According to his suggestions, who would be the new "Orthodox Pope"? That would be Patriarch Bartholomew himself, of course.
Patriarch Bartholomew openly admits that the Orthodox Church has never been ruled by a single standalone leader. But now he wants to change that. He says we need to "revise our ecclesiology". To avoid becoming more like Protestants, he says that we should become like Roman Catholics.
Patriarch Bartholomew stated that it is necessary to revise the doctrine of the Church and recognize that in Orthodoxy there is a "First" not only in honor but also "with special powers."
Orthodox Christians need to subject themselves to self-criticism and reconsider their ecclesiology if they do not want to become a federation of Churches, similar to what is observed among Protestants, Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople said in an interview with the National Gazette, Romfeya reports.
Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople. Photo: patriarchate.org
The head of the Phanar sees the main tasks of his work in ensuring unity in Orthodoxy, the culmination of which he called the preparation and convocation of a Council in Crete in 2016. In his opinion, the Cretan assembly highlighted Orthodoxy, which "looks to the future and does not passively and nostalgically recall the past." The same Churches that refused to participate in the Council, "will be judged by history."
"We, the Orthodox, must subject ourselves to self-criticism and revise our ecclesiology," said Patriarch Bartholomew, "if we do not want to become a federation of Protestant Churches."
According to Bartholomew, the problem of unity can be solved if it is recognized that there is a bishop in the Orthodox Church who is higher than other bishops and has exclusive power.
“Since in our ordination to the bishop we swear to obey the decisions of the Ecumenical Councils, we must recognize that in indivisible Ecumenical Orthodoxy there is one 'First', not only in honor, but also the 'First' with special duties and canonical powers vested in the Ecumenical Councils,” said the head of the Phanar.
As the UOJ reported, His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphriy discussed whether it is possible to restore communion between the Patriarchate of Constantinople and the Russian Orthodox Church., making it clear than no reconciliation is possible, until Patriarch Bartholomew humbles himself and agrees that other Orthodox bishops are his equals, not his subjects.
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