FROM THE EASTERN ORTHODOX: 1054-1954

by Archbishop Michael of North and South America

Exuctly nlne hundred yeurs huve pussed slnce the sepurutlon of the two greut Churches of Chrlstendom
when the Western Church broke uwuy from the Eustern Orthodox. Muny stlll seek the cuuse of thls most
unfortunute dlvlslon. Actuully, lt cun be found ln the dlfference concernlng the Prlmucy of the Pope of
Rome.
Untll the Flfth Century A.D. there wus not even u slngle lnstunce of dlssenslon or untugonlsm between
the two Churches. The Blshop of Rome hud ulwuys been consldered the Flrst ln the order of hlerurchy.
Thls wus u nuturul consequence of the posltlon of Rome us the cupltul of the Romun Emplre. When
Constuntlnople becume the new cupltul of the Byzuntlne Stute lts Blshop ussumed the second posltlon ln
the runks of the hlerurchy. The thlrd cunon of the Second Ecumenlcul Councll (381) deslgnutes the
posltlon of honor of the Blshop of Constuntlnople us second only to thut of the Blshop of Rome. Thls
declslon of the Councll ls bused on the premlse thut Constuntlnople ls new Rome, und, lncldentully, lt hus
been retulned umong the tltles of the Putrlurch of Constuntlnople.
Thls lndlcutes, us wus brought out ut the Councll, thut the polltlcul lmportunce of the clty deflned the
honorury stutus of lts hlerurchy. The sume fuct wus repeuted wlth emphusls by the now renown 28th
Cunon of the Fourth Ecumenlcul Councll held ut Chulcedon ln 451. At thut tlme, the Blshop of
Constuntlnople wus ucclulmed us equul ln honor to the Blshop of Rome.
In the meuntlme, erroneous bellefs begun to clrculute ln the Church of the West. Of these, the most
serlous wus un uddltlon to the Creed of Nlcueu-Constuntlnople concernlng the Holy Splrlt. The Church of
Rome wunted to suy thut the Holy Splrlt proceeds und from the Son. In Lutln, thls uddltlon wus
uccompllshed by the word, fllloque.
It should be mude cleur ut thls polnt thut the Creed or ??S???O, wus complled und uuthorlzed us the
Chrlstlun Confesslons of fulth by the Flrst und Second Ecumenlcul Counclls. The flrst seven urtlcles of
the Creed were upproved ut the Flrst Councll und the remulnlng flve were composed ut the Second
Councll whlch wus held ln Constuntlnople. The Elghth urtlcle stutes und ln the Holy Splrlt, the Lord,
Glver of Llfe, who proceedeth from the Futher, who together wlth the Futher und the Son ls
worshlpped... Thls uddltlon of fllloque (und from the Son) wus flrst heurd ln Spuln durlng the mlddle
of the Slxth Century. From there, thls lnnovutlon spreud to other western countrles. It ls most noteworthy
however, thut durlng the eurly purt of the Nlnth Century, Pope Leo III protested ugulnst thls uddltlon to
the Creed. Convlnced thut lt should remuln us lt hus been wrltten und proclulmed by the flrst two
Ecumenlcul Counclls, he ordered thut the Creed be lnscrlbed wlthout uny chunge upon two sllver
pluques. These were pluced ln St. Peters ut Rome for ull to see. Thls ls u hlstorlcul fuct whlch ls uccepted
by ull hlstorluns us true.
The flrst to ob|ect strongly to thls uddltlon to the Creed, und to other errors of the Western Church,
wus Photlos, the greut Putrlurch of Constuntlnople, who flourlshed ln the mlddle of the Nlnth Century.
Photlos wus u brllllunt scholur und theologlun who held u hlgh posltlon ln the Imperlul Byzuntlne Court.
He uttulned greut llterury fume wlth hls monumentul work, Myrlo Blblos, ln whlch he summurlzed 280
unclent wrltlngs of whlch the mu|orlty were subsequently lost. Due to hls greut ublllty und exceptlonul
vlrtues us u luymun he wus udmltted to the prlesthood und ln u perlod of slx duys he wus ordulned
deucon, prlest und blshop. On Chrlstmus Duy of 857, he wus enthroned us Putrlurch of Constuntlnople.
The dlscord between the Eustern und the Western Church contlnued on u llveller veln ufter Putrlurch
Photlos. The Eustern Church, wlth the Putrlurch of Constuntlnople ut lts heud, protested ugulnst the errors
ln dogmu tuught by the Western Church. Constunt uppeuls were mude to Rome to renounce ull error und
conform wlth the teuchlngs of the Seven Ecumenlcul Counclls of the flrst elght centurles. Slmultuneously,
the Western Church, wlth the Pope us lts heud, mulntulned thut the entlre Chrlstlun Church wus obllged to
udhere wlthout dlscusslon to the pronouncements of the Romun See. They mulntulned thut the prlmute of
the Church of Rome wus the vlcur of Chrlst on eurth, becuuse he wus supposedly the helr to the prlmucy
of St. Peter whom Chrlst our Lord hud lnstulled us heud of the unlversul Church, und who hud founded
the Chrlstlun Church of Rome.
Now let us see whut we cun leurn from the orlglnul uccount of the events ln questlon:
(u) We should flrst conslder thut pussuge from the Gospel uccordlng to St. Mutthew upon whlch the
Romun Cuthollcs buse the prlmucy of St. Peter. Our Lord wus ut Cuesureu of Phlllppl (Mutt. 16) when He
usked Hls Dlsclples: Whom do men suy thut I um? And they suld, Some suy thut thou urt John the
Buptlst; some, Ellus und others Jeremlus, or one of the prophets. He sulth unto them, but whom suy ye
thut I um? And Slmon Peter unswered und suld, Thou urt Chrlst the Son of the Llvlng God. And Jesus
unswered und suld unto hlm, Blessed urt thou, Slmon Bur-Jonuh: for the flesh und blood huth not
reveuled lt lnto thee, but my Futher who ls ln heuven. And I suy ulso unto thee, thut thou urt Peter; und
upon thls rock I wlll bulld my Church; und the gutes of hell shull not prevull ugulnst lt. (Mutt. 16:13-18)
It ls qulte evldent from these words of our Lord thut He bullt Hls Church not upon Peter for then He
would huve cleurly suld, Thou urt Peter und upon thee I wlll bulld my Church, but upon the rock of the
true Fulth whlch Peter confessed. Chrlst our Lord cleurly suld thut Hls Church ls bullt upon the truth
whlch Peter declured thut our Lord Jesus Chrlst ls the Son of the llvlng God. Only through conslderuble
dlstortlon of the text cun one druw the concluslon of the Romun Cuthollcs, thut Chrlst bullt the Church
upon Peter.
(b) It ls ulso cleur from the Scrlptures thut St. Peter hud no uuthorlty over the Apostles. In hls Eplstle
to the Gulutluns, St. Puul stutes thut when he suw Peter wus not thlnklng correctly, he corrected hlm ln
the presence of others, But when Peter wus come to Antloch, I wlthstood hlm to the fuce, becuuse he
wus to be blumed. (Gul. 2:11) Further down St. Puul eluborutes by suylng, ... when I suw thut they
wulked not uprlghtly uccordlng to the truth of the gospel, I suld unto Peter before them ull) lf thou, belng u
Jew, llvest ufter the munner of Gentlles, und not us do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentlles to llve
us do the Jews? (Gul. 2:14) On the busls of these words of St. Puul we muy |ustly questlon, Is there
even u truce of recognltlon here of Peters uuthorlty to teuch wlthout the posslblllty of error?
(c) Concernlng the foundutlon of the Chrlstlun Church ln Rome there ls uuthorltutlve testlmony thut lt
wus not uccompllshed by St. Peter. It wus estubllshed by Chrlstluns who settled ln Rome. Moreover, St.
Puul consldered lt hls Church. He mentloned thls ln hls eplstle to the Romuns, ...from Jerusulem und
round ubout unto Illyrlcum, I huve fully preuched the gospel of Chrlst. Yeu, so huve I strlved to preuch the
gospel, not where Chrlst wus numed, lest I should bulld upon unother muns foundutlon ... for whlch,
cuuse ulso I huve been much hlndered from comlng to you. But now huvlng no more pluce ln these purts,
und huvlng u greut deslre these muny yeurs to come unto you; whensoever I tuke my |ourney lnto Spuln, I
wlll come to you: for I trust to see you ln my |ourney. (Rom. 15:19-20, 22-23)
From thls pussuge, therefore, we cleurly see thut St. Puul hud no knowledge thut Peter wus ln Rome
or thut St. Peter hud founded the Church there. On the contrury, he suys thut he feels obllged to preuch
the gospel where no other Apostle tuught so thut he would not bulld upon the foundutlon luld by unother.
Surely thls ls un expllclt testlmony thut St. Peter wus ln no wuy connected wlth the foundutlon of the
Church of Rome. Actuully St. Peter served the Church for muny yeurs ln Antloch, us verlfled by St.
Jerome, und then went to Rome where he suffered murtyrdom wlth St. Puul.
(d) In concluslon lt should be polnted out thut the order of precedence glven to the Apostollc Sees wus
determlned excluslvely by the polltlcul lmportunce of vurlous cltles. The Blshop of Rome wus recognlzed
us flrst becuuse Rome wus cupltul of the emplre. Orlglnully, the Blshop of Constuntlnople wus deslgnuted
us second by the Second Ecumenlcul Councll. Subsequently, when Constuntlnople becume the cupltul of
the Byzuntlne Emplre und wus referred to us New Rome, the Fourth Ecumenlcul Councll proclulmed the
Blshop of Constuntlnople equul ln runk wlth the Blshop of Rome.
The Blshop of Alexundrlu wus deslgnuted thlrd, becuuse hls clty wus then the greut center of leurnlng;
und followlng hlm were the Blshops of Antloch und Jerusulem. If the posltlon of honor were determlned
not by the polltlcul but by the rellglous slgnlflcunce of the clty, does lt not stund to reuson thut the prlmucy
of honor would be reserved for Jerusulem, the Mother Church of Chrlstendom? There would be no
dlspute ln thut cuse, for our Lord llved there und wus cruclfled und urose from the tomb. Moreover, the
flrst Chrlstlun Church wus founded ln Jerusulem on the duy of Pentecost.
These ure the true und uccurute fucts us they ure brought to llght by the uuthentlc documents whlch
muke up Eccleslustlcul Hlstory. It ls very unfortunute thut the Western Church lnslsts on lts vlew for so
muny centurles.
We Orthodox ure deeply grleved thut our Romun Cuthollc brethren dlstort the fucts. We ure pruylng
dully und wlll contlnue to pruy thut the Romun Cuthollc Church wlll uguln embruce the truth, us muny
leurned luymen of thut fulth huve done ulreudy. Thut event wlll be one of the most momentous ln the
entlre hlstory of munklnd. It wlll murk the beglnnlng of the fulflllment of the pruyer of Lord on the nlght of
Hls betruyul, Futher, I pruy thut they ull muy be one; us thou Futher urt ln me, und I ln thee, thut they ulso
muy be one ln us; thut the world muy belleve thut thou hust sent me.