Did anyone else find this story encouraging? From ZENIT: [quote]Bulgarian Orthodox Leader Affirms Desire for Unity
Croatian Politician Invites Pope to Visit
VATICAN CITY, OCT. 22, 2009 (Zenit.org).- A Bulgarian Orthodox prelate told Benedict XVI of his desire for unity, and his commitment to accelerate communion with the Catholic Church.
At the end of Wednesday's general audience, Bishop Tichon, head of the diocese for Central and Western Europe of the Patriarchate of Bulgaria, stated to the Pope, "We must find unity as soon as possible and finally celebrate together," L'Osservatore Romano reported.
"People don't understand our divisions and our discussions," the bishop stated. He affirmed that he will "not spare any efforts" to work for the quick restoration of "communion between Catholics and Orthodox."
Bishop Tichon said that "the theological dialogue that is going forward in these days in Cyprus is certainly important, but we should not be afraid to say that we must find as soon as possible the way to celebrate together."
"A Catholic will not become an Orthodox and vice versa, but we must approach the altar together," he added.
The prelate told the Pontiff that "this aspiration is a feeling that arose from the works of the assembly" of his diocese, held in Rome, in which all the priests and two delegates from every Bulgarian Orthodox parish took part.
"We have come to the Pope to express our desire for unity and also because he is the Bishop of Rome, the city that hosted our assembly," he stated.
Initiatives
After the bishop, Luka Bebic, speaker of the Croatian Parliament, addressed the Holy Father, inviting the Pontiff to visit his homeland and thanking him "for the support the Holy See has given our people since independence, during the war back then and now in the process that will lead Croatia to enter the European Union."
Benedict XVI next greeted members of the Association Rondine Cittadella della Pace [Citadel of Peace], which promotes dialogue and peace by bringing together students from conflict areas to live and study in community.
They shared with the Pope a concrete proposal titled "14 Points for Peace in the Caucasus" that was developed at an international congress the association organized in May.
The proposal was also distributed to the ambassadors of the Caucasus countries and to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. Young people of all the ethnic and religious groups of the Caucasus were also present at the audience.
Members of the Congregation of the Sisters of Charity of Cardinal Sancha, whose founder, Cardinal Ciriaco María Sancha y Hervas, was beatified Sunday in Toledo, Spain, also greeted the Pontiff. Headed by their superior, Sister Maria del Carmen Dominguez, the religious expressed to the Holy Father their commitment to be faithful to their original charism "of service to the poor, orphans and the elderly."
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I saw this article through a link on the web site Spirit Daily just this morning. I was surprised (not in a negative way) by the Bishop's comments because they were so direct IMO. The comments are very thought provoking.
yeah me too, it is exciting. I especially liked this statement that "A Catholic will not become an Orthodox and vice versa, but we must approach the altar together," he added.
I think it shows there is just a lot of bantering back and forth about this issue.
How odd, given that the Bulgarian church seems to have opted out of the Cyprus talks.
I agree - that was the thing that struck me as well. We need some analysis here of Bulgarian thought processes. Perhaps our friend, AntonI, can put aside the law books for a moment and tell us of any insights he might have.
Many years,
Neil
"One day all our ethnic traits ... will have disappeared. Time itself is seeing to this. And so we can not think of our communities as ethnic parishes, ... unless we wish to assure the death of our community."
Given this disparity between bishops and bishops, faithful and faithful, is it still widely considered a good idea to avoid "uniatism" in our day?
I see Orthodoxy as so manifold in its opinions on this issue (and others) that it seems like once some groups are convinced that unity with the bishop of Rome is a good thing, those who are uttering positive terms today will have given up and turned against union with a new set of complaints.
We have seen news of the Anglicans coming in part to Catholicism, why could it not be similar (as it was at Brest and Uzhhorod) for those Orthodox who long with communion with Rome?
Are my expectations too low here?
We must pray for our leaders on this matter continually. May our eyes be open to the union which will strengthen and purify away the very things that most people use as key points of dissension and strife.
Pope John Paul II was adamant about [u]not[/l] admitting more Eastern Orthodox Uniates corporately, in part to avoid driving the Russian Patriarchate from the Ecumenical Table.
Pope Benedict has been cautious about the whole issue; he avoids discussion thereof.
On the other hand, the most recent corporate uniate move was a single diocese of the ACE... which was handled on the level of their parallel uniate church, the Chaldean Church. Rome stayed out of the whole issue.
For the last 10 years (if not more), the BOP has not been involved in any ecumenical affairs, particularly since its withdrawal from the World Council of Churches.
The position of the BOP is that ecumenical discussions have not contributed to any potential unity and that there is an almost uncrossable gulf between Orthodoxy and everyone else.
I believe that the BOP is happy to work with people on social/environmental basis but theologically, essentially they don't really see the point. However, it has contributed in all intra-Orthodox discussions on the issues and the position of the BOP is reflected in the positions taken by the Orthodox Church.
In respect of the comment of Bishop Tikhon, I believe there was a little bit of a hullabaloo which resulted in people complaining to the Patriarchate...there was a statement from Metropolitam Simeon who heads the Metropolia but I can't quite remember what it said - it should be somewhere on the www.dveri.bg [dveri.bg] site which is unfortunately in Bulgarian.
I knew you'd come through! Thanks for the insights.
Prayers that your studies are going well.
Many years,
Neil
"One day all our ethnic traits ... will have disappeared. Time itself is seeing to this. And so we can not think of our communities as ethnic parishes, ... unless we wish to assure the death of our community."
Given this disparity between bishops and bishops, faithful and faithful, is it still widely considered a good idea to avoid "uniatism" in our day?
J.A.,
I really don't see what good could come of it. We now have several centuries of history to look back on, and from this perspective we can see both the "up side" and the "down side" of uniatism. This is part of the reason why the consensus now favors the pursuit of real unity, not the recapturing of partial groups (and the creation of new divisions).
Originally Posted by j.a.deane
I see Orthodoxy as so manifold in its opinions on this issue (and others) that it seems like once some groups are convinced that unity with the bishop of Rome is a good thing, those who are uttering positive terms today will have given up and turned against union with a new set of complaints.
This is where the working of the Holy Spirit comes into play. We have to desire unity and believe that it is possible. With regard to the various points of contention that are raised in the process of these discussions, many can be eliminated once a mutual trust has been established, while the others will hopefully lead to a salutary self-examination. Let us not forget that this cannot happen unless the consensus on both sides is to receive each other as Christ--anything short of that is doomed to failure.
Originally Posted by j.a.deane
We have seen news of the Anglicans coming in part to Catholicism, why could it not be similar (as it was at Brest and Uzhhorod) for those Orthodox who long with communion with Rome?
Are my expectations too low here?
The situation with the Anglicans, while similar, is actually quite different. For one thing, there is no question of re-ordaining EO priests, or of allowing EO bishops to enter into union only as presbyters. However, even more important is the reason why many Anglicans are seeking union with Rome--there is nothing in the EOC to compare with the apostasy in high places being seen in the Angican Church.
Originally Posted by j.a.deane
We must pray for our leaders on this matter continually. May our eyes be open to the union which will strengthen and purify away the very things that most people use as key points of dissension and strife.
Amen! (You seem to have answered your own question here! )
On the occasion of the statements of Bishop Tikhon of Tiberiopol, administrator of the Western and Central European Diocese of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, during his meeting with Pope Benedict ΧVI, Metropolitan Joseph of the United States, Canada and Australia stated the following for Dveri BG:
"On behalf of the clergy and laity in the Bulgarian Eastern Orthodox Diocese in the USA, Canada and Australia and in my own name I announce through Dveri BG that we dissociate outrselves from the statement posted in the media: "Bulgarian Orthodox Church is ready to unite with Roman Catholics." As part of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church � the Bulgarian Patriarchate, we expect an urgent response from the Holy Synod, whether the Bulgarian Orthodox Church is ready to take such steps."
Metropolitan JOSEPH of the USA, Canada and Australia
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