Bulgarian Orthodox Leader Affirms Desire for Unity

VATICAN CITY, OCT. 22, 2009 (Zenit.org).- A Bulgarian Orthodox prelate told Benedict XVI of his desire for unity, and his commitment to accelerate communion with the Catholic Church.
At the end of Wednesday’s general audience, Bishop Tichon, head of the diocese for Central and Western Europe of the Patriarchate of Bulgaria, stated to the Pope, “We [...]

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‘Schism and Communion’

By David J. Melling (1943-2004)
(Many thanks to De Unione Ecclesiarum for the text of this article.)
Early in his ministry as a Non-Juror Anglican priest, the saintly William Law published a sequence of “Letters to a Lady inclined to enter the Church of Rome.” (1732-3) His advice to the Lady was that she, like other laymembers [...]

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Will the “Third Rome” Reunite with the “First Rome”?

Recent Meeting Could Mark Turning Point
By Robert Moynihan
WASHINGTON, D.C., SEPT. 21, 2009 (Zenit.org)- Sometimes there are no fireworks. Turning points can pass in silence, almost unobserved.
It may be that way with the “Great Schism,” the most serious division in the history of the Church. The end of the schism may come more quickly and more [...]

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The Pope on Symeon the New Theologian

September 16, 2009
Dear brothers and sisters,
Today we pause to reflect on the figure of the Eastern monk Symeon the New Theologian, whose writings exercised a noteworthy influence on the theology and spirituality of the East, in particular, regarding the experience of mystical union with God.
Symeon the New Theologian was born in 949 in Galatia, in [...]

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Say what?

I’m not one to speak of “insurmountable” obstacles between East and West, and I’ve never been able to subscribe fully to the notion (oft-repeated throughout the Orthodox blogosphere) that, in order for reunion to take place, one side would have to annihilate itself by becoming part and parcel of the other (actually, my view is [...]

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Two from Rome

Pope Encourages Orthodox Conference
Annual Event Takes Up Theme of Spiritual Struggle
VATICAN CITY, SEPT. 4, 2009 (Zenit.org). – Benedict XVI is encouraging an “opportune initiative” being organized to consider the “spiritual struggle” as understood in the Orthodox tradition.
The Pope, through his secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, sent a message to the 17th annual International Ecumenical [...]

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More on the “Confession”

This approach [of the "Confession of Faith Against Ecumenism"] is at variance with the policy of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and, increasingly, the body of local Orthodox Churches which are involved in the painstaking dialogue and progress towards restoring communion between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church undertaken by the International Theological Catholic-Orthodox Dialogue, and [...]

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Fr Alvin Kimel on the “Twelve Differences”

Orrologion has posted the original text of the “Twelve Differences between the Orthodox and Catholic Churches” by Teófilo de Jesús along with excellent responses to each of the twelve points from Fr Alvin Kimel, of Pontifications* fame, who in his extended period of discernment after leaving the Episcopal Church studied the claims of both Roman [...]

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Benedictine Ecumenical Calibration

From the blog Gregorian Rite Catholic:
Benedict XVI is “on board” with ecumenism, but he calibrates it carefully. It is a refreshing change from the near-indifferentism that characterized the previous pontificate.
The first substantial ecumenical address he gave was in Cologne. And everyone was all aflutter when he said this: “On the other hand, this unity does [...]

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Grassroots ecumenism in Ukraine

From the Pontifical Society of St John Chrysostom:
LEADING Latin Rite Bishop in Ukraine has reported that relations with the Russian Orthodox are getting increasingly warmer. Speaking to Aid to the Church in Need during a visit to the charity’s international headquarters in Germany, Bishop Marian Buczek of the Latin-Rite Diocese of Kharkiv-Zaporizhzhya, Ukraine gave his [...]

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