Protopresbyter-Stavrophore Srboljub Miletić | April 2, 2017
Ecumenical Love
Among the Orthodox, the
understanding of the Church and of belonging to the Church differs from that of
Catholics, various Protestants, and the rest of the heterodox. Today, in the
consciousness of the Orthodox, this difference is fading more and more, because
our theologians, bishops, and clergy rarely speak about it. Instead, the media
increasingly report on various conferences, lectures, interreligious meetings
and gatherings, at which it is said that “we should seek the points that unite
us, and not the points that divide us,” that “we have common problems, common
challenges, that there are many more things that connect us than divide us,”
and the like. These encounters, meetings, and the ceremonies that accompany
them send the people the message that “mutual acquaintance, cooperation, and
multicultural and multiconfessional life together will heal the wounds that
divide us, which throughout history we have inflicted on one another.”
Therefore, their position is
clear: we shall not come, through humility and repentance, to unity in Truth
and righteousness; rather, through acquaintance, socializing, and cooperation,
we shall come to some sort of “unity.” To this end, the supporters of “unity”
offer advice to the Orthodox “not to close themselves off,” and that it is
“better to be part of the solution than part of the problem” (as a rule, it is
not specified: whose solution and which problem?).
Under the influence of such and
similar ideas are also those Orthodox who care about keeping pace with the
world. Imitating Catholics and Protestants and cooperating with them in
modernism and ecumenism, some naively think that the ideas being imposed on us
from the West are in fact only a “friendly outstretched hand,” and that
accepting these ideas will, in time, also bring us the Western economic
standard, political and social system. It is natural that, because of this,
they want to mix and unite with the heterodox, desiring visible,
administrative, and jurisdictional unity with other and different faiths, which
they “generously” call “the other Christians.” And this ambitious desire and
generosity of theirs, at the expense of their own Faith and Church, they
present as Christian, ecumenical love.
Apparently, it was in such an
ecumenical spirit and cooperative disposition that the Council of Crete also
issued its statements about “churches,” about the alleged “other Christians,”
struggling to explain how, supposedly, the Orthodox Church accepts “the
historical name of other heterodox Christian churches and confessions that are
not in communion with her.” This contradictory statement was issued despite
many disagreements, warnings, and decisions that had been made before the
Council of Crete, such as, for example, the unanimous decision of the hierarchy
of the Church of Greece that heterodox communities in the conciliar texts
cannot be called “churches.” The Council of Crete simply ignored the decision
of the hierarchy of the Church of Greece, as well as everything else that was
not in accordance with the decisions previously laid down.
On the other hand, Catholics and
the so-called “other Christians” have no problem with the name “churches.” In
the spirit of global fellowship, the Pope greeted the Council of Crete, sending
Patriarch Bartholomew a delegation with a special message that was read at the
end of the Liturgy at the Phanar. According to his own words, the Pope
“confirmed the general desire for the restoration of Christian unity,”
emphasizing the role of ecumenical dialogue, which “helps Orthodox and
Catholics to appreciate one another’s talents and to cooperate in the preaching
of the Gospel, to promote peace, human dignity, family values, and care for our
common home.” [1] (Here it is not specified which “Gospel” is meant: the
“Gospel” according to the Pope, or the Gospel according to Christ known to us?)
The Question of
the True Church
What is the difference in the
understanding of the Church and of belonging to the Church between us and the
Roman Catholics? Among the other so-called Christians there is no clear and
consistent teaching on this matter, so we shall dwell on this difference,
hoping that on the basis of it the other differences will also become clearer.
Among the Roman Catholics,
belonging to the church is understood above all as a concept of
authority—jurisdiction: spiritual, ecclesiastical-legal, and administrative,
through the recognition of the Pope, the “successor of Peter” and “vicar of
Christ,” as head, supreme judge, and high priest. For unity with that “church,”
it is enough for a given community to recognize the Pope as the supreme
authority, and thereby to be an organic part of Roman Catholicism, over which
the Bishop of Rome has full authority and jurisdiction.
Unlike them, the Orthodox Church
confesses unity of faith, and not unity of administrative jurisdiction. For,
according to the Gospel of Christ, the Church is the correct and saving
confession of faith in God. The question of the true faith is at the same time
also the question of the true Church; in fact, this is precisely the
question of the true faith, and not a question of “true jurisdiction.” Thus,
even Saint Maximus the Confessor, when he was asked to which jurisdiction he
belonged, bore witness to what the Church has confessed from the beginning,
explaining that: “God and the Lord of all said that the Catholic Church is the
correct and saving confession of faith in Him!”
Bishop Athanasius (Jevtić)
summarized this in the following way: “The Roman Catholic measures and criteria
for the Church and ecclesiality are not the same as the Orthodox ones. For
among them the ‘supreme criterion’ is the Pope of Rome and subjection to him,
communion with him; but among us it is the Holy Spirit in the Church of Christ.
Therefore, the question of the true faith is at the same time also the question
of the true Church. But of FAITH as the God-revealed Truth, Way, and Life. (Jn.
14:6.)
When emissaries of the Emperor
and the Patriarch came to the imprisoned Saint Maximus to persuade him also to
accept a compromise regarding the heresy of Monothelitism, [2] they asked
Maximus: “To which Church do you belong: the Church of Constantinople, Rome,
Antioch, Alexandria, or Jerusalem? For all these Churches, together with the
dioceses under them, have united; therefore, if you also belong to the Catholic
Church, unite yourself as well!” To this the Holy Confessor characteristically
replied (and repeated the same in a letter to his disciple Anastasius): “God
and the Lord of all has said (‘απεφήνατο’ = declared, determined) that the
Catholic Church is the correct (‘τήν ‘ορθήν’ = Orthodox) and saving confession
of faith in Him,” and for this reason He called Peter (the Apostle), who
confessed Him rightly, blessed… and He said that upon this (which he confessed)
He would build such a (right-believing) Church.” [3] (Mt. 16:16–18.)
To the Catholics, who have
supposedly heard such an answer long ago and many times, it is nevertheless
still unclear to this day how the Orthodox can have “one, holy, catholic, and
apostolic Church” and be members of it, without recognizing one Pope and without
submitting to the “successor of Peter.” What kind of unity is that without one
leader and head!? Catholics ask these and similar questions, concerning which
it is difficult to believe that they do not know the answer and are so
uninformed. It is more likely that they do not want at all to know or to hear
that the Orthodox have not only One, but the Only Leader and Head: our Lord
Jesus Christ, the Great High Priest, Who is depicted in this very manner on the
throne in every Orthodox church. For He Himself said: “Lo, I am with you
always, even unto the end of the world!” (Mt. 28:20.)
Such an answer presents a twofold
problem for Catholics, because: the Head of the Church is Christ and not the
Pope, and the unity of the Church and of her members—Christians—can only be in
Christ and not in some bishop, leader, head, whether Roman or
Constantinopolitan, or in any other man or institution according to human
organization. [4]
Legislative and
Executive Authority
From the very beginning it was
clear to the Apostles and to Christians that the Church is the Body of Christ,
and that people are its members: “Ye are the body of Christ, and members among
yourselves.” (1 Cor. 12:27.) The Body of Christ includes the Apostles, later
the bishops, priests, and, down to the present day, all the faithful and all
ecclesiastical ranks, from the patriarch to the churchwarden, for all
ecclesiastical ranks are subject to Christ, as members and limbs of the
Body of Christ.
As Holy Scripture also says, the
Lord God, “according to the working of His mighty power, which He wrought in
Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in
the heavens, far above all principality, and authority, and power, and
dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in
that which is to come; and hath put all things under His feet, and gave Him to
be head over all things to the Church, which is His Body, the fullness of Him
that filleth all in all.” (Eph. 1:20–23.) “Now therefore ye are no more
strangers and sojourners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the
household of God, built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus
Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in Whom the whole building, fitly
joined together, groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord; in Whom ye also are
built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.” (Eph. 2:19–22.)
Not only the Apostles and
Prophets, but every man who first, through faith and Baptism, follows Christ,
who keeps the faith of Christ, has the mind of Christ, becomes of one mind with
Christ, and only after this becomes a child of God by the grace that is given
through Christ. Thus Father Justin (Popović) also proclaims the good tidings:
“Having become man, and having founded the Church upon Himself and by Himself
and in Himself, the Lord Christ, as the God-man, immeasurably magnified man. He
not only saved man from sin, death, and the devil, but also raised him above
all the heavens and above all beings and creatures. The all-holy mystery of man
is in the all-holy mystery of the God-man, Who is the Church, and at the same
time the Body of the Church and the Head of the Church… man — a fellow-member
of the Body of the Theanthropic Body of Christ = the Church, the most holy and
most beloved mystery of God, the mystery above mysteries: the all-holy supreme
mystery. The Church — this is the God-man Christ extended through all ages and
through all eternity; but likewise, the Church is also man — extended by the
God-man Christ through all ages and through all eternity.” For this reason, Fr.
Justin warns: “Let us have reverent fear toward our Head; let us consider what
kind of Head we are the Body of!” [5]
The head is what governs the
body, and not the body the head. Thus the Lord also reserved all legislative
and governing authority, in all matters of the Faith, exclusively for Himself.
To men, who are fellow-members of the Body of Christ = the Church, the Lord
gave, in matters of faith, only executive authority, and not legislative
authority as well. [6] The criterion of a council is the true faith, and not
the other way around. A council is not the criterion of the faith, but the
faith is the criterion of a council. “Let no one lord it over our faith —
neither emperor, nor bishop, nor false council, nor anyone else, but only the
one God, Who both Himself and through His disciples handed down this faith to
us”! (St. Mark, Epistle to the Abbot of Vatopedi) As the Apostle Paul
also establishes: “whatsoever is not of faith is sin!” (Rom. 14:23) Therefore,
everything that is not of Christ God is harmful to man!
This is what the Ecumenical
Councils also established, for they did not speak from themselves, but, having
been taught by the Holy Spirit, they transmitted, gathered together, confirmed,
pointed to the words of Christ and to Divine revelation, and gave form in our
language to the God-revealed truths — the dogmas of the Church; they certainly
did not invent anything of their own. Their interpretation was true, not
“according to father and uncles.” Councils do not decide concerning the Faith,
but only preserve and bear witness to the true confession of faith before God,
before themselves, before the Apostles, the people, the Church, and the whole
world, heavenly and earthly. The true Gospel Faith is the criterion of councils
and stands above them. A council that does not hold to what the Lord has
revealed is not true; the criterion is the faith, and not the council.
Likewise, councils do not cut anyone off from the Church, but only bear witness
that someone has cut himself off, insofar as he does not stand in the right and
true faith.
Opposed to this is only the
replacement of the Holy Spirit with man or with a human institution, the
placing of man or men in the place of God. Reason can be a vessel of truth and
its instrument, but in no way its source. The source of truth, the source of
unity, is only the Spirit of Truth—the Holy Spirit. For the identity of the
Church, her name, self-consciousness, knowledge of who and what the Church is,
her qualification, belief, conviction, her whole knowledge of herself,
everything that she herself thinks of herself, believes and says… all this is
only and solely Christ, to Whom both the Father and the Holy Spirit bear
witness, as do all the holy men of God—taught by the Holy Spirit.
On the other hand, the Pope
mixed, transformed, and extended his administrative legislative authority
according to human organization into matters of faith as well. For this reason,
the Orthodox rejected the Pope, because they were not, and do not wish to be,
the Pope’s body, but the Body of Christ. They do not submit to a man—the
Pope—but to Him Who “hath put all things under His feet (Christ’s), and gave
Him to be head over all things to the Church, which is His Body, the fullness
of Him that filleth all in all.” (Eph. 1:23.)
Bishop Irinej of Bačka also bears
witness to this in his dissertation on St. Mark of Ephesus, stating: “Since the
Head of the Body of the Church is Christ, the Incarnate Logos of God and
the Hypostatic Truth of God, the foundation and basis of the unity and oneness
of the Church is Orthodoxy, right belief, Truth. Christ, the Church,
Orthodoxy—these are synonyms. Therefore St. Mark, in his reply to Manuel
Kalekas, who attacked the Orthodox Church because she supposedly contradicted
herself in various periods, writes as follows: ‘What then? Shall we crown those
divine councils with wool and drive them out into the wilderness, because
before them, in the same Church, a contrary opinion had been expressed about
the same matter? Or shall we rather think of the Church as always one and
the same, not according to places, but according to the character of Orthodox
thinking, according to which the churches throughout the whole inhabited world
are also called one Catholic and Apostolic Church, and regard the
corrupters who from time to time force their way into her—not as the fullness
of the Church, nor as pastors and teachers, but as grievous wolves who do not
spare the flocks, according to the apostolic foretelling?’ Accordingly, all who
separate themselves from the unity of the catholic ecclesiastical faith thereby
separate themselves also from the Church—and they are heretics. They fall away
from the Church; they are outside her, while the Church remains the One Holy
Church. She remains, to be sure, wounded and harmed by the loss and falling
away of her former children, but no less complete, no less conciliar and
catholic than before. For St. Mark and for the Church in general: ‘He is a
heretic, and subject to the laws against heretics, who deviates from the true
faith even in the least.’ According to St. Mark, heretics of various kinds are
‘falsifiers of the Divine dogmas’—and the common characteristic of all of them
without distinction is that they interpret the words of the holy theologians
and Fathers on their own authority and wrongly.” [7]
Why Are We
Divided?
It is not only false teachings
about God and the faith, such as, for example, the Filioque and purgatory, that
are causes for falling away from the Church, but also the Catholic Pope himself
as such, that is, the understanding and exercise of such a role of the bishop
of the city of Rome as supreme leader, judge, and lord of the religious
community, as well as the understanding of unity in him as such. Those who
recognize and confess this are not pastors and teachers of any kind, but,
according to St. Mark, heretics of various kinds and falsifiers of the Divine
dogmas.
The Apostle John bears witness
that we, as Christians, “are in Him that is true, even in His Son Jesus Christ.
This is the true God, and eternal life.” (1 Jn. 5:20.) To be in Christ means to
be in the Church. In unity with Christ — in unity with the Church. Every
other unity outside Christ is at the same time also outside the Church of
Christ. Those who do not follow Christ but this world, its system, something or
someone else, cannot be either the Church or in the Church. Those whose head is
not Christ but the Pope or someone else cannot be the Body of Christ. Bishop
Irinej also bears witness to this in the aforementioned dissertation on St.
Mark:
“Not only today, in the time of
so-called ‘ecumenism,’ but also in the time of St. Mark, there were people who
considered that Western Christians only ‘formulate differently’ the truths of
the God-given faith, but that they do not err in the faith and that, therefore,
they are not heretics. Here is what St. Mark says to this: ‘Never, some say,
have we regarded the Latins as heretics, but only as schismatics! — Those who
speak this way have taken it from the Latins themselves; for they call us
schismatics, having nothing to reproach us with concerning our faith, but
blaming us because we have refused them obedience, which, in their opinion, we
were obliged to maintain.’ A little later he continues: ‘We were the first to
separate from them; or rather, we separated them and cut them off from the
common Body of the Church. Why, tell me? Was it because they have the true
faith, or because they correctly added the addition to the Symbol of Faith? Who
could say such a thing, unless he had suffered a severe concussion of the
brain? No, but because they think improper and in no way pious things, and
because they unjustifiably added that addition. We turned away from them,
therefore, as from heretics, and for this reason we separated ourselves from
them.’ Later, St. Mark writes [8]: ‘If the Latins deviate in nothing from the
true faith, then it seems we have cut them off from ourselves in vain; but if
they do deviate, and that concerning the theology of the Holy Spirit, and to
blaspheme against the Holy Spirit is the gravest of all dangers, then they are
heretics, and as heretics we cut them off.’” [9]
The Church cannot call Catholics,
the various kinds of Protestants, and the other heterodox faiths that are not
in communion with her “churches.” But what do we see today among some?
Precisely the opposite. When certain Local Orthodox Churches became “an organic
part of the World Council of Churches,” [10] in their publications, at first
timidly, with regard to Catholics and the other heterodox, the terms “churches”
with a lowercase “c” began to appear, with the explanation that the One, Holy,
Catholic, and Apostolic Church is written with a capital “C,” unlike the
others, which we do not consider churches and therefore write with a lowercase
“c.” During the last decade, or somewhat more, even in our ecclesiastical press
it began to be written about Catholics and Protestants with a capital “C.” Then
came the Council of Crete, which issued a statement—a decision about
“churches,” in the plural of course, with a lowercase “c.” A capital “C,”
presumably, will be written when one of these famous Cretan “churches” is
spoken of in the singular. For, God forbid, that is its “historical name,” just
as these are the names of “other heterodox Christian churches and confessions
that are not in communion with the Church”!?! I suppose that a normal person,
faced with such Cretan explanations, could only say: Tsk, tsk, tsk…!?
Shall we, then, speak the truth,
or shall we flatter? Shall we be sincere, or shall we juggle and manipulate
words? Whose spiritual children shall we be, and who will be our spiritual
father: Niccolò Machiavelli or Saint Sava Nemanjić?
“Her position toward heretics—and
heretics are all who are non-Orthodox—the Church of Christ has determined once
and for all through the Holy Apostles and the Holy Fathers; that is, through
the holy Theanthropic Tradition, unique and unchangeable. According to that
position: the Orthodox are forbidden every prayerful communion and association
with heretics. Canon 45 of the Holy Apostles commands: ‘A bishop, or presbyter,
or deacon, who has only prayed with heretics, let him be excommunicated; but if
he has permitted them, as clergymen, to do anything, let him be deposed.’ This
holy Canon of the Holy Apostles does not specify what kind of divine service,
but forbids every common prayer, even individual prayer (συνευξάμενος), with
heretics. And at ecumenical common prayers, does not something greater and more
collective take place?” [11]
But, alas! There are more and
more of those who, fearing the consequences from cunning enemies, make
compromises with them in the desire to preserve their peace, job, rank,
position, advantages, and benefits… No one has the right to modify the faith
and tear apart the Church under the pretext that his life is threatened! But
they are afraid to hold to the truth and to be sincere, thinking that truth
does not pay, and that sincerity is a kind of weakness. But the Apostle Paul
says that “God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love,
and of a sound mind!” (2 Tim. 1:7.) Saint Fr. Justin of Ćelije also warns us of
this: “We ought to obey God rather than men (Acts 5:29.) — This is the soul,
this is the heart of the Orthodox Church; this is her Gospel, her All-Gospel.
By this she lives and for this she lives. In this is her immortality and
eternity; in this is her imperishable all-worth. To obey God rather than men —
this is her principle above principles, holy thing above holy things, criterion
above criteria. This All-Gospel is the essence of all the holy dogmas and all
the holy canons of the Orthodox Church. Here, at all costs, the Church must
make no concessions to any political regimes, nor make compromises, neither
with men nor with demons!” [12]
A Council of the
Confused
Thus, then, some sincerely think
that the Council of Crete was a “council of wolves.” Judging by everything, it
seems that there were indeed wolves involved in its organization, especially
behind the scenes. As for the meeting itself, however, it seems that it was
merely a council of the confused. Or perhaps someone thinks that certain ranks
are a guarantee against confusion?
And confused are all those who
take this world and earthly powers more seriously than the God-revealed
Orthodox Patristic Faith and Church, than the words of Holy Scripture and the
Holy Fathers. For “her position toward heretics—and heretics are all who are
non-Orthodox—the Church of Christ has determined once and for all through the
Holy Apostles and the Holy Fathers; that is, through the holy Theanthropic
Tradition, unique and unchangeable… This canon, and all the other canons of the
Holy Apostles and Holy Fathers concerning this question, were valid not only
for ancient times, but they are valid in full measure for all of us,
present-day Orthodox Christians as well. They are undoubtedly valid also for
our attitude toward Roman Catholics and Protestants. For Roman Catholicism is a
manifold heresy, and Protestantism even more so. Did not Saint Sava already in
his time, seven and a half centuries ago, call Roman Catholicism the ‘Latin
heresy’? And how many new dogmas has the Pope invented since then and infallibly
‘dogmatized’!” [13]
Whence comes this confusion? From
the failure to distinguish spirits, from ignorance of Christ and a lack of
understanding of the Gospel, the Church, and Christianity. People think that
God will bless good works and intentions, even if they are contrary to the
Gospel. But we know, and we have already been told, that He will not. For there
is a difference between works of faith and human works. The Lord requires of us
works of faith, and not the works of our fallen nature, our diplomatic wisdom. The
foundation and cornerstone upon which the Church stands are not some human good
intentions, but the God-man Christ, the God-revealed Word of God, Whom we know
by the spirit and by faith according to the Gospel, and by the words and deeds
of the Fathers. According to the words of Holy Scripture, “the thoughts of
mortals are fearful, and their intentions are fallible.” (Wis. Sol. 9:14.) The
Church cannot be built upon some interreligious and interchurch agreements,
upon the decisions of various conferences and the conclusions of theological
symposia, for the source of truth is Christ, and we must learn to remain within
the boundaries that the Lord has set for us. Without those boundaries we are
not Christians. For those who have preserved the laws of that friendship and
taught them to others are called “friends of God.” “If ye keep My commandments,
ye shall abide in My love, even as I have kept My Father’s commandments, and
abide in His love.” (Jn. 15:10.)
Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov
asks: “You say: ‘Heretics are also Christians.’ Where did you get this from?
The Ecumenical Church has always regarded heresy as a mortal sin; she has
always perceived that a man infected with the terrible disease of heresy is
dead in soul, removed from grace and salvation, and is in communion with the
devil and his perdition. Heresy is a sin of the mind. Heresy is more a demonic
sin than a human one; it is the daughter of the devil, his invention, a
dishonor close to idolatry. The Fathers usually call idolatry unbelief, and
heresy—evil belief!” [14]
Heresy, therefore, kills the soul
for eternity! “I will cite here an example. Let us imagine that a woman’s
husband has fallen ill with tuberculosis, but that he does not consider it a
dangerous illness, and counts his symptoms among the individual peculiarities
of a man. He moves about the apartment, plays with the children, coughs here
and there, and at the same time refuses to be treated. The wife takes the
children and leaves him, saying that they can be together only after he is
healed.
Our understanding of this woman’s
action depends on whether we acknowledge that tuberculosis is a deadly disease.
If we do, then the woman’s behavior becomes understandable to us as a
manifestation of her love both for the children and for the husband himself,
whom, through this, she wishes to urge toward coming to his senses because of
the seriousness of the situation and toward beginning treatment. If we consider
that there is no tuberculosis at all, or that it does not harm health in the
least, then the woman’s behavior seems inadequate to us, even bordering on
mental derangement. So it is also with the history of the Church.” [15]
“If the Church appears as ‘ONE’
in the Symbol of Faith and in the self-consciousness of the Orthodox Church,
(point 1 of the communiqué from Cyprus), then how can we simultaneously speak
also of certain other Christian churches?” [16] The Orthodox Church cannot
accept any “historical names” nor any “other heterodox Christian churches and
confessions that are not in communion with her” as churches, among other
things, for these same historical reasons. For never in her history has the
Church accepted any idea of the existence of many churches. The gathering of
patriarchs in Cyprus issued a confusing and contradictory communiqué with which
even the bishops in their entourage did not agree, nor all the Local Orthodox
Churches, and still less all the clergy, monasticism, and Orthodox people.
Let us conclude again with the
words of Saint Mark: “All the Fathers and Teachers of the Church, all the
Councils and all the Divine Scriptures teach us to flee from those who believe
differently and to withdraw from communion with them. Shall I, therefore,
having despised all those Fathers and Councils, follow those who, under the
mask of false peace, call us to unite with those who have violated the holy and
divine Symbol of Faith… May it not happen to me, O Good Comforter, that I
should ever so fall away from Thee and from sound thoughts and sound faith, but
may I always hold fast to Thy teaching and to the blessed men inspired by Thee,
and thus be joined to my Fathers, carrying from here, from earth to heaven, if
nothing else, then at least the right faith (την Ευσεβειαν = Orthodoxy).”
On the Sunday of the Akathist,
2017. [17]
NOTES
2. Which, as
is known, the Patriarch of Constantinople Sergius and the Pope of Rome Honorius
had previously accepted, for which reason both were later condemned and
anathematized as heretics at the Sixth Ecumenical Council.
3. PG 90,
132A; cf. 93 CD; Bishop Athanasius (Jevtić), On Roman Catholic Ecumenism,
Pravoslavlje, No. 969–970, Section: Occasions, on the Feast of Saints
Peter and Paul, 2007.
4. See
footnote no. 6 below.
5. Abba
Justin of Ćelije: Commentary on the Epistle of the Holy Apostle Paul to the
Ephesians, Belgrade, 1983.
6. In the
Church one must distinguish jurisdiction, authority, according to the Divine
order, and jurisdiction according to human organization.
7. Hieromonk
Irinej Bulović, The Theology of Dialogue According to St. Mark of Ephesus,
Theological Views, Belgrade, 1975, Year VIII, No. 1.
8. Encyclical
Epistle against the Greco-Latins, 4. PG 17, 314.
9. Hieromonk
Irinej Bulović: The Theology of Dialogue According to St. Mark of Ephesus,
Theological Views, Belgrade, 1975, Year VIII, No. 1.
10. Herald
of the Serbian Orthodox Church, No. 8, August 1968, p. 168.
11.
Venerable Justin of Ćelije: The Truth about the Serbian Orthodox Church in
Communist Yugoslavia, Ćelije Monastery, Belgrade, 1990, p. 3.
12. Ibid.
13.
Venerable Justin of Ćelije: Reply to the Holy Synod, On Common Prayer for
Unity; Collected Works of St. Justin the New in 30 volumes, Book no.
20, text no. 90, pp. 647–650.
15. GEORGE
Maximov: Reply to the text by Sergei Khudiev, “Does Christ Reject Roman
Catholics?” https://svetosavlje.org/a-sta-ako-je-bog-rekao-istinu/
17. Silent
Sunday, the 5th Sunday of Great Lent, when the canon of Saint Andrew of Crete
is read together with the life of Saint Mary of Egypt. (editor’s note)
Serbian
source: https://svetosavlje.org/crkva-i-crkve-posle-sabora-na-kritu/
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