The Shepherd, March 2008
MOSCOW HIERARCH’S CONSERVATISM
HIS GRACE, Bishop Hilarion of Vienna (MP), has published misgivings about aspects of the Orthodox-Roman Catholic dialogue. He writes in Europaica: “I do not share the optimism of Cardinal Walter Kasper concerning the Ravenna document and consider his statement about this document as a «real breakthrough in Orthodox-Catholic dialogue» unjustified premature. First of all, the Russian and the Bulgarian Churches, as well as the Orthodox Church in America were absent in Ravenna.… As it stands now, it is an agreement between representatives of the Roman Catholic Church and representatives of some, but by no means all Orthodox Churches. Secondly, it is unlikely that the Ravenna statements about the universal primacy will be accepted by the Orthodox conscience…. As Cardinal Kasper appropriately notes, ‘we need a reception process not only on the level of our hierarchies but also on the level of our faithful.’ I doubt whether the process of evaluation of the Ravenna document in the Orthodox Churches on the level of both the hierarchy and the faithful will lead to its reception and approval. From Cardinal Kasper’s interview it does not follow that as a result of the dialogue the Roman Catholic Church may reconsider its own position on primacy on the universal level. On the contrary, the Cardinal states that in case of the re-establishment of the Eucharistic communion between the Catholics and the Orthodox ‘a new form of the exercise of the primacy needs to be found for the Orthodox Churches.’ What kind of ‘new form’ is His Eminence referring to? The one that already exists in those Eastern Churches which are in communion with Rome.… In other words, we are once more offered a possibility of accepting a Uniate view of the primacy of the Bishop of Rome. If the ‘breakthrough’ consists in this, then I am afraid such a breakthrough will not inspire the Orthodox, who regard Uniatism as contradicting their ecclesiological self-understanding and as betrayal of Orthodoxy. In Balamand in 1993 both the Catholics and the Orthodox concluded that Uniatism is not a model of church unity. And now 15 years later the Chairman of the Council for Promoting Christian Unity invites the Orthodox to accept the Uniate understanding of the primacy of the Bishop of Rome. I would like to reiterate that good and constructive relations between the Catholics and the Orthodox are crucial for the present and future of Christianity. We need a type of relationship based on the understanding of the fact that we are allies, not adversaries, that we have a common missionary task and face common challenges, to which we can respond together. However, we do not need another Union. We need strategic partnership which will exclude all forms of proselytism. We also need to continue theological dialogue, not in order to transform the Orthodox into Uniates, but in order to clarify the points of disagreement between the Catholic and the Orthodox ecclesiology.” Although one can applaud much of what His Grace says here, we are deeply perturbed by his stressing “strategic partnership which will exclude all forms of proselytism.” This seems to betray an underlying, but guarded, ecumenism, and a worldly spirit, far removed from those who heed the Saviour’s loving words in Luke 12:32. What is essential in matters of Faith is not strategy but confession. Have any of the Saints ever advocated a “strategic partnership” with those who have separated themselves from the Church, or suggested that “good and constructive relations” between them and the Orthodox are “crucial for the present and future of Christianity”?
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