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.
I agree. Now they are just pushing it.
There comes a time when enough is enough.
You have to call them something. What do you call them? "Dude"? "Cool Guy"?
The NT Christians use titles such as deacons, presbyters, elders, and episkopos (bishops). Elder and bishop are exalted titles by your standard.
Hilarion's request is hilarious.
That is exactly why I am not hopeful of a union with the Russian Orthodox Church. Russians are well... Russians. They don't like foreigners. They distrust the motivations of outsiders.
Catholic Europe developed into a cosmopolitan community prior to the Protestant Revolt and "Enlightenment". Russia and the Russian Orthodox Church has always been and will always be nationalistic.
DJ Benny & the Be-Bop Bishops?
See any difference there?
You are going to extremes here.
The etymology of the word bishop comes from the Greek word episkopos (åðéóêïðïò), which can be generally translated as bishop, overseer, superintendent, supervisor, or foreman.
The term "Vicar of Christ" is very biblical if you accept Matthew Chapter 16.
How do you get around with no eyes and no hands?
After all, Christ said, that if your eye were an occasion of sin to you, you should gouge it out, and if your hand led you to sin you should chop it off.
Oh . . . and if you've had the misfortune to lose one of your parents in death, I hope that - in fidelity to the words of Jesus - you didn't go to their funerals.
After all, let the dead bury their own dead.
And it must get cold in the winter walking around with no sandals . . .
Get a life.
By the same token, the Patriarch of Antioch could claim that same title because he too is a Successor of St. Peter.
St. Peter went to Antioch First :)
You sound like you're saying I don't know Church history. What you fail to understand is the bishops of Antioch did not replace Peter as leader of the Church. Unless you claim that Evodius (bishop of Antioch for many years while Peter was still alive) was the leader of the Church at the same time as Peter.
St. Peter was leader of Antioch for a time. Then he left and lead the Christians in Rome. Because he died as Bishop of Rome, not Bishop of Antioch, Peter's successor is the Bishop of Rome.
Peter's primacy resided with Peter throughout his life. He did not leave it with Bishop Evodius in Antioch.
The Pope is more than a spiritual teacher like your local minister, he oversees a vast network and is also the sovereign of the Holy See (The Vatican), a nation-state. These are titles attached to the office to which he was elected. You might have an argument for eliminating all formalities and titles across the Catholic Church but I don't see a reason to single out the Pope.
I interpret the admonition about titles to be a caution against letting exalted titles go to your head, admonition against rejecting humility and the like--entirely as a reminder that we're created equal.
In any case, the Patriarch of Antioch is every bit as much a successor of St. Peter as the Bishop of Rome. Successor of St. Peter is a title of the Melkite patriarch, not to mention the other claimants.
Besides, the only historical evidence that St. Peter transferred his authority to the bishops of Rome, ad personam, come from the spurious Clementines.
For goodness sake, the Pope of Alexandria has historically borne the following titles, which the Melkite patriarch continues in the Catholic Church:
"Bishop of Bishops, Pastor of Pastors, 13th Apostle, Judge of the Universe."
How did the vicar of saint Peter become the vicar of Christ?
Oh, don't worry about me, dear. We've a Magisterium with authority from Christ in an unbroken descent from Peter to instruct unerringly in matters of interpretation.
The symbolic/literal dilemma is entirely yours!
Goes with the territory of "private interpretation".
And you're welcome to it!
I just think you should spend your precious time minding your own confused spiritual business, rather than waste it trying to teach lessons to the Church that, by Christ's mandate, was Mater et Magistra long before you were born and will continue to be so long after you've been caught up in the Rapture!
"You might have an argument for eliminating all formalities and titles across the Catholic Church but I don't see a reason to single out the Pope."
Exactly. That is my argument. If Jesus meant what he said then all the pompous titles should go. Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant and whatever.
Jesus was born in a cattle stall. What kind of message is implied by that?
More demands rom the Russian State Church. Booo-ring.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.