So the most important thing of all is the desire to be one, and to prove that desire, not only by praying â?? because we pray for unity at every single liturgy â?? but prayer without activity, without work, is just blasphemous. To be praying all these things and not to be working, not be ready to make any possible sacrifice you could make that doesnâ??t violate the essence of the faith. In other words, the Orthodox have to desire unity and be ready to sacrifice everything that they can without violating their convictions about the gospel in order to be one, particularly with Roman Catholics.
I believe that the Orthodox, if we were serious about unity, would need not only to desire it, sacrifice for it, forgive everything, admit our own sins, distinguish between what is essential and what is not, but also would have to be ready to practice â??economiumâ?? on certain issues. This would mean, in my opinion, that we would have to be ready not just to admit that there
can be different ways of singing, and different styles of liturgy, and different uses of psalmsâ?¦there are some issues, especially between Orthodox and Catholics, that Orthodox would have to be ready to tolerate for a while (even though they think the issues are bad) for the sake of unity.
What do I have in mind? Things like the â??filioqueâ?? clause in the Creed [the clause in the Nicene Creed that says that the Holy Spirit proceeds, not only from the Father, but also, â??filioqueâ?? â?? from the Son]… If Rome would say it was not there originally, that the way it was explained was not right, we now can agree on certain aspects â?? I think the Orthodox would have to say, â??OK, let them keep itâ?? rather than insist that every last church in Portugal drop the â??filioqueâ?? before we can have unity.
In other words, the Orthodox may have to go along with something for a while, as long as itâ??s clear how we understand it.
Father Thomas Hopko What would the Orthodox have to do to have unity?
