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Ecumenical Relations and Theological Dialogue Between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church

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Ecumenical Relations and Theological Dialogue Between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church ECUMENICAL RELATIONS AND THEOLOGICAL DIALOGUE BETWEEN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AND THE ORTHODOX CHURCH Waclaw Hryniewicz The relations between Eastern and Western Christianity have long since been difficult, full of misunderstandings, tensions, conflicts and disappointments. The present-day situation is nothing new in this respect. Many studies, devoted to the history of the schism of the eleventh century, show that it was an outcome of a long process of mutual estrangement between the two Christian traditions.' Many factors contributed to the development of this alienation: cultural (the use of Latin and Greek), political and theological. On theological level one can see the differences in the Trinitarian teaching already in Patristic times, later on in the centuries-long disputes over the Filioque clause, and some ecclesiological issues such as the role of the Bishop of Rome. No wonder that theological controversies were so often permeated with many reproaches of a cultural and political nature. It was easy, in this context, to regard even small differences as serious deviations from the true faith. The second millennium brought such painful events as the Crusades, the sack of Constantinople and the establishment of parallel hierarchies in the East (the Latin Patriarchates of Jerusalem and Constantinople). Only on May 4, 2001, during his visit to the Archbishop of Athens, Christodoulos, Pope John Paul II asked God for forgiveness of the past sins: Some memories are especially painful, and some events of the distant past have left deep wounds in the minds and hearts of people to this day. I am thinking of the disastrous sack of the imperial city of Constantinople (...). It is tragic that the assailants, who had set out to secure free access for Christians in the Holy Land, turned against their own brothers in the faith. The fact that they were Latin Christians fills Catholics with deep regret. (...).To God alone belongs judgement, and therefore we entrust the heavy burden of the past to his endless mercy, imploring him to heal the wounds which still cause suffering to the spirit of the Greek people. Together we must work for this healing (... ). These words came eight centuries after those events, better late than never. The subsequent centuries were marked by the attempts to heal the schism by the unsuccessful church 'unions' of Lyons (1274), Florence (1438-45), Brest 1 See for example Y. Congar, Neuf cents ans apres. Notes sur le 'Schisme oriental', Chevetogne,1954. Downloaded from Brill.com09/27/2021 01:20:19AM via free access 169 (1596) and some other. The Catholic Church proclaimed its own dogmas, deepening thus the process of theological estrangement. It is only the second half of the 20 th century of ecumenism that could finally bring the rapprochement of the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church. At last there came the time for a real dialogue between the two 'sister Churches'. This was due mainly to the ecumenical openness of the Second Vatican Council and to the Pan-Orthodox Conferences (1961, 1963). 1. The Church, Sacraments and Unity: the Years of Theological Dialogue (1980-1990) This period of time may be characterized as the most promising in the official dialogue between the Catholic and the Orthodox Churches which began in 1980 on the Greek islands Patmos and Rhodes. The dialogue was made possible on one side by the decisions of the Pan-Orthodox Conferences and, on the other, by the Second Vatican Council. It began with a positive method of reflecting upon the sacramental nature of the Church. The intention was to discover jointly the salvific reality which unites our two Churches. The first eight years of theological discussions brought three important agreed statements which identified above all what we have in common: The Mystery of the Church and the Eucharist in the Light of the Mystery of the Holy Trinity (1982), Faith, Sacraments and the Unity of the Church (1987), The Sacrament of Order [Ordination] in the Sacramental Structure of the Church (1988). All these documents deal with theological issues. It has become clear that the unity of the basic faith can exist in a diversity of traditions, customs and practices. They have created a solid basis for the discussion of the dividing ecclesiological issues, such as authority and synodality in the Church, and the primacy of the Bishop of Rome. I have elsewhere characterized the hermeneutics of this period of the dialogue, its biblical, patristic and liturgical language, its Trinitarian perspective, an iconic mode of thinking, the category of koinonia, the principle a sound pluralism in the variety of traditions, customs and of practices.2 There is no need to repeat it here. The dialogue is a blessing for the Churches. Being personally involved, from the very beginning, in the work of the Joint Catholic-Orthodox Commission I have to admit that this difficult dialogue has been for me above all an unforgettable experience of hope. The dialogue gives joy and raises hope. Hope is bom in the hard efforts of thinking with others. It gives meaning to those efforts. The dialogue with the Orthodox teaches how to become more and more sensitive to the presence of the Holy Spirit in the Church and in the world. The agreed statements abound with the witnesses of this sensitivity. The dialogue is a mutual learning process, a kind of 2 W. Hryniewicz,'Labour and Hope: Fifteen Years of Catholic-OrthodoxDialogue', St. Vladimir'sTheological Quarterly 39 (1995),339-360. Downloaded from Brill.com09/27/2021 01:20:19AM via free access 170 reciprocal perichóresis, i.e, interpenetration of consciences. With the progress of years the dialogue with the Orthodox has become an experience of the inevitable choice between ecclesiology of Sister Churches and ecclesiology of conversion. Dialogue requires a tremendous amount of effort to understand the position of the other side and to do everything which promotes the spirit of reconciliation. The official Catholic-Orthodox dialogue was accompanied by a persistent work of joint local commissions in different countries, especially in the United States.3 The Americans responded both positively and critically to each document of the international Commission. It was a promising sign for the reception of the results of the international dialogue. Unfortunately the promising period of theological dialogue on international level was to come to an abrupt end after political changes in Eastern Europe and in Russia. The newly won freedom of religion in the countries of the former Soviet block has brought unexpected new tensions and conflicts between the two Churches. The theological issues had to be postponed until the burning problem of the so-called 'uniatism' and proselytism is first dealt with and satisfactorily resolved. This has not been achieved until now. 2. The Years Dominated by the Issue of `Uniatism ' (1990-2000) A rapid deterioration of relationships was due mainly to the emergence of the Greek Catholic Churches,4 especially in Ukraine and Romania which were banned by Stalin (1946 and 1948 respectively). The Greek Catholic Church was declared illegal and many churches and ecclesiastical belongings were given to the Orthodox. After the turn of 1989 the Greek Catholics began to demand their former property at the expense of the Orthodox who were expelled from many churches. At the beginning violence was also used in seizing of Orthodox churches.5 Thus began a period of conflicts between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church. The progress in theological dialogue was stopped. The 'uniatism' was declared by the Orthodox a dangerous form of proselytism and source of divisions. In this situation the Joint Catholic-Orthodox Commission had to suspend the discussion of theological issues and to concentrate on the problem of 'uniatism'. This was done during the session in Freising/Munich (1990) and 3 Cf. J. Borelli and J.H. Ericson (eds.), The Questfor Unity: Orthodox and Catholics in Dialogue. Documentsof the Joint International Commissionand OfficialDialogues in the UnitedStates 1965-1995,Crestwood, NY: SVS Press, 1996. 4 The Eastern Catholic Churches began their autonomous(more or less) existence as a result of partial unionsof some Orthodoxcommunities with Rome. The best known is the Union of Brest (1596) when some Ruthenian bishops decided to recognize the Pope's jurisdiction. 5 By the end of 1991,about 600 churcheswere taken over from the Orthodox in Western Ukraine. Downloaded from Brill.com09/27/2021 01:20:19AM via free access 171 in Balamand/Lebanon (1993) in the statement Uniatism, method of union of the past, and the present search for full communion.6 The Balamand statement rejects uniatism as the method `opposed to the common tradition of our Churches' (n. 2), but acknowledges that the Eastern Catholic Churches 'have the right to exist and to act in response to the spiritual needs of their faithful' (n. 3). It says (n. 12) explicitely in reference to ecclesiology of Sister Churches: Because of the way in which Catholics and Orthodox (...) discover each other once again as Sister Churches, this form of 'missionary apostolate' (...) which has been called 'uniatism', can no longer be accepted either as a method to be followed or as a model of the unity our Churches are seeking. While stressing the respect for freedom of conscience, the same statement categorically excludes all forms of proselytism, understood as conversion of people from one Church to the other', as desire for expansion by Catholics 'at the expense of the Orthodox Church' (n. 15, 22, 35). Religious freedom would be violated when, under the cover of financial assistance, the faithful of one Church would be attracted to the other, by promises, for example, of education and material benefits that may be lacking in their own Church (n. 24).
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