“What really is seen here is that it is the power of the Holy Spirit that is calling an ancient branch of the Christian faith ( the 3,000 Assyrians ) are simply obeying the call by this same Holy Spirit to come home to Rome in unity.”
Well, BG, we don’t see it that way. We see it as a magnificent, contemporary example of Roman intrusion into the affairs of a particular church. It was just such a sort of intrusion which lead to the Great Schism. Some Orthodox hierarchs, in their understandable zeal for unity, seemed to want to forget that behavior. They wonlt be able to now as the matter is being presented to at least three patriarchial synods as part of the ongoing oversight of the dialog process. My prediction is that there will be a pause at least in the dialogs.
“This is the unity that Jesus prayed for in John 17.”
Now you see, BG, we believe that that unity will be found in Rome shedding its pretensions to rule the Church with an iron fist and humbly returning to the Orthodoxy it spurned in 1063.
“Now you see, BG, we believe that that unity will be found in Rome shedding its pretensions to rule the Church with an iron fist and humbly returning to the Orthodoxy it spurned in 1063.”
It was really the other way around, the Orthodox broke away from Rome in 1063. As it was said in the Gospel of Mathew, Jesus said to Peter that “he is the rock Jesus will build His Church on”. The Pope is the sucessor of St.Peter who did go to Rome to preach the Gospel and to give his life up there. These are the historic facts.
Count me among those who don’t really understand, Kolokotronis. If the bishop was Eastern Orthodox, that would be one thing, but given that he was in a church you ALREADY presumably believe to be disobedient, why would you care whether or not he hops from one disobedient church to the other? Why would you care if he’s disobeying a disobedient superior? It all sounds rather petty to me.
In any case, if you all believe that Rome would ever refuse communion to any individual or group of individuals who are willing to accept her teachings and enter into her, we might as well give up right now. She would not and could not any more than Noah would have refused a person who wanted to go onto the Ark and save himself from the flood. It has nothing to do with an intrusion in anyone’s affairs; it has to do with a group of people wanting to enter into the Church and the Church not refusing. If this bishop had wanted to enter into communion with the Orthodox Church would her bishops have said, “Ah, well, no. That’s bad politics. Just keep being in schism, thank you.” This makes not a bit of sense to me. Maybe the theologies of the Catholic and Orthodox Churches are more different than I thought.
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This is most unfortunate. It was my understanding that we were finally coming together, and to have this setback is a disappointment.