A close encounter of Christianity’s East, West Traditions

12/8/2011
By The Rev. Patrick J. Howell
Special to The Seattle Times

I recently attended an informative, stimulating meeting in Romania of 25 Jesuits involved with ecumenical relationships. Our weeklong conference was a chance to encounter and better understand the Romanian Orthodox churches.

I recently attended an informative, stimulating meeting in Romania of 25 Jesuits involved with ecumenical relationships. Our weeklong conference was a chance to encounter and better understand the Romanian Orthodox churches.

Despite some attempts through the last millennium, the East and West Churches are still at odds with each other, though considerable progress has been made since the breakthrough encounter in Jerusalem of Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras of Constantinople in 1964.

This historic meeting between the pope and the patriarch led a year later to a mutual declaration rescinding the dual excommunications of 1054 which began the Great Schism between the churches of the East and the West. Though the declaration did not end the schism, it showed a great desire for reconciliation between the two churches.

The Romanian Orthodox Church and the whole country suffered enormously during the brutal Communist dictatorship of Nicolae Ceausescu, 1964-1989, who undertook megalomaniac projects, such as the construction of the grandiose Palace of the Parliament, which, at the time it was built, was the second-largest building in the world (after the Pentagon), we were told. Needless to say, Ceausescu’s self-aggrandizing projects relentlessly drained the country of resources.

Our meetings dwelt on much more positive themes. We met with some engaging Orthodox leaders who echoed our own desires for greater unity among the Eastern and Western churches, even as we explored the cultural, linguistic and theological differences.

We stayed at a Carmelite (Roman Catholic) monastery on the outskirts of Bucharest that was built by Italian Carmelites just a few years ago. Italians know the benefits of fresh fruits and vegetables, so our table sparkled with fresh apricots, peaches, cherries and tomatoes from the monastery garden.

Various Jesuits presented papers at the conference on topics such as different theological and mystical experiences in the liturgy; the seven different varieties of the Syro-Malabar rites in Southern India (Kerala province), and the progress of Roman Catholic dialogue with the 16 different Orthodox patriarchates.

We had a special report devoted to the work of the 55 Jesuits in Russia, given by the current Jesuit Superior who lives in Moscow — an American who, during his first 12 years in Russia, ministered to a parish the size of Belgium in Siberia.

Roman Catholic relationships with the Russian Orthodox reached their lowest ebb about 10 years ago when the Vatican established four Catholic dioceses in Russia — mainly to serve the ethnic Germans, Poles and others who had been sent into exile during the Cold War. Today, with a new Russian Orthodox patriarch, relationships are much more cordial and open. But the Russian Orthodox are particularly negative toward the proselytizing by American-based evangelical churches.

The highlight of our week was far and away our tour up to the Moldova province of Romania on the edge of the Carpathian Mountains where 15 Romanian Orthodox monasteries are located within 30-40 miles of each other. A lively, young Romanian priest, Father Chrysostom, who had studied at a Jesuit college in Rome, was our gracious host.

The Communists tried to destroy these monasteries with a severe crackdown in the 1960s when they forced all the monks under the age of 40 to return to their homes. One young monk, however, escaped to the mountains where he lived for nine years with a bear as a companion, guide and significant watch guard. The monastic tradition plays a much stronger role in the Orthodox tradition than in the Christian West, and though Orthodox priests can marry, all Orthodox bishops are celibate monks.

Our journey into the heart of the Orthodox tradition was a graced-filled, profound spiritual experience and deepened our own desires for greater understanding and friendship with all churches.

Fr. Patrick Howell SJ is the rector (religious superior) of the Jesuit Community at Seattle University and professor of pastoral theology. Readers may send feedback to faithcolumns@seattletimes.com.

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