Abortion and Ecumenical Relations between the Orthodox and Catholic Churches

Published by OrthodoxyToday.org, May 23, 2005

Frank Johnson

Leadership 100 and Archbishop Demetrios of the Greek Orthodox Church (GOC) American Archdiocese recently honored Greek-American U.S. Senator Olympia J. Snowe at its 14th annual conference by giving her an "Award for Excellence." GOC Leadership 100 and the GOC Archbishop similarly honored Greek-American U.S. Senator Sarbanes at the conference two years ago. Voting records show that Senators Sarbanes and Snowe are among the most pro-abortion senators in the U.S. Senate. I am concerned about these awards for many reasons, but with the election of Roman Catholic Cardinal Ratzinger to become now Pope Benedict XVI, I have yet one more reason to be concerned--and that is the welfare of ecumenical relations between Eastern Orthodoxy and the Roman Church of the West.

Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict, stated back in July of 2004 (see 1st article below) that Catholic Communion should not be served to pro-abortion elected officials, such as Senator Kerry. Now as Pope Benedict he has reaffirmed his strong, uncompromising pro-life stance (see 2nd article below). Surely the new Pope Benedict must frown upon the practice of the Greek Orthodox Church in America of not only serving Orthodox Communion to pro-abortion Senators such as Sarbanes and Snowe but also going even further and rewarding them for their "Excellence."

It is ironic that even as the Greek Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in Constantinople is working hard to improve relations between Eastern Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism, the American Archdiocese of his Greek Church jeopardizes those relations by awarding abortionists, thus dismaying Pope Benedict XVI who is clearly and unequivocally pro-life and anti-abortion.

Fortunately for Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and for the welfare of Orthodox-Catholic relations, there are jurisdictions of Orthodoxy in America that firmly adhere to the 2000 year old Orthodox Tradition of being pro-life and anti-abortion. One such jurisdiction is the Orthodox Church in America (OCA), whose leader, Metropolitan Herman, demonstrates by his words and by his actions that he and the Church he leads are clearly and unequivocally pro-life and anti-abortion. We can see this stance manifested in Metropolitan Herman's Archpastoral Messages on the Sanctity of Life and in his leading the pan-Orthodox contingent at the annual March for Life in Washington, DC, each January - http://www.wfn.org/2005/01/msg00183.html

Hopefully, the new Catholic Pope Benedict XVI will see in the OCA that there are Orthodox Christians who are as strongly pro-life and anti-abortion as he is. So it is that the OCA and other such Orthodox jurisdictions that are firm in their moral convictions about abortion may yet save Orthodox-Catholic ecumenism.



Volume 7 Number 23 - Tuesday, June 7th, 2005	A Publication of the ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN LAITY