Reuniting Rome with the Orthodox: How the Great Schism Unfolded--And Might Yet Be Healed
A scrupulously fair exploration of how the Catholic and Orthodox churches were split asunder--and what a path to union might look like.
In Reuniting Rome with the Orthodox Dmitri Solzhenitsyn provides a careful theological and historical reflection on the
prospects for full communion between the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. He argues that unity is a moral and practical necessity, and that the obstacles standing in its way, though formidable, are more surmountable than they might seem.
With balance and precision, Solzhenitsyn:
traces the arc of Orthodox-Catholic relations from the churches' shared apostolic heritage to their growing divergence to the Great Schism of 1054;
contends that the breakdown was ultimately fueled as much by a failure to practice love and charity as by doctrinal conflict; and
finds hope for unity in the gradually warming relations between the churches seen since the twentieth century, as evidenced by symbolic reciprocal gestures and genuine theological breakthroughs.
Solzhenitsyn ends by offering a constructive vision for reunion, focusing on the core theological obstacles of papal authority and the filioque while also addressing broader Orthodox attitudes and the practical mechanics of reunion. In the end, he calls readers, Orthodox and Catholic alike, both to imagine what restored communion might look like in lived experience and to work--and pray--for unity.
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