Ecclesiastical/Ecumenical Diplomacy during and after Second Vatican Council. Old and New Orthodox Notes and Comments

• Authors: Nicu Dumitraşcu

Title variants

PL

Kościelna ekumeniczna dyplomacja w czasie i po Soborze Watykańskim II. Stare i nowe uwagi i komentarze prawosławne

• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

Despite the optimism following the announcement of an ecumenical council by Pope John XXIII, as well as the visit of Pope John Paul II to Bucharest, the first such visit by a Pope to a majority Orthodox country, Orthodox-Roman Catholic relations have not improved to the degree that was originally hoped. The author argues that this is largely due to a dichotomy between Roman Catholic ecumenical diplomacy, tracing the manner in which Pope John Paul II’s actions in Romania made huge strides towards the reconciliation of both of these Christian traditions, and the language issuing from the Vatican, which would seem to preclude any such reconciliation. This involves the Vatican’s use of terminology which is unacceptable to the Orthodox world, such as restrictions of the use of the term “sister Church.” Thus the Catholic Church argues that it should be regarded as the mother Church: only the local Church of Rome can be considered the sister Church of private Churches. This suggests that the Vatican’s approach to ecumenism is to encourage Orthodox Chur¬ches to follow the example of the Greek Catholic Churches, i.e. union with Rome. In fact the Uniate Churches could be considered more of a barrier, rather than a bridge, to ecumenism, since they are typically regarded with great circumspection by Orthodoxy. This type of attitude is also expressed in Mysterium Ecclesiae, which damaged faith in the partnership with Rome, and the nature of the ecumenism promoted by it. It is to be hoped that not only the Catholic Church, but also other Christian confessions, will employ ecumenical flexibility, which can only be done in a spirit of reconciliation, not of confrontation.

PL

Pomimo optymizmu, który nastąpił po ogłoszeniu przez Jana XXIII Soboru Watykańskiego II, jak i potem po wizycie Jana Pawła II w Bukareszcie, pierwszej takiej wizycie papieża w kraju prawosławnym, relacje prawosławno-rzymskokatolickie nie poprawiły się w takim stopniu, na jaki miano nadzieję. Autor dowodzi, że jest to w znacznej mierze spowodowane rozdźwiękiem między ekumeniczną dyplomacją rzymskokatolicką, funkcjonującą tak, jak pokazał Jan Paweł II w Rumunii, podejmując kroki ku pojednaniu obu chrześcijańskich tradycji, a językiem używanym przez Watykan, zdającym się uniemożliwiać takie pojednanie. Dotyczy to używanej przez Watykan terminologii, nie do zaakceptowania przez świat prawosławny. Przykładem może być stosowanie terminu „Kościoły siostrzane”, jak i powiązane z katolickim rozumieniem tej koncepcji zagadnienie uniatyzmu. Konkludując, autor podkreśla znaczenie ekumenicznej elastyczności i ducha pojednania, do których powołane są wszystkie wyznania chrześcijańskie.

Keywords

EN

ecumenism; Second Vatican Council; ecclesiastical diplomacy; Church; ecclesiology

PL

ekumenizm; Sobór Watykański II; dyplomacja kościelna; Kościół; eklezjologia

• Publisher: Towarzystwo Naukowe KUL & Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II, Wydział Teologii
• Journal: Roczniki Teologiczne
• Year: 2014
• Volume: 61
• Issue: 7: Teologia Ekumeniczna
• Pages: 83-101

Contributors

author

Nicu Dumitraşcu

References

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