ÿþ<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> <head> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" /> <!-- InstanceBeginEditable name="doctitle" --> <title>The Voice Of Orthodoxy</title> <style type="text/css"> <!-- body { background-color: #ecedf2; } .style81 {color: #0C5ADC; font-weight: bold; } .style82 {font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; } --> </style></head> <BODY LEFTMARGIN=0 TOPMARGIN=0 MARGINWIDTH=0 MARGINHEIGHT=0> <table width="784" height="111" border="0" align="center" bordercolor="#E9E9E9" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"> <tr> <td height="45" bgcolor="#9999FF"> <p align="center"><font size="+6" COLOR = #990000> THE VOICE OF ORTHODOXY</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td height="45" bgcolor="#9999FF" valign="top" > <p align="center"><b><font size="+2"> <i>A Bimonthly Conservative Journal To Defend The Apostolic Faith, Morals And Canons Of The Ancient Orthodox Church.</b></i> <strong> <table width="784" border="0" align="center"> <tr> <td align = "left">Volume : XIV</td> <td align = "center"> NOVEMBER - DECEMBER 2010</td> <td align = "right">Issue : 6</td> </tr> </table> </strong> <marquee scrollamount="2" direction="left"><i>ORTHODOXY: THE TRUTH BEARER; FOR REQUESTS CALL: 773-480-7273</i></marquee> </p> </td> </tr> </table> <table width="784" height="758" border="0" align="center" bordercolor="#E9E9E9" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"> <tr> <td width="164" height="182" rowspan="2" valign="top" bgcolor="#9999FF"><br /> <table width="96%" height="75" border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="1" bgcolor="#9999FF"> <tbody> <tr> <td width="153" valign="top"> <table> <tr> <p><img src="../../images/st.mary.jpg" width="153" height="209" /></p> </tr> </table> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#eef5f9"> <td bgcolor="#ecedf2" height="14"><table cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1" width="98%" align="center" border="0"> <tbody> <tr> <td width="15%" height="16"><div align="right"> <div align="justify"><font color="#333333" size="2"><width="8" height="9" /></font></div> </div></td> <td align="justify" width="85%"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#333333" size="2"><a href="../../default.html">Home</a></font></td> </tr> </tbody> </table></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#eef5f9"> <td bgcolor="#ecedf2" height="14"><table cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1" width="98%" align="center" border="0"> <tbody> <tr> <td width="15%" height="16"><div align="right"> <div align="justify"><font color="#333333" size="2"><width="8" height="9" /></font></div> </div></td> <td align="justify" width="85%"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#333333" size="2"><a href="../../current.html">Current Issue</a></font></td> </tr> </tbody> </table></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#eef5f9"> <td bgcolor="#ecedf2" height="21"><table width="99%" height="18" border="0" align="center" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1"> <tbody> <tr> <td width="15%"><div align="right"> <div align="justify"><font color="#333333" size="2"><width="8" height="9" /></font></div> </div></td> <td align="justify" width="85%"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#333333" size="2"><a href="../../archives.html">Archives</a></font></td> </tr> </tbody> </table></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </br> <font size="2" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><strong>Sponsors &gt;&gt;</strong></font><br /> <table width="98%" height="159" border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="1" bgcolor="#ecedf2"> <tbody> <tr bgcolor="#eef5f9"> <td width="149" bgcolor="#ecedf2" height="23"><table cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1" width="100%" align="center" border="0"> <tbody> <tr> <td><div align="justify"></div> <font color="#333333" size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" class="style45"><b>Coming Soon..</b></font></td> </tr> </tbody> </table></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"><!-- InstanceBeginEditable name="EditRegion13" --> <table width="620" border="0" align="center"> <tr> <td width="614" height="476" valign="top"> <p align="center"><font size="6" face="Liberation Serif"><b>Progress of Theological Dialogue Between Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches May Be an Illusion</b></font></p><p align="center"><font size="3" face="Liberation Serif"><b>By Evagelos Sotiropoulos</b></font></p><p><font size="3" face="Liberation Serif"><b> <br></b></font><font size="3" face="Palatino Linotype">In September, the 12th session of the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church was held in Austria.</font></p><p><font size="3" face="Liberation Serif">Reports described dialogue outcomes enthusiastically, saying significant progress had been achieved, including the possibility of becoming  sister churches with the bishop of Rome as titular head. Metropolitan Hilarion, however, speaking on behalf of the Moscow Patriarchate, quickly squelched speculation of a  breakthrough. </font></p><p><font size="3" face="Liberation Serif">In 2007, it should be noted, the Vatican affirmed that Christ established only one Church and that this  one Church subsists in the Catholic Church. <br><a name="0.1_more-7351"></a> <br>The foundation for this  historically inaccurate as I think it is  is the idea that the true Church is governed by the successor of Peter (i.e., the pope) and bishops in communion with him. This is why the focus of the dialogue last month in Vienna was so important.</font></p><p><font size="3" face="Liberation Serif">The trouble, though, is that the position of the pope has been promulgated for so long that many hold it to be not only authentic, but also unquestionable.</font></p><p><font size="3" face="Liberation Serif">Take broadcaster Michael Coren, for example. Host of his own television show on CTS and a columnist for Sun Media, he wrote recently that the Pope is  the only human living link we have with Christ and that popes  who have been personally flawed have never taught heresy. Because they can t. </font></p><p><font size="3" face="Liberation Serif">Really? No.</font></p><p><font size="3" face="Liberation Serif">In the Orthodox Church  the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church  all bishops continue the direct and unbroken line of succession transmitted by the Apostles themselves. As for the second statement, the </font><a href="http://mb-soft.com/believe/txn/filioque.htm" target="_blank"><font color="#000080" size="3" face="Liberation Serif"><u>filioque</u></font></a><font size="3" face="Liberation Serif"> (the addition to the Creed that the Orthodox say is heretical) was initially rejected by popes, but later made official doctrine, highlighting that Roman Catholicism, according to the Orthodox, has or is teaching heresy.</font></p><p><font size="3" face="Liberation Serif">(The filioque refers to the idea that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son; the Orthodox say the Holy Spirit proceeds only from the Father.)</font></p><p><font size="3" face="Liberation Serif">Putting such issues aside, if Church leaders actually reached some sort of agreement, would both sides comply with compromises that betrayed their respective traditions? This is a particularly pertinent point for Orthodoxy in which authority is much more decentralized compared to Rome.</font></p><p><font size="3" face="Liberation Serif">But ecumenism, the move towards greater Christian unity, has historically been employed for political, as well as religious reasons. This was case, for example, with the two formal attempts at rapprochement between east and west, although neither one lasted very long. Those agreements are instructive for discussions going on today.</font></p><p><font size="3" face="Liberation Serif">The first attempt at reunion at Lyons in 1274 was succinctly summed-up by the Emperor s sister when she said,  Better that my brother s Empire should perish, than the purity of the Orthodox faith. The second attempt at Florence in 1438-9 wasn t even proclaimed in public in the east for more than a decade after it was signed.</font></p><p><font size="3" face="Liberation Serif">Although the Great Schism took place in 1054, the truth is an estrangement existed between east and west for 200 years before then. The excommunication process was a gradual one, with the two sides having become strangers to one another due to different languages and political and cultural traditions. For 1,000 years since, these differences have continued and deepened and won t be settled through theological dialogues alone.</font></p><p><font size="3" face="Liberation Serif">Notwithstanding the bridges that are being built between east and west, the role of the pope needs to be somehow reconciled with what it was in the first centuries of Christianity. Otherwise, a roadblock to rapprochement will exist, because while the Church is infallible, there is no such thing as personal infallibility  even for the Bishop of Rome.</font></p><p align="right"><font size="3" face="Liberation Serif"><i>(Evagelos Sotiropoulos is a freelance writer who lives in Toronto)</i></font></p><p><font size="3" face="Liberation Serif"> <br></font> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br></p><p><font size="3" face="Liberation Serif"><b> <br></b></font></p> </td> </tr> </table> <!-- InstanceEndEditable --></td> </tr> </table> </body> <!-- InstanceEnd --></html>