Replies

Kolo, I have a lot of respect for you, and you are very knowledgeable. Having been raised a protestant until I could get into the Roman Catholic church, then blessedly finding Orthodoxy, in which we raised our children, I am saddened by the continued divisions between East and West when we have so much in common. (In particular, I am thinking of devotion to the Theotokos, wherein I see the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church almost as loving sons trying to out-do the other in honoring their dear Mother.)

If an expression in words about something as mysterious as "the way the Trinity works" is the main obstacle to reunion, I hope that issue can be temporarily set aside while progress continues in other areas. I don't think it should have been changed in the West, and I don't understand why, having made so many changes in the past couple of generations, the Vatican would not be willing to revisit that terminology now. I would be interested in hearing more about Jo's contention that it is matter of emphasis more than distinction.

Intellectually, there are many reasons to flinch at the mention of Rome. But in my heart, I just recognize so much that is worthy in the legacy of Western Christianity -- especially the Roman version -- that I am anxious to support the coming together of East and West. The time for Orthodox to turn their faces from their brothers and sisters in Christ because they do not yet have the fullness of the faith, is, I believe, past. A well-known Orthodox writer like Brad Nassif recognizes that even Protestant churches are bringing people to a true Christian life, if, perhaps not complete.

We're getting down to sheep vs. goats here, and whether you're a Merino or a Suffolk, a sheep is a sheep, isn't it? It certainly doesn't matter to the wolves, you might have noticed.

SL, Rome can return to its Latin Patristic roots at any time. It can return to the glorious Orthodoxy of its first 1000 years without becoming Greek or Arab or Slavic. As you likely know, it was Rome which came to the rescue of Orthodoxy time and again as heresies arose among the hierarchs and nobles of the Greek East. The Latin Patristic era was a time when Rome shown brightest because it was the firmest in Orthodox Christianity. And then things changed. Things can change again. +BXVI knows this. +BXVI is the closest to a Latin Father the world has seen in over 1000 years! Pray for God to be merciful and give him many, many years during which he can lead his patriarchate back to its roots and, as Kosta noted, “reunion by default”.