Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople to attend Pope's installation Mass

The Ecumenical Patriarch will be accompanied by Ioannis Zizioulas, Metropolitan of Pergamon and Co-President of the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Roman Catholic and the Orthodox Church, as well as Tarassios, Orthodox Metropolitan of Argentina, and Gennadios, Orthodox Metropolitan of Italy.



Pope and Patriarch

Relations between Catholics and Orthodox have been improving since the Second Vatican Council through mutual visits, acts of friendship and theological dialogue.

Under Benedict XVI, the dialogue picked up in earnest after a lull. In trying to promote it, the pope suggested ways to express the primacy of Peter's successor that could be acceptable to the Orthodox, finding his inspiration from the undivided Church of the first millennium.


Cathcon- most excellent news- and real ecumenical movement under the new Pope.  Who will the Russians be sending?  They have already said that an early meeting is not on the cards- it won't be in Moscow or Rome.   The Pope has good links to Ukrainian Catholics and presides over their Ordinariate in Argentina.

Pope Benedict laid aside the title of Patriarch of the West, a move with which the Russian Orthodox disapproved. (link to specific article now broken)

Oh that the Catholic Church since the Vatican Council had guarded Her liturgies as well as the Orthodox have done for centuries!

Comments

Geremia said…
The Orthodox made a pact with the devil: they gave him an offering of schism, and he returned to them the semblance of a "guarded liturgy"…
Tancred said…
If the Orthos had a larger diaspora in The US you'd have seen more. Solemn, even spotless Liturgy is no guarantee against heresy. Anyway, lots of updating going in in Orthodox Liturgy in the US.
Blogger said…
Alan,

Forgive me for any offense you may take at these words. But, please, consider this perspective:

Per, revised and modern canonical tradition, Roman Catholics offer some sacraments to non-members of the Church. This is heterodoxy since it is a deviation from the ancient Faith of the Holy Fathers. Per the canons of the 1st millennium Church and the ancient Faith, itself, Orthodoxy continues to reserve the holy sacraments (mysteries) of Christ to only those inside the Church.

The only "pact with the devil" would be for the Orthodox Church to come into union with a Church that teaches and practices a non-patristic and heterodox sharing of the Church's sacraments with those outside her fold, which would force the Orthodox Church to compromise her ancient Faith on this point.

God bless and lead you, Alan.
Blogger said…
"If the Orthos had a larger diaspora in The US you'd have seen more."

The Divine Services of the Orthodox Church are guided by immemorial tradition, not the latest whims of our Patriarch, priests, or laity. Please, don't apply the liturgical sensibilities of modern Catholicism to the worship of the Orthodox Church. They are two totally different things. One is anchored in the ancient Christian Faith and the other is moored to the sensibilities of the modern age.

"Anyway, lots of updating going in in Orthodox Liturgy in the US."

What a curious remark - I see a lot of updating going on in the Roman Catholic Liturgy in Rome, itself. When did our priest begin facing west or change their traditional vestments?

Can you elaborate on this Orthodox liturgical reform that you perceive?