In search of unity. Dialogue of friendship between a Catholic and an Orthodox
by Patrice Mahieu and Alexandre Galaka
Salvator, 216 p., € 20
Two friends are having coffee in a Roman convent, following morning services. They met fifteen years ago on the benches of the Saint-Serge Orthodox Theological Institute in Paris. The first, Alexandre Galaka, is Ukrainian, an Orthodox priest of the Moscow Patriarchate; the other, Patrice Mahieu, is a Catholic, monk and priest of the Abbey of Saint-Pierre de Solesmes (Sarthe).
“We drifted apart from each other”
Discussion is rife regarding the reasons for the disunity between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. They decide to make a book out of it, thus introducing a third Alex Reed to their table: the reader, curious to know more regarding Orthodoxy and its differences with Roman Catholicism. Here he is part of a deep, spiritual, sometimes erudite discussion.
The reasons for our estrangement have their roots in history. After having belonged to the same Church during the first millennium, the Christians of East and West moved away until the schism of 1054, date traditionally retained to mark the rupture between the two Churches. This was consummated 150 years later with the sack of Constantinople, during the fourth crusade. It was not until 1965 that Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras lifted the anathemas.
“The problem is that in the second millennium, we drifted apart”, summarizes Alexandre Galaka. The two friends review the misunderstandings that have accumulated over the centuries: the development of dogma (the Orthodox criticize the legal approach of Catholics); the recognition of the sacraments (in particular ordination and the Eucharist); the and a son of the Creed (to say that the Holy Spirit «proceeds from the Father and the Son” calls into question, according to the Orthodox, «divine dignity» spirit) ; the pope and the primacy (the fifteen Orthodox patriarchs «are equal to each other” and the primacy belongs to the synod and not to a pope “infallible”, enthroned at the top of a “monarchy” and object of a devotion almost “idolater”); Uniatism (the Eastern Churches remained faithful to Rome)…
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«There are differences in dogmatization; there are differences in theological reflection; there are differences linked to the history and conception of unity and the exercise of authority; but there are no differences of faith”, emphasizes Patrice Mahieu.
Catholics, notes Alexandre Galaka, are a source of inspiration in the fieldfrom “relations with the state” (the Orthodox are accustomed to “Nations be baptized by the force of the state”), from “missionary life” and of “charity organization”.
Orthodox monasteries, “centers of spiritual life”
Diving into the Orthodox reality is fascinating. The monasteries, which play the role of “large parishes”, are the “centers of spiritual life”. There is no form of apostolic religious life. “Monasticism insists on solitude; all social problems, that is, of society belong to the laity, explains the Orthodox priest. This is why we do not have several orders but only one, the Basilians. »
The practice is centered on the liturgical life, which “reflects the faith of the Church and the piety of the faithful”. It feeds on long liturgies – “It’s like a sea where you are completely immersed. » The prayer is accompanied by sober and deep songs (Greek Orthodox songs or znamenny among the Slavs). The place of Scripture is “sacred” ; its reading is inseparable from the commentaries of the Fathers of the Church, to which reference is made to clarify a passage to the “ambiguous meaning”.
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Sacramentally, the Orthodox approach to marriage is inspiring. The faithful can marry three times. The first wedding is the most formal: the bride and groom wear the crowns. For subsequent weddings, the bride and groom “must do penance for a fixed period of time asking God’s forgiveness”. The ” advice ” and the “decisions” belong to the spiritual father or the diocesan bishop, who are best able to take into account “very subtle situations” taking care not to “break life”.
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