Toward the end of the service, the attendees exchanged edible wafers as a symbolic gesture of unity. Then, the clergy in robes as colorful and as different as their religious traditions led the congregants out of the church.From here.
Yes, there were Orthodox hierarchs present.
11 comments:
I have to assume that the "wafers" were unconsecrated bread. (If they were, in fact, the elements of Holy Communion then any Orthodox who received them have excommunicated themselves.) If they were unconsecrated, then how was this different in principle from the antidoron in Orthodox parishes which are shared with the non-Orthodox as a gesture of friendship?
Actually, antidoron isn't supposed to be given to non-Orthodox.
antidoron isn't supposed to be given to non-Orthodox
That is news to me. Antidoron is offered to non-Orthodox in every Orthodox parish that I have been involved with.
Antidiron is one of those subjects where your mileage will vary. Strictly speaking it really is reserved for the Orthodox faithful, but as a matter of practice the major jurisdictions here in the US allow non-Orthodox to partake though usually they prefer that you be at least baptized. That is the normative policy in the OCA the GOA and with the Ants. On the other side of things ROCOR the Serbs and the JP are stricter and do not normally permit the non-Orthodox to partake.
Even when the priest prefers that the people do not do that, you will always have parishioners who come back from communion with eight pieces of antidoron and start passing them out like candy.
Better if they'd passed around oreos and kool-aid.
Also, one is technically supposed to have fasted prior to consuming antidoron. Whenever I visit an Old Calendar parish, I look around to make sure that no one is close enough to slap my hands. Old habits die hard.
It is sad that a well-meaning Orthodox Bishop would participate in such a sham. Could it be that he didn't know ahead of time about the tasty treats at the end?
Why can people not see that doing something like this is not a symbol of unity, but a symbol of DIS-unity, in so far as it requires substituting a man-made ritual with artificial meaning for a God-given Mystery with profound meaning and effect. As such, it is dangerously close to being idolatry.
There are legitimate ways to emphasize what we have in common or the need to cooperate for the good of our culture. But seriously, looking at the photo, it is painfully obvious that there were participants with whom we Orthodox have almost nothing in common - so why are we pretending to be part of the pack? This kind of thing is precisely why so many Orthodox have reservations, if not outright condemnations, about ecumenical gatherings.
No, Virginia, these are not different expressions of the same thing. They are very different things altogether.
It's good to "be one."
"Let there be unity, but as Christ wills it."
Somebody help me; as a crazy Roman Catholic, I can't remember which Orthodox person said this. I fully agree with him!
There can be no unity at the expense of the truth. "This is My Body...this is My Blood"...means something very different from "This is My Body if you believe it is, but if not, that's okay, so let's just be nice to each other."
And it's more than just word games, folks. If it's just word games, people, then people on both sides of the Tiber/Bosphorous split, lived, died, and were martyred for nothing, and Christ wasted His time on the Cross, not to mention His public ministry.
Bishop Kallistos Ware said in his book The Orthodox Church something about we have a lot to gain from talking together. It's sad, though, that sometimes "talking together" can lead to a kind of relativism, rather than a sincere seeking of the Truth. I say this with respect to the Bishop.
Cardinal George did his little 2 Step for "unity," and maybe he was pressured into this little ecumenical "dialogue," who knows? It's so interesting to see that he supports The Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest, (thank God for this priestly community!) yet does the PC ecumenical thing.
Blessed Augustine said, "We are at the same time just and sinful."
Boy howdy.
Apropos of antidoron being only for the Orthodox, and a requirement to receive it fasting: where are those requirements to be found in the Scriptures, the canons, or the typikon?
ISTM that there are serious, weighty theological reasons for closed communion, but none at all for restricting the antidoron in this way. It comes across as excluding for exclusion's sake.
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