Ecumenical Considerations

[Elben]

Ioannes XXIII was closeted with his highest advisors. His secretary Schoenborn. The abbot of Herzogenrode. The heads of the dicasteries of the curia.

"Brethren, now that you've all read the letter from Propontis, speak your minds."

"Holy Father, this is an historic opportunity to heal the breaches, that all may be one."

"We must not give an inch to heretics and schismatics."

"Photo ops where excommunications are lifted, but nothing substantial is resolved must be avoided."

"Your Holiness' primacy must be guarded. 'You are Peter!'"

"It's a trap."

"It's a gift."

In the end, it was decided. It was an overture that could not be ignored. A letter was drafted inviting representatives of the patriarch to Eiffelland to meet representatives of the pope for opening discussions.

@Pelasgia

 

[Pelasgia]

As soon as the Papacy's letter was received, the Patriarch convened the Holy Synod -though not the Grand Synod- to discuss the Orthodox Church's participation in the discussions. Two primary issues existed: the extent of promises and overtures to be made, and the makeup of the Pelasgian delegation to the opening discussions.

For the first issue, the debate was fierce. The hardliners, represented primarily by the mainland Old Pelasgians and the Lycaonian bishoprics, were hardly willing to even consider the option of "discussing with the Heretics of False Tibur, lest they prostrate themselves and apologise for their Treason and the Crimes of the Crusaders". More conciliatory were the Insular bishoprics of the Archipelago, whose communities had plenty of Pelasgo-Catholics, as well as the Philistian bishoprics, where the various denominations and Churches seemed to be such a mix and salad of beliefs and allegiances that the concept of a divided Christianity seemed completely alien. The Haydians and the Kypths, for their part, seemed to care very little either way, as did the Peramiots, since their own chances hardly towed to line of either side, as long as they were allowed to continue their somewhat unique and peculiar traditions. Eventually, with plenty of debate, and through the personal influence of the Patriarch among the Old Pelasgian bishops, the decision was finally made to allow for an open discussion, since these were preliminary talks, subject to the understanding that all agreements and tentative decisions would be subject to review once the preliminary talks were over.

Once the debate on whether and how to attend was settled, the decision on the delegates seemed rather straightforward. Apart from a number of secondary aides and advisors, the primary negotiators and representatives of the Ecumenical Patriarchate would be the Bishop of Selymbria (Ambrosios IV), the Bishop of Nikopolis (Agis I) and the Bishop of Prinkeponesos (Gregorios VII), all of them being headed by the Patriarchal Logothete of the Drome, the Archbishop of Kyparissos (Theodoulos III), who was in charge of the Patriarchate's external relations. Once that selection was made, the delegation was dispatched across the Long Sea to Tibur to meet the Papal delegates. The last time such a meeting had taken place, the Pelasgian delegates had been flayed, and the Papal Legation in Propontis had been boiled alive. Hopefully matters could be settled in a somewhat more civilised fashion this time around.
@Elben

 

[Elben]

In one of the palaces of Tibur, servants had been hard at work cleaning and prepping for the meetings to come. Apartments were readied for the housing of guests and kitchens were stocked for food preparation. One of the more ancient churches suitable for the Divine Liturgy was made suitable for the coming ecclesiastics. The Tiburans had chambers prepared for themselves as well, though many of the lesser officials would commute from nearby abbeys and hostels.

The pope had chosen as leader of the Tiburan delegation Kiril Lakota, the bishop from Kadikistan. Lakota had in his time in his homeland come to know many of the Orthodox prelates before he had been arrested and imprisoned. "Kiril, my son," the pope had said, "We give you this task due to your familiarity with their thinking. May the Lord and His Mother go with you on your journey."

Now all the prelates from both churches had come together for a thanksgiving service. The Advent readings of John the Baptist calling for the way to be made straight, for mountains to be leveled and valleys filled, set forth the agenda. On the morrow, all would get down to business with those from Propontis invited to go first as they had made the initial offer of talks.

 

[Pelasgia]

"Blessings of Our Lord and Saviour be upon all of ye, on this day of Christmas Eve," said Archbishop Theodoulos; "and please extend our thanks to His Holiness* for the hospitality with which we have been received. I believe that you have all read the letter I sent to the Legate last week, and thus you know very well what our goal is in coming here, in the name of His All-Holiness: reconciliation and the healing of the Great Schism between the Churches."
*the Pope of Tibur is considered to be a Patriarch (the Patriarch of the North) in the Orthodox Church so he is given the corresponding address

"Though I am sure we are all aware of the grave offences that brought this scar onto our Church and severed it in half, I feel that, in the name of justice and historical truthfulness they ought to be recounted: for our part, the horrors of the Iconoclastic Wars and the prosecution of the Catholics of Propontis in the century before the Great Himyari Crusade are well-known and deeply regretted, having reasonably driven our Northern Brethren away. And for your part, the unrepentant horrors of the aforementioned Crusade against your own brethren and the execution of the Patriarchal delegates have equally poisoned the spirits of the Orthodox Christians against the Patriarchate of Tibur. And from this temporal gap came an increasing spiritual gap, which begun with disagreements over primacy, extended to the nature of the Holy Ghost through the filioque clause in the Credo, and the divine nature of the Virgin Mary. At last came excommunications and the complete end of communion between the Northern and Southern Christians. These facts are well-known to us both, as they are shameful and horrid."

At this point the Archbishop paused to let the point sink in.

"But," he continued "we cannot forever dwell on past harms. From a doctrinal point, the denial of repentance and forgiveness would be unchristian. From a practical point, we find the Church, for I do believe we both agree that there is but one Church even if we disagree on which it is, assailed on all sides: in Auraria the Godless have imposed crippling taxes on your own prelates, as the Godless state of Kadikistna has done on our own in that vast and, once at least, deeply faithful land. All over the world, the Church of Christ is assailed by heresy and by infidelity, and yet we still persist in ignoring each other at best, or in struggling against one another actively at worst. Instead, I do believe that it is high time that the faithful of the Church of Christ joined forces once more and healed this gap that does so greatly divide them."

"Having now established the theoretical framework of what our objectives are in visiting Old Tibur, I shall tell you the main points of contention that I believe need to be adressed for there to be a reunification: first, a mutual acknowledgement, repudiation and apology for the troubled history between us; second, recalling the excommunications and anathemata issued against one another and restoring communion; third, the filioque question and other major doctrinal differences; fourth, the question of primacy over the Church and the question of Papal infallibility; and fifth, the question of Ecumenical Synods. These, I think, are the main points which, if dealt with appropriately could reunite the Church forever. Individual practices do not have to align perfectly: both of our Church have Patriarchates which have a different rite or style of mass, but which are doctrinally aligned. Thus, even if we do hold mass in Pelasgian and you in Tiburan, there is no reason that we should not be of the same Church, if our core doctrine is identical."

 

[Elben]

After Archbishop Theodoulos made his opening statement, Archbishop Lakota, newly elevated by Pope Ioannes for the occasion of this meeting of great import, rose to make a statement.

“Allow me to begin by welcoming our brothers from the South. At the thanksgiving ceremony we asked for Divine assistance as we speak together and attempt to heal the wounds of the past and overcome the breaches of doctrine and dogma. Let it be so as we making this beginning.

“My brother Archbishop has also laid before us all the reasons why we should seek to rebuild communion, all the horrors of modern society that threaten to drown Men in a sea of depravity and sin. He is absolutely right. From liberal societies such as Auraria to oppressive ones such as Kadikistan, the Church faces obstacles to fulfilling the Great Commission, to ‘make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that [He] have commanded [us].’

“Some of what we must do here to bring about reconciliation are easily done. It is said, ‘Let the dead bury the dead.’ Past wars, past slaughters, we must forgive those who have trespassed against us and trust in God’s justice that those who have done us wrong have found their just punishments. Here I think we can all agree with our brother Theodoulos’ first point, one of acknowledgment and repudiation.

“Some of what we must do here to bring about a reconciliation is not so easily done. Here I refer to the next points, of addressing doctrine, the primacy, and government of the Church. These are key issues that separate us, hard issues that will not see easy answers. Should excommunications and anathemas on either side be withdrawn before agreement is reached on those points that divide us? Let us go into these meetings with hope, but let us also go forward with our eyes open to the difficulties that lie ahead and not seek to paper over differences not easily solved by saying we are now in communion when we are actually not.

“Let us consider these things as we here in Old Tibur celebrate Christmas and let us meet again in a few days time."