Following the Council of Chalcedon in the year 451, a group of Eastern Christian Churches could not accept the wording defining Christ as fully human and fully divine. In those early centuries, Christians grappled with understanding the nature of the Trinity and the nature of Christ. These churches – which eventually came to be known as the Oriental Orthodox Churches – disagreed with the Christological definitions of the Council of Chalcedon.
Many of the early Church councils were dealing with theologians who were teaching doctrines found to be wrong; the fathers of these councils attempted to correct them through agreed-upon doctrines and definitions. All Christians at this time agreed over the definitions made at the first three Church councils: Nicaea in 325, Constantinople in 381 and Ephesus in 431 AD.
At the Council of Chalcedon, a definition of Christ’s nature was discussed and defined that the divine and human natures are united. The Chalcedonian definition speaks of Jesus Christ as a single person but at the same time taught that this one person existed “in two complete natures.” The Oriental Orthodox Church rejected this teaching because its members believed it accommodated the erroneous teachings of Nestorianism that Christ has two distinct persons. They adhere to what is described as miaphysite, holding that Christ has one nature, but this nature is both human and Divine. It is all a bit confusing, but all Christians at that time were dealing with various erroneous teachings concerning the Trinity and the Persons of the Trinity and how to theologically describe them. (From 1971 to 1996, the Catholic Church and the individual Oriental Orthodox Churches resolved their differences over the Chalcedon definitions, saying in essence that these nuanced understandings of Christ’s nature are no longer Church-dividing.)
Over the centuries, these churches drifted away and eventually organized as six different autocephalous (autonomous) churches: the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch, the Armenian Apostolic Church, the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church. These churches combined comprise some 60 million faithful worldwide.
Recently at the Vatican, Pope Francis received members of the International Joint Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Oriental Orthodox Churches. He addressed the commission, remarking that its excellent work and dialogue are leading us closer to the goal of full communion with one another. He shared with them that he believes ecumenism is baptismal, saying, “It is in baptism that we find the basis of the communion between Christians and our yearning for full visible unity.” He said that the ongoing dialogue and agreements thus far concerning baptism and the other sacraments are very encouraging.
Pope Francis said that like agreements already made with some Eastern Orthodox Churches should be applied to the present level of unity shared among Roman Catholics and Oriental Orthodox Churches. He said, “It is my hope that the Holy Spirit may inspire ways of moving forward on this path, which regards the good of the people of God.”
Ecumenists over the years have tended to accentuate theological ecumenism, and Pope Francis is challenging them to focus more on what he terms “ecumenism of life.” He explained, “Jesus Christ became incarnate, he was made man, a member of the faithful people of God. He did not become an idea, no; he became man. And we must always seek the good of men and women and of the faithful of God.” He insisted that the “ecumenism of daily life” lived by the faithful of the churches must be taken seriously in theological discussions and recognized as a place where God is at work. He added that the work and reflection of ecumenical theologians should focus on “not only the dogmatic differences that have risen in the past, but also on the current experience of our faithful. … The ecumenism of journeying together takes place by walking, not only with ideas, but by walking.”
The next phase of discussion for the commission will be an in-depth study of the Mother of God, the Theotokos. Pope Francis ended his address invoking the protection of Mary.
Father Joseph D. Wallace is diocesan director of Ecumenical and Inter-religious Affairs and pastor of Christ the Redeemer Parish, Atco.
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