JERUSALEM, JANUARY 19 - 26, 2003
We have this treasure in clay jars [2 Corinthians 4:4-18]
INTRODUCTION back to lead page
In May 1925, a certain number of Western theologians, especially under the impulse of the Catholic Cardinal Desire-Joseph Mercier, Archbishop of Malines, various Belgian personalities gathered before World War II to pray for the Unity of all Christians. There appeared a small brochure"A monastic undertaking to unite the Churches" and the first "Brussels Week" which aimed to draw the attention of the Christians around the world. Belgium was at that time a widely open place for encounters between different denominations and paved the way to the Second Vatican Council to reconsider the unity of the believers in Jesus Christ.
Certain encounters appeared to be very important, including the Orthodox, Anglicans, Protestants and only lately Roman Catholics.
Today the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is basically a Roman Catholic movement, which occurs every year at the end of January, usually starting on January 19th [the Baptism of the Lord in Eastern Rite and Orthodox Churches] and closing on January 25th [Day of the Conversion of Saint Paul in the Roman Catholic Church]. This year, it will finish in Jerusalem on January 26th, which is a Sunday and the Day of Naming of the Lord in the Armenian Apostolic tradition.
As concerns the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, the "Mother of All the Churches of God" remained always far from any compromise or formal agreement with the ecumenical movement. The word "ecumenical" is very ambiguous and wrongly implies for the Orthodox a synthetic mixture of all beliefs between Eastern and Western Churches. This is due to a profound theological estrangement throughout history as well as a consequence of the renewal of the Orthodox Churches after the collapse of communism.
On January 4th and 5th, 1964, Patriarch Athenagoras and Pope Paul VI met in a memorable session in Jerusalem and lifted the anathema [excommunications] pronounced in 1054 leading to the formal separation of the Eastern and Western Orthodox and Catholic Churches. It should be recalled - which is mostly not even mentioned - that this meeting took place on the territory of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem, with the participation of the late Patriarch Benediktos [1957-1980]. This strong and very spiritual personality, an exceptional theologian and Church-builder, welcomed the two Heads of the Churches heartfully. His role is not recognised and we can regret such an absence of Church understanding. Patriarch Benediktos had a profound knowledge of the Catholic world and was a man of dialogue in a difficult situation. Father Lev Gillet describes the meeting as: "In the persons of Paul and Athenagoras, Eastern Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism have met. But beyond this significance for Christians, this meeting has a universal import. As it took place on a land sacred to Islam as well as to Judaism, in the presence of a sovereign [Hussein of Jordan] descended from the prophet Mohammad, might it not lead to a "universal dialogue."
Since 1987, the Patriarchate of Jerusalem decided to suspend its participation in ecumenical and inter-confessional dialogue. Our new Patriarch Theophilos had been the representative of the Holy Sepulchre in Geneva (WCC). He is a man of dialogue, traveled a lot and has developed numerous contacts with all Orthodox, Roman Catholic and other Churches and denominations. He was trained and ordained by Patriarch Benediktos and is his spiritual son and successor in Jerusalem.
Therefore, the Patriarchate of Jerusalem does not formally participate for the moment in the Unity Week. Father Alexander Winogradsky represents the Patriarchate for the second year. Thus, RUM-ORTH-IVRI.NET considers that, in the pathetic turbulences that affect the Christian life in the Holy Land, these days of meeting may allow the believers to convert to Christ. Father Lev Gillet said after the historic meeting in Jerusalem in 1964: "Fundamental differences exist. But dialogue has begun [between Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism]. What remains is to peruse it. It will be long and difficult but necessary."
In the name of the "Circle of Friends" the Roman Catholic representative for Ecumenicism, Father Frans Bouwen [White Father] has defined with the different Churches the following announcement:
The unity of Christians needs to be the paradigm for the unity of humankind. Christians possess a "treasury in clay jars" [22 Corinthians 4:7] which is the Glory of Jesus Christ the Lord, namely His victory over sin, death, persecution and hatred. We carry this treasure within the fragility of our human existence so that it becomes clear that this gift has its origin in God and not of our own making. God invites us to witness to Him through our human weakness.
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