Sunday, March 05, 2006
NO LONGER PATRIARCH OF THE WEST
Now that Benedict has given up the title Patriarch of the West, there was hope that relations with the Orthodox would be improved. So far the evidence speaks to just the opposite at least from the Russian Orthodox:
"It remains a mystery how the omission of the Patriarch of the West title can improve relations between the Holy See and the Orthodox Church. On the contrary, this omission could be viewed as further claims to the church's worldwide jurisdiction, which is reflected in the pontiff's other titles," Bishop of Vienna and Austria Hilarion, the Russian Church's envoy to European institutions, said in a statement on Friday.
As I understand it, part of the problem is the size of the Western Church in comparison with the Eastern Church. But what if the Western Patriarchate were broken up into smaller jurisdictions? What if there were, for instance, a Patriarch of Europe, a Patriarch of North America, a Patriarch of South America, a Patriarch of Asia, and a Patriarch of Africa? Would that ease Orthodox fears that they would be overwhelmed by the Western Church?
If the governance of the Western Church could be placed in the hands of a number of Patriarchs, each with jurisdictional responsibilities and limitations, the Pope would be free to act as a sort of Christian diplomat that would foster unity among all of the Patriarchs. Would this have any potential for healing the schism?
