www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life The Christian East & West "Corporate" Reunion

Brethren,

In another thread, someone recently suggested that the union we want to see between the RCC and the EOC is a "corporate" reunion--the notion was immediately denounced.

This puzzled me, because--properly understood--the word "corporate" simply means "as a body" (from the Latin "corpus" or body), and in this sense, I think it is *exactly* what we want to see--reunion as members of the one body of Christ.

I'm guessing here, but it seems that people are equating "corporate" with "institutional" (or merely legal). How else could they find the term corporate unacceptable? An institutional reunion would essentially be like the failed reunions of the past, in which the reunion was mandated by law, but never got beyond that point.

My own opinion is that a successful reunion can only happen after a period of interaction and mutual assistance, during which the faithful of both sides get to know each other and recognize the living Christ in each other. When this happens, they will be asking themselves, "yes, why *are* we separated?" and the rest will follow from there.


Peace,
Deacon Richard

My own guess (and its pure speculation at this point, not having seen the thread in question) is that the word "corporate" was essentially interpreted as a call to uniformity; something similar to what happens when one secular business buys out and takes control of another. Often the business that's been bought out will have its name changed and its brand "interfered with" in some manner or another by the new owners.

If the notion of "corporate reunion" was shot down, it was probably by Eastern Christians who perceived this to refer to Rome "buying out" the East and, as the new "owners" altering any and all portions of it that it deems fit (in a worst case scenario, wanting everyone in the East to fully Latinize). Completely unacceptable.