The Russian Church and Reunion

...The opportunity to invite students ot Orthodox theology to attend Catholic institutions ot -training was alluded to, and a decision regarding the propriety of such action was requested...

...The Cliff Hamlet No architect planned here---each shabby shack Seems hurled together, and, if ever paint Emblazoned battered shingles, the attack .9 Of rain and blizzard bleached it toneless...

...and my object here is to summarize what seems most pertinent in their remarks...

...Ever since the twelfth century there has existed a bitter polemical attitude toward "Latinity": and today the Bolshevik rulers oppose all western European influence for political reasons...

...The conse-quence, howevermnationalismNmust lose much of its strength before these peoples will recognize the authority of a Church that is above nations...

...These are partly dogmatic, partly emotional in character...

...This address was, perhaps, the most important delivered at the congress, although various other speakers developed ideas of great significance...

...As soon as these territories reverted to Russian rule, the effects of the Brest Union vanished almost en-tirely...

...Baron Wrangel then enumerated a whole list of facts which have halted the union movement, and expressed in particu- lar the idea that charity and relief work should be separated from the effort to promote union...

...Kolpinski, who affirmed at the Vienna con-gress that there is no radical difference between eastern and western religious consciousness...

...He believed that courteous respect for the Russian heart would accomplish far more than could be gained by keen proselytizing or learned arguments...

...Attempts at dogmatic development are noticeable in the East since the beginning of contact with Protes- tantism...

...The sessions lasted through three days and listened to serious discourses by distinguished representatives of Catholicism, Orthodoxy, and the Uniats...

...but they are far less numerous than are the similarities of doctrine in the Orthodox and the Roman churches, so that no two separate religious organizations on earth are so much alike...

...Eight speakers dealt with the problem of unity scientifically...

...Here is an obvious radical difficulty...

...Faint Nasturtiums grope toward sunlight from a crack In broken boulders, for the grim restraint Of granite conquers gardens...

...Dostoievsky deemed the Catholic Church unchristian and worse than atheism...

...He expressed himself convinced that the chief responsi- bility for this error rests upon the shoulders of the Russian intellectuals, and declared that the return of these to the Church was often prompted by nationalis- tic rather than spiritual motives...

...Of course, his lis- teners bore in mind that he himself was a native of Poland...

...and the variations January 26, x927 THE COMMONWEAL 317 which thereby have developed between the Greek-Oriental and the Roman-Germanic ethos...

...Thost present realized that success can only be the result oJ pentecostal grace, and that human effort must be con fined to preparing the way, to influencing hearts, ant to removing obstacles of an obvious kind...

...Then some Man shoulders forward shyly from the band Before the ill-stocked store, and wistfully Offers his little, since he has no more To offer...

...White Russia" was rendered Orthodox in part by force, but today, when it has once more become a part of Poland, renewed union ought not to prove difficult provided the Catholic party in Poland is will- ing to solve the national, political and psychical diffi- culties which bar the way and which are far more weighty than religious differences...

...to look hopefully toward the reconstruction of the Russian Church rather than to expect advantages to accrue from its collapse, and to preserve honest frankness in the tenor of the discussions...

...Thus Catholic truth may be preached and the existing psychological gulf may finally be bridged over...

...The object must be to stress what is common between East and West...

...A recent manifestation of this desire was the congress in Vienna to consider the prob- lem of Catholic union with the Russian Church...

...At the conclusion of the congress, Cardinal Pifl] transmitted to the Holy Father a number of official resolutions...

...It remains to say something of the practical measures recommended by the delegates...

...The Catho- lic mind of the East is therefore prei~minently liturgical and mystical...

...He offered a very interesting survey of the historical development of religion in Russia--espe-dally interesting because the point of view was that of a Russian whose interpretation of events was fre-quently far different from what would have been of- fered by a western mind...

...This cause no longer ex- ists either in Russia or in other states...

...By their doors the women stand Aloof, or, hidden, twitch at curtains, dumb But greedy eyes afeast upon the grand, The fortunate, who are not exiled from Gay city crowds to cliffs that will be sand A thousand thousand years from now...

...Therefore, the West seems dogmatically revolutionary to the East and aloof from the ancient bases of the faith...

...The dogmatic differences multiplied under the influence of the Reformation...

...It was affirmec that the work of the Catholic Union and of the Monk., of Reunion must be fbstered by episcopal supporl everywhere, that apologetical books not polemic ir character should be distributed, and that persons in terested in the work and living in the East be drawr into the great effort...

...316 THE COMMONWEAL January 26, I927 THE RUSSIAN CHURCH AND REUNION By JOHN MITTERAUER F OR many years past, Christendom has striven for unity...

...in the West, dogmatic speculation has been fostered for its own sake...

...Kolpinski also developed the thought that a great error lies in drawing too close a distinction between intelligence and feeling in the practice of religion...

...Organized by the two greatest religious-academic con- federations of Germany and Austriamthe Leogesell-schaft, and the G6rresgesellschaftwthe congress ap- propriately selected Vienna as its meeting-place, for, as Cardinal Piflt declared in an introductory address, Vienna is today still the key to the East...

...This was described by Baron Wrangel, brother of the general and a member of the Orthodox Church...

...The work of rapprochement is very delicate in character and is often nullified by wholly unintentional tactlessness...

...The history of the attempts at union with Russia show clearly that such success as was achieved was determined by politi- cal circumstance...

...The problem of union with Russia itself is, of course, far more complex...

...He believes that the millions of those who have never accepted the polemical books can be considered as living in the spirit of the Catholic faith...

...On the black, Oft-burned blueberry barrens, the complaint Of crows is loud...

...Finally it may be noted with satisfac- tion that despite the great emphasis which has been placed upon the active life in Latin Catholicism, East and West share the purely mystical consciousness of the communio sanctorummthe community of life, be- yond time, with the just who have gone beforemthe cult of the saints, and devotion to the Blessed Virgin...

...The Greek Church, indeed, accepts the first seven General Councils...

...These reasons are anchored in definite historical circum-stances: the divergent culturo-geographical situations existent in East and West already at the time of the coming of Christianity...

...We may say, then, that though differences abound, the three fundamental doctrines of the Divinity of Christ, the Eucharist, and the veneration of Mary and the saints, are three mighty pillars upon which the bridge to union may be built when God wills...

...Despite these differences, however, it seems ad-visable to accept the opinions of the Warsaw author- ity, Dr...

...When fog is quelled by summer, townfolk come To picnic...

...The delegates to the congress were particularly im- pressed with the psychological character of the prob- lem of union...

...the fact that only the West experienced the profound effect of the Germanic mi- grations and so of the middle-ages, while the East lived in the spirit of Christian antiquity until the time of contact with modern thought...

...Thus under Catholic-Polish influ- ence the Brest Union of x596 was arranged while "white Russia" and the Ukraine belonged to Poland...

...Here is hospitality With the warm welcome of the humble door Unlatched, the bed for asking, and the bare Cupboard made wealthy by the wish to share...

...Therefore, the great idea of reconciliation between peoples must be brought to bear upon the issue, in the hope of removing as far as possible the bases of dissension...

...At the present moment, however, the greatest obstacle to union is the emphasis placed upon ecclesiasti- cal nationalism by such groups as the Russian "Living Church...

...At any rate, it is clear that whatever is hostile to this faith in Russia has been de- rived from later Greek and Protestant sources...

...It should be borne in mind also that large sections of the Russian people followed their leaders into schism only in form, remaining un- consciously but nevertheless essentially faithful to Catholic tradition...

...the East appears lifeless and hidebound to the West...

...Common to East and West also is the episcopal hierarchy...

...But if from the point of view of dogma union is now possible, reasons emotional in character deter its probable accomplishment in the near future...

...It must be added also that Catholics are mistrusted because the average Russian confuses them with the Poles, who have been hated during centuries...

...A drab scape, ave where blue Waves crest in opal, climbing toward the cliff Iris, or where reefs lace a pattern through Calm patches of cool chrysoprase, as if The alchemists of Neptune were amused By watching emerald and sapphire fused...

...The oriental churches and Rome agree on the concept of "church unity" in so far as both declare that this must rest upon sameness of faith and upon acceptance of certain fundamental dogmas, namely the conclusions of the first General Council...

...First, it was decided that literary appeals could never have the value of personal contact, and that therefore yearly meetings must be held to which Orthodox theologians and prelates might be invited and given a chance to state their points of view...

...No doubt the causes of the schism and of the constantly widened deft between the Eastern churches and Rome, was Byzantinismw the subjection of the Church under the Byzantine em- perors and the consequent hypernationalism of the oriental European peoples...

...Finally, public opinion in Russia has been prejudiced by the blunt repudiation of Rome by religious philoso- phers and literary favorites...

...It need scarcely be added that the congress did no~ expect to bring the day of union much nearer...

...Both accept the Eucharist as food and sacrifice, thereby necessitating an active priesthood...

...but though these may seem to lead away from Rome, they have also a certain value in reconciling the Orthodox theoreticians to the idea of dogmatic development...

...JOHN HANLO?r...

...Neverthe less, many helpful contacts were established, and per haps the way to the fulfilment of the divine mandate-- Ut omnes unum sint t--is now a little dearer...