On a five-day visit to Rome, a Russian Orthodox official in charge of interchurch relations had a meeting with the Pope, and this is being seen as a sign of improved relations between the two churches under Benedict XVI and the new Russian Patriarch Kirill I.
An official Web site of the Moscow Patriarchate has reported that Russian Orthodox Archbishop Hilarion of Volokolamsk met Pope Benedict at Castel Gandolfo, the pontifical summer residence.
Hilarion is chairperson of the external church relations section of the Moscow Patriarchate. He is reported as having told Benedict that the Orthodox and Roman Catholic positions on issues such as family values and euthanasia were identical, and distinct from the views of many Protestant churches.
Communion with the Orthodox would be a beautiful miracle. The ways they would enrich each other would lead to a “new Christmas” in the Church.
Orthodoxy would be refreshed with a “new Springtime” and Catholicism would be blessed with an even more lavish sacramental and liturgical life.
Under such circumstances I think the ancient order of deaconesses would eventually be restored (as has already been by the Greek Church in principle) and women would have a sacred and historic way in which to be servant leaders and do much to help at parishes that struggle more and more with fewer and fewer priests. Already, Lay Ecclesical Ministers (mostly women) are the fastest growing vocation in the Roman Church. Such a move would also squash the fallacy of misogyny in the Church.
So much good could potentially come from such a reunion as to allow the Church to become “all flame”.
May it be so!
Any steps towards improved relations are wonderful. I know there are still serious differences, but in terms of global Christianity the Orthodox and Rome are closer than most.
I would say there is not a chance that Rome would EVER agree to ‘deaconesses’. If the Orthodox started officially ordaining women as Deaconesses then it would make the idea of unity with Rome much. much more difficult.
Reunion of the Catholic and Orthodox Churches is not a realistic possibility, if Fr. Hopko accurately represents Orthodoxy.
Fr. Hopko is basically saying “the Eastern and Western Church will reunite when the Western Church becomes theologically, liturgically, and administratively identical to the Eastern Church.” He’s got everything in there except saying that the Mass should be said in Old Church Slavonic. Obviously, however, “unification” of any type is not going to be on the basis of assimilation either way.
To call this sort of report (and similar ones in the MSM recently) overly sanguine would be a gross understatement. On a certain level Rome and the Orthodox are witnessing an improvement in relations. But this is largely limited to points of common interest where the Orthodox have been urging cooperation for years. It in no way reflects any serious breakthrough in the very serious theological points of divergence between us.
The bottom line is that Rome has been adding to the Deposit of the Faith for a thousand years. Some of her doctrinal innovations are considered heretical in Orthodoxy. The “filioque” as also the dogmatic definitions of the First Vatican Council are show stoppers. No Orthodox hierarch can or will accept them.
This article is a very nice piece of sentimental fluff that is totally devoid of any connection to reality on the ground.
Re #1
archangelica,
I fear you totally misunderstand the Orthodox office of deaconess. That is a lay office which is in no way connected to the sacramental order of Deacon. Whatever our differences with Rome may be they are 100% correct in their position on W/O.
As for your reference to Orthodoxy being refreshed with a “new springtime” I am not sure what you meant by that. But if it is a reference to some kind of Vatican II style “reform;” we will pass thank you very much. That disaster and the resulting theological chaos in the Western Church is another factor in why we want as little to do with Rome as possible.
Under the mercy,
John