Repent,' say Orthodox to pope.

Repent,' say Orthodox to pope.(Greek Orthodox Church leaders will not permit a visit to Greece

by Pope John Paul II until he repents and apologizes for the long-lasting ill feeling between the two churches)(Brief Article)From: The Christian Century Date: 11/3/1999 Leaders of the Greek Orthodox Church have ruled out a spiritual pilgrimage by Pope John Paul II to Athens until the Roman Catholic pontiff apologizes and does penance for centuries of enmity between Orthodox and Catholics. "The pope can come to Greece as a head of state but not as a religious leader," Metropolitan Kallinikos, spokesman for the Holy Synod of the Greek Orthodox Church, said September 6, following a meeting of a council of church leaders. "The pope cannot visit Greece as the head of the Catholic Church before asking forgiveness and doing penance for the interventions by the church in the Orthodox world from the epoch of the Crusades until today," the Italian news agency ANSA quoted Kallinikos as saying.
In a letter published in June, John Paul said he hoped to make a spiritual pilgrimage to biblical sites in Iraq, Egypt, Jordan, Israel, the Palestine Authority territory, Syria and Greece to mark the start of the third millennium of Christianity. Greek Orthodox leaders immediately expressed opposition to a papal visit to Athens to pay homage to the New Testament account of St. Paul's sermon on the Areopagus, symbolizing the whole of humanity's encounter with the gospel. The synod, headed by Christodoulos, the Orthodox archbishop of Athens and all Greece, formalized that opposition in its September meeting.
Both the Vatican and the Greek government sought to avoid a clash. Cardinal Edward Cassidy, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, in Greece to attend a religious symposium, said in an interview with the newspaper To Vima that the pope has not yet asked to visit Greece. "The pope does not desire to come to Greece soon. It is a desire for the near future," Cassidy indicated. Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis said John Paul "will be welcome in Greece like every head of state," adding that he did not want to interfere in ecclesiastical matters.
But Catholic Archbishop Nikos Foscolo of Athens maintained that the controversy has harmed ecumenical efforts. "The criticisms of a visit by the pope have set back dialogue between Catholics and Orthodox by ten years," he said. Greek Orthodox sources said they want the pope to apologize for the schism of 1054 that divided the Greek and Roman churches; for the Crusades, which saw the conquest and sacking of Constantinople in 1204; and for the Council of Lyons II in 1274, which attempted unsuccessfully to unite the Greek and Roman churches.
Kallinikos also attacked the Eastern churches that follow Orthodox rites but are united with Rome, calling them "Trojan horses of the Catholic Church." Vatican sources said last week the pope may break his pilgrimage into two or more separate segments, starting before the opening of Holy Year 2000 on Christmas Eve and continuing during the millennium celebrations. John Paul is expected to travel in early December to the patriarch Abraham's birthplace at Ur of the Chaldees in southern Iraq, Mount Sinai in Egypt and possibly Damascus. Israeli officials have said he will tour the Holy Land in March.

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Labels: Roman Catholic Church sins of action and omission" against the Christian Orthodox



Roman Catholic Church

sins of action and omission" against the Christian Orthodox.