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Editor’s Foreword:
It’s important for us as aware Orthodox Christians to be cognizant of what’s going on around us. Ergo, I chose three pieces that I found informative as all get-out, but crank in their assumptions. This is what our opposition truly thinks… we do ourselves a disservice if we forget that. Keep your eyes and ears open, keep your mind clear and focused, but always remember… the wolf always remains a wolf… even if he dons lamb’s clothing…
BMD
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Christendom has two lungs, Eastern and Western, and to be healthy, it must learn to breathe with both of them. Russian religious philosophers of the late Tsarist era first used that metaphor … Catholicism fascinated thinkers like Vladimir Solovyov, who felt that eastern Christians could learn from the Western church’s relatively-active presence in the world. Pope John Paul II Wojtyła took up the image again. It’ll certainly be an arresting, and perhaps disturbing, idea for Pope Francisco Bergoglio, who quite literally has only one functioning lung; he lost one during a childhood illness.
On the face of things, the Christian world has moved a bit closer, over the past 24 hours, to acquiring a fully-operative respiratory system. Bartholomew Archontonis, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople New Rome, therefore, “first among equals” in the Orthodox hierarchy {my, my, my… the old “Orthodox pope” shibboleth… don’t they ever learn?: editor}, attended yesterday’s inaugural mass for the new pontiff. The Istanbul-based cleric pointed out that he was the first Orthodox Patriarch to be present at such an event since the formal east-west split of 1054, when a papal legate rudely excommunicated his predecessor. Today, the new pope received Patriarch Bartholomew and they exchanged warm words about the need to work for full reconciliation.
Also present for the Rome festivities was another Orthodox bigwig, Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev who heads the powerful external-relations arm of the Moscow Patriarchate {note the obtuse STUPIDITY of this commentator… the Blunder lost two-thirds of the former DECR and is the most-despised hierarch in the MP. It shows the dense thoughtlessness of the overeducated credentialised Western clerisy, doesn’t it?: editor}. Reports said that Pope Francisco addressed Patriarch Bartholomew… absent-mindedly or otherwise… as Andrea, signalling his respect for the Apostle Andrew, who is traditionally the guardian of the Patriarchate of Constantinople (as well as being the patron saint of Scotland and the Russian Navy). In what some will see as another subtle compliment, the pontiff’s inaugural address yesterday put particular emphasis on care for the environment, which has been a hallmark of Patriarch Bartholomew’s teaching.
Both Orthodox grandees who went to Rome belong to the relatively Western-friendly end of the Orthodox Christian spectrum. Both faced criticism from their ethnic kin (Greek and Russian respectively) for being too accommodating in their dealings with Western Christians, and, therefore, insufficiently-vigilant in their defence of Orthodox doctrine. Two years ago, Patriarch Bartholomew issued a strong rebuttal of this charge, saying truth should have no fear of dialogue. For different reasons, both hierarchs feel comfortable in Italy. The Constantinople patriarch, who grew up on the Turkish island of Gökçeada or Imbros, is a fine linguist who studied in Italy and mastered Italian as well as his native Greek and Turkish. Metropolitan Hilarion is an accomplished composer (sic) who has been to Italy for gala performances of his works {Hilarion loves Italy, for he gets the recognition there that he lacks in Russia. He’s only a minor composer mostly unknown in larger musical circles… he’s never broken into the “big-time”… he’s pumped up by his papist allies, that’s the only reason this present author knows that at all: editor}.
Therefore, if personal chemistry were the only thing required to get Orthodox and Catholics breathing in sync, the way ahead might be clear. Unfortunately, things aren’t so simple. For one thing, intra-Orthodox quarrels have overshadowed several recent meetings between Orthodox and Catholic theologians. For another, the burden of history is heavy. Some Orthodox Christians root their suspicion of Rome in the events of 1204, when an army of Latin crusaders sacked Constantinople. The Orthodox also cherish the memory of St Mark of Ephesus, a lone voice in defence of Orthodox doctrine at the Council of Florence in 1439, when many of his fellow bishops were (as the Orthodox memory has it) bamboozled into a theological surrender to the West.
For better or for worse, the Orthodox Christians of Byzantium (sic) refused in the end to make doctrinal compromises with the West, which might have won them military support against the advancing Turks, and this made the conquest of Constantinople by the Ottomans, in 1453, inevitable. This left Orthodox with an enduring suspicion that, at critical moments, the West will refuse to either help at all, or, offer help only on unacceptably harsh terms. That is also how some Greek-Cypriots feel about their country’s current financial agonies.
20 March 2013
“Erasmus”
The Economist
http://www.economist.com/blogs/erasmus/2013/03/orthodox-christians-and-catholics
Editor’s Afterword:
I thought that the “Two Lungs” formula was dated and dead (it does have the stale whiff of the ‘80s about it, doesn’t it?), buried with JP2. Although Erasmus shows themselves ignorant of Orthodox affairs, it’s clear that this commentator isn’t a papist cheerleader. Yet, it shows how the premises of the Western clerisy are flawed to the point of incoherency. That will doom their project of global hegemony. History has not come to an end… Fukuyama was wrong… should we hold a wienie roast using his books as the fuel? Perspirin’ minds wanna know…
BMD
