ARTICLES

East Meets In West

Conference of Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Rite Catholics held in San Diego

BY STANFORD ESPEDAL

Auxiliary Bishop Salvatore Cordileone was among an international group of speakers and dignitaries at the ninth annual Orientale Lumen (Light of the East) Conference hosted by the  University of San Diego from June 13-16. Combining worship, learning, and fellowship, the conference is a grassroots approach to ecumenical dialogue between Catholics and Eastern Orthodox. Held each year since 1997 at the Catholic University of America in Washington D.C., this was the first such conference on the West Coast. Since its inception, in response to Pope John Paul's 1995 apostolic letter Orientale Lumen, the conference has taken place in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia; Birmingham, England; and Constantinople.

An idea of the high-level recognition of the conference may be gotten from a look at a few of the speakers and whom they represented: Archbishop Vsevolod of Scopelos, Chicago-based hierarch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA, brought greetings from Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople; Monsignor Johan Bonny of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity in Rome brought greetings from Cardinal Kasper (on behalf of the Pope); and Dr. Sergey Hovorun of the Department of External Church Relations for the Patriarchate of Moscow brought greetings from Patriarch Alexei II.

In addition to these dignitaries, speakers included Bishop Nicholas Samra of the Melkite Greek-Catholic Church; Father George Dragas from Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Brookline Massachusetts; Father Peter Galadza of the Ukrainian Greco-Catholic  Sheptytsky Institute in Ontario, Canada; and Dr. William Marshner, professor of theology at Christendom College in Front Royal, Virginia.

The 75 attendees included Eastern Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Roman Catholic priests, monastics, and laity from all the western states. The conference theme was "The Structure of the Church, East and West."

The conference opened after dinner Monday evening with a Moleben to the Holy Spirit, a traditional Byzantine service of liturgical prayer and hymnody. This was followed by a memorial service for the late Pope John Paul. Jack Figel, founder of Orientale Lumen, welcomed all, gave a brief history of the conferences, and explained how the days would work. Archbishop Vsevolod gave a word of welcome, stressing the importance of this conference in the pursuit of unity. Bishop Nicholas Samra compared the division of East and West to a wall that grew from one foot to fifteen feet in the course of centuries but, through the work of John XXIII, Paul VI and John Paul II, has been taken down to five feet. Father Raymond Collins, who would serve as moderator of the plenary sessions, gave an introductory presentation from the New Testament on images of the structure of the Church. Attendees then traipsed out to the lobby of the University Center for a wine-and-cheese social reception. We enjoyed similar socials at the end of each evening.

Each morning began with a Divine Liturgy in Founders Chapel. We were instructed that there should be no Catholic-Orthodox intercommunion at the Liturgies. Besides being contrary to current norms in both Churches, the inability to partake of the Eucharist together was meant to make us feel the pain of separation and long for unity. Tuesday's liturgy was in the Greek Orthodox tradition, concelebrated by five priests, a deacon, and two cantors. The Byzantine liturgy and icons contrasted starkly with the baroque chapel and high altar.

After a continental breakfast, Bishop Cordileone delivered the first plenary session, on the structures of the Latin Church. "I must begin with a caveat," he said. "The Church as a divine and human organism animated by the Holy Spirit can never be reduced to its canonical structures." He went on to explain in detail the governance of the Latin Church on the level of the Roman Curia, on the diocesan level, and on supra-diocesan levels in between.

Following lunch in the University Center cafeteria, Dr. William Marshner, a Melkite Catholic, gave the second plenary session on "Two Lung Traditions Versus One Lung Deviations." During the subsequent panel discussion Marshner opined, "If we want to bring down the wall of division still further, Rome should scale back its universal administration to practically nothing, and exercise universal primacy of jurisdiction solely as a court of final appeal.... The Supreme Court should be the model, not the executive branch."

After dinner we boarded Cloud 9 busses bound for Saint George  Serbian Orthodox Church on Denver Street above Mission Bay. There we prayed Vespers and heard the third plenary session. The speaker was Archbishop Vsevolod and his subject the synodal structure of the Orthodox Church. He spoke from the bishop's throne, set up outside the sanctuary. Referring with approval to Bishop Nicholas Samra's image of a centuries-old wall coming down, he declared, "At my age I think I am entitled to prophesy that soon will come the dawn when we have one chalice and one shepherd. But we still have a long way to go."

He praised the Synod of Bishops established by Paul VI in 1965 as a hopeful development toward implementing the collegiality of the Pope and Bishops. "However," he continued, "it appears that the synod has no real authority or responsibility."

He contrasted this with Orthodox synodal structure: "Our view is that the primate acts in the name of his synod and with its concurrence. The primate cannot act without the concurrence of his synod, nor can the bishops act except through their head. This was the relationship of Peter and the Apostles."

Later I spoke with Archbishop Vsevolod. "How do you see the primacy of the Roman Pontiff?" I asked.

"According to the Apostolic Canons," he replied, "the bishops should recognize one among them as primate; and they should obey the primate, but the primate should also listen to the bishops."

He continued, "We Orthodox need the primacy of the Pope who will be primus inter pares (first among equals) among all the apostolic Churches. We have problems, and Constantinople does not have the influence that it should have to solve them."

He spoke of various schisms in the Orthodox world, including Ukraine. "Without the authority of the Holy Father we cannot solve these things."

 "But," I asked, "do you see that primacy as being of divine or of ecclesiastical origin?"

"Let's put it this way," he said, "if there is unity, there will definitely be an ecumenical council, and we believe ecumenical councils are guided by the Holy Spirit. Therefore the recognition of the Pope's primacy will be of divine origin."

He added, "I do not feel the ecumenical council can take place without the presence of the Holy Father, the Pontiff of Rome."

 "In your mind and heart as an Orthodox, can you trace that primacy back to the words of Christ: 'Thou art Peter?'"

"Well," Archbishop Vsevolod answered, "In the first millennium there was no question that the first among all bishops was the Pope of Rome. After the great councils, the Pope's approval was necessary for the decisions to be valid. From a practical point of view, Orthodoxy needs a leading primate, like the Holy Father used to be in the first millennium; and if the Pope of Rome is recognized as such in an ecumenical council, that will be of the Holy Spirit and so of divine origin."

Some highlights of the rest of the conference: Father Nabil Mouannes of Saint Ephrem Maronite Catholic Church celebrated Wednesday morning's Divine Liturgy in English, Aramaic and Arabic, assisted by a four voice choir. Father Peter Galadza, speaking on the basis of scripture and tradition criticized the structure now in place in large segments of Eastern Catholicism which is divided into ethno-national jurisdictions.

After lunch Father George Dragas gave an historical overview of Orthodox Church synodal structure. Dr. Sergey Hovorun spoke on current disputes between Constantinople and Moscow over jurisdiction in the Orthodox "Diaspora."

We then gathered for worship, and sang the Akathist to the Mother of God. After dinner we listened to the final plenary session for the day; and though weary, we were refreshed by Bishop Nicholas Samra's presentation on "The House of God and the Gate of Heaven," a profound exposition of the essence and structure of the Church rooted in the mystery of the Trinity.

Thursday began with the Divine Liturgy of the Armenian Church, chanted entirely in Armenian. An English translation in the conference service book made it possible to follow. Thursday's plenary session was delivered by Monsignor Johan Bonny. Tall and slender, he spoke softly with a Belgian lilt on the relationship between Rome and the East through two millenniums. "The first millennium is seen as paradigmatic for a balance of primacy and synodality. Our hope is that the West may strengthen in her bosom the principle of synodality, and that the East may strengthen in her bosom the principle of primacy."

I asked Father Robert Pipta, pastor of Holy Angels Byzantine Catholic Church for his assessment of the conference. He said, "This was my first opportunity to attend Orientale Lumen and I'm glad that I did. I learned a great deal about structures of Church, and how important increased knowledge about varied aspects of the Church is to the furtherance of ecumenism. I was most interested in the variety of ideas presented, formally and informally, about models of inter-jurisdictional cooperation. It reminded me that an important pre-requisite to the unity of different ecclesial communions is charity and unity of spirit within the Catholic communion. Overall, the conference, while open and honest about the real challenges of ecumenism, filled me with great hope."

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