Hobbit-Sense at OneFreeGarden.com

(Before I get into anything, I’d just like to say, Catholic alphabetically precedes Orthodox in English, hence the order.  When there could be contention, refer to the alphabet is my rule.  Also, a heads up that all links open in a new window.)

Just a quick post because I just read Zenit (Catholic world news update email thingie) and it had what I consider astonishing news.

Christ wants us to be one.  Although every schism is heartbreaking, to me in some ways the most tragic one is the split between Catholic and Orthodox.  Why?  I know why it happened (and I appreciate the upset- I’m actually not a big fan of the filioque clause myself, though I do understand what the western Church was trying to do).  But I also know we BOTH have the fullness of the faith, and anything that separates us can only be evil.  It’s not the same as the Protestant churches, where they went into heresy along with schism (as many Protestants consider Catholics heretical or, even worse, not Christian at all, please know I mean no offense- it’s a factual statement from my perspective).  And we did have some unifying agreements in the what, 15th century?  They fell apart, yes, but we had that potential.

I have had the great joy of going to Eastern Rite Divine Liturgy (Ukrainian Catholic Church) a number of times, and I love it- in fact, I want to change Rites.  So to me this is an issue of particular tenderness.  I will not become Orthodox because I believe in the rock of Peter’s supremacy- and that no body is united without a head (not talking about Christ as the head of the Church entire here).  But while I am not as familiar with the Greek Orthodox Church, I have had many doubts about the Russian Orthodox Church actually wanting to be reunited.  It has a history of caesaro-papism of sorts, and Russia culturally and geographically and politically has been very distinct from, well, everyone else.  In the years since Communism fell, the Russian Orthodox Church has not been very pleased at Catholic efforts in Russia in general, considering our priests to be almost “stealing” those who would otherwise come under their aegis.  I’ve also noticed there can be a bit of competitiveness in other areas, regarding even such things as which tradition a saint “really” belongs to (I’m generally a fan of sharing, lol!)

While I deeply want Catholic-Orthodox unity, I’m quite skeptical in general, especially regarding news out of Russia.  Then I read this at Erin Manning’s blog And Sometimes Tea:

In an interview today in Italy’s Corriere della Sera newspaper, Archbishop Paolo Pezzi said the miracle of reunification “is possible, indeed it has never been so close.” The archbishop added that Catholic-Orthodox reunification, the end of the historic schism that has divided them for a millennium, and spiritual communion between the two churches “could happen soon, within a few months.” (from the National Catholic Register article)

I don’t comment on many blogs, but I do keep several in my RSS feed, including Erin’s, and I did actually reply the following (slightly truncated):

Until such statements come from the Orthodox Patriarch, I think the good archbishop is being overly optimistic. From the interactions between our Churches, I don’t see much evidence that our hopes for unity are shared.

Well, I’m happy to say, I MAY HAVE BEEN WRONG– and I certainly hope so.  Russian Orthodox Archbishop Hilarion Alfeyev, visiting Rome has said the following in an address to members of the Community of Sant’Egidio:

“Therefore, the time has come to move from a failure to meet and competition, to solidarity, mutual respect and esteem; I would even say, without a doubt, that we must move to mutual love,” he stressed. “Our Christian preaching can have effect, can be convincing also in our contemporary world, if we are able to live this mutual love between us, Christians.” (see the Zenit article for the full, wonderful report)

I can only hope this signals the end of the great division between our Churchs, a division which is unlawful and offensive to God.  Perhaps when we, Andrew and Peter, are united, our younger brothers will return home.  I can only pray it will be so.

-theRosyGardener