{"id":26199,"date":"2011-01-26T05:33:54","date_gmt":"2011-01-26T09:33:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/2011\/01\/opportunities-for-continuing-d\/"},"modified":"2011-01-26T05:33:54","modified_gmt":"2011-01-26T09:33:54","slug":"opportunities-for-continuing-d","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/2011\/01\/opportunities-for-continuing-d\/","title":{"rendered":"Opportunities for continuing dialogue with the Orthodox Church, Farrell says"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><!--StartFragment--><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman'; \"><i>In the middle of<br \/>\nthe annual exercise of&nbsp; prayer and<br \/>\nstudy for Christian Unity, the Vatican&#8217;s daily news paper, <\/i>L&#8217;Osservatore Romano<i>,<br \/>\ninterviewed Bishop Brian Farrell, LC, secretary of the Pontifical Council for<br \/>\nPromoting Christian Unity. The interviewer asked Bishop Farrell about problems<br \/>\nin the ecumenical quest with the Orthodox Church, and his answer is below.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman'; \">We<br \/>\nare examining the crucial point of our differences on the Church&#8217;s structure<br \/>\nand way of being and operating: the question of the role of the Bishop of Rome<br \/>\nin the Church communion of the first millennium, when the Church in the West<br \/>\nand East was still united. <i>After profound studies and discussions, the members<br \/>\nof the Theological Commission have come to realize the enormous difference<br \/>\nbetween the lived, assimilated, and narrated historical experience in Western<br \/>\nculture and the historical experience perceived in the Eastern vision of<br \/>\nthings<\/i>. Every historical event is open to different interpretations. The<br \/>\ndiscussion has not led to a real convergence.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><!--EndFragment--><\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.75em; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; font-size: 1em; font-weight: normal; \"><span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman'; \">But it is also true that if we want to find a consensus, <b>what matters from the start is to clarify the doctrinal and theological principles that are at play in those events and that are decisive for remaining faithful to Christ&#8217;s will for his Church<\/b>. Thus it was decided to prepare a new base document in a theological key. I am convinced that this is the correct path.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.75em; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; font-size: 1em; font-weight: normal; \"><span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman'; \">Therefore, when we speak of new difficulties, <i>it is not a matter of insurmountable difficulties, but of a true opportunity<\/i>. It is clear that the discussion will be neither easy nor quick. It seems to me, however, that there is a growing conviction that unity is possible; the circumstances of today&#8217;s world are moving the Churches in this direction. In my opinion it is urgent for Catholic theology to work out a more <b><i><u>concrete vision, a model of what awaits us at the moment of full visible communion<\/u><\/i><\/b>. That way, the Orthodox brethren will be able to have trust, overcoming the enslaving fears of the presumption of superiority that is typical of the West. <b>We must surely reaffirm what the council said about the <u>equal dignity of all rite<\/u>s, the <u>respect due to the institutions, traditions, and disciples<\/u> of the Eastern Churches and so many other things<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.75em; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; font-size: 1em; font-weight: normal; \"><span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman'; \">Read the entire interview with Bishop Brian Farrell:&nbsp;<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/Benedict%20XVI%27s%20Push%20Toward%20Unity%20.pdf\" style=\"text-decoration: underline; \">Benedict XVI&#8217;s Push Toward Unity .pdf<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the middle of the annual exercise of&nbsp; prayer and study for Christian Unity, the Vatican&#8217;s daily news paper, L&#8217;Osservatore Romano, interviewed Bishop Brian Farrell, LC, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. The interviewer asked Bishop Farrell about problems in the ecumenical quest with the Orthodox Church, and his answer is below. &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/2011\/01\/opportunities-for-continuing-d\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Opportunities for continuing dialogue with the Orthodox Church, Farrell says<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,57],"tags":[2636,1908,2432,2146,1980,2637],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26199"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26199"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26199\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26199"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}