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Orthodox Churches |
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The Orthodox Churches, in their creeds and liturgical texts, constantly insist that they preserve the original faith handed down from the Apostles. This claim is fundamental to understanding Orthodoxy’s place within the Christian world. The Orthodox Churches are as ancient as the Catholic Church; indeed, for a thousand years Christians of East and West were one. Pope John Paul II speaks of Catholic and Orthodox as the “two lungs” of the Body of Christ, twin trunks of a single tree, firmly rooted in Jesus’ life and teaching. Within Orthodoxy a distinction is made between the Eastern Orthodox Churches, which accepted the Council of Chalcedon (451), and the six “pre-Chalcedonian” Oriental bodies. Orthodoxy as a whole does not possess Catholicism’s integrated structure, in which local churches are bound in loyalty to the See of Peter. To the outside observer, Orthodoxy is a colorful kaleidoscope of ethnic communions with names redolent of the Middle East, the Balkans, and the Slavic nations. There are fifteen autocephalous (literally, “self-headed”) Eastern Orthodox Churches: those of the ancient patriarchates of Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem; the later-founded patriarchates of Russia, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, and Georgia; and the churches of Cyprus, Greece, Poland, Albania, the Czech and Slovak Republics, and North America. The Orthodox fold also includes a number of smaller groups, including 25,000-member churches in Japan and China. Each church is governed by its own synod or council of bishops, although the Patriarch of Constantinople (the Ecumenical Patriarch) can convoke all of them to discuss matters of common interest. This autonomy in governance does not imply a lack of unity in faith and worship. All the Orthodox communions consider themselves fully members of one great Orthodox communion, confessing the same creed, performing the same liturgy, celebrating the same sacraments, living the same spirituality. Their administrative diversity is grounded partly in history, partly in a different conception of church structure than evolved in the West. To explore these foundations is to examine Orthodoxy’s separation from Catholicism as well. Historical Background • Christianity was born and grew within the Roman Empire. By the early fourth century, the city of Rome was languishing and the emperor Constantine moved his capital to the town of Byzantium (modern Istanbul) on the Bosporus. The emperor Theodosius established Christianity as the state religion shortly thereafter. Greek culture was dominant in the eastern part of the empire (modern Turkey and the Middle East), while Latin civilization struggled to absorb conquering barbarian tribes in the West. The Church had a similar bipolar character. Despite losses to Arab expansion, Byzantine civilization flourished in succeeding centuries. Constantinople and the great church of Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom) became the center of the Eastern Christian world. Greek Catholic missionaries, most notably the brothers Cyril and Methodius in the ninth century, spread the Gospel throughout Eastern Europe. Political rivalry between the Holy Roman Empire and Byzantium, plus differences in language and culture, caused the Eastern and Western Churches to drift apart. In this climate, ecclesial structures evolved in isolation. The Church in the West, stressing Christ’s confirming Peter as leader of the Twelve, developed as an international organization centered on the Bishop of Rome. The East, as already noted, stressed the autonomy of local churches gathered around their bishop. Growing tensions came to a head in 1054 when each side issued a formal condemnation (anathema) of the other. This “Great Schism” fractured the Christian world. The rift was deepened when crusaders sacked Constantinople in 1204 and enthroned a Latin patriarch. No lasting results came of the Council of Florence (1438-1445), which sought the reunion of East and West. Today’s Eastern Orthodoxy is the Eastern Christianity of Byzantium, still declaring itself to be the authentic Body of Christ from which Rome broke away a millennium ago. History has not been kind to the Orthodox; Arab and Turkish conquests subjected them to centuries of Muslim rule in the Middle East, and communist takeover exposed them to persecution in Eastern Europe. Yet they have tenaciously clung to their faith, meriting the admiration of all Christians. Steps Toward Unity • Since the publication of the Second Vatican Council’s Decree on Ecumenism, Unitatis Redintegratio, both parties to the schism have become increasingly aware of the need to work for the fulfillment of Jesus’ prayer “that they may all be one” (Jn 17:21). The anathemas of 1054 were lifted in 1965, not long after the establishment within the Roman Curia of a Secretariat (now Pontifical Council) for Promoting Christian Unity, and the two churches have engaged in official dialogue since 1980. The Catechism of the Catholic Church underlines the thinness of the wall that divides Catholic and Orthodox (cf. CCC 838). Pope John Paul II often expressed hope that full communion can be achieved, notably in the 1995 apostolic letter Orientale Lumen, Light of the East. Some obstacles are more cultural than theological. Orthodoxy’s rejection of centralized ecclesiastical authority and its use of the vernacular in liturgy, combined with the rise of nation states, ensured that Orthodox communions would be generally coextensive with national boundaries. Only in the last two hundred years, for example, has Russian Orthodoxy significantly spread beyond Russia. Moreover, old ethnic conflicts and enmities keep Christians apart, as in the former Yugoslavia, where Serbian Orthodox and Catholic Croats have often clashed. A thousand years of separation have also created a great psychological gulf. The sanctuaries, ceremonies, and customs of one body seem odd to the other. A sense of injured righteousness leads some Orthodox to remain aloof, while Catholics may tend to dismiss Eastern Christians as quaintly old-fashioned. In Orientale Lumen, Pope John Paul encourages Catholics to study Eastern liturgy and spirituality and “combat tensions” between the two groups (24). While time and fraternal charity may eventually overcome cultural differences, strictly ecclesiastical disputes must be resolved through formal dialogue. Catholics and Orthodox share the same faith, found in Holy Scripture and Sacred Tradition and codified in the Nicene Creed promulgated by the First Council of Nicaea in the year 325 – the Creed Catholics recite at Mass. However, the Orthodox accept as authoritative only the decrees of the first seven ecumenical councils of the Church, ending with the Second Council of Nicaea in 787. All later formulations, including those of the Councils of Trent (1545-1563), Vatican I (1869-1870), and Vatican II (1962-1965), are considered to have no force. Since the Orthodox do not acknowledge the primacy of the Pope, they also disregard his doctrinal pronouncements. Thus, while the Orthodox revere Mary as Theotokos, the Mother of God, they reject the doctrines of the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption because Popes affirmed them by exercising their infallible teaching authority. Issues in Dispute • Papal primacy is the most neuralgic issue dividing Catholics and Orthodox. Many Orthodox may be willing to accord the Bishop of Rome the first place in honor, but their heritage makes it extremely difficult to accept his juridical authority. In his 1995 encyclical That All May Be One, Ut Unum Sint, John Paul II insists that the primacy must be preserved as a guarantor of unity in doctrine and practice, but he suggests the possibility of interpreting it in terms that might make it acceptable to Christians separated from Rome (95). As we have seen, both churches accept the Nicene Creed as a normative confession of Christian faith. However, a dispute arose early on about the relationships of the Persons of the Trinity. Western theologians held that the Holy Spirit proceeded from the Father and the Son, rather than through or after the Son. Eventually the Roman Church unilaterally added the word filioque (“and the son”) to the Latin text of the Nicene Creed, much to the dismay of the Orthodox. The dispute has simmered since the ninth century. Other differences are properly viewed as distinct patterns in the tapestry of the faith rather than cause for conflict. Unlike Protestantism, Orthodoxy observes the same seven sacraments as the Catholic Church, though it may perform and understand them differently. Generally speaking, the Orthodox in their view of the sacraments place more emphasis upon the action of the worshiping community and less upon the act of the minister. For example, there is less stress on the priestly words of consecration in celebrating the Eucharist. Baptism takes the form of triple immersion, with the emphasis more on conferring new life than on wiping away the taint of original sin. Celibacy is not considered a requirement for priestly ordination, nor are the lay and clerical states as clearly distinguished as in the Catholic Church. Most Orthodox priests and deacons are married men, though bishops must be celibate. Orthodoxy tends to have a more practical and liturgical focus than Catholicism. While Orthodox theologians have produced compendiums of doctrine over the years – for instance, Peter Mogila’s 1638 Confession – the content of the faith has been transmitted primarily through liturgy. This was a historical necessity; whether under Muslim or communist rule, the liturgy was the main available source of religious knowledge and experience. The exact celebration of elaborate liturgies and the tenacious preservation of their ancient forms gave Orthodox communities coherence and ensured their survival. The conservatism of the Orthodox in liturgical affairs derives naturally from these conditions. Orthodox liturgies, which may last several hours and which stress reverence and mystery, are intended to engage the total person, intellectually, emotionally, and physically. (This holistic concept also fuels the Orthodox interest in icons, whose creation has been raised to a high art.) The Christian community exists most authentically in the lived, shared experience of worship, which, more than adherence to creeds or evangelization or work for social justice, constitutes the essence of religious identity. Each person’s relationship to God is mediated and expressed through this corporate worship. The notion of an individual religious life is much weaker in Orthodox Christianity than it is in Catholicism. There is a Russian Orthodox saying: “A man can be damned alone, but he can only be saved with others.” Eastern spirituality may help explain why monasticism has played so great a role in Orthodoxy, even though religious orders never developed. The monastic tradition has roots reaching back to the third century and still survives today, though in somewhat weakened form. The famous monastic enclave of Mount Athos in Greece, which included as many as six thousand men at its peak, still counts over one thousand drawn from many lands. Over the centuries, figures like St. Symeon the New Theologian (949-1033), following the tradition of the Greek Fathers, underscored the value of the contemplative life. The profound impact holy monks had on the Orthodox masses can be glimpsed in Dostoyevsky’s portrait of Father Zossima in the novel The Brothers Karamazov. Orthodoxy’s view of the quest for salvation stresses the idea of human divinization or participation in the life of God. In the words of St. Irenaeus, “God passed into man so that man might pass over to God.” The individual achieves this through incorporation into the Church, by the action of the Holy Spirit. The feasts of the Ascension and the Transfiguration, which envisage the human Jesus in glorified state, are extremely popular expressions of this mystery.
Yearning after
unity with the divine gives Orthodoxy a mystical quality sometimes
lacking in Western Christianity. Thus the reunification of Eastern with
Western Christianity is desirable not only to offer the world a common
witness but also to deepen and broaden the Christian life by joining the
best characteristics of both. Pope John Paul II says: “The words of the
West need the words of the East, so that God’s word may ever more
clearly reveal its unfathomable riches” (Orientale Lumen, 28). See: Anglicanism; Church, Membership in; Church, Nature, Origin, and Structure of; Ecumenism; Patrology; Pope; Protestantism.
Suggested Readings: CCC 830-838. Vatican Council II, Decree on Ecumenism, Unitatis Redintegratio. John Paul II, That All May Be One, Ut Unum Sint; Light of the East, Orientale Lumen. H. Smith, “Christianity,” The Religions of Man. David M. Byers
See: Infallibility; Magisterium; Pope. |
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