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Please find below the position
of the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church about recent
evolutions in Romania regarding reception of the Holy and Great Council
of the Orthodox Church (Crete, 2016):
During
the working session of the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church,
gathered on Friday, 16 December 2016, under the chairmanship of His
Beatitude Patriarch Daniel, in the Synodal Hall of the Patriarchal
Residence, the Holy Synod noted with sorrow the recent evolution of
negative reactions regarding the reception in Romania of the Holy and
Great Council of the Orthodox Church (Crete, 2016).
The Romanian Patriarchate has stressed several times the fact that “the
Council in Crete did not formulate new dogmas, but rather professed
that the Orthodox Church is the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church
of Christ”, and has constantly urged that peace and unity of the
Church be retained with all responsibility, recalling the words of Saint
John Chrysostom saying that “nothing provokes God’s anger more than the division of the Church! Even
if we would have achieved ten thousand glorious acts, yet we who cut to
pieces the fullness of the Church suffer punishment no less sore than
they who mangled His body” (St John Chrysostom, Homily 11 on Ephesians, PG 62, 85).
However,
we note with sorrow in our soul that, in a fanatical and harmful
manner, some rebellious people misled certain clerics and faithful
stating falsely and denigratingly that the Council in Crete has
proclaimed ecumenism as dogma of faith, and some clergy, believing this
falsehood, uncanonically interrupted the liturgical remembrance of their
bishop, thus disturbing the peace and unity of the Church by their
divisive attitude.
The Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church
stressed that nor the Council in Crete neither some other Orthodox Synod
has declared ecumenism as a dogma of faith, in the same way as no canonical Orthodox Synod has ever declared ecumenism as being “pan-heresy”. Therefore, the accusations brought by opponents of the Council in Crete are unjust, irresponsible, and harmful for the unity of the Church.
From
an Orthodox point of view, lucid ecumenism does not represent a dogma
of faith, but a spiritual attitude of dialogue and cooperation between
Christians, instead of controversy full of confessional hate and of
violent confrontation, which has been manifested for several centuries
during the history of Christianity. The ecumenical movement came into
being at the beginning of the 20th century, when western Christian missionaries preached the Gospel of love to non-Christian peoples of Africa and Asia, while Christians
were divided themselves in many antagonistic Christian confessions,
hating and contesting each other, their attitude being a negative
missionary witness in front of other religions and the civil society. Although
taking part in this movement of dialogue among Christians of different
confessions, the Orthodox Church considered that the unity of
non-Orthodox Christians divided among themselves over time can be
restored only on the basis of the faith of the undivided Church
of Christ, which is the Orthodox Church, the One, Holy, Catholic and
Apostolic Church that we confess in the Orthodox (Nicene-Constantinopolitan) Creed.
In this sense, the Orthodox Church considers that in the dialogue with other Christians it brings exactly the witness of the One Church of Christ, from which they separated over time by deviation from Orthodox faith. Of course, no
Orthodox Christian is ever obliged to carry dialogues or to cooperate
with other Christians if he or she is afraid of losing the Orthodox
faith. At the same time, it is unfair to consider that all Orthodox
Christians who carry theological dialogues and cooperate in practical
matters in society with Christians of other confessions are traitors of
Orthodoxy. A peacemaker Orthodox Christian can remain faithful
to Orthodoxy without becoming fanatic, if he or she confesses Orthodox
faith in dialogue with other Christians, provided he or she makes no
compromise.
Furthermore, the Holy Synod noted with surprise the
uncanonical and aggressive attitude of certain theologians and clerics
(priests and hierarchs) from two sister Orthodox Churches, who came in
dioceses of the Romanian Patriarchate in order to criticise its
hierarchy and to instigate some clergy and faithful to disobey the
hierarchs of our Church. For this reason, the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church has decided to inform the Primates of the sister Orthodox Churches (Moscow Patriarchate and the Orthodox Church of Greece)
about the situations in which some of their priests and hierarchs carry
out uncanonically aggressive and turbulent activities in the dioceses
of the Romanian Patriarchate, inciting to disobedience, rebellion and
separation.
The clergy, monastics and lay people involved in
actions of rebellion and denigration of the Council in Crete, ignoring
the fact that a Synod can be judged only by another Synod, will
be called to order by peaceful dialogue and canonical explanation about
the gravity of disunion and of disturbing the peace and unity of the
Church. In the same manner, disciplinary administrative
and canonical sanctions will be applied in order to bring to order
clerics, monastics and lay people who persist in their state of
rebellion and disunion, troubling the peace and unity of the Church.
It
has also been recalled that if the synodal Fathers who participated in
the Second Ecumenical Council (381) made 3 omissions and 10 additions or
amendments to the text of the Creed formulated by the Holy Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council (325),
in order to clarify and complete the initial Synodal text, all the more
a future Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church can explain,
nuance and develop the documents formulated and approved by the Council
in Crete, in order to avoid misinterpretations that harm the peace and
unity of Christ’s Church. In this regard, it is also noteworthy the
decision of the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church which, even
though brought certain critical observations and proposed future
amendments to some documents of the Council in Crete, decided: “to
maintain fraternal, Eucharistic, spiritual, dogmatic and canonical
communion with all local Orthodox Churches – both with those who
participated in the Council in Crete and with those who did not
participate”.
In conclusion, any explanation
regarding the exposition of Orthodox faith must be given within
ecclesial communion, not in a state of rebellion and disunion, because the Holy Spirit is, at the same time, the Spirit of Truth (cf. John 16:13) and the Spirit of fellowship or communion (cf. 2 Corinthians 13:13).
