Orthodox Patriarch: Union with Conciliar Church inevitable
Nov 28, 2019 11:34:08 GMT
Post by Admin on Nov 28, 2019 11:34:08 GMT
Patriarch Bartholomew tells Athonites reunion with Catholics is inevitable, reports UOJ
Mt. Athos, November 27, 2019
Orthochristian.com [Please note this is an Orthodox source.]
On November 12, Patriarch Bartholomew participated in the Vespers service at the Catholic Abbey of Our Lady of St. Rémy in Rochefort, Belgium, together with Archimandrite Alexios, the abbot of Xenophontos Monastery, and Hieromonk Theophilos of Pantocrator Monastery, both on Mt. Athos.
According to a new report from the Union of Orthodox Journalists, during his trip to Mt. Athos the previous month, Pat. Bartholomew attempted to convince several Athonite abbots and monks that there are no dogmatic differences between Orthodoxy and Catholicism, and that reunion with the Catholic church is inevitable.
Pat. Bartholomew expressed his personal convictions during a private talk at Pantocrator Monastery with the brethren and guests of the monastery, including other Athonite abbots. Eyewitnesses report that Pat. Bartholomew’s security did not allow anyone to record the conversation.
In his opinion, the division that now exists between Orthodoxy and Catholicism is merely a matter of historical events, not dogmatic differences.
Catholics “are just as Christian as we are,” Pat. Bartholomew emphasized, adding that the recent gift of the relics of St. Peter from Pope Francis is proof of the Catholic church’s nearness to Orthodoxy.
According to the UOJ’s sources, Pantocrator abbot Archimandrite Gabriel, Xenophontos abbot Archimandrite Alexios, Vatopedia abbot Archimandrite Ephraim, the brethren of several monasteries, and other guests were all present for the talk.
Most of the brethren were at a loss, hearing Pat. Bartholomew’s ecumenistic arguments, though none present objected. Some of those present reportedly began to weep when Pat. Bartholomew said that reunion with the Catholic church is inevitable.
Recall that Xenophontos and Pantocrator Monasteries have been the most receptive to the Ukrainian schismatics. Abbot Alexios of Xenophontos concelebrated in the enthronement of Epiphany Dumenko as primate of the OCU, and Pantocrator was the first monastery where schismatics served Liturgy on Mt. Athos.
At a recent meeting in Constantinople with representatives of Tbilisi University, Pat. Bartholomew said that dialogue with other Christians, especially Catholics, is one of the priorities of the Patriarchate of Constantinople.
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A few considerations and reminders in reviewing the above initiatives by the Orthodox to reunite with the Conciliar Church.
Knowing as we do, dear friends, that one of the major causes of the Eastern Schism of 1054 was the Eastern Church's refusal to acknowledge the Pope [the Bishop of Rome] as having universal jurisdiction, it is not surprising that the Orthodox now feel more comfortable with the Conciliar Church. After all, we see right in the Vatican II documents the authority of the Pope attacked and weakened in the name of collegiality.
Vatican II - An erroneous notion of collegiality:
This idea is juridically abnormal because it recognizes, contrary to tradition and the Church's constitution, two subjects of the supreme power of jurisdiction: the Sovereign Pontiff and the College of Bishops with, at its head, the Pope, although only the latter can exercise it freely (Lumen Gentium §22; also Nota Praevia). Moreover, this erroneous collegiality entails the de facto disappearance of the personal responsibility of each bishop in the government of his diocese, and its replacement by the collective responsibility of the episcopal conferences (Christus Dominus [CD] §37), which now also are ascribed legislative powers (CD §38), and even a wide autonomy in numerous domains traditionally reserved to the exclusive competence of the Holy See.
This triumph of the weakening of papal authority has been openly celebrated by the Freemasons recently, typified for them by the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI:
To understand an event as innovative and paradigmatic as the Second Vatican Council was [...] means having the opportunity of getting to the heart of what is happening in the Church today. The revolutionary act of Benedict XVI, the abdicating Pope, in renouncing the throne, makes [the Pope] a bishop among bishops and fulfills that collegial spirit that had strongly permeated Vatican II; the “surprise” election of Pope Francis, the first bishop in the history of the Church to come from South America to guide the people of Christ – preacher of spiritual renewal, in humility and poverty, a strategic figure in a Church that seems to have lost its center in Old Europe, but is rediscovering itself, alive and fecund, in “the south of the world”, are all developments whose origins are generally recognizable in the unprecedented event, which marked the life of the universal Church between the pontificates of John XXIII and Paul VI.
It therefore comes as no surprise that with the watering down of several points of contention between the Orthodox and the true Catholic Church through the machinations of Vatican II, that the head of the schismatic Orthodox religion sees no problem with a reunion with the schismatic Church of the Second Vatican Council.
One more reminder that at the Council:
Ecumenism [was promoted]: Protestant and Orthodox “observers” were welcomed to the Council, and were consulted frequently for ecumenical input. In the document, Lumen gentium, the Catholic Church was presented as central to the plan of salvation, but actual membership was not necessary for salvation in cases of “invincible ignorance.” Mass was to be offered in the vernacular, and envisioned as comparable to the “Lord’s Supper” in many Protestant denominations. Arrangements were made for “interfaith dialogues” with Christian denominations and Orthodox patriarchs.
Papal primacy [attacked]: Progressives at the Council were committed to overcoming the “damage” incurred at Vatican I by the proclamation of papal infallibility. Trying to democratize the Church, they emphasized “collegiality,” a primacy of the Apostolic College, with the pope as primus inter pares, “first among equals.”
Papal primacy [attacked]: Progressives at the Council were committed to overcoming the “damage” incurred at Vatican I by the proclamation of papal infallibility. Trying to democratize the Church, they emphasized “collegiality,” a primacy of the Apostolic College, with the pope as primus inter pares, “first among equals.”