I am not abandoning help from the East. You too believe that the Church is "one, holy, catholic and apostolic". We disagree, I think, on the material basis of that unity, and the locus of the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. You, I presume, view yourselves as that Church, and Rome as having departed. Rome views it the other way around. Be that as it may, we are agreed about the first seven ECs, and therefore about the heretical nature of Nestorianism. Although the differences between us are not unimportant, they pale compared to the gulf between Protestantism on the one hand, and Catholics and Orthodox on the other. I genuinely expect that the East and the West will be fully reconciled by 2054, and I hope that I might possibly live to see it. For that reason, though I don't hesistate to state and defend the Catholic position (including its position on the basis of unity), I have almost no desire whatsover to debate with the Orthodox. What will happen will happen above us anyway, so for me, talking about our disagreements is mostly a chance for me to learn the theological wisdom God has providentially provided and preserved in the East over the 952 years that we have been separated. Rather, since Protestants broke from *us*, Catholics have a special obligation to seek reconciliation with them. I especially sense that responsibility, having myself been a Protestant most of my life. But, of course, in that endeavor of repairing what was rent in the 16th century, we welcome all the help from the East we can get, even while the East and West are still yet not fully reconciled.
-A8