Archbishop's web site Denver Catholic Register Parishes Catholic Pastoral Center
March 13, 2002
Orthodox patriarch meets with top Catholic leaders in Washington
Patriarch Bartholomew: Christians are charged by God to restore unity
By Jerry Filteau
WASHINGTON (CNS) — Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople called for more grass-roots dialogue between Catholics and Orthodox at a meeting with top Catholic leaders in Washington March 6.
The head of the Greek Orthodox Church and spiritual leader of 300 million Orthodox Christians worldwide also expressed hopes that the international Catholic-Orthodox theological commission will get past its current impasse over the status of the Eastern Catholic churches.
"We are in the process of establishing a small commission, composed of members of the larger international commission, in order to find an exit from the impasse," he said in response to a question from Catholic News Service.
Patriarch Bartholomew, who arrived in Washington March 4 for a six-day U.S. visit, met with President Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell March 5 and with a delegation of U.S. Catholic leaders the following morning.
Heading the Catholic delegation were Cardinal William H. Keeler of Baltimore, a member of the international Catholic-Orthodox dialogue, and Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick of Washington.
Among those accompanying the patriarch were Archbishop Demetrios, primate of the Greek Orthodox Church in America, and Archbishop Leo of Karelia and All Finland.
In a brief address opening the one-hour meeting, Patriarch Bartholomew said, "We, as Christians, are charged by God himself to restore our unity, so that the world will believe in the divine mission of the church of Christ."
He acknowledged that "certain inherited differences remain unbridged" in the high-level dialogues seeking unity among the churches. "Nevertheless, these differences do not render dialogues useless, but on the contrary they are the reason why continuous dialogue between representatives of the various churches, at whatever level, is useful and necessary," he said.
Patriarch Bartholomew said he did not want in his talk to focus on the theological differences dividing East and West over the past millennium.
"We will simply point out, with satisfaction, that the faithful are asking of their church leaders to return, by employing prudence and courage, to the original common faith of an undivided Church," he said. "They are asking of us to distinguish between our essential and nonessential differences so that the Church does not appear divided due to matters of secondary importance."
Emphasizing the importance of grass-roots and spiritual ecumenism, he said that "the unity among the churches is not only helped by the representatives who participate in formal dialogues, but also by those participating in informal meetings. Moreover, it is added by those practicing self and historical criticism, and more so by those who sanctify themselves while communicating with Christ secretly and in silence."
Holiness brings one "to see Christ clearly," he said, and "the understanding of the truth in Christ ... is the only way that will securely lead to the much-desired unity."
The media were ushered out of the meeting after the patriarch's opening address, but the patriarch and Cardinal Keeler spoke about the discussions and the state of Catholic-Orthodox relations at a brief press conference afterward.
Patriarch Bartholomew said they discussed their "willingness and intention to promote dialogue among our faithful, and between ourselves of course, in order to show our decisiveness to promote good relations between Eastern and Western Christianity in spite of the existing problems."
"We need more and more of this dialogue in order to avoid misunderstandings, to better know each other, the theology and the tradition of each other, and in order to more and more love each other," he added.
Cardinal Keeler said Catholic participants took the opportunity to express appreciation to Patriarch Bartholomew for his participation at the recent meeting of world religious leaders to pray for peace in Assisi, Italy, for his statement on the events of Sept. 11 and for his work promoting joint Christian efforts in the Holy Land.
The March 6 meeting in Washington occurred at a time when the international Catholic-Orthodox theological commission has found itself unable to resolve questions about the place of Eastern Catholic churches, which the Orthodox refer to as the "uniates."
Over past centuries those churches were formed by Orthodox who broke from the Orthodox communion to restore unity with Rome while retaining the liturgical, theological, cultural and legal traditions they share with the Orthodox of their home regions.
Last November Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, said in the opening address to a plenary meeting of the council that "the demand of the Orthodox churches to discuss and solve first the problem of `uniatism' before continuing with the agreed agenda of the dialogue has led to a dead end."
Cardinal Kasper wondered how that issue could be solved without first addressing the Petrine ministry — the role of the pope in the church — "which is the very rationale of the existence of the Catholic Oriental churches."
Referring to the July 2000 commission meeting in Emmitsburg, Md., at which 36 Catholic and Orthodox church officials and theologians struggled with the uniatism issue for 11 days and were unable to reach an agreement, Cardinal Kasper said, "I do not see how we can continue with the dialogue on this level."
When asked about the impasse, Patriarch Bartholomew announced the formation of a smaller subcommission to find a way through the problem.
"I never despair. I am always optimistic that a solution will be found," he said.
Contact Us
