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Prot. No. 213
Patriarchal
and Synodal Encyclical
On
the Sunday of Orthodoxy
(February
21, 2010)
BARTHOLOMEW
By
God¡¯s Grace
Archbishop
of Constantinople-New Rome,
and
Ecumenical Patriarch
To
the Fullness of the Church, Grace and Peace
From
our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
Our most holy Orthodox Church today commemorates its own feast day, and – from
this historical and martyric See of the Ecumenical Patriarchate – the Mother
Church of Constantinople directs its blessing, love and concern to all of its
faithful and dedicated spiritual children throughout the world, inviting them
to concelebrate in prayer.
Blessed be the name of the Lord! Those who endeavored over the ages to suppress
the Church through various visible and invisible persecutions; those who sought
to falsify the Church with their heretical teachings; those who wanted to
silence the Church, depriving it of its voice and witness; they all proved
unsuccessful. The clouds of Martyrs, the tears of the Ascetics, and the prayers
of the Saints protect the Church spiritually, while the Comforter and Spirit of
Truth leads it to the fullness of truth.
With a sense of duty and responsibility, despite its hurdles and problems, as
the First-Throne Church of Orthodoxy, the Ecumenical Patriarchate cares about
protecting and establishing the unity of the Orthodox Church, in order that
with one voice and in one heart we may confess the Orthodox faith of our
Fathers in every age and even in our times. For, Orthodoxy is not a museum
treasure that must be preserved; it is a breath of life that must be
transmitted and invigorate all people. Orthodoxy is always contemporary, so
long as we promote it with humility and interpret it in light of the
existential quests and needs of humanity in each historical period and cultural
circumstance.
To this purpose, Orthodoxy must be in constant dialogue with the world. The
Orthodox Church does not fear dialogue because truth is not afraid of dialogue.
On the contrary, if Orthodoxy is enclosed within itself and not in dialogue
with those outside, it will both fail in its mission and no longer be the
¡°catholic¡± and ¡°ecumenical¡± Church. Instead, it will become an introverted and
self-contained group, a ¡°ghetto¡± on the margins of history. This is why the
great Fathers of the Church never feared dialogue with the spiritual culture of
their age – indeed even with the pagan idolaters and philosophers of their
world – thereby influencing and transforming the civilization of their time and
offering us a truly ecumenical Church.
Today, Orthodoxy is called to continue this dialogue with the outside world in
order to provide a witness and the life-giving breath of its faith. However,
this dialogue cannot reach the outside world unless it first passes through all
those that bear the Christian name. Thus, we must first converse as Christians
among ourselves in order to resolve our differences, in order that our witness
to the outside world may be credible. Our endeavors for the union of all
Christians is the will and command of our Lord, who before His Passion prayed
to His Father ¡°that all [namely, His disciples] may be one, so that the world
may believe that You sent me.¡± (John 17.21) It is not possible for the Lord to
agonize over the unity of His disciples and for us to remain indifferent about
the unity of all Christians. This would constitute criminal betrayal and
transgression of His divine commandment.
It is precisely for these reasons that, with the mutual agreement and
participation of all local Orthodox Churches, the Ecumenical Patriarchate has
for many decades conducted official Panorthodox theological dialogues with the
larger Christian Churches and Confessions. The aim of these dialogues is, in a
spirit of love, to discuss whatever divides Christians both in terms of faith
as well as in terms of the organization and life of the Church.
These dialogues, together with every effort for peaceful and fraternal
relations of the Orthodox Church with other Christians, are unfortunately
challenged today in an unacceptably fanatical way – at least by the standards
of a genuinely Orthodox ethos – by certain circles that exclusively claim for
themselves the title of zealot and defender of Orthodoxy. As if all the Patriarchs
and Sacred Synods of the Orthodox Churches throughout the world, who
unanimously decided on and continue to support these dialogues, were not
Orthodox. Yet, these opponents of every effort for the restoration of unity
among Christians raise themselves above Episcopal Synods of the Church to the
dangerous point of creating schisms within the Church.
In their polemical argumentation, these critics of the restoration of unity
among Christians do not even hesitate to distort reality in order to deceive
and arouse the faithful. Thus, they are silent about the fact that theological
dialogues are conducted by unanimous decision of all Orthodox Churches, instead
attacking the Ecumenical Patriarchate alone. They disseminate false rumors that
union between the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches is imminent, while they
know well that the differences discussed in these theological dialogues remain
numerous and require lengthy debate; moreover, union is not decided by
theological commissions but by Church Synods. They assert that the Pope will
supposedly subjugate the Orthodox, because they latter submit to dialogue with
the Roman Catholics! They condemn those who conduct these dialogues as
allegedly ¡°heretics¡± and ¡°traitors¡± of Orthodoxy, purely and simply because
they converse with non-Orthodox, with whom they share the treasure and truth of
our Orthodox faith. They speak condescendingly of every effort for
reconciliation among divided Christians and restoration of their unity as
purportedly being ¡°the pan-heresy of ecumenism¡± without providing the slightest
evidence that, in its contacts with non-Orthodox, the Orthodox Church has
abandoned or denied the doctrines of the Ecumenical Councils and of the Church
Fathers.
Beloved children in the Lord, Orthodoxy has no need of either fanaticism or
bigotry to protect itself. Whoever believes that Orthodoxy has the truth does
not fear dialogue, because truth has never been endangered by dialogue. By
contrast, when in our day all people strive to resolve their differences
through dialogue, Orthodoxy cannot proceed with intolerance and extremism. You
should have utmost confidence in your Mother Church. For the Mother Church has
over the ages preserved and transmitted Orthodoxy even to other nations. And today,
the Mother Church is struggling amid difficult circumstances to maintain
Orthodoxy vibrant and venerable throughout the world.
From the Ecumenical Patriarchate, this sacred Center of Orthodoxy, we embrace
all of you lovingly and bless you paternally, praying that you may journey in
health through the holy period of contrition and asceticism known as Holy and
Great Lent in order that you may become worthy of celebrating the pure Passion
and glorious Resurrection of our Savior Lord with all faithful Orthodox
Christians throughout the world.
Sunday of Orthodoxy 2010
+ Bartholomew of Constantinople
Fervent supplicant to God for all
+ Constantine of
Derkon
+Evangelos of Perge
+ Kallinikos of
Lystra
+ Michael of Austria
+ Alexios of
Atlanta
+ Joseph of Proikonnisos
+ Demetrios of
Sevasteia
+ Irenaios of Myriophyton and Peristasis
+ Chrysostom of
Myra
+ Emmanuel of France
+ Makarios of Gortyna and Arkadia
+ Amphilochios of New
Zealand
St. Paul Orthodox Press www.orthodoxincheon.or.kr
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