tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33970956.post1477436696200495179..comments2024-03-19T15:26:26.055+00:00Comments on auntie joanna writes: More on that meeting...Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33970956.post-64205699386402200642013-03-27T06:53:47.021+00:002013-03-27T06:53:47.021+00:00I don't know if Benedict XVI could be said to ...I don't know if Benedict XVI could be said to be 'popular' with the Orthodox - but he was certainly viewed positively by them, despite dropping the title 'Patriarch of the West', an act which was definitely NOT viewed positively, but quite the opposite. This is NOT the first time there have been Orthodox representatives at a papal inauguration - however, I think is is probably the first time a Patriach has attended. I say 'a' and not 'the', because the Patriarch of Constantinople is NOT a kind of Orthodox pope and cannot be said to represent the Orthodox Church in the same way - this is a fundamental misunderstanding. The Russian Orthodox Church (who gave the icon in question) has made many statements indicating a willingness to work together with the Roman Catholic Church on ethical and moral issues. This does NOT, however, indicate that ecclesiological changes are or will be on the agenda any time soon. Finally, Russian Christians may ascribe the fall of Communism to many things, the prayers of the Mother of God, certainly, but also to the witness of their own thousands and thousands of New Martyrs and Confessors from that period.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33970956.post-42383828092245413082013-03-27T00:11:22.079+00:002013-03-27T00:11:22.079+00:00The dropping of the title 'patriarch of the We...The dropping of the title 'patriarch of the West' was received decidedly negatively by the Orthodox. This is not the first time that the Orthodox have sent representatives to a papal inauguration, although I believe that it is the first time that a Patriarch has attended. The Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew does not function like a kind of Orthodox pope, so his attendance does not have quite the significance that a Western Christian might imagine. The fall of Communism might possibly, by Russian Christians, be attributed to the blood shed by the thousands of New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia as well, it goes without saying, as the prayers of the Theotokos. The Russian Orthodox Church has outlined some useful ways in which the churches of the East and West can cooperate on all kinds of crucial moral and ethical issues but it seems unlikely that unity of the kind I think you might mean is anywhere near in sight.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com