Subject:
Re: General Informational Sharing: Just How Bad Matters Have Become!:
Joint Committee of Orthodox and Catholic Bishops Convenes
Dear Rd. Daniel,
The worldly orthodox are not even hiding their agenda anymore. They have moved past that point.
They quote Christ, "So
that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you … so
that they may be one, as we are one” (Jn 17:21), but when asked to
clarify what is meant by this, to "be one," they explicitly deny as a
requirement unity of dogma or theology.
"Met."
Hilarion (Alfeyev), head of the MP Dept. of External Church Relations
(DECR) makes this point very clear in a recent interview (my bold):
– Some Orthodox fear the rapprochement with the Catholics. They are concerned that there may be a complete fusion of the Orthodox and the Roman Catholic Churches. What would you say to these people?
– First of all, I would advise them to read carefully the declaration of the Pope and the Patriarch. It indicates the subjects of the conversation. There
was no attempt of a doctrinal rapprochement and even no discussion on
any dogmatic or theological issues. Currently this discussion is
absolutely off the agenda. The declaration opens with a statement
that a loss of unity commanded by God is opposed to Christ’s commandment
voiced in His last high-priestly prayer: “May they all be one.”
Unfortunately, Christians are not able to maintain this unity.
Christians of East and West are divided and do not celebrate the
Eucharist together.
Yet
now it is not a question of overcoming this division, but of learning
to live and to act in this world not as competitors, but as brothers, to work together in order to protect our common values, to jointly preach the Gospel
and to reveal the Divine Truth to people. And this is what we can do
together today. I appreciated the words of Raul Castro pronounced during
his meeting with Patriarch Kirill, after the Patriarch had told him
about their forthcoming encounter with the Pope. President Raul recalled
an adage telling that any journey, even the longest one, starts with a
first step. This first step is made. Now I hope that together the
faithful of the two traditions will stand up for all that we have in
common without any compromise with their conscience and without accepting any doctrinal compromise.
Share the post "Metropolitan Hilarion: Orthodox and Catholics must learn to act as brothers and not as competitors.
This is explicit, dogma does not matter to them.
Well,
let's indeed read carefully. The recent Havana document, signed by the
Pope and "Pat." Kyril-Gundayev, (Agent Mihaelov), makes this abundantly
clear:
Notwithstanding
this shared Tradition of the first ten centuries, for nearly one
thousand years Catholics and Orthodox have been deprived of communion in
the Eucharist. We have been divided by wounds caused by old and recent
conflicts, by differences inherited from our ancestors, in the
understanding and expression of our faith in God, one in three Persons –
Father, Son and Holy Spirit. [However, not withstanding these valid and Holy reasons of separation...]
We are pained by the loss of unity, the outcome of human weakness and
of sin, which has occurred despite the priestly prayer of Christ the
Saviour: “So that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I
in you … so that they may be one, as we are one” (Jn 17:21).
If
this point couldn't be more stated more clearly, later in the Havana
document there is an explicit prohibition against 'professing our faith
to Catholics', i.e. 'poaching':
This mission (to spread the Gospel) entails mutual respect for members of the Christian communities and excludes any form of proselytism....
Consequently, it cannot be accepted that disloyal means be used to incite believers to pass from one Church to another, denying them their religious freedom and their traditions.
The
previous arguments that their dialogue and collaborations are meant to
"witness Orthodoxy" hold no water. Their statements and actions, for
many years and especially recently, are not subtle.
It
is critical to understand that doctrine does not matter to them. In my
experience, in pointing out these doctrinal issues I am treated as
childish, narrow-minded and unable to see their enlightened adult
perspective. Prelest. Have you ever had a similar experience?
How anyone could claim to be Orthodox and believe any of these statements is beyond me.
Rd. John
Archbishop Averky spoke about this false Orthodoxy:
ReplyDelete"One must realize and remember that Orthodoxy is not only and always that which is officially called "Orthodox", for our false and evil times the appearance everywhere of pseudo-Orthodoxy which raises its head and is established in the world is an extremely grievous but, regrettably, an already unquestioned fact. This false Orthodoxy strives fiercely to substitute itself for true Orthodoxy, as in his time Antichrist will strive to supplant and replace Christ with himself."
http://archbishopaverky.blogspot.com/2011/02/what-is-orthodoxy.html