It Ain't No Concelebration
Before going to bed tonight, I'm catching some of the Patriarchal Divine Liturgy in St. George Cathedral in Constantinople, which the Roman Catholic commentators on EWTN insist on terming a "concelebration" between His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch BARTHOLOMEW I and Pope Benedict XVI. I was pleased that the chanters had not completed the Great Doxology before guest commentator Fr. John Chryssavgis (Greek Orthodox) "clarified" what was happening: the Pope isn't concelebrating. He didn't wear his welcome thin by indicating to the other commentators on his network that the Pope is not concelebrating, because Orthodox canon law would not permit it. But remember, no matter what you hear, it positively is not a concelebration.
Labels: church relations, ecclesiology
posted by Ben Johnson at 11:52 PM
1 Comments:
From a Catholic perspective, the Pope would not concelebrate because there is no unity between the diocese of Rome and the Archdiocese of Constantinople. Furthermore even if communion existed unless the Pope was the principle celebrant he would not celebrate. The Holy Father attended in choir dress which is a great sign of respect for the Patriarch, but he did not nor would he receive communion from the Patriarch, again for the same reason, union in faith does not exist.
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