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The Pope’s decision to relinquish the papal claim to the title “Patriarch of the West” gets mixed reviews. Intrigue follows Popes dropping of official title
Number: 5810 Date: Mar 10 (Church of England Newspaper)
HOPES that new Pope Benedict XVI might oversee improvements in ecumenical relations have been raised after the new pontiff dropped one of his nine official titles. The Anglican Communion is seeking clarification from Rome on the ecumenical implications of the Pope’s decision to relinquish the papal claim to the title “Patriarch of the West”.
The news follows an invitation by the Catholic Church in England and Wales for the new Pope to visit Britain.
On March 1 the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera reported the Pope had decided to forego the title, which was also absent from the list of the Pope’s official titles as printed in the new edition of the Annuario Pontificio, the Vatican’s statistical yearbook. “A number of us are pondering what the omission of the title might mean,” the Rev Canon Gregory Cameron, Deputy General Secretary of the Anglican Consultative Council told The Church of England Newspaper.
Cardinal Achille Silvestrini, former head of the Vatican office for Eastern Rite Churches, speculated the move signalled an opening towards the Orthodox, telling the ANSA news agency “his act is intended as a spur to ecumenical progress.”
The decision also has implications for Anglicans, as it appears to distinguish the Petrine ministry from the patriarchal ministry — separating universal primacy from universal jurisdiction, building upon the work of ARCIC II’s The Gift of Authority.
The Russian Orthodox Church reacted sharply to the announcement, seeing it as an act of papal aggrandisement. Archbishop Hilarion of Vienna told the Interfax news agency on March 3, “It remains a mystery how the omission of the Patriarch of the West title can improve relations between the Holy See and the Orthodox Church” he said.
He added: “On the contrary, this omission could be viewed as further claim to the church’s worldwide jurisdiction, which is reflected in the pontiff’s other titles.” The Pope’s other titles include, Bishop of Rome, Vicar of Jesus Christ; Successor of St Peter, Prince of the Apostles; Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church; Servant of the Servants of God; Primate Of Italy; Archbishop And Metropolitan of the Roman Province; and Sovereign of the Vatican City State.
The MP statement reads:
Bishop Hilarion Alfeyev: Pope's Title "Patriarch of the West" Removed. What
Does It Mean for the Orthodox?
The mass media reported that in the new edition of the "Annuario Pontificio"
for 2006 the pope's title "Patriarch of the West" has been dropped. Now the
official list of titles includes: "bishop of Rome, vicar of Jesus Christ,
successor of the prince of the apostles, supreme pontiff of the Universal
Church, Primate of Italy, archbishop and metropolitan of the Roman Province,
sovereign of the State of the Vatican City, servant of the servants of God".
Some analysts saw in this omission the desire to improve the relations with
the Orthodox Church. The former prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental
Churches, Cardinal Achille Silvestrini is reported to have said that the
deletion was a "sign of ecumenical sensitivity" on the part of Pope
Benedict. The cardinal said that in the past some people used the title to
provoke negative comparisons between the claims of universal jurisdiction by
the worldwide "Patriarchate of the West" and the more restricted size and
jurisdiction of the traditional Orthodox patriarchates. According to the
cardinal, the pope's gesture "is meant to stimulate the ecumenical journey."
However, it is not at all clear how the removal of the title could possibly
ameliorate Catholic-Orthodox relations. It seems that the omission of the
title "Patriarch of the West" is meant to confirm the claim to universal
church jurisdiction that is reflected in the pope's other titles, and if the
Orthodox reaction to the gesture will not be positive, it should not be a
surprise.
In the Byzantine epoch there were four Eastern Patriarchates: of
Constantinople, of Alexandria, of Antioch, and of Jerusalem. The
Patriarchate of Rome was considered as "first among equal" in the diptychs
up until 1054, when the ecclesiastical relations between East and West were
interrupted. Thus, in the West, there was only one Patriarchate of Rome,
while in the East there were four Patriarchates. The Patriarchate of the
West together with the four Eastern Patriarchates constituted the so-called
"pentarchy".
It is the title "bishop of Rome" that remains then most acceptable for the
Orthodox Churches, since it points to the pope's role as diocesan bishop of
the city of Rome. The title "archbishop and metropolitan of the Roman
Province" shows that the pope's jurisdiction includes not only the city of
Rome, but also the province. The title "primate of Italy" indicates that the
Bishop of Rome is "first among equals" among the bishops of Italy, i.e.,
using Orthodox language, primate of a Local Church. With this understanding,
neither of the three titles would pose any problem for the Orthodox in case
of the re-establishment of the Eucharistic communion between East and West.
The model of church unity between East and West will be discussed by the
Mixed Catholic-Orthodox Theological Commission that will meet after a
six-year break in the fall of 2006. It is clear that this model will be
hypothetic, since there remain many obstacles, both of dogmatic and of
ecclesiological character, for the restoration of the full communion.
However, the main obstacle to unity, according to many Orthodox theologians,
is the teaching on the primacy of the Bishop of Rome. It is this teaching
that will be discussed in the framework of the Mixed Commission.
In this context unacceptable and even scandalous, from the Orthodox point of
view, are precisely those titles that remain in the list, i.e. Vicar of
Jesus Christ, Successor of the Prince of the Apostles, Supreme Pontiff of
the Universal Church.
According to the Orthodox teaching, Christ has no "vicar" who would govern
the universal Church in his name.
The title "successor of the prince of the apostles" refers to the Roman
Catholic teaching on the primacy of Peter that was passed on to the Bishop
of Rome and that submitted to him the universal Church. This teaching has
been criticized in Orthodox polemical literature from Byzantine time
onwards.
The title "supreme pontiff" (pontifex maximus) originally belonged to the
pagan emperors of Rome. It was not rejected by Emperor Constantine when he
converted to Christianity. With relation to the pope of Rome the title
"supreme pontiff of the Universal Church" points to the pope's universal
jurisdiction which is not and will never be recognized by the Orthodox
Churches. It is precisely this title that should have been dropped first,
had the move been motivated by the quest for "ecumenical progress" and
desire for amelioration of the Catholic-Orthodox relations.
It is to be hoped that the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity
will publish an official comment on the removal of the title.
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