How to dialogue with Orthodox

Rev. David Mickiewicz will present "The Eastern Catholic Experience" at Spring Enrichment to explain "the relationship between the communion of Catholic churches, including the Eastern rites, and the Orthodox churches.

"Orthodox churches did not agree with the declarations of the Council of Chalcedon [in the fifth century]. That's why they split" from the pope, he said.

There has been little communication between the church groups over the centuries, and what did transpire often resulted in misunderstandings, he added.

Long-held feelings

"For the past thousand years, since the bishop of Constantinople excommunicated the bishop of Rome and vice-versa, and the sack of Constantinople in the Crusades in 1207, there have been hard feelings and long-held resentments," the priest noted.

In his presentation, he said, "we're going to be looking at our similarities, not just our differences. Each of the churches has their own history, liturgy, laws, spirituality and very rich traditions.

"We agree on many issues. A lot of the problem has been in the language. When we pray at our liturgies, do we mean the same thing that was meant when the words were prayed a thousand years ago?"

Neighbors

Within the borders of the Albany Diocese, the priest noted, "we are so lucky to have a smattering of Eastern and Orthodox churches that we can dialogue with: Russian, Ukrainian and Greek, as well as Oriental, Coptic and Armenian. We also have Byzantine and Maronite Eastern Catholic churches.

"We've been commanded by Christ to be one, universal church; there is no room for options. We must be involved in ecumenical efforts and dialogue with each other. This workshop will hopefully help that effort."

(Father Mickiewicz, pastor of St. Stanislaus parish in Amsterdam, is chair of the Orthodox/Roman Catholic Dialogue for the Capital Region.)

(For more information on Spring Enrichment, including a program brochure and registration form, click here.)

(4/27/06) [[In-content Ad]]