The chief purpose of this website is to provide and propagate information about the film United European Christendom — Heal the Schism Now. The chief purpose of this film in turn is to make some contribution to the reunification of the Orthodox-Catholic Church and to the establishment, or re-establishment, of greater civilizational unity and integrity within Christendom, beginning with European Christendom. This film intends to speak to the community of the Christian faithful. In important senses United European Christendom — Heal the Schism Now is two films, rather than two parts of one film, because the two subjects stand so very far apart. One subject, European Christendom, is hugely important. The other subject, the Church, is incomparably more important. Do not expect a lack of apparent contradictions in understanding how the community of the Christian faithful should proceed on these two matters.
The first part, let us call it the first film, attempts to deal with theological, ecclesiological and other issues involved with the 5th Century schism within the Church and more especially with the Great Schism within the Church, that which by convention is dated to 1054, which unfolded between the 9th Century and the early 13th Century and beyond. Given the issues which are involved, dealing as they do with our struggle to understand God's intentions for His Church, the disputes can not be understood as unserious. Given the understanding shared by all Christians of God's commandment toward such unity, and reflected preeminently in the Holy Scripture reproduced on this website, the disputes can not be understood as un-surmountable.
Current realities, as also the writings of pre-eminent thinkers in these areas and the dialogues among and programs of senior Church hierarchs, suggest that corporate re-unification is possible among the Churches of Tradition, those that have retained the Sacraments — above all the Eucharist — and Apostolic Succession and validly ordained priesthood. These, in ascending order in terms of numbers of people in their communities of the faithful, are (1) the Oriental Orthodox Churches; (2) the Orthodox Churches which are in Communion with the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople; and (3) the Catholic Church. To this commonly agreed list, the author of this film would add a fourth group. While the both the Orthodox Churches and Catholic Church officially try to deal with the Churches in this group by not dealing with them, indeed to the extent possible by ignoring their existence, this fourth group can be said to be those Orthodox Churches of the Byzantine-Slavonic liturgical tradition which are not in Communion with the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Kiev Patriarchate is only the most numerous of the large number of Churches which are caught up in this ecclesiological mess.
As important as Protestants are for Christendom, the emergence of Protestantism and the countless divisions within the western Church which began (with some small exceptions) from the 16th Century are not part of this first film. They are though very much a part of the story which is recounted in the "second" film. The second film invites the viewer to enter into a civilizational introspection as to what have been the costs of Christian disunity. It consists essentially of a series of case studies in the costs of the Schism. It also invites the viewer to engage in some informed speculation as to what Christendom, beginning with European Christendom can expect should the situation of Christian disunity continue. How do you think we have been doing? Heading in the right direction?
The community of the faithful will ultimately determine whether this Church unity happens or indeed fails to happen. The Church hierarchs have their appointed roles. They are not ready to sign a joint declaration or Apostolic Constitution or some other documents restoring Communion and unity, but even if they were to do so, absent the support of the community of the Christian faithful, such a declaration would fail, as it did in 1439 ... and the greatest church in Christendom became a Mosque. |
"Division openly contradicts the will of Christ, provides a stumbling block to the world, and inflicts damage on the most holy cause of proclaiming the Good News to every creature... To believe in Christ means to desire unity; to desire unity means to desire the Church; to desire the Church means to desire the communion of grace which corresponds to the Father's plan from all eternity. Such is the meaning of Christ's prayer: 'Ut unum sint.'"
Ioannes Paulus PP II Papa Ecclesiae Catholicae, in his eponymous Encyclical from 1995
"The walls which divide us do not reach up to heaven."
Metropolitan Platon of Kiev |
|
