New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-02-11
THE rOPE IND THE E.fNTEEN CHTRCH /


The r.lhl.l ENCOURAGEMENT the other day that
The Pope Is abau, TO Issue nm Encyclira in re-
aarl io the unity ~ thr Eastern and Western
Churches would excite more interest If there
WAS any general belief that such unity is
possible
Tie great schi>m between the East and
the West occurred in tn ninth century. but the
causes that lrd to it date from the division of
the Roman Empire. The establishment Of Con
stantlmoplr ~ one Of thc capitals Of the Empire
tended To- confirm The Eastern churches in the
attitude II Independence which they had always
assumed toward ,,r Roman rontif The great
patrinrchaics of Rome on the one side and of
Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem on the
other. hId for centuries >lrvon for precedence.
owing - til" intellectual and spiritual d"ca-
dcncc Of ia" last three Iair.arrhat"s, IL seemed
~, though Rome would soon come to be rccog-
niZcl ~ The seat of the primary, when Ill"
Jafrarclatc Of tonsiantnopir appeared 10 con
test liz claim. The patriarch of touStantnoplc
was not backward in asserting his prctensiOns.
not merely lo Independence. but 10 supremacy.
Ills strongest argument was OF course. that
which had been employed by the Roman Pom
tits. namely. that spiritual primacy belongs OF
right Ia the patriarch of the chief seat of En-
pirc 10 meet This plea the Roman Poniffs fell
back on the tradition that the city Of Rome
had another claim on the spiritual allegiance
of thristrndnm. 1t was not merely the most
ancient seat Of Empire. but il was doubly IN
Apostolic Soc. since IL WAS founded by Saints
Peter and Paul. At the same time the two
divisions Of the Church We're drifting apart on
other questions of doctrine and polity. until
toward the close Of the ninth century Pope
Nicholas | OF Rome and the Patriarch Pholius
of Constantinoplc mutually communicated
each other. And the schisn which was then
begun has never been healed since. Pope
Nicholas was strengthened in his claims To
universal supremacy by the forged Isdorian
dccrcialS. which first saw the light about $40
A. ID. These dccrctals purportcd 10 have been
compiled by Isidorc of Seville In the seventh
century and consisted Of alleged letters written
by various early POpcs in which the Papal
claims were amply recognized. These forgercs
were generally accepted by the Western Church.
and were a potent factor In establishing the
power OF the Papacy. But they We're utterly
discrclited in the East. and in fact did much
to widen the breach already existing between
the two Churches.
Since then there have been numerous attempts
10 compose this old quarrel, but they have
all been unsuccessful. Other differences than
the Primary of the Pope now exist. One of
them Is the so-callcl iilioquc" clause I'm the
Creed The Western Church declares that the
Holy Ghost proceeds " from the Father and
the Son" while the Eastern Church says that
He proceeds from the Father only. 1t Is adj
mttcd by most Church historians that the
" 1ilioquc" clause crcpt into the Western Creed
through an inadvertcnce. Il circumstance which
has only intensified the opposition of the East
crn Church TO ii. 1t Is. indeed. probable that
If the papal claims were entirely eliminated
from the controversy this one thing would keep
the two Churches apart.
In view of all these facts ii is hard To see
how the coming Encyclical Of the Pope can con-
tribute much toward healing the long-standing
breach between the two Churches unless he
should yield all the points mt ISSUE. which Is
not within the bounds Of possibility. For 1t Is
certain that the Orthodox Greek Church Is rs
firmly rs ever opposed to any compromise.