Liturgical Ecumenism

More documents

Recommendations

Info

In what follows, however, they state that there is something which disquiets them yet more than the destruction of Orthodoxy that has been effected and promoted for decades by their spiritual Father and Bishop, the ecumenist Patriarch of Constantinople: We make no secret of the fact that we are especially grieved and unsettled by the possibility of a revival of the events that occurred here fifty years ago, which we hope will not recur, since we are still coping with their distressing aftermath. 18 In truth, the questions that this mildly curious unease on the part of the Athonites poses for the conscience of every Orthodox Christian are most deeply distressing: What, in the end, is the problem, and what is it that bothers us? The apostasy of the Œcumenical Throne? or the proper reaction, anti-heretical in nature, namely, the act of breaking communion, envisioned and dictated by Patristic and Synodal Tradition; that is, walling off? The attitude of the contemporary spiritual leaders of the Holy Mountain toward the confessional walling-off of their Fathers from the heretical Patriarch Athenagoras is clear and is expressed in a variety of ways. In May of 1964 it was stated in print:“...at least ninety-five percent of the Athonite Fathers disapprove of the pro-Papal policy of the Œcumenical Patriarch, whom they have ceased to commemorate.” 19 Today, the Athonite Abbots do completely the opposite: they “do not aspire” to walk in the footsteps of their Fathers, desiring “that the ecclesiastical unity of the Orthodox everywhere and of this body of Hagiorites remain unshaken.” 20 * * * It would not be superfluous for us to emphasize, by way of reminder, that for Patristic Orthodoxy the sine qua non is not just any kind of unity, but the unity that is based, in the words of St. Maximos the Confessor, on “the correct and saving confession of the Faith.” 21 18 Ὀρθόδοξος Tύπος, No. 2057 (February 13, 2015), p. 7. 19 Tύπος Ἑλληνικὸς - Ὀρθόδοξος, No. 40 (May 1964), pp. 1, 3. 20 See note 17. 21 On the Life and Contest of Our Holy Father Maximos the Confessor, §24, Patrologia Græca, Vol. XC, col. 93D; St. Maximos the Confessor, “Epistle XII, ‘To John the Cham- 18
This stance of the Neo-Athonites reveals a profound rift that separates these two generations of Athonites: • The sons do not have the criteria for understanding the thinking of their Elders in such a way as to realize that at that time (1964), by virtue of their walling-off, they “were sedulous to deliver the Church from schisms and divisions”; 22 • consequently, it would be fitting for them, as those “who were walled off,” to receive now from their sons the “honor due to the Orthodox,” and for the sons to acknowledge their gratitude to them and not to “deprecate” them as parricides! berlain, Concerning the Correct Dogmas of the Church of God, and Against Severos the Heretic’”: “...the correct Faith in God, which is proclaimed in accordance with the Catholic Church of God” (Patrologia Græca, Vol. XCI, col. 461C). 22 Canon XV of the First-Second Synod (see “A Contribution to the Theology of Orthodox Resistance and Walling-Off,” http://hsir.org/p/r44). 19
Page 1 and 2: Presbyter Father Jiří Ján, Dr. T
Page 3 and 4: † This work was first published o
Page 5 and 6: * * * Shortly before Pope Francis v
Page 7 and 8: III. The Theological Dimension The
Page 9 and 10: IV. Liturgical Ecumenism Anyone att
Page 11 and 12: On what theological basis does the
Page 13 and 14: * * * Among these last we should wi
Page 15 and 16: VII. Genuine Orthodoxy The ever-mem
Page 17: VIII. The Athonite Leadership Howev
Page 21 and 22: to the Œcumenical Patriarch have b
Page 23 and 24: XI. Concluding Postscript: The Boun
Page 25 and 26: ematized, abiding in its heretical

Liturgical Ecumenism

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?