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The World Council of Churches - "The Other Option"There is a growing dissatisfaction in the Orthodox world concerning the World Council of Churches. The Orthodox Church of Georgia has already left, and, apparently the Serbs are considering doing so. The Russian Church Abroad has always regarded ecumenism as a heresy in that it saps Orthodoxy of its vitality and marginalises its ecclesial identity. The Russian Church (Moscow Patriarchate) has a strong and growing lobby dedicated to this end although involvement in the W.C.C. is probably secure at the moment. The W.C.C. itself seems attached to even bigger and grander ideas with its Secretary General calling for a common date of Pascha (Easter) and a Millennial drive towards the "coming Great Church." What has alienated so many Orthodox, however, is the politicisation of the W.C.C., the scant actual regard for Orthodox Christianity and its official Protestant ecclesiology. Voices are raised in its defence reminding fellow Orthodox of the unusual character of Christianity on the verge of the Third Millennium, (not, it is claimed, anticipated by those canons forbidding Orthodox from praying with heterodox). Unity is already present in the Orthodox Church, these voices say, BUT it must be struggled for and extended to encompass more Christian communities. Perhaps even some of those arguing for a withdrawal from the W.C.C. might recognise in this last statement some truth. The key point of difference between "leavers" and "stayers" concerns the usefulness and rightness in principle, vis-a-vis Orthodoxy's goals, of staying in. This is usually explained as presenting a witness of Orthodoxy to all Christians. Those disinclined to favour this approach claim that staying in is an equivocation, a sending of a wrong message and a subtle (or not no subtle) temptation for the Orthodox to subordinate their own self understanding as the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church to some other pan-Protestant notion of a church forged through negotiation, bartering and compromise. Perhaps there is another option to leaving or staying. Why don't we do what the Roman Catholic Church does and stay as observers, reserving our position for possible future participation or active withdrawal? What do you think? |
