Patriarch Bartholomew, a lady in “epitrachelion,” and ecumenical unity

“Ecumenical service for the unity of the Churches.” Photo: haber.sat7turk

In addition to Patriarch Bartholomew, representatives of the Syriac Catholic, Latin Catholic, Armenian Catholic, and Bible Churches also prayed there.

Particularly striking among the religious leaders was a lady “bishopess” dressed in something resembling a Catholic stole – the equivalent of an Orthodox priest’s epitrachelion.

According to the Turkish outlet haber.sat7turk, “the clergy entered the church solemnly, to the ringing of bells and the singing of hymns performed by clerics of the Greek Church.” After the “hierarchs” read passages from Holy Scripture, the head of the Phanar took the floor – and said quite a few interesting things.

“The future of the ecumenical movement lies in embracing the ‘light of love’ by including new symbols of tolerance and coexistence in our daily life, which struggles against prejudice and discrimination …> As we pray here today for the unity of Christianity, let us move forward with hope on the path toward this common cause, which we so deeply desire,” Bartholomew said.

He read aloud a passage from the First Epistle of the Apostle Peter: “You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 2:5).

Let us recall that this epistle was addressed to Christians in the lands of what is now modern-day Turkey. So formally, the head of the Phanar is right – like Peter, he is calling Christians to spiritual growth. But what about the substance?

A little further on in the same epistle, the Apostle says: “You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Pet. 2:9).

In other words, the Apostle Peter is addressing members of the Church who have already been enlightened by the Holy Spirit.

Can the same be said of those who gathered for the Istanbul “ecumenical service”?

Even before the 2016 Council of Crete, Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol of the Church of Cyprus expressed bewilderment as to why the Council documents – prepared by the Phanar – referred to heterodox confessions as Churches. Catholics and Protestants, after all, are not “Churches,” but heretics who have fallen away from her.

“The text makes no mention at all that the only path leading to unity with the Church is the return of heretics and schismatics through repentance into the bosom of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church,” the hierarch said at the time.

And this was not the private opinion of one Cypriot bishop. It is the position of the Ecumenical Councils and the holy Fathers of the Church.

Do we hear even a single word from Patriarch Bartholomew calling for repentance for the sake of reunion with the Church? No. He, the “head of Orthodoxy,” addresses Catholics and Protestants as members of the true Church, reads to them the Apostle’s words about a “holy priesthood,” and proposes that they work toward unity by fighting “prejudice and discrimination.”

Even the “bishopess” in an “epitrachelion” did not trouble Patriarch Bartholomew. Is she, too, part of the “royal priesthood” in his eyes?

Apparently so. And that is deeply sad – because it is hard to imagine the “non-Greek” Churches and faithful Orthodox Christians agreeing with such a position.

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