Delivered to the Diakideio Institute for the
Education of the People in Patra, Greece, May 18,
2016.
It is an overused but necessary cliché to state
that the Orthodox Church is the Church of the Oecumenical
Councils. It is more essential to state that the Orthodox
Church not only held and lived through those Councils, it
also lives daily by the words spoken by the Holy Apostles
in that first of all Church Councils in Jerusalem: it
seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us (Acts 15:28);
first to the Holy Spirit and then to the Apostles and all
the successors of the Apostles. This theanthropic way of
being, which began in earnest in council on the day of
Pentecost, is integral to, irremovable from, the life of
the Orthodox Church and of Orthodox Christians.
It is the implication of this reality, or rather the
absence of evidence thereof among those at the highest
levels of the Church, which makes my presentation to you
tonight all the more difficult, even painful.
The Orthodox Church stands just weeks away from the long
awaited “Great and Holy Council,” which will
convene in Crete on the Feast of Pentecost. This Council
is unique in the history of the Church for the length of
time it has been under preparation, but also for another
first: the degree to which its preparatory meetings,
organization and certain of its texts have, under the
influence of a council of the heterodox, the Second
Vatican Council, diverted from the Orthodox way.
This is the reason that, immediately upon the publication
of the pre-synodical texts, a wave of objections arose on
a Pan-Orthodox level. Certain among the more fanatical
enthusiasts of ecumenism have attempted to downplay the
serious and studies critiques which have been levelled
against the pre-synodical texts and the Council itself
asserting the criticism is coming from
“extremists” and “fanatics” who
are “against the council,” have no respect for
the conciliar system or an ecclesiastical ethos. These
critics neglect the fact that objections to the
ecclesiologically abysmal texts have been expressed on a
pan-Orthodox level by...
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Harvesting Thanks
3 hours ago
1 comment:
I am completely mystified as to why Moscow is going along with, or appearing to go along with this disastrous agenda. With the passage of time Moscow holds more and more cards in her hands. She doesn't need to align herself with the ecumenical movement. She doesn't need to kow-tow to anybody, least of all the Phanar or Rome. She is in "symphonic" alignment with the Russian Federation which is emphatically anti-globalist which should make her anti-one world religion. She has upstaged Bartholomew and, to some extent, forced her will on the upcoming council. What oh what is her strategy here? I'm clueless.
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