Perspectief 2015-29

Perspectief 34 Dr. Pantelis Kalaitzidis theological reflection towards Christian unity, it seems that from the Orthodox side, especially in the monastic milieus, the lower clergy and the grassroots level, there has always been a standing suspicion to, if not an open rejection of, the ecumenical movement? To this question I will dedicate the rest of my presentation in the remaining time. II The Understanding of Ecumenical Movement as a Return to Orthodoxy and the Exclusivist Orthodox Ecclesiological Models 5 According to the recent analysis by Professor Athanasios Vletsis of the Department of Orthodox Theology of Munich University, the fundamental thesis of Orthodox ecclesiology regarding the issue under discussion, at least as it is recorded and witnessed in the official texts and statements issued at the occasions of the Orthodox or the ecumenical meetings, does not seem to leave room for any dualism between an idealized image of the catholicity of the church and its concrete, visible, and institutional expression within the Orthodox Church, since “the Orthodox Church is the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church which we confess in the Creed” (3rd Pre-Conciliar Pan-Orthodox Conference, Chambésy, Geneva, 1986); or to put it in a more drastic way, according to the wording of the Orthodox representatives in the 3rd General Assembly of the WCC, in New Delhi, in 1961: “For the Orthodox, the Orthodox Church is precisely the Church;” and, finally, according to the Toronto Declaration of 1950 (adopted by the Central Committee of WCC): “Membership in the WCC does not imply the acceptance of a specific doctrine concerning the nature of Church unity […] Membership does not imply that each Church must regard the other member Churches as Churches in the true and full sense of the word.” Orthodox then, according to Timothy (Kallistos) Ware in his classic work The Orthodox Church , “by participating [sc. in WCC], do not thereby imply that they regard all Christian 5 In this part of my text I borrow the analysis I offered in my article, “ Theological, Historical, and Cultural Reasons for Anti-ecumenical Movements in Eastern Orthodoxy,” in: P. Kalaitzidis, Thomas FitzGerald, Cyril Hovorun, Aikaterini Pekridou, Nikolaos Asproulis, Dietrich Werner, Guy Liagre (eds), Orthodox Handbook on Ecumenism: Resources for Theological Education – “That they all may be one” (John 17:21) , Regnum Studies in Global Christianity, Volos/Geneva/Oxford: Volos Academy Publications/WWC Publications/Regnum Books International, 2014, especially pp. 137-139, 150.