A través de un comunicado de la parte rusa, la Comisión mixta internacional
para el diálogo teológico entre la Iglesia católica y la Iglesia ortodoxa
reunida en Chieti Italia hasta este jueves 22 de septiembre, informó de un
acuerdo para la aceptación del documento Hacia una comprensión común de
la sinodalidad y del primado al servicio de la unidad de la Iglesia.
Precisamente, la novedad está en el pacto alcanzado casi a la
unanimidad. De esta manera, se llega a un acuerdo sobre la definición
compartida del principio del primado.
En los primeros siglos, entre altos y bajos, el obispo de Roma era reconocido
por la Iglesia de Oriente y Occidente como primus, debido a que era el
titular de la primera sede, o sea la Iglesia de Roma.
El documento es un paso adelante aunque no vinculante, pero en esta ocasión
la Iglesia ortodoxa rusa no se ha levantado de la mesa del diálogo como había
ocurrido en la sesión de Rávena, Italia, en 2007. Los observadores consideraban
“crítico” el momento además por los precedentes de incomunicación dentro de
la ortodoxia.
Uniatismo, piedra en el zapato del diálogo
Luego de la conclusión de la XIV Sesión plenaria, el departamento sinodal
para las relaciones eclesiásticas externas del patriarcado de Moscú ha dado la
noticia, pero también advierte que aún existe un problema con el tema de las
secuelas del uniatismo, es decir, el tema de los católicos
griegos ucranianos con rito oriental que son fieles al Papa.
La Iglesia rusa puntualizó: “será difícil seguir adelante con el diálogo si
no se resuelve la cuestión de las consecuencias eclesiológicas y canónicas del
uniatismo”.
El documento es producto de un documento borrador que tuvo dos procesos de
realización anteriores: la Sesión realizada en Amán en el año 2014 y la reunión
del Comité en Roma en 2015. En Chieti se trabajó con ese borrador.
Según Moscú, el Comité, que incluye la presentación de 14 Iglesia ortodoxas y
autocéfalas, ha llegado a un acuerdo en el tema del primado y la
sinodalidad.
Sólo la Iglesia georgiana manifestó su desacuerdo con algunos párrafos
específicos, esto se reflejará en algunas notas del documento.
Sin embargo, se trata de un paso adelante en el diálogo entre las Iglesias de
oriente y occidente. A pesar de la posición de la Iglesia de Georgia, la Iglesia
ortodoxa rusa adoptó el documento final.
El patriarcado de Moscú espera que en la próxima Sesión plenaria, que se
realizará en 2017, se resuelva el ‘uniatismo’ .
El metropolita Hilarión, jefe de la delegación ortodoxa rusa, sostuvo que no
aceptaba la posición de la Iglesia católica griega de Ucrania y
la tachó de “inaceptable” desde la perspectiva de la “ética cristiana”.
El también ministro de Relaciones Exteriores alzó la voz contra el arzobispo
mayor de Kiev, Sviatoslav Shevchuk, por sus declaraciones anti-rusas. Hilarión
sostiene que Shevchuk está soplando sobre el fuego de la desconfianza que aleja
a católicos y ortodoxos y es obstáculo del diálogo presente y futuro.
La Comisión mixta ha sido presidida por el cardenal Kurt Koch, presidente del
consejo pontificio para la promoción de la unidad de los cristianos, y por
el arzobispo de Telmessos Iob (Getcha), del patriarcado ecuménico.
Ahora, hay que esperar la publicación del documento completo por parte de
ambas partes.
22.09.2016
00:26
The 14th Plenary Session of the Joint
Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Orthodox Church and the Roman
Catholic Church completes its work
Share the post "The 14th Plenary Session of the
Joint Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Orthodox Church and the
Roman Catholic Church completes its work"
September 21, 2016 –
The 14th Plenary Session of the Joint
Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Orthodox Church and the Roman
Catholic Church completed its work in Chieti, Italy.
After the necessary amendments and additions, the plenary
session approved a common document on Synodality and Primacy during the First
Millennium: Towards a Common Understanding in Service to the Unity of the
Church.
The delegation of the Georgian Church made a statement
expressing disagreement with particular paragraphs of the document. This
statement was included in the communique adopted by the plenary session and will
be present as a footnote in the common document to be published on behalf of the
Commission in the nearest future.
The meeting considered a topic to be chosen as a follow-up
of the dialogue. The head of the Russian Orthodox Church delegation,
Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate
Department for External Church Relations (DECR), put forward a proposal to
devote the next stage of the dialogue to the theme of synodality and primacy in
the Churches of East and West in the second millennium, stressing that in the
framework of this theme the Commission should complete the discussion on
Uniatism as a phenomenon which arose after the 1054 schism and which still
constitutes a stumbling stone in the Orthodox-Catholic relations.
Metropolitan Hilarion reminded the meeting that the Joint
Commission was to discuss the issue of ecclesiological and canonical
consequences of Uniatism at its plenary session in Baltimore, USA, as far back
as the year 2000. It was to become a continuation of the work that began in the
1990th with the document condemning Uniatism adopted in Balamand,
Lebanon, in 1993, followed by a document on the same issue drafted in Ariccia in
1998. However, the work in Baltimore was not completed because of disagreements
that arose both between the Catholic and Orthodox sides of the dialogue and
within each of the sides.
After the Joint Commission resumed its work after a
6-years break, Metropolitan Hilarion continued, ‘it was proposed that we should
start discussing the issue of primacy and synodality. Our Church agreed to this
proposal on the condition that within the context of the theme of primacy and
synodality the Commission will explore the canonical and ecclesiological
consequences of Uniatism. However, for ten years from 2006 to 2015 the
Commission has never revisited this theme. The logic of our dialogue requires
that, after completing the document on primacy and synodality in the Church of
the first millennium, we should move to considering synodality and primacy in
the Churches of East and West in the second millennium. And here we will have to
deal with the issue of the 1054 schism and also the issue of Uniatism as one of
the central ones in the second millennium. I can predict that there will be many
divisive issues and that we will not agree on every point. However, the aim of
our dialogue is not simply to agree on the points of which we agree anyhow, but
we have to explore also the points of disagreement. And the issue of Uniatism is
one such extremely burning issues’.
Metropolitan Hilarion drew the attention of the Commission
to the actions of leaders of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, inadmissible
in Christian ethics: ‘We can hear the statements made by the UGCC Supreme
Archbishop Svyatoslav Shevchuk, which go against the line of our dialogue,
create obstacles on its way and sow distrust between the Orthodox and the
Catholics. There was a meeting between Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill in
February in Havana. For our Church it was a historic event since the Pope and
the Patriarch have never met before. We believe it was a very good meeting as it
opened a new page in our bilateral relations. However, immediately after it
finished it was heavily criticized by the Ukrainian Greek Catholics and not by
some group of the faithful but the UGCC leaders themselves. It was not just
criticized but there were many insults and unfair attacks. We have to understand
that there are people in our Churches who create obstacles on our way, and we
have to bear it in mind when we speak about the future of our dialogue’.
On his part, Archimandrite Irenaeus (Steenberg), a member
of the Russian Orthodox Church delegation, pointed out that in discussing the
topic of primacy and synodality in the Churches of East and West in the second
millennium, some points will certainly arise on which the two parts of the
Commission will have serious disagreements. Nevertheless, it is necessary to
discuss this topic, as well as the issue of Uniatism. He stressed that it would
be difficult for the Russian Orthodox Church to continue working in the
Orthodox-Catholic dialogue if the problem of ecclesiological and canonical
consequences of the unia remains unsolved.
After a discussion it was agreed to leave the question of
the topic for further discussion at the discretion of the Joint Commission’s
coordinating committee, which is to meet during 2017.
In the communique adopted at the closing meeting, the
participants in the plenary session thanked Msgr. Bruno Forte, Archbishop of
Chieti-Vasto for the hospitality.
The Joint Commission also expressed solidarity with the
suffering population of the Middle East and a number of countries in Europe and
the world. The document makes a special mention of the Metropolitans of Aleppo
kidnapped by terrorists – Paul, Patriarchate of Antioch, who is a member of the
Joint Commission, and Gregory John Ibrahim, Syro-Jacobite Church.
DECR Communication
Service
Sun, Sep 25, 2016 at 12:40 PM
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