wfn.org | Kinnamon praises Patriarch's encyclical on church unity

["Philip Jenks" <pjenks@ncccusa.org>]

>Kinnamon expresses 'profound appreciation'
>for Bartholomew's encyclical on church unity

New York, February 23, 2010 -- The General Secretary of the National  Council of Churches has written to the Ecumenical Patriarch to express  "profound appreciation" for Bartholomew's encyclical on the unity of the  church.

"Surely, your emphasis on unity in truth is precisely what is needed in  order for the whole ecumenical movement to recover depth and direction,"  said the Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon in a letter sent today to the  Ecumenical Patriarchate in Istanbul.

"Please be assured that we at the National Council of the Churches of  Christ in the USA stand with you ... in this passionate call for the  unity for which our Lord prayed," Kinnamon wrote.

On February 21, the Sunday of Orthodoxy, Bartholomew wrote in a  Patriarchal and Synodal Encyclical: "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."

Bartholomew noted that "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."

He criticized critics of the dialogues who "distort reality" about them  and "disseminate false rumors" that dialogues will bring the Orthodox  Church into subjugation to the Pope.

"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."

The text of Kinnamon's letter to the Ecumenical Patriarchate can be read  at www.ncccusa.org/pdfs/MKtoEcPat2.pdf

The full text of Patriarch Bartholomew's encyclical follows:

>Patriarchal and Synodal Encyclical
>On the Sunday of Orthodoxy

>(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

NCC News contact:  Philip E. Jenks, 212-870-2228 (office),  646-853-4212 (cell) , pjenks@ncccusa.org