Reunion Not Imminent Between Catholic and Orthodox Churches

Metropolitan John Zizioulas of Pergamon, a major proponent of union between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches, has addressed the virulent opposition among the Metropolitans of Greece by stating that reunion is not imminent.

It is being propagated very falsely and conspiringly that the signing of the union of the Churches is imminent! A professor emeritus of Theology, who is well known for his ill-will towards my person, had visited a Hierarch of the Church of Greece and had told him that he knew with certainty (!) that the union had already been signed (in Ravenna!) and that the relative announcement was a matter of time!!! Clergy and laity have approached me and asked me if it is true that the union is to be signed in Cyprus, in October! Obviously, a feeling of unrest is being attempted among the people of God through this behaviour, with unpredictable consequences for the unity of the Church. However, those who are disseminating these things are fully aware (as long as they have not been blinded by empathy, fanaticism or a mania for self-projection), firstly, that the ongoing theological Dialogue has yet to span an extremely long course, because the theological differences that have accumulated during the one thousand years of division are many; and secondly, that the Committee for the Dialogue is entirely unqualified for the “signing” of a union, given that this right belongs to the Synods of the Churches. Therefore, why all the misinformation? Can’t the disseminators of these false “updates” think of what the consequences will be for the unity of the Church? [He who agitates (God’s people) shall bear the blame, whoever he may be — Galatians 5:10]

Carlos Antonio Palad of RORATE CÆLI writes,

While the letter is directed towards some sectors of the Orthodox Church of Greece, its strictures are doubtless applicable as well to certain Catholic journalists, apologists and clerics who have been perpetually predicting the imminent reunion of Orthodoxy and Catholicism, without regard for the continued dogmatic differences (whether real or perceived) between the two. The letter also shows how imprudent and unrealistic talk about “imminent reconciliation” only causes renewed anti-Roman agitation within the Orthodox Churches.

Saint Peter and Andrew pray for us!