Although the Vatican said Protestant denominations \u201ccannot be called \u201d\u02dcchurches\u2019 in the proper sense,\u201d\u009d it recognized the Orthodox communities as true churches because they have apostolic succession and \u201cmany elements of sanctification and of truth.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n
But it also said the Orthodox Church is harmed by the \u201cdefect\u201d\u009d or \u201cwound\u201d\u009d of not recognizing the primacy of the Pope. The Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches separated nearly 1,000 years ago in the Great Schism of 1054.<\/p>\n
The Rev. Paul Albert, pastor of St. Elias Antiochian Orthodox Church in Sylvania, said that from the Orthodox perspective, \u201cWe are a councilor body and no one patriarch speaks with infallibility. The authority is Christ, and he is in the midst of his church.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n
He said the Orthodox Church has a different interpretation than do Catholics of Jesus\u2019 statement in Matthew 16:18, \u201cThou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n
\u201cPeter was not in any way above the other apostles and that misinterpretation by Rome has been the source of a lot of problems,\u201d\u009d Father Paul said.<\/p>\n
Some church leaders see the latest controversy as a chance to promote their own beliefs.<\/p>\n
Just as Catholics don\u2019t consider the Southern Baptist Convention to be a church, \u201cevangelicals should be equally candid in asserting that any church defined by the claims of the papacy is no true church,\u201d\u009d said the Rev. R. Albert Mohler, Jr., in an online blog. He is president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville.<\/p>\n