Patriarchal and Synodal
Encyclical On the Sunday of Orthodoxy
Prot. No. 213
(February
21, 2010)
BARTHOLOMEW
By God’s Grace
Archbishop of
Constantinople-New Rome
and Ecumenical
Patriarch
To the Fullness of
the Church, Grace and Peace
From our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ
Our most holy Orthodox Church
today commemorates its own feast day, and – from this historical and
martyric See of the Ecumenical Patriarchate – the Mother Church of
Constantinople directs its blessing, love and concern to all of its
faithful and dedicated spiritual children throughout the world, inviting
them to concelebrate in prayer.
Blessed be the name of the
Lord! Those who endeavored over the ages to suppress the Church through
various visible and invisible persecutions; those who sought to falsify
the Church with their heretical teachings; those who wanted to silence
the Church, depriving it of its voice and witness; they all proved
unsuccessful. The clouds of Martyrs, the tears of the Ascetics, and the
prayers of the Saints protect the Church spiritually, while the
Comforter and Spirit of Truth leads it to the fullness of truth.
With a sense of duty and
responsibility, despite its hurdles and problems, as the First-Throne
Church of Orthodoxy, the Ecumenical Patriarchate cares about protecting
and establishing the unity of the Orthodox Church, in order that with
one voice and in one heart we may confess the Orthodox faith of our
Fathers in every age and even in our times. For, Orthodoxy is not a
museum treasure that must be preserved; it is a breath of life that must
be transmitted and invigorate all people. Orthodoxy is always
contemporary, so long as we promote it with humility and interpret it in
light of the existential quests and needs of humanity in each historical
period and cultural circumstance.
To this purpose, Orthodoxy must
be in constant dialogue with the world. The Orthodox Church does not
fear dialogue because truth is not afraid of dialogue. On the contrary,
if Orthodoxy is enclosed within itself and not in dialogue with those
outside, it will both fail in its mission and no longer be the
“catholic” and “ecumenical” Church. Instead, it will become an
introverted and self-contained group, a “ghetto” on the margins of
history. This is why the great Fathers of the Church never feared
dialogue with the spiritual culture of their age – indeed even with the
pagan idolaters and philosophers of their world – thereby influencing
and transforming the civilization of their time and offering us a truly
ecumenical Church.
Today, Orthodoxy is called to
continue this dialogue with the outside world in order to provide a
witness and the life-giving breath of its faith. However, this dialogue
cannot reach the outside world unless it first passes through all those
that bear the Christian name. Thus, we must first converse as Christians
among ourselves in order to resolve our differences, in order that our
witness to the outside world may be credible. Our endeavors for the
union of all Christians is the will and command of our Lord, who before
His Passion prayed to His Father “that all [namely, His disciples] may
be one, so that the world may believe that You sent me.” (John 17.21) It
is not possible for the Lord to agonize over the unity of His disciples
and for us to remain indifferent about the unity of all Christians. This
would constitute criminal betrayal and transgression of His divine
commandment.
It is precisely for these
reasons that, with the mutual agreement and participation of all local
Orthodox Churches, the Ecumenical Patriarchate has for many decades
conducted official Panorthodox theological dialogues with the larger
Christian Churches and Confessions. The aim of these dialogues is, in a
spirit of love, to discuss whatever divides Christians both in terms of
faith as well as in terms of the organization and life of the Church.
These dialogues, together with
every effort for peaceful and fraternal relations of the Orthodox Church
with other Christians, are unfortunately challenged today in an
unacceptably fanatical way – at least by the standards of a genuinely
Orthodox ethos – by certain circles that exclusively claim for
themselves the title of zealot and defender of Orthodoxy. As if all the
Patriarchs and Sacred Synods of the Orthodox Churches throughout the
world, who unanimously decided on and continue to support these
dialogues, were not Orthodox. Yet, these opponents of every effort for
the restoration of unity among Christians raise themselves above
Episcopal Synods of the Church to the dangerous point of creating
schisms within the Church.
In their polemical
argumentation, these critics of the restoration of unity among
Christians do not even hesitate to distort reality in order to deceive
and arouse the faithful. Thus, they are silent about the fact that
theological dialogues are conducted by unanimous decision of all
Orthodox Churches, instead attacking the Ecumenical Patriarchate alone.
They disseminate false rumors that union between the Roman Catholic and
Orthodox Churches is imminent, while they know well that the differences
discussed in these theological dialogues remain numerous and require
lengthy debate; moreover, union is not decided by theological
commissions but by Church Synods. They assert that the Pope will
supposedly subjugate the Orthodox, because they latter submit to
dialogue with the Roman Catholics! They condemn those who conduct these
dialogues as allegedly “heretics” and “traitors” of Orthodoxy, purely
and simply because they converse with non-Orthodox, with whom they share
the treasure and truth of our Orthodox faith. They speak condescendingly
of every effort for reconciliation among divided Christians and
restoration of their unity as purportedly being “the pan-heresy of
ecumenism” without providing the slightest evidence that, in its
contacts with non-Orthodox, the Orthodox Church has abandoned or denied
the doctrines of the Ecumenical Councils and of the Church Fathers.
Beloved children in the Lord,
Orthodoxy has no need of either fanaticism or bigotry to protect itself.
Whoever believes that Orthodoxy has the truth does not fear dialogue,
because truth has never been endangered by dialogue. By contrast, when
in our day all people strive to resolve their differences through
dialogue, Orthodoxy cannot proceed with intolerance and extremism. You
should have utmost confidence in your Mother Church. For the Mother
Church has over the ages preserved and transmitted Orthodoxy even to
other nations. And today, the Mother Church is struggling amid difficult
circumstances to maintain Orthodoxy vibrant and venerable throughout the
world.
From the Ecumenical
Patriarchate, this sacred Center of Orthodoxy, we embrace all of you
lovingly and bless you paternally, praying that you may journey in
health through the holy period of contrition and asceticism known as
Holy and Great Lent in order that you may become worthy of celebrating
the pure Passion and glorious Resurrection of our Savior Lord with all
faithful Orthodox Christians throughout the world.
Sunday of Orthodoxy 2010
+ Bartholomew of Constantinople
Fervent supplicant
to God for all
+ Constantine of Derkon
+Evangelos of Perge
+ Kallinikos of Lystra
+ Michael of Austria
+ Alexios of Atlanta
+ Joseph of Proikonnisos
+ Demetrios of Sevasteia
+ Irenaios of Myriophyton and
Peristasis
+ Chrysostom of Myra
+ Emmanuel of France
+ Makarios of Gortyna and
Arkadia
+ Amphilochios of New Zealand
