Archbishop's web site Denver Catholic Register Parishes Catholic Pastoral Center
June 13, 2001
Document brings unity to Catholics and Orthodox
Joint class on Dominus Iesus to be catalyst for dialogue, cordial relations between faiths
By Alwen Bledsoe
With Pope John Paul II's recent visit to Greece, world and media attention have focused on the tensions still brewing between Orthodox Christians and Catholics, making a joint Catholic-Orthodox study group soon to start in Denver especially timely.
The group, sponsored by St. Mark's Orthodox Church and Holy Protection of the Mother of God Byzantine Catholic Church, will study the Vatican Declaration Dominus Iesus, issued Aug. 6, 2000, by the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, headed by Prefect Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.
Father Luke Uhl, chancellor of Metropolitan Isaiah to the Greek Orthodox Diocese of Denver, will teach one of the sessions.
"Whenever there is a declaration from the Roman Catholic Church on ecumenism, particularly when in that document it refers very specifically to the Orthodox Churches ... we have an obligation, if nothing else, to study that to see what they're saying out of respect for them and for their declaration, which certainly I would see as a hand reaching out to try to bridge some of the theological and doctrinal differences we have between ourselves," Father Uhl said. Later, he added: "Since it says things that we could be saying also, to me, it bears very careful study because obviously here's a document that kind of becomes a touchstone between the two Churches. It's an important study, both to examine those things that we would certainly proclaim together with the Roman Catholic Church and also to examine those particular points where there are some differences and to see what those are about."
One point of interest, said Father Uhl, is the document's emphasis on the fullness of the revelation of Jesus Christ as the only Son of God and the only Savior, a doctrine that the Orthodox hold equally sacred to their faith.
For Father Chrysostom Frank, administrator of Holy Protection of the Mother of God Byzantine Catholic Church, Orthodox participation in the study sessions is a phenomenal and noteworthy occasion, demonstrating the significance of the Vatican document.
"The Vatican Document itself is significant in that the Orthodox will sit down with Catholics to look at it. And I think they're willing to do that because they find in the document something which resonates with them as well. ... This is the first time we have the involvement of the Greek diocese — it's another step in developing the relationship."
The Byzantine Catholic Church recognizes the authority of the pope, but takes many of its doctrines and liturgies from the same Eastern Christian sources out of which the Orthodox Churches grew. As such, said Father Frank, it can and should be a bridge between the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Churches, though currently relations between Orthodox and the Eastern Catholics in most of the world are far from cordial, he added.
"(The Orthodox) can tolerate Roman Catholics because (they're) so different, but us — in most parts of the world there are very negative relationships because we are what they are. ... (Eastern Catholicism) basically is Orthodox Christianity in communion with Rome," he said.
Relations in Denver between the Churches, though, are some of the best in the world, added Father Frank, saying, "we can't give up on this."
"The Church needs to breathe with two lungs," he said, adopting an image Pope Paul VI used to speak of the division between the two Churches. "When the Church breathes with one lung only, she struggles, and it's only if she breathes with two lungs that she really is breathing fully."
He hopes the class will be a catalyst for further unity between the two traditions.
"That's what the goal is — not to destroy the Eastern or Western tradition, but to restore communion."
Father Frank sees Dominus Iesus, which urges ecumenism and reiterates the non-negotiable doctrines of Catholicism, as having the potential to solidify similarities between Eastern and Western Christianity and restore a small pocket of the unity East and West enjoyed in the first millennium.
"The purpose is an ecumenical purpose. It is simply to help build up relations and to understand one another better, as well as to understand that we have a common goal with regard to the proclamation of the Gospel in the contemporary world, because, in that sense, Orthodox and Catholics are counter-cultural, both of us are," he said. "I mean, we live in a secular world, a world that really increasingly doesn't understand any claim to uniqueness or exclusivity with regard to Christ or the Church and in this document I think Catholics and Orthodox can simultaneously find an affirmation that there is a uniqueness to Jesus Christ and the Church and that this is not negotiable for us."
The class is divided into four Tuesday night sessions at 7 p.m.: June 26, Holy Protection of the Mother of God; July 3, St. Mark's Orthodox Church; July 10, Holy Protection; July 17, St. Mark's. Sessions will be taught by Father Frank, Father Uhl, Dr. Joel Barstad, part-time lecturer at Our Lady on the New Advent Theological Institute, and Father John Connely, pastor of St. Mark's Orthodox Church. For information call Holy Protection of the Mother of God at 303-795-7848 or St. Mark's Orthodox Church at 303-722-0707.
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