górka, Dziedzictwo ojców. Ekumeniczny charakter tradycji welehradzkiej (Warszawa: Verbinum, 1995); Józef Budniak, Jednoczeni w różnorodości – Tradycja cyrylo-metodiańska Kościołów, kultur i narodów (Katowice: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego, 2009); František Brázdil, Rozwój idei cyrylometodianskiej w Welehradzie w okresie działalności jezuitów (1890-2000 r.). Studium historyczno-prawne (Wrocław, 2002 [Dissertatio]). Pawel Ambros the enthusiasm of Velehrad and Olomouc, nevertheless it must be said that the idea of Christian unity pervades all his historical works9. 1. Ecumenical level of Dvorník’s historical work First, we will attempt to detail the preliminary hypothesis by which we wish to establish the main contribution of František Dvorník to the Catholic approach to ecumenism. He was convinced that in the East the principal of accommodation outweighed the principle of apostolic succes- sion, which is a theological, dogmatic concept that refers to the foundation of the Church by Christ. Tradition expresses the dogma (the truth of faith) in the celebration of the liturgy (the consecration of bishops), in icons and art, defines it at councils, and subjects it to a critical speculation in the work of theologians. Accommodation takes place at the level of human history. It is the cultural expression of a Christian community, including comprehensive political and social activity in their entirety, with all their strengths and weaknesses. For Dvorník, the sacred unity of the church consists of the oneness of the common creed experienced by the church in a history that is full of bias, 230 polemic, error and inherited stereotypes. He is aware of the need for his- torical events to be made clear and for their meaning to be illuminated for us. The historian understands
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