Religious Faiths, II: The Doctrines and Claims of the Greek Catholic Church

RELIGIOUS FAITHS.

ii.

THE DOCTRINE AND CLAIMS OF THE GREEK CATHOLIC CHURCH.

[The editors of the Era are desirous, as far as can be, in this series of articles, of giving to each of the great divisions of Christendom an opportunity to represent their own views of the Christian religion. This, however, has been out of the question with regard to the Greek Catholic Church, since it has no representative in this state. The following article, therefore, has been prepared by one of the editors of the Era; and while we are conscious that it may lack somewhat that sympathetic treatment which a representative of that great church might give to a paper on the subject, still the writer has sought in his treatise to be absolutely fair to the great eastern church; and has based his statements upon what he believes to be perfectly reliable authority. — Editor.]

The Greek Catholic or eastern church, called so in contradistinction to the Roman Catholic or western church, in point of antiquity, at least, stands next to the Roman Catholic Church; and even sets up rival claims to being the original church. Moreover, in point of numbers, though not equal to the western church nor to the Protestant churches combined, still it outnumbers any one of the Protestant churches, and in this respect stands next to its great rival. It is proper, therefore, that in this series of articles next to the exposition of the faith of the Roman Catholic Church should come that of the Greek Catholic Church.

The Greek Catholic Church may be described broadly as consisting of all those Christians inhabiting eastern Europe, Egypt, Palestine, Asia Minor and Syria who recognize the

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Patriarch of Constantinople as the supreme head of the church; usually styled the 13th Apostle, and whose official title is, "By the mercy of God, Archbishop of Constantinople, the new Rome, and CEcumenical Patriarch." There is also a patriarch at Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem, but they are of inferior dignity to the Patriarch of Constantinople, who, while not regarded by the patriarchs and bishops of the Greek Church as the pope is by the Roman Catholic clergy — he is, nevertheless, conceded to possess something of a general supervision of the whole church — though infallibility is neither claimed nor allowed.

The difficulty which separated the eastern churches from the western arose in the ninth century, the cause being, ostensibly, a difference about the procession of the Holy Spirit, a question which had been agitated from the sixth century. The eastern churches held that the Holy Ghost proceeded from God the Father only, while the churches of the west maintained that he proceeded from both Father and Son. This with a difference of view in relation to fasting on the seventh day of the week, or Jewish Sabbath, which the churches of the east condemned; the use of milk and cheese in the fasts during the first week in Lent, which the eastern church condemned; wholly disapproving of the marriage of priests, which the eastern church under certain conditions allows; and holding that none but bishops had the authority to anoint with holy oil or confirm the baptized, while the eastern church permitted priests to administer those sacraments— such were the ostensible reasons for the separation between the Roman and the Greek churches. But the real cause of the separation will be found in the rivalry and mutual jealousy which existed between the bishop of Rome and the Patriarch of Constantinople. The latter city had been made the capital of the Roman Empire, by Constantine, and as it grew in importance, and Rome lost some of her ancient magnificence and prestige, the Patriarch of the "New Rome," as Constantinople was called, was not inclined to pay homage to the bishop of a decaying city. Hence jealousies, charges and counter-charges of heresies against each other; plot and counter-plot; and in the course of time excommunications, and

counter-excommunications, until the east and the west were torn apart and reconciliation rendered impossible.*

Originally the Christians of the great empire of Russia were under the immediate jurisdiction of the Patriarch of Constantinople, but in the latter part of the seventeenth and the beginning of the eighteenth century, under the master hand of Peter the Great, the churches of Russia were made independent of the Patriarch of Constantinople. Peter did not perpetuate the office of patriarch over the Russian church after the establishment of the national church; it is said that that ecclesiastical office approached too nearly to the dignity of a temporal ruler to please the emperor, hence he proclaimed himself the head of the church within his own dominions as King Henry VIII. of England had done; but the functions of his office he intrusted to a council of churchmen called the Holy Synod, of which one of the most distinguished archbishops was appointed president. No change, however, was made in the theology or religious observance of the Russian Christians, so that in doctrine they remained at one with the rest of the Greek church.

Early in the nineteenth century the dignity of the Patriarch of Constantinople was still further reduced by the creation of the independent church of Greece. But this church like the Russian still kept whole and entire the faith as taught by the church whose head is recognized to be the Patriarch of Constantinople; and though actually independent as a state church, it still, nominally at least, accords to the "(Ecumenical Patriarch" of the "New Rome" a certain primacy. Hence we reaffirm our definition of the Greek Church and make it include even the independent state churches of Russia and the "New Greece," viz: — The Greek Catholic Church may be described broadly as consisting of all those Christians inhabiting eastern Europe, Egypt, Palestine, Asia Minor and Syria who recognize a certain supremacy in the office of the Patriarch of Constantinople.

Since the Greek Church was formerly incorporated within

*See Buck's Theology. Die. Art. Greek Church; also Burder's Hist, of Religions — Greek Church, and Moshiem's Institutes of Eccl. His. — History of the Greek Ch.

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the Roman Catholic Church and walked in harmony with it for more than eight centuries, meantime accepting the doctrines and decisions of its general councils, it will be found that the fundamental principles of each are, in the main, the same. Still the following statement of the main points of the doctrine of the Greek Church from the positive side will be of value and interest.

CLAIMS AND DOCTRINE OF THE GREEK CHURCH.

"Christianity is a divine revelation communicated to mankind through Christ; its saving truths are to be learned from the Bible and tradition, the former having been written and the latter maintained uncorrupted through the influence of the Holy Spirit. The interpretation of the Bible belongs to the church, which is taught by the Holy Spirit, but every believer may read the scriptures.

"According to the Christian revelation, God is a Trinity, that is, the divine essence exists in three persons, perfectly equal in nature and dignity, the Father, the Son, and Holy Ghost; the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father only. Besides this triune God, there is no other object of divine worship, but homage may be paid to the Virgin Mary, and reverence to the saints and to their pictures and relics.

"Man is born with a corrupt bias which was not his at creation; the first man when created, possessed immortality, perfect wisdom, and a will regulated by reason. Through the first sin Adam and his posterity lost immortality, and his will received a bias towards evil. In his natural state man, who even before he actually sins, is a sinner before God by original or inherited sin, commits manifold actual transgressions; but he is not absolutely without power of will towards good, and is not always doing evil.

"Christ, the Son of God, became man in two natures, which eternally and inseparably united make One Person, and, according to the eternal purpose of God, has obtained for man reconciliation with God, and eternal life, inasmuch as he, by his vicarious death, has made satisfaction to God for the world's sins, and this satisfaction was perfectly commensurate with the sins of the world. Man is made partaker of

reconciliation in spiritual regeneration, which he attains to, being led and kept by the Holy Ghost. This divine help is offered to all men without distinction, and may be rejected. In order to attain to salvation man is justified, and when so justified can do no more than the commands of God. He may fall from a state of grace through mortal sin.

"Regeneration is offered by the word of God and in the sacraments, which under visible signs communicate God's invisible grace to Christians when administered cum intentione. There are seven mysteries or sacraments. Baptism entirely destroys original sin. In the eucharist the true body and blood of Christ are substantially present, and the elements are changed into the substance of Christ, whose body and blood are corporeally partaken of by communicants. All Christians should receive the bread and the wine. The eucharist is also an expiatory sacrifice. The new birth when lost may be restored through repentance, which is not merely (i) sincere sorrow, but also (2) confession of each individual sin to the priest, and (3) the discharge of penances imposed by the priest for the removal of the temporal punishment which may have been imposed by God and the church. Penance accompanied by the judicial absolution of the priest makes a true sacrament.

"The Church of Christ is the fellowship of all those who accept and profess all the articles of faith transmitted by the apostles and approved by general synods. Without this visible church there is no salvation. It is under the abiding influence of the Holy Ghost, and therefore cannot err in matters of faith. Specially appointed persons are necessary in the service of the church, and they form a three-fold order, distinct jure divino from other Christians, of bishops, priests and deacons. The four patriarchs of equal dignity, have highest rank among the bishops, and the bishops united in a general council represent the church and infallibly decide, under the guidance of the Holy Ghost, all matters of faith and ecclesiastical life. All ministers of Christ must be regularly called and are appointed to their office, and are consecrated by the sacrament of orders. Bishops must be unmarried, and priests and deacons must not contract a second marriage. To all priests

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in common belongs, besides the preaching of the word, the administration of the six sacraments, — baptism, confirmation, penance, eucharist, matrimony, unction of the sick. The bishops alone can administer the sacrament of orders.

"Ecclesiastical ceremonies are part of the divine service; most of them have apostolic origin; and those connected with the sacrament must not be omitted by priests under pain of mortal sin."*

Such is the view of the Greek Catholic Church of the Christian religion. But we shall be better able to discern the position of this great church by pointing out the respects in which it differs from the other great divisions of Christendom, I mean Roman Catholic Christendom and Protestant Christendom.

As to the former, then, the Greeks do not acknowledge the pope's supremacy, nor the supremacy of the church of Rome, but on the contrary, they regard her as fallen from her supremacy, because, as a Greek historian observes, "she has abandoned the doctrines of her fathers." Hence the Greeks deny that the church of Rome is the true, Catholic Church, and on holy Thursday regularly excommunicate the pope and all Latin prelates as heretics and schismatics. As a consequence of these views they rebaptize all Latins admitted into their communion.

They do not differ so much as to the number of the sacraments as in the manner of administering them and their significance. The Greeks believe in the sacrament of baptism, but administer it by immersing the subject three times, once in the name of the Father, once in the name of the Son, and once in the name of the Holy Ghost; whereas the Latins sprinkle the subject once in the name of the Holy Trinity, and while the Latins baptize their children in infancy, the Greeks defer the baptism of their children until three, four, five, six, ten, and sometimes to eighteen years of age.

The Greeks regard confirmation as a sacrament, but insist, as stated in the commencement of this article, that it

• Encyclopaedia Britannica, Art, Greek Church. That work draws its information from (i) the orthodox confession or catechism of Peter Mogilas;

(2) the decree of the synod of Jerusalem or the conference of Dositheus and

(3) the catechism of the Russian Church.

1 00 1MPR O VEMENT ERA .

may be performed by the priest, while the Latins claim that only those who hold the episcopal office can rightfully administer confirmation.*

The Greeks do not believe in extreme unction as taught by the Latin Church,! yet they believe in anointing and praying for the sick, and enumerate it as one of the sacraments. They do not worship the Host! consecrated by Latin priests with unleavened bread, neither do they show any respect amounting to religious worship or veneration for the holy eucharist even at the celebration of it by their own priests; still they claim that "in the eucharist the true body and blood of Christ are substantially present, and the elements," that is, the bread and the wine, "are changed into the substance of Christ, whose body and blood are corporeally partaken of by communicants. " The Greeks further differ from the Latins by administering both the bread and the wine to the laity of the church, while the latter administer the eucharist in one kind only, the bread or wafer, to the laity. The Greeks, in fact, hold that the laity are under indispensable obligation by the law of God to receive the sacrament in both kinds, and regard the Roman Catholics as heretics who maintain the contrary.

The Greeks regard marriage as a sacrament, but unlike the Latins they regard it as a union which may be dissolved; and charge the church of Rome with being in error in asserting that the bonds of marriage can never be broken. The Greeks furthermore approve of the marriage of their priests under certain conditions, which the Latins do not allow; and they hold also, contrary to the doctrine of the Latins, that those

Confirmation is a sacrament * * * by which the faithful who have already been made children of God by baptism, receive the Holy Ghost by the prayer, unction (or anointing with holy oil called Chrism), and the laying on of the hands of a bishop, the successor of the apostles. — Catholic Belief, Bruno, p. 97.

fThe sacrament of extreme unction consists in the anointing, by the priest, of those in danger of death by sickness, with holy oil, accompanied with a special prayer. It is called extreme, because administered to sick persons when thought to be near the close of life. — Catholic Belief, Bruno, p. 98.

\Host, the consecrated wafer, believed to be the body of Christ, which in Mass is offered as a sacrifice.

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who have been admitted into holy orders may become laymen at pleasure.

The Greeks deny auricular confession* to be a divine precept, and say it is only a positive injunction of the church, and teach that confession of the laity ought to be free and voluntary; while the Latins hold it to be of divine institution. The Greeks deny the existence of such a place as purgatory, yet pray for the dead, that God will have mercy upon them in the day of judgment. The Greeks also hold, as stated at the begining of this paper, that the Holy Ghost proceeds only from the Father, while the Latins teach that the Holy Ghost proceeds from both the Father and the Son; a point of difference, the most hotly contested between the two great churches.

The points of difference between the Greek Catholic Church and the principal Protestant churches are:

i. Accepting tradition as communicating part of God's word; and that tradition has been maintained uncorrupted.

2. That the interpretation of the Bible belongs to the church, which is preserved from error by the Holy Spirit.

3. Paying homage to the Virgin Mary, and reverence to saints.

4. Holding that man is not absolutely without power of will towards good, and is not always doing evil.

5. Teaching that grace, that is, divine help, is offered to all men without distinction and may be rejected.

6. That the sacraments under visible signs communicate God's invisible grace to Christians when administered with that intention.

7. That the ministry form a three-fold order, a distinct jure divino from other Christians, consisting of bishops, priests, and deacons; and these united in a general council represent the church and infallibly decide all matters of faith and ecclesiastical life.

8. Insisting that bishops must be unmarried, and claiming that bishops alone can administer holy orders.

9. Claiming that in the eucharist the true body and blood of Christ are substantially present and the elements are

*Private and special confession of sins in the ear of the priest, made with a view of obtaining his absolution, connected with the sacrament of penance and made an imperative duty in the church of Rome.

changed into the substance of Christ whose body and blood are corporally partaken of by communicants, and that the eucharist is also an expiatory sacrifice.

10. The confession of sins to the priest, though only regarded as a positive injunction of the church; the discharge of penances imposed by the priest for the removal of the temporal punishment due to sins.

ii. Claiming that without the visible church there is no salvation; and that this church being under the abiding influence of the Holy Spirit cannot err in matters of faith.

It must be remembered that in these points of contrast enumerated, the differences do not exist in the same degree between each sect of Protestants and the Greek Church. Some of the Protestant sects approach more nearly to the Greek Church in some of the contrasted points named above than others; but points of contrast have been selected which most sharply stand antagonistic to the doctrines of Protestantism in general.

It now only remains to say that not only does the Greek Church refuse to concede to its great western rival the claim of being the original church, but sets up counter-claims of primacy for itself. The fact is well known to all acquainted with ecclesiastical history even if we had no recent utterance to give in evidence; but the delegation of the Greek Church to the Parliament of Religions, held during the great Columbian Exposition at Chicago, in 1893, asserted that primacy for the Greek Church in all its fullness. Said Rev. P. Phiambolis, in his speech on Greek Church characteristics: "Regarding the orthodox church, we are true to the examples of the apostles: we follow the same road in religious questions. * * * The orthodox apostolic Catholic Church contains many different nations, and every one of them uses its own language in the mass and litany, and governs its church independently, but all these nations have the same faith. The patriarchs, metropolities, archbishops, and bishops are all equal. There is no difference in their rank; freedom, fraternity, and ceremony range between them. This is, in short, the church which I represent. The church which does not request the authority over other churches, or mix itself in pol-

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itics — the church of the apostles, who had the spirit of truth. And can we say that the truth, far from any error, is not found in such a church?"*

In addition to this, the most Rev. Dionysios Latas, archbishop of Zante, one of the most conspicuous as well as one of the strongest personalities in attendance at the Parliament, and who spoke as the representative of the Greek Church, said in opening his great speech on the foundation of the orthodox Greek Church:

"Ancient Greece prepared the way for Christianity, and rendered smooth the path for the diffusion and propagation of it in the world. Greece undertook to develop Christianity and formed and systematized a Christian church; that is, the church of the east, the original Christian church, which for this reason historically and justly may be called the mother of the Christian churches. * * * It suffices me

to say that no one of you, I believe, in the presence of these historical documents, will deny that the original Christian, the first Christian church, was the church of the east, and that is the Greek Church. Surely the first Christian churches in Asia Minor, Egypt, and Assyria were instituted by the apostles of Christ, and for the most part in Greek communities. All those are the foundation stones on which the present Greek Church is based. * * * The Greek Christian, therefore, may be called historically and justly the treasurer of the first Christian doctrine, fundamental, evangelical truths. It may be called the ark which bears the spiritual manna, and feeds all those who look to it in order to obtain from it the richness of the ideas and the unmistakable reasoning of every Christian doctrine, of every evangelical truth, of every ecclesiastical sentiment, "t

*Neely's Hist. Parliament of Religions, p. 644. fNeely's Hist. Parliament of Religions, pp. 139, 140.