http://www.thetablet.co.uk/article/163991
When Benedict XVI resigned, Patriarch
Bartholomew of Constantinople expressed more than surprise. There was clearly dismay
that their “excellent cooperation”, which had overseen the re-engagement of the
Catholic and Orthodox Churches in dialogue in 2007, after an impasse lasting
seven years, might not fulfil its promise because of a “brief papacy”. The
Roman pontiff is still regarded as the first of the patriarchs by Orthodoxy,
even if Pope Benedict dropped his title “Patriarch of the West” in 2006 as
defunct, standing in the way of realistic ecumenism. So why should a pope
retire when urgent labours are in hand and their fruits within reach? “With his
wisdom and experience he could have provided much more to the Church and the
world”.
The Ecumenical Patriarch is regarded as primus inter pares by many, but not all,
of the world’s Orthodox Churches. He is second only in the Universal Church to
the Bishop of Rome, but he is not an opposite number, having no immediate
jurisdiction beyond his small community in Turkey and parts of north-east
Greece, although his general responsibility for Orthodox in diaspora affords
him considerable influence. For wider leadership he relies as much on
persuasion, prestige and moral authority as canon law. With painstaking plans
for a Pan-Orthodox Council making progress, and an abiding sense of affinity
between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches as both are dispersed alongside each
other in every corner of the globe, Bartholomew invested much hope in
Benedict’s papacy for mutual support and cooperation in the contemporary
setting. Concerned for all Orthodox in diaspora, the continued growth of
Christianity in Europe and the very survival of the Churches in their Eastern
lands of origin, their joint efforts at solidarity and even communion appeared
at risk with the prospect of a new leader.
Thus a statement from the Patriarchate explained
Bartholomew’s decision to attend Pope Francis’ inauguration personally: the
need for “a profoundly bold step … that could have lasting significance”. It
is the first time the Bishop of Constantinople has attended the inauguration of
the Bishop of Rome ever, let alone since the great schism of 1054. Yet the
Patriarch has already visited Rome a number of times since Pope Benedict’s
visit to Istanbul in 2006. He was the only ecumenical leader invited to make a
speech at the celebrations for the fiftieth anniversary of Vatican II and there
have been annual visits between Rome and Constantinople on the feasts of their
apostles for decades. But this latest visit was different: “after such a long
division … authentic reunion will require courage, leadership and humility.
Given Pope Francis’ well-documented work for social justice and his insistence
that globalization is detrimental to the poor … the Orthodox and the Roman
Catholic traditions have a renewed opportunity to work collectively on issues
of mutual concern… But such work requires a first step and it would appear as
though Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew is willing to take such a step.” In one
of those seemingly informal but resonant gestures that we are beginning to
expect from Francis, the response was immediate and commensurate. The successor
of Peter greeted the successor of the other Galilean fisherman as “my brother
Andrew”.
Another dimension was revealed in a press
interview within hours of Francis’ election by Patriarch Sviatoslav, Major-Archbishop
of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, by far the largest of the Eastern
Churches in communion with Rome, which shares the same origins in Kiev as the
Russian Orthodox Church, as well as the same Byzantine Rite and tradition as
the Church of Constantinople itself. He revealed that the young Jorge Maria Borgoglio
frequently attended the Ukrainian Divine Liturgy served by Fr Stepan Chmil, a great
mentor to him: “The Holy Father knows not only of our Church, but also our
liturgy, our rites, and our spirituality.” Furthermore, as Archbishop of Buenos
Aires, Francis was Ordinary for Eastern Catholics. In 2009 Sviatoslav arrived
as the auxiliary bishop for the Ukrainian Catholic eparchy in Argentina and
tells how his first steps in episcopal ministry were under the Cardinal’s
watchful care. They have an even closer bond now, because a year later
Sviatoslav was called upon to succeed his revered mentor Lubomyr Cardinal
Husar, who retired like Pope Benedict has done. At the age of 41, his election
boldly charts a new course for the Ukrainian Catholic Church in service of
society and the unity of Churches at home and abroad for decades to come. Pope
Francis will be looking East to a dynamic former protégé for inspiration as he
charts his own new course.
Whether it concerns a renewed partnership with
the historic Eastern Catholic Churches, or forging new bonds hopefully leading
to communion with the Orthodox, the model for Pope Francis’s understanding of
the Christian East, unlike his predecessors, is not European. They envisaged
the re-composition of the old Christendom around the reference points of the
Mediterranean. But in world Christianity, Borgoglio has seen that the East is
now right across the West, just as the West has suffused the lands of the East
and is likewise worldwide. To talk of our respective territories is, as
Benedict realised, increasingly beside the point. Anthony O’Mahony, director of
the Centre for Eastern Christianity at Heythrop College, estimates that there
are now over 4 million Eastern Christians, Catholic and Orthodox across Western
Europe. But the weight of the diaspora
seems to be shifting from Europe and North America to the emerging powers in
the global south, notably Australia and Latin America. Here these old Churches
are young and confident, able both to sustain their tradition as they also
become indigenous and move beyond being simply ethnic chaplaincies. They can
thus play strong roles alongside others in the work of evangelisation,
spiritual renewal, ecumenical engagement and wider social development. This is
what Pope Francis is used to and how he will approach the inheritors of
Byzantium across Europe too, Catholic and Orthodox alike.
So, what of the Russian Orthodox Church, the
largest of all? Moscow regards itself as Third Rome and the decisive player in
the future of the Orthodox Church as a whole. It believes an alliance with the
Catholic Church in “the struggle for the soul of Europe” is critical, but finds
the universal primacy of the Roman see difficult to contemplate. It sent its
Head of External Relations, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, who did his
doctorate in the West at Oxford and is regarded as a likely successor to
Patriarch Kirill. The message from Moscow present and future was clear: Pope
Francis was firmly addressed as “primate of the Roman Catholic Church” and as
Kirill’s peer. Despite progress in Orthodox-Catholic dialogue, which is seeking
an agreed view on the Roman primacy in the first millennium as a basis for
recovering communion, it feels out of place to the Russian Church, whose
consciousness largely relates to the second, during which it has grown
considerably, with little awareness of the need for a universal primacy. Its
present size, resources and world diaspora mean that it is no longer local but
a fact of life to come to terms with, not just for the Catholic Church but
other Orthodox jurisdictions too. Importantly, Russia’s activity in the Middle
East reanimates an Imperial role as protector of all Orthodox. Given that peace
and stability for that region and its Christians will loom as large for Francis
as for Benedict, because they directly affect the wellbeing of Europe, the
significance of the Moscow patriarchate has to be faced.
Pope Francis’ intention to trust and work with the
“local Church” resonates with many Orthodox. They have long been looking for
signs that the collegiality set forth at Vatican II will turn into reality.
They have noted how he has called himself not supreme pontiff or pope, but
Bishop of Rome. They will be looking to see how the primate of the Church
“presiding in love” at Rome, will treat the Eastern Catholic Churches: as
subsets of the global Roman Catholic organisation, or as honoured Churches,
firmly rooted in their local homeland, yet now living side by side with Latin
Catholicism’s own diaspora in the emerging societies of the south and
throughout the world. It will reveal how the new Pope envisages the restoration
of communion between Catholics and Orthodox, since West and East must rely on
each other for the future. The Orthodox will be hoping that indeed Pope
Francis, Brother Peter to Brother Andrew, “knows our Church”.
Fr Mark Woodruff is a Westminster priest and
Vice-Chairman of the Society of St John Chrysostom, which promotes
Catholic-Orthodox relations and the unity of the Churches of East and West.