Posted by by George Patsourakos (dcalvert) on 10/19/2007, 3:47 pm By George Patsourakos “We believe in one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.” The words of this quotation, written in 325 AD as part of the Nicene Creed, continue to be so inspiring and powerful that we recite them every Sunday in many Christian Church services. (George Patsourakos of Billerica, MA retired as an education specialist for the federal government. He received a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s degree in education, both from Northeastern University. You can refer comments/questions on this article to him via e-mail: patrician125@yahoo.com).
Sacrifices Are Necessary For Christian Unity to Flourish
Unfortunately, the Christian Church has been divided for nearly 1,000 years. It was 1054 in the year of our Lord when three delegates of the Roman pope entered St. Sophia Church in Constantinople and placed a papal document or “bull” on the altar and then departed. The bull proclaimed that the Patriarch of Constantinople and his religious followers were excommunicated. This incident was the immediate cause of the Great Schism or tearing apart of the Christian Church by dividing it into the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church.
Needless to say, there were several major differences between the Eastern and Western Churches before the Great Schism in 1054. In short, these differences were philosophical, liturgical, cultural, and even political. More specifically, there were disputes over the ecclesiastical calendar, the use of leavened or unleavened bread, and additions to the Nicene Creed.
In 1517, the Christian Church became divided into a third major branch -- Protestantism. Martin Luther, a German Catholic priest, denounced the Roman Catholic practice of selling papal indulgences. Indulgences were grants to release individuals from temporal punishment. The controversy with this practice was indulgences were granted in exchange for money to the Catholic Church. Luther’s posting of his “95 Theses” on this practice in 1517 sparked the Reformation, resulting in the separation of the Protestant Churches from the Roman Catholic Church.
The Reformation quickly spread through much of Europe. By the year 1550, Protestantism replaced Roman Catholicism as the predominant religion in Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Holland, England, Scotland, and Wales.
Christianity began some 2,000 years ago, but it was not until the year 303AD that Armenia became the first nation to adopt Christianity as its state religion. Interestingly, in my youth, I found Armenian Americans to be the most mystifying of all Christians, because I could not determine whether they were Orthodox, Catholic, or Protestant. In the late 1950’s, when I was a college student, I asked a student of Armenian background to tell me the religious affiliation of Armenians. He answered quickly with one word: Christian.
Although I was not satisfied with my fellow student’s answer some fifty years ago, I now realize that it was an inspiring response. In retrospect, this answer was so edifying that it helped me to understand the need to place less emphasis on the three major divisions of Christianity and to focus on Christ.
In Burlington, Massachusetts, about one mile from my home, is the Church of Christ, which has a placard in front of it with a Christian message. As I drive by this church almost every day, I read its message which tends to change every two weeks. One message that I found to be inspiring was: “You need to have rain before you can have a rainbow.” I think we can all relate this message to our lives, including the obstacles we must overcome to achieve Christian unity. Most importantly, we can relate it to Christ, since it was a dismal rainy day when Christ was crucified, but three days later, there was an overwhelming endless rainbow with Christ’s Resurrection.
For ecumenism or Christian unity to flourish, I suggest that a world Christian canonical organization be established with religious representation from each Christian denomination. This organization would transcend the three divisions of Christianity in all ecclesiastical matters and could strive for a harmonious, loving, and spiritual reflection of Christ.
Christianity has been divided for nearly 1,000 years with little, if any, progress being made toward unity. Although it may not be easy to make sacrifices for Christian unity, we need to be mindful that such sacrifices are infinitesimal when we compare them to Christ’s sacrifice of His life to save humanity. The least that humanity now can do -- and indeed must do -- for Christ is to sacrifice some of its divisional preferences and authority to re-establish His Church.
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