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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dennis Martin" <[log in to unmask]> <<< It would be respectful to avoid the term "Uniate"--it's offensive and takes sides in the, yes, very complicated history involved. >>> It seems to be fashionable in the States to protest against the word "uniate." Now this is very odd since the papers and discussions at the Baltimore meeting of the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church Baltimore Conference used that word in official titles and throughout the discussions of the participants, Orthodox and Catholic. I think that the objection to its use stems from the restless American desire to redefine and rename just about everything that moves and to turn it into a cause celebre. The rest of the world doesn't pay any attention and goes on using the vocabulary which has been customary terminology for ages. Orthodox-Catholic relations at an impasse after Baltimore talks 'Bitter differences' lead to dead-end, Polish ecumenist says WARSAW, Poland -- High-level talks between the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches which ended in the United States recently were marred by "methodological deficiencies" and a "polemical atmosphere," leaving relations between the two Christian communions at a dead-end, according to an expert on ecumenism who took part. Professor Waclaw Hryniewicz, a Catholic theologian and director of the Ecumenical Institute at Poland's Catholic University of Lublin, said that the leaders of Catholic and Orthodox churches now appeared "unwilling or hesitant" to recognize their churches as "sister churches." Future ecumenical dialogue would depend on better relations at the local level, particularly in Eastern Europe. The 64-year-old ecumenist was speaking to ENI after attending the eighth plenary of the , which ended on July 19 in Baltimore without producing the expected joint declaration on progress between the Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches. The two communions have much in common, but must resolve several bitter differences, including the issue of papal primacy, before they can come any closer to one another. Hryniewicz said Roman Catholic negotiators had wanted to retain the term "sister churches" to describe the relationship between the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches. However, the use of the term sister churches in past documents of the commission had been rejected as "insufficiently thought over" by most Orthodox churches, while Roman Catholics had also now acknowledged that it "posed certain difficulties." The commission's 10-day meeting was devoted to a key issue of dispute between Orthodox and Catholics -- the "ecclesiological and canonical implications of Uniatism." The gathering was the commission's first plenary session in seven years. A communique released at the end of the Baltimore meeting stated that participants had expressed "reserve and even outright opposition" to documents prepared for the meeting. Participants at the meeting agreed that further studies were needed of "theological, pastoral, historical and canonical issues" arising from the "exceptionally thorny question of Uniatism." Uniatism refers to the historical process by which Orthodox communities accepted the jurisdiction of Rome, but retained their eastern liturgy. The process, which gathered momentum after the 1596 Union of Brest, continued for two centuries, during which more than a dozen Greek Catholic (also called Eastern Catholic) churches were created in Ukraine, Romania and other countries, in the face of vigorous opposition from the Orthodox Church. Hryniewicz told ENI that the atmosphere at the Baltimore talks had been "generally tense" because of the complexity of the issues and some personal animosities. He added that Orthodox delegates had had to "argue hard among themselves, sometimes exceeding the rules of courtesy." The Roman Catholic co-chairman of the talks, Cardinal Edward Cassidy, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, had at one point staged a walkout. "Besides difficult moments like this, caused by the very polemical atmosphere, the talks also lacked sound methodological organization," Hryniewicz said. "Such discussions should be led in an intelligent, orderly way. If the method had been better, we could have expected better results." He said that Uniatism continued to provoke "deep divisions" among Orthodox churches, adding that some Orthodox participants had had difficulty "tolerating" the presence of a Romanian Greek Catholic bishop at the talks. At a press conference on July 19, Cardinal Cassidy said that Uniatism had become the "real core" of Catholic-Orthodox dialogue, but it was too "complicated and involved" to allow an "easy solution." The commission's Orthodox co-chairman, Archbishop Stylianos of Australia, said he believed the issue was connected with the primacy and infallibility of the Pope, both of which were unacceptable in their present form to the Orthodox. ********************************************************************** To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME to: [log in to unmask] To send a message to the list, address it to: [log in to unmask] To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion to: [log in to unmask] In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to: [log in to unmask] For further information, visit our web site: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html