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.
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.
Hilarion's request is hilarious.
More demands rom the Russian State Church. Booo-ring.
Even so. Peter was the first Pope and Christ gave him the keys to the kingdom. "Vicar of Christ" means in Christ's place.
It is very much like the document that lets me sign my boss's name on routine paperwork.