A millennium ago, Christians of the East and West were united in one faith despite differences in culture, liturgy and tradition. Today they are separated by organization, outlook and 1,000 years of animosity. In the pope, Catholics have a single figure who speaks for a church of 1 billion members. But the Orthodox are split into 15 independent churches, all sharing a common faith and worship but divided by national, ethnic and intrachurch rivalries. For historical reasons, pride of place belongs to Bartholomew as Archbishop of Constantinople. Two years ago the pope and the patriarch joined in prayer at a mass at St. Peter’s in Rome. John Paul II even talked of possible reconciliation between the churches of East and West by the year 2000. But in a speech at Georgetown University, Bartholomew dashed the pope’s great ecumenical dream.
The patriarch’s blunt reply came in an acceptance speech after receiving an honorary doctorate in theology. Bartholomew warned an ecumenical audience that the separation between Catholics and Orthodox was not simply a matter of geography, organizational structure or juridical differences. Rather, he declared, ““the manner in which we exist has become ontologically different.’’ Many in the audience at first were puzzled. The patriarch seemed to be saying that the very way in which Catholics experience God–through prayer, the sacraments and doctrine–makes reunion impossible. Bartholomew then made his position chillingly clear: ““Concerning those that have freely chosen to shun the correct Glory of God,’’ he said, ““the Orthodox Church follows the Apostle Paul’s recommendation, which is “A man that is a heretic after the first and second admonition, reject’.''
Was the patriarch calling Catholics heretics? Some Catholic officials interpreted Bartholomew’s opaque remarks as a statement of mystical theology. ““We certainly appreciate his taking the time to give us his vision of the church,’’ said John Borelli, an ecumenical officer of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops. But in Rome, Jesuit Robert Taft, vice dean of the Pontifical Oriental Institute, where Bartholomew himself earned a degree before he was elected patriarch in 1991, called it a ““cold shower for Catholic-Orthodox relations.’’ It was, said Father Taft, not the first time Bartholomew had taken ““an unnecessarily confrontational tone with the Catholic Church.''
Indeed, when NEWSWEEK interviewed Bartholomew in Istanbul last summer, he warned that reconciliation with Rome will be more difficult than Vatican officials seemed to think. ““We are not easily wooed,’’ he said. But Bartholomew’s blunt language may have less to do with Christian ecumenism than with Orthodox Church politics. These fellows aren’t called Byzantine for nothing. There are many bishops in the Orthodox churches of Greece, Russia and elsewhere who believe that he is already too friendly with Rome. And with only 3.5 million Orthodox under his direct control, Bartholomew is no match for Moscow’s Patriarch Alexi, who claims 80 million. What-ever Bartholomew’s real intentions, reunion with Rome must wait.
