Pope pushes unity in Bulgaria
By JOHN L. ALLEN JR.
Sofia, Bulgaria
Analysis of John Paul IIs ventures onto historically
Orthodox territory is often clouded by the quest for immediate reaction. Some
observers insist on seeing results from the visit, when, from a historical
point of view, the visit may well be the most important result.
The popes May 23-26 trip to Bulgaria, which followed a
one-day stop in Azerbaijan, illustrates the point.
The trip also revealed a badly weakened, struggling pope, and for
the first time Vatican officials were forced to acknowledge that John Paul may
not be able to keep existing travel commitments.
The split between Orthodoxy and Catholicism, whose healing has
become the defining aim of this phase of John Pauls pontificate, is
traditionally set in 1054, but that is largely a matter of convention. The date
marks the excommunication of an Eastern patriarch by a papal ambassador, who
condemned Eastern traditions of married priests and leavened Communion bread,
plus the Eastern refusal to accept a papal formula about the Holy Spirit.
Most observers see these as relatively minor differences that
could have been resolved with good will on both sides. Its precisely the
lack of good will that other historical factors help explain.
The two halves of the Christian world had been growing apart since
395, when Theodosius split the Roman Empire between East and West. The
linguistic divide between Greek in the East and Latin in the West produced
distinct cultures that were often economic and political rivals.
The Fourth Crusade in 1204, when Western knights sacked
Constantinople and desecrated the Orthodox cathedral, further poisoned the
atmosphere. (Alleged Crusader atrocities included having a prostitute dance on
the Orthodox patriarchs throne.)
From the mid-19th century onward, the Orthodox/Catholic
relationship has been complicated by a confluence of factors, both political
and theological. The 1870 declaration of papal primacy and the steady
centralization of power in the papal office created deep suspicion among the
Orthodox who worry about Catholic ecclesiastic imperialism. In addition,
Western secularism and liberalism have left many Orthodox convinced that the
true faith has been preserved only in the East.
All this means that a rupture that took some 1,600 years to
develop is not going to be undone in a weekend.
In such a context, a visit of the pope of Rome, long
reviled as the heretical enemy of the Orthodox East, to Romania and Georgia,
Armenia and Ukraine, and now Bulgaria -- even if the crowds are often small,
and more curious than impassioned -- is itself a triumph for
détente.
In Bulgaria, the pope took every opportunity to push his
ecumenical message.
The estrangement between Orthodox and Catholics has never
extinguished in them the desire to restore full ecclesial communion, so that
the unity for which the Lord prayed might be manifested more clearly, he
said. Today we can give thanks to God that the bonds between us have been
much strengthened.
During his visit to the Holy Monastery of Rila, a symbol of the
Bulgarian church nestled high on a mountaintop outside Sofia, the pope offered
a lengthy, evocative reflection on Eastern monasticism.
What would Bulgaria be without Rila, which in the darkest
periods of your national history kept the flame of faith burning? the
pope asked. What would Greece be without the Holy Mountain of Athos? Or
Russia without that myriad of dwelling places of the Holy Spirit, which enabled
it to overcome the inferno of Soviet persecution?
The bishop of Rome, he said, is here today to
tell you that the Latin church and the religious of the West are grateful for
your life and witness!
The pope also emphasized the ecumenism of the gulag,
his conviction that the suffering shared by Orthodox and Catholics during the
state-enforced atheism of the Soviet period should now bear fruit in closer
ties. In Plovdiv, the heart of Bulgarias Catholic community, he beatified
May 26 three Assumptionist priests who were shot in 1952.
A host of smaller gestures underlined John Pauls desire for
unity. For example, he informed the Bulgarian Orthodox that he plans to let
them use the church of Ss. Vincent and Anastasius, near the fashionable Trevi
Fountain in Rome.
Naturally, not everyone was wowed. One Orthodox metropolitan told
reporters that for some in the Orthodox church, the pope is a
heretic, and that explained why a few bishops were no-shows for the papal
meeting with the head of their church, Patriarch Maxim, May 24.
Maxim himself, while quite hospitable (he served plum brandy,
which John Paul politely declined), could not resist some of the old
polemics.
We cannot disregard the sad fact dating back from the middle
of the 11th century, when the West separated from the East, he said,
leaving little doubt about which side was to blame for the rupture. He said
that he anticipates the moment when everyone will accept the truth
preserved and preached by the holy Orthodox church.
At the same time, however, other Orthodox figures struck positive
notes. Metropolitan Arsenij of Plovdiv, for example, attended the May 26 papal
Mass, an unusual gesture for an Orthodox prelate, while Metropolitan Simeon of
Western and Central Europe told the pope during his visit to the Cathedral of
St. Alexander Nevsky in Sofia that for the Bulgarian Orthodox, he is an
apostle.
In the end, the point/counterpoint seems to prove only that the
Bulgarians, like Christians on both sides of the East/West divide, have varying
degrees of enthusiasm for getting back together.
Bulgaria has an encouraging ecumenical history. Relations between
the Orthodox majority, 85 percent of the population of 7.9 million, and the
tiny Catholic minority of 80,000, are good. Jesuit Fr. Robert Taft, who teaches
at Romes Pontifical Oriental Institute, told NCR that after the
communist takeover following World War II, the Bulgarian Orthodox patriarch
prevented the forcible incorporation of Eastern-rite Catholics into the
Orthodox church, as happened in other Soviet satellite states.
As is often the case, ordinary people on both sides seemed
impatient for progress. A small crowd of Catholics outside Maxims palace
in Sofia chanted Unity! Unity! when the pope visited May 24.
Meanwhile, Irina Mamedova, 67, a retired geologist and a member of
the Russian Orthodox church who attended the papal Mass in Baku, Azerbaijan,
May 23, summed up a reaction reporters heard time and again.
Was she aware that the leaders of the Catholic and Orthodox
churches have deep theological differences?
Yes, she said.
Did any of that matter to her?
Of course not.
For many locals, however, the biggest news from the trip was not
ecumenical healing, but John Pauls public rejection of the
Bulgarian connection theory about the attempt on his life on May
13, 1981. Mehmet Ali Agca, a Turk, shot the pope three times, and later claimed
that the Bulgarian secret service had put him up to it on behalf of the KGB.
Three Bulgarians were jailed and tried in Italy, only to be acquitted for lack
of evidence. The accusation that Bulgaria was involved has been seen here as a
stain on the national reputation ever since.
After a May 24 meeting between the pope and President Georgi
Parvanov, Vatican spokesperson Joaquín Navarro-Valls told reporters that
the pope said the following to Parvanov: I never believed in the
so-called Bulgarian connection, because of my esteem and respect for the
Bulgarian people.
Foreign Minister Solomon Passy called the absolution
Bulgarias greatest foreign policy accomplishment since World War
II.
For the rest of the world, a dominant storyline was John
Pauls physical infirmities, which were often painful to watch. He
breathed with difficulty, struggled to move short distances, and read only the
first few lines of his speeches, turning the rest over to someone else.
The popes physical deterioration took a toll also on his
Vatican aides, who struggled to respect the popes insistence on going
forward while making a realistic appraisal of what the future might hold. In a
departure from previous statements, Navarro-Valls told reporters May 26 that
while the popes upcoming trip to Toronto for Julys World Youth Day
is certain, planned stops in Mexico and Guatemala are now up in the
air.
The popes obvious suffering prompted some unsolicited advice
from his hosts.
I think the people around him must tell him he should
stop, Orthodox Metropolitan Simeon told reporters. He is suffering
like Christ.
While Simeons concern was heartfelt, he may have reached for
the wrong comparison to persuade John Paul to stand aside. One of the
popes top aides recently told reporters that he had heard John Paul
respond to resignation rumors by invoking the same model.
But Christ did not come down from the cross! the pope
said.
John L. Allen Jr. is NCR Rome correspondent. His e-mail
address is jallen@natcath.org
National Catholic Reporter, June 7,
2002
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