From e683438ad0a3105dc7fa840dcd4d9a5e69986cab Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Tim Van Baak Date: Tue, 12 Sep 2023 15:14:45 -0700 Subject: [PATCH] Add Zoghby response --- src/page/ecumen/cdf-1997-zoghby.md | 123 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ src/page/ecumen/index.md | 1 + 2 files changed, 124 insertions(+) create mode 100644 src/page/ecumen/cdf-1997-zoghby.md diff --git a/src/page/ecumen/cdf-1997-zoghby.md b/src/page/ecumen/cdf-1997-zoghby.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4080654 --- /dev/null +++ b/src/page/ecumen/cdf-1997-zoghby.md @@ -0,0 +1,123 @@ +--- +title: Letter from Rome on Zoghby Proposal +date: 1997-06-11 +author: Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger +source: https://orthocath.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/1997_letter_from_rome_on_zoghby_initiative-11.pdf +--- + +**Congregation for the Eastern Churches Prot. No. 251/75** +**June 11, 1997** +**His Beatitude Maximos V HAKIM** +**Greek-Melkite Catholic Patriarch of Antioch and of all the East, of Alexandria and of Jerusalem** + +Your Beatitude, + +Word of the project for a rapprochement between the Greek-Melkite Catholic Patriarchate and +the Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch has been widely noted and given rise to much public +discussion. + +The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Congregation for the Eastern Churches, and +the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity have striven to familiarize themselves and examine +with care those aspects that lie within their respective competence; the heads of these Dicasteries +have further been charged by the Holy Father to share some observations with Your Beatitude. + +The Holy See follows with great interest and wishes to encourage initiatives that could ease the +way to a complete reconciliation of the Christian Churches. It recognizes the imperatives behind +the decades-long effort of the Greek-Melkite Catholic Patriarchate aimed at promoting the +realization of this sought-for fullness of communion. The Code of Canon Law for the Eastern +Churches recognizes in this a duty for every Christian (Can. 902), that becomes for the Eastern +Catholic Churches a special munus (Can. 903), to be pursued according to "*normis specialibus* +*iuris particularis moderante eundem motum Sede Apostolica Romana pro universa Ecclesia*" +["by the special norms of particular law, the Apostolic Roman See directing the movement for +the entire Church"] (Can. 904). + +This is all the more valid for two communities that see themselves as especially tied to one +another from their common origin and shared ecclesial tradition, as well as through a long +experience of joint initiatives, placing them without a doubt in a privileged state of closeness. + +It is the wish of the Church that appropriate ways and means be found to proceed in future along +the path of fraternal agreement, and through the assistance of new forms that would allow the +further realization of progress towards full communion. + +Your Patriarchate, in pursuing such goals, is spurred by the sensitivity, the situational +understanding, and the experience that are uniquely its own. The Holy See intends to aid this +process through the formulation of a few observations that it believes could contribute to a future +furthering of the initiative. + +The responsible Dicasteries broadly welcome joint pastoral initiatives between Catholics and +Orthodox, undertaken as proposed in the Directory for the Application of the Principles and +Norms on Ecumenism, most particularly in the fields of Christian formation, education, common +charitable endeavours, and shared prayer when this is possible. + +Specifically with respect to theological heritage, one must proceed with patience and prudence, +and without precipitation, in order to assist both parties in following a shared path. + +A first dimension of this sharing concerns the language and categories used in the dialogue: one +has to apply the greatest care that the common use of a word, or of a concept, not lend itself to +differing points of view or interpretations of a historical or doctrinal nature, nor to any form of +over simplification. + +A second dimension necessitates that the sharing of the contents of the dialogue not be limited +solely to the two direct interlocutors, the Greek-Melkite Catholic and Orthodox Antiochian +Patriarchates, but that it should also implicate the wider Confessions with which the two +Patriarchates are in full communion: the Catholic Communion for the former, and the Orthodox +Communion for the latter. The Orthodox ecclesiastical authorities in the Patriarchate of Antioch +have, in any case, highlighted analogous concerns. This more comprehensive participation would +also help ensure that initiatives aimed at promoting full communion at the local level do not give +rise to misunderstandings or suspicions, even with the best of intentions. + +Let us now turn to the terms of the profession of faith of his Excellence Mgr. Elias Zoghby, +Greek-Melkite Catholic Archbishop emeritus of Baalbeck, signed in February 1995, and to +which many prelates of the Greek-Melkite Catholic Synod have subscribed. + +It is evident that this Patriarchate forms an integral part of the Christian East whose patrimony it +shares. With respect to the declaration on the part of Greek-Melkite Catholics of complete +adherence to the teachings of Eastern Orthodoxy, one must keep in mind the fact that the +Orthodox Churches are today not yet in full communion with the Church of Rome, and that this +adherence is thus not possible so long as there is not from both sides an identity of professed and +practiced faith. Furthermore, a correct formulation of the faith requires reference not only to a +particular Church, but to the whole of the Church of Christ that is limited in neither space nor +time. + +With respect to communion with the Bishops of Rome, one must not forget that doctrine relating +to the primacy of the Roman Pontiff has been the subject of some development within the +elaboration of the Church's faith through the ages, and that it must thus be upheld in its entirety +from its origins all the way to the present day. One need only reflect on what the First Vatican +Council affirms and on what has been declared at the Second Vatican Council, particularly in +NN. 22 and 23 of the Dogmatic Constitution *Lumen Gentium* and in N. 2 of the Decree on +Ecumenism *Unitatis Redintegratio*. + +As to the ways in which the Petrine ministry could be exercised today, an issue distinct from that +of doctrine, it is true that the Holy Father has recently reminded us all how it is possible to +"seek—together, of course—the forms in which this ministry may accomplish a service of love +recognized by all concerned" (*Ut unum sint*, 95): but while it is also legitimate to approach the +issue at the local level, there is a duty to do so always in communion with a view to the universal +Church. In this regard, it would in any case be appropriate to recall that "the Catholic Church, +both in her *praxis* and in her solemn documents, holds that the communion of the particular +Churches with the Church of Rome, and of their Bishops with the Bishop of Rome, is—in God's +plan—an essential requisite of full and visible communion" (*Ut unum sint*, 97). + +As to the various aspects of *communio in sacris*, an ongoing dialogue will have to be maintained +in order to explore the rationale underlying the respective norms currently in effect, and this in +light of the theological assumptions that underlie them; in this way premature unilateral +initiatives or eventual outcomes that would not have pondered sufficiently might be avoided: +these could lead to significant negative consequences, including with respect to other Eastern +Catholics, most especially to those living within the same region. + +All in all, the fraternal dialogue pursued by the Greek-Melkite Patriarchate will contribute all the +more to the path of ecumenism insofar as it strives to include in the development of new +sensibilities the whole Catholic Church to which it belongs. There is a good basis for believing +that Orthodoxy also shares this concern, and this largely also in consideration of the +requirements for communion within its own body. + +The Dicasteries concerned are ready to offer their collaboration in furthering this exchange of +reflections and clarifications; they further express their satisfaction with the meetings held so far +on this subject with representatives of the Greek-Melkite Catholic Church, and both hope and +wish to see these exchanges maintained and deepened in future. + +Fully recognizing that Your Beatitude will wish to share these reflections, please accept the +expression of our fraternal and cordial regards. + +Joseph Card. Ratzinger +Achille Card. Silvestrini +Edward Card. Cassidy \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/src/page/ecumen/index.md b/src/page/ecumen/index.md index 0493575..1fc1767 100644 --- a/src/page/ecumen/index.md +++ b/src/page/ecumen/index.md @@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ Any errors are my own. * North American Consultation — [Conciliarity and Primacy](./naoctc-1989-primacy.html) * Joint International Dialogue — [Balamand document](./jictd-1993-balamand.html) * North American Consultation — [Response to Balamand](./naoctc-1994-balamand.html) +* Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith — [Response to the Zoghby Proposal](./cdf-1997-zoghby.md) ## 2000s