By Hans-Georg Link
Some unmasking happened at the padare hearing with six orthodox representatives at the
assembly on Wednesday afternoon.
While debating criteria for church renewal, a young Serbian priest could only point to his
own Orthodox tradition and Holy liturgy. The work on Scripture and Tradition done by the
WCC Commission on Faith and Order, which led to a breakthrough at its 4th World-Conference
in 1963 in Montreal, was completely unknown to all panelists.
A simple explanation was given for this: "Today we live in another time, there is a
new situation, a new generation". The old tradition within the WCC including Orthodox
participants seems to be forgotten at all terms.
It became even worse, when an Orthodox priest had to admit that most of the Orthodox
Churches did not really engage in the Apostolic Faith study, focusing on the Ecumenical
Creed of 381, which is very much at the core of orthodox faith and self-understanding.
Most disappointing is the fact that almost all Orthodox churches do not even know that
there has been such a long-term project (since Lima, 1982 until now), as can be recognised
in the most recent statement on The Nature and Purpose of the Church (Ch. IV A).
Is it credible to make public calls in plenary sessions for more Christ-oriented work
within the WCC and at the same time not be engaged or interested in, not even be informed
about, the work being done for decades?
I am afraid that the Rev. Rose Hudson-Wilkin was absolutely right: there is neither
renewal nor theology at stake, but power games.
The Ecumenical Prayer Cycle, available in four western languages (English, French, German
and Spanish) has never been translated into any of Orthodox languages -- Greek, Russian or
Rumanian.
How do we have to come to grips with the fact that Orthodox dignitaries celebrated on
Monday morning an Easter worship, while none of the dignitaries felt it necessary to take
part in Sunday evening’s vigil, the crossroad "for our inability as Christian
churches to receive Christ’s body and blood at one and the same table"?
Can there be an Easter celebration without sharing in the commemoration of Christ’s
road to and death on the cross, or is this a gnostic heresy?
I understand that Orthodox churches have difficulties in involving themselves in western
themes such as women’s ordination and sexual orientation. But it makes me sad and
angry that Orthodox representatives abandon WCC work on their very own grounds: Scripture,
Tradition, Creed and Prayer.
Instead of criticising the WCC for shifting from its original aims, it would be much more
appropriate to do one’s own homework by involving once again work for the renewal of
every church. Otherwise, I am afraid, the work done for more than 50 years with Orthodox
participation will have been completely in vain and we’ll have to start again from
point zero.
Dr Hans-Georg Link is a pastor for Ecumenical Affairs in Cologne, Germany, and a former
member of the Faith and Order staff.
Misreported and limited
From Peter Bouteneff
The article "Unmasking Orthodox Claims", in Jubilee number 8, is
insufficient in at least two areas.
First, the author misreports the padare offering he describes. The 1963 World Conference
on Faith and Order, of which he says all the panelists were ignorant, was in fact
discussed explicitly by two of them.
And while one panelist did speak of a regrettably insufficient reception so far of Faith
and Order’s work on the Nicene Creed, both he and another presenter put this in the
context of the weak reception of this text -- and almost all ecumenical texts --
throughout the confessional spectrum.
Second, the author reveals a limited understanding of the liturgical life of the Orthodox
Church. To expect the Orthodox to introduce new prayers, as represented in the ecumenical
prayer cycle, into their corporate worship life is surely knocking on the wrong door.
He goes on to misrepresent a matins service (not "Easter worship") celebrated in
conjunction with a Vigil service last week, drawing strange and extreme conclusions
(charges of gnostic heresy!) from his personal tally of who attended and who didn't.
A certain impatience with the Orthodox is more than understandable on the part of their
ecumenical partners, particularly in these tense days. But it is sad to see either
"side" express its frustrations in ways that are so raw and misrepresentative.
Bouteneff is executive secretary with WCC Faith and Order and secretary of the
council’s Orthodox Task Force.
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