Russian Orthodox commission finishes statement on Church primacy
November 09, 2012
A commission of Russian Orthodox theologians has completed a draft statement on primacy in the universal Church, which will now be submitted to the Russian Orthodox synod for approval.
A Biblical-theological commission, under the aegis of the Moscow patriarchate's Department External Church Relations, approved the draft statement November 8.
The question of primacy in the universal Church has been a contentious topic for Orthodox leaders, provoking tensions between the Moscow patriarchate and the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. In 2010, a joint Catholic-Orthodox commission reached tentative agreement on a statement regarding the authority of the papacy in the Church. But the Russian Orthodox Church, the world's largest Orthodox body, declined to endorse the statement, saying that it conceded too much authority to Rome and to Constantinople.
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Further information:
- ?????????? ????????? ????????? ??????????? ?????????-???????????? ???????? (Moscow patriarchate)
- Catholic-Orthodox talks on papacy: officials optimistic, while Moscow denies breakthrough (CWN, 9/28/10)
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Posted by: Gregory108 -
Nov. 10, 2012 5:08 AM ET USA
I don't know whether the Russian Orthodox Church has a church flag or a church seal. If they do, if the words "Us First! We're most important!" or "We come to be served, not to serve!" are not on there, the flag or the seal is incomplete!
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Posted by: Justin8110 -
Nov. 09, 2012 7:31 PM ET USA
I've read extensively on the issue and can say that there has never been anything the Orthodox have ever had to say about the Primacy that ever convinced me that we Catholics got it wrong. I'm convinced that they have the problem of things like whether to re-baptize converts or not (this is debated within jurisdictions) because they really have no authority to settle the matter. The idea of sobornost is way too vague.
