Perspectief 2016-34

2016-34 25 Why Ecumenical Dialogue Matters for the Orthodox Church Dr. Petre Maican Introduction This article will discuss the possibilities and potential pathways through which the Orthodox Church might come to recognise the various Christian denominations involved in ecumenical dialogue as full ecclesial bodies. For the Orthodox Church, any step towards ecclesial recognition raises two preliminary challenges: conceptual and internal. Conceptually, Orthodox theologians need to find a way of reconciling their main ecclesiological metaphor – that of the Church as the body of Christ – with the plurality of existing denominations, since such a metaphor implies the legitimacy of only one Church. Internally, the Orthodox Church has to confront the rise of ultraconservative groups for whom ecumenical dialogue is a betrayal of the Orthodox tradition. 1 Since the increase of such anti-ecumenical voices can influence bishops not only to reject the recognition of other denominations as authentic Churches, but also to withdraw from ecumenical organisations altogether, 2 I intend to deal further with this 1 See, for example, Matei Vulcănescu, "Ce Înseamnă Ecumenism?", Orthodoxia Catholica , 30 September 2012, accessed 21 June 2016 , https://ortodoxiacatholica.wordpress.com/2012/09/30/ce-insemna- ecumenism . 2 It is only recently that, under pressure from fundamentalist groups who considered the documents of the Pan-Orthodox Council in Crete (June 2016) to recognize the ecclesial character of other denominations, the Metropolitan of Moldova and Bucovina, part of the Romanian Orthodox Church (ROC) began to question the participation of the ROC in the World Council of Churches. See Arhiepiscopia Iaşilor, "Comunicat de Presă în Legătură cu Reacții ale unor Credincioși din Mitropolia Moldovei şi Bucovinei faţă de Sinodul din Creta", Mitropolia Moldovei Şi Bucovinei , 13 August 2016, accessed 15 August 2016, http://iasi.mmb.ro/comunicat/comunicat-de-presa-legatura-cu-reactii-ale-unor-credinciosi-din- mitropolia-moldovei.