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Bishop Hilarion essentially says the exact same thing is the goal of ecumenism for Orthodox Churches: Perhaps it would be appropriate at this point to recall that for the Orthodox Church the only ecumenical dialogue which is meaningful is that which leads its partners to a better appreciation and understanding of the Orthodox tradition. One hundred years ago, in 1903, the Russian Orthodox Church in its ‘Response to the Letter of the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate’ formulated its method of theological dialogue with the Anglicans and the Old Catholics in the following way:
There must be fraternal readiness to help them by explanations, normal consideration for their best wishes, all possible forbearance towards their natural perplexities, given the age-old division, but at the same time the firm confession of the truth of our Universal Church… Our task with regard to them should be… without putting before them unnecessary obstacle for union by being inappropriately intolerant and suspicious… to interpret for them our faith and unchangeable conviction that it is only our Eastern Orthodox Church, which has preserved intact the entire pledge of Christ, that is at present the Universal Church, and thus to show them in fact what they should consider and decide upon if they really believe that salvation is bound up with life in the Church and sincerely wish to be united with her…
This statement, which was included in the ‘Basic Principles of the Attitude of the Russian Orthodox Church to the Other Christian Confessions’ (2000), points very clearly to the motivation behind our ecumenical involvement. We, the Orthodox, do not aim at imposing our culture, ethos, rite and other peculiarities of ‘Byzantine’ Orthodoxy onto other Christians. At the same time we firmly believe that all major features of the original Christian Tradition have been preserved intact by the Orthodox Church. We believe therefore that the restoration of full communion among the various denominations is possible only within this Tradition, which has to be rediscovered by those Christians who for various reasons have lost or modified it in their doctrine and practice. While I agree that Father Geissler's statements bear a lot of similarity with the quotations from Bishop Hilarion, the sticking point continues to be Father Geissler's blurring the distinction between ecumenical action and the preparation and reconciliation of individuals who wish for full Catholic communion (cf Unitatis Redintegratio 4). In other words, ecumenical action doesn't mean people switching from one side to the other.
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Surely there is something disproportionate in speaking of union with Christ and Peter! Definitely. However, I think it's safe to assume that Father Geissler wasn't trying to imply anything to the contrary.
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