Christian Orthodox Unity

It is well known that the unity of the Orthodox Church is, above all, unity in the Orthodox faith, or, in other words, unity in the fullness of revealed Truth, unity in the Word Incarnate (cf. St. John 14:6), that is, unity in our Savior, Jesus Christ. It is He Who is the founder and the supreme Head of the Church, which is His Body (cf. Ephesians 1:22-23, 4:15; Colossians 1:18). The members of this Body are all of those faithful having the same Orthodox faith in the Holy Trinity and in our Savior, the God-Man Jesus Christ, and who are baptized with an Orthodox Baptism in the name of the Trinitarian God.

The classical expression of this concept of the unity of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church was formulated by St. Maximos the Confessor († 662). The enemies of this intrepid combatant against the Monothelite heresy posed the following question to him: "To what Church do you belong? To the Church of Constantinople, of Rome, of Antioch, of Alexandria, or of Jerusalem? Now, take note that all of these Churches, together with their dioceses, are in union. Thus, if you belong to the catholic (that is, universal) Church, as you say, you should join yourself to these unified Churches, for fear that if you follow a new or strange path, you will bring upon yourself some unforeseen danger." The Saint responded: "God, the Master of all creation, has declared that the universal church lies in the correct and saving confession of faith in Him, calling Peter blessed for having confessed His Divinity (St. Matthew 16:18). Besides, I would like to know the criterion on which the union of all of these Churches is based, and if it is suitable, I will not remain separated from them." [2]

The Orthodox Church, as the Body of Christ, is indivisible, invincible, and unerring in its "correct and saving confession of the faith." It is, however, possible for individual Orthodox and even entire local Churches to betray the truth of Orthodoxy, such that they lapse, being cut off from the universal Church, just as the Western Church long ago fell to the heresies of Papism and Protestantism. It is also possible for Orthodox to separate and for there to exist "contentions" in the bosom of the Church, as St. Paul wrote to the Christians of Corinth (I Corinthians 1:10-14). The criteria of truth in such instances are the dogmas and canons of the universal Orthodox Church or, to cite the words of St. Vincent of Lérins († ca. 450), "that which is believed always, that which is believed by everyone, and that which is believed throughout the whole world." [3]

Thus, the proof of Orthodox unity is, above all, "the correct and saving confession of the faith." Now, it is precisely this confession which is missing from the text of the communiqué in question. This document reckons the panheresy of ecumenism, in principle, a positive phenomenon, despite the fact that ecumenism denies the doctrines of Orthodoxy regarding the Church and, in practice, seeks to destroy the Orthodox Church of Christ, which was established as "the pillar and ground of the truth" (I Timothy 3:15). It is precisely ecumenism which, in our days, has abolished the unity in faith of Orthodox Christians. The participation of the Primates and Synods of nearly all of the local Orthodox Churches in the ecumenical movement has divided the members of these Churches into those who follow the heresy of ecumenism and the calendar reform which it produced, and those who have defended the pure and whole Orthodox faith and the unity of the Orthodox Church in that faith. This division has become ever deeper with the progress of the ecumenical movement, which at two of its recent assemblies, in Vancouver (1983) and Canberra (1991), openly revealed its intentions: the accomplishment not only of an amorphous "pan-Christian" union, but the formation of a syncretistic community which will represent all religions. The way that ecumenists think, their theological language and the terms that they employ, and their declarations and actual activities adequately demonstrate these intentions.