Posted on 04/05/2006 9:49:12 PM PDT by Cato1
Pope Urged to Ax 'Vicar of Jesus' Title By Tom Heneghan Reuters
PARIS -- Pope Benedict XIV, who has dropped his title "Patriarch of the West" to boost ties with Orthodox Christians, should scrap more terms tagged to his name if he wants real progress, a senior Russian Orthodox bishop said.
Papal titles such as "Vicar of Jesus Christ" or "Sovereign Pontiff of the Universal Church" were "unacceptable, even scandalous" for the Orthodox, Bishop Hilarion Alfeyev said in a statement published this week on his web site.
"Only renouncing titles stressing the universal jurisdiction of the pope, and the ecclesiological doctrine hidden behind that, would be a real step on the path toward reconciliation between the Orthodox and Catholic churches," he wrote.
Hilarion, Russian Orthodox bishop of Vienna and his church's main representative in Europe, said the "Patriarch of the West" title was actually more acceptable than some others.
Benedict, who has made better relations with the Orthodox a priority of his papacy, quietly dropped "patriarch of the West" from his nine official titles early in March.
Vatican relations with the Russian church, the largest of the Orthodox churches, have been strained because the Moscow hierarchy opposes Catholic attempts to win new members there following the fall of communism in 1991.
Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexy II said last month that he hoped for a rapid resolution to the problems between the churches.
Cardinal Walter Kasper, the Vatican's top official for ecumenism, said neither side wanted to lure believers away from the other.
Hilarion said a statement from Kasper's office clarifying the change did not explain how it could help dialogue between the two churches split since the Great Schism of 1054.
"The Pontifical Council's communique cannot be considered an adequate response" to differences between them, he said.
The Orthodox accepted the pope as the "first among equals" in pre-schism Christianity and as the patriarch of Western Europe as opposed to other patriarchs in Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem, he said.
"It is only in this form that the Orthodox could accept the primacy of the bishop of Rome if church unity between the East and the West were to be reestablished," he said.
The Orthodox, based mostly in Russia, Eastern Europe and Greece with diaspora churches around the world, reject papal authority and maintain a loose family of national churches with a spiritual leader based in Istanbul.
There are about 220 million Orthodox Christians around the world, compared with 1.1 billion Roman Catholics.
Kasper said last month that bilateral talks had improved the prospects for a meeting between Benedict and Alexy, but it was too early to speak of a time or place.
Hilarion objected to three of Benedict's eight remaining titles -- "Vicar of Jesus Christ," "Successor of the Prince of the Apostles" and "Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church" -- because the Orthodox do not believe any cleric can claim such authority.
The rest -- Bishop of Rome, Primate of Italy, Metropolitan Archbishop of the Roman Province, Sovereign of Vatican City and Servant of the Servants of God -- refer to more limited powers of the pope and do not clash with Orthodox views.
Add this latest Orthodox reaction to the file:
1. Pope (Paul VI) Prays With Patriarch Athenagoras in Jerusalem and Kisses Feet of Orthodox Hierarchs in St. Peter's Basilica
2. Pope (John Paul I) Holds Dying Orthodox Hierarch Nikodim in His Arms and Frantically Calls for Medical Help
3. Pope (John Paul II) Visits Ecumenical Patriarch, Shares Loggia of Benedictions with Patriarch, Returns Orthodox Icon
4. Pope (Benedict XVI) Drops Potentially-Offensive-to-Orthodox Title
5. Orthodox, Still Unhappy, Urge Pope (Present Pope and All Future Popes) To Do More.
Like the cantankerous, perennially-ill relative of whom it is said, "He is enjoying poor health," it seems that no matter what season (liturgical or otherwise) it is anywhere else, where Roman Catholicism is concerned, in Orthodoxy it is eternally winter.
Sorry guys, but only Peter was told "feed my lambs." Not that all Christian leaders shouldn't aim to do that, but Peter was uniquely responsible for being Jesus' vicar. So far, the "dialog" has outwardly been little more that Orthdox leaders making demands and the Pope agreeing to meet only some of them.
He's been dead for quite a while, hasn't he?
Typical of Easterners to be stuck in some previous century...
"Bishop of Vienna" indeed!
As Jesuit Father Robert Taft said (Feb 2004):
. . . the Orthodox plant metropolitans wherever they want. Let’s take the example of Austria. Vienna has been a Catholic see since the first millennium, yet the Russian Orthodox have a metropolitan, not just “in” Vienna but “of” Vienna. Yet there probably aren’t 5,000 Russian Orthodox in the whole of Austria. Fair is fair. … The problem is, nobody talks to them like that because nobody knows what I know. Catholics hear their complaints and say, “Oh, gee, aren’t we awful.” Give me a break. … There are Orthodox clergy who proselytize among Catholics, we know that for a fact. The Russian Orthodox opened up a parish in Palermo. Who’s the priest? He’s a converted Catholic. When it was opened up, in the journal of the Moscow patriarchate, it stated quite clearly that this is a step toward recovering the Byzantine heritage of Sicily. Furthermore, there’s a Greek monastery in Calabria that’s also proselytizing among Catholics. There are loose cannons all over the place.
He might also thank the Pope - using whatever title he'd like - for the fact Roman Catholic officials aren't whining about the new Russian Orthodox church being built in Rome. Especially since we've heard nothing but complaints from the Orthodox in Ukraine - and not because Ukrainian Catholics are building NEW churches, mind you, but because they're taking back the ones stolen from them 60 years ago!
No way!
It certainly seems that all this "ecumanism" is a one-way street, doesn't it? The Catholic Church submissively bends to all the other religions, and the other religions whine for more.
It would be nice if the Orthodox would show some goodwill in this debate by meeting us half way on some stuff. Perhaps in Russia if serious return of Church Properties that were confiscated. I am anxious to see if the Greek Orthodox makes some moves soon in the dialouge.
Good grief. "Catholic" means "Universal." What's he supposed to call himself?
But the Pope IS the Vicar of Christ. To say otherwise is to deny God.
"What's he supposed to call himself?"
How about "brother".
The Republican Party of Religions!
How about "brother".
"Brother is too pretentious. How about "Bro"
So what's your objection to the titles he has? If the church is using a name that proclaims it to be universal, then what's wrong with calling yourself the head of the universal church? I really don't see what the issue is here.
Seems that way, doesn't it?
In CAtholic theology, anyway, and he's the head of the Catholic Church.
Or even the universal moniker "dude". He could capitalize it to make it an official title.
His HipHop Holiness Benedict XVI
The Right Rightious Dude...
Pops (for those Dixiecratic Catholics)...
The Way Far Out (not to exclude the surfer crowd)...
The Most, Like Totally Bodacious (gotta relate to those 80s valley girls)...
and my personal favorite
OMG The 2Kewl :-O(Can't leave out the netsters)...
"That Guy With the Hat"
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