Authority and Order in the Ancient Church
Excerpt
(T)he patriarchal authority of Jerusalem is an invention of the Council of Chalcedon. It did not exist before A.D. 451.
The same is true of the so-called patriarchal authority of Constantinople. Despite medieval, state-sponsored legends (which have no basis in fact or ancient history), Byzantium had no connection to Andrew or any Apostle, but was a minor church under the jurisdiction of the metropolitan of Herculea (Heraclea Perinthus) in Thrace, which was in-turn directly answerable to Rome. It was the First Council of Constantinople that first tried to give patriarchal authority to Byzantium (merely because it was the imperial city). But, both Rome and Alexandria rejected this decree, and it was withdrawn. For, according to Apostolic Tradition, Rome held the primacy for the universal Church, and Alexandria was the Church's second see, having the primacy in the Eastern Church. This is confessed by all the fathers who address this subject, and most clearly by Pope St. Damasus I, who issued the following decree in A.D. 382, a decree issued in order to defend Alexandria's place as the primate in the East, which was usurped by the Byzantines at the Constantinople I the previous year:
Although all the Catholic churches spread abroad throughout the world comprise but one bridal chamber of Christ, nevertheless, the holy Roman church has been placed at the forefront not by the conciliar decisions of the churches, but has received the primacy by the evangelic voice of our Lord and Savior, Who says: "You are Peter ...(Matt 16:18-19)." In addition to this, there is also the companionship of the vessel of election, the most blessed Apostle Paul who, along with Peter in the city of Rome in the time of Caesar Nero, equally consecrated the above-mentioned holy Roman Church to Christ the Lord; and by their own presence and by their venerable triumph, they set it at the forefront over the others of all the cities of the world.
Decree of Damasus # 3, 382 A.D. | The first see, therefore, is that of Peter the Apostle, that of the Roman church, which has neither stain nor blemish, nor anything like that. The second see is that of Alexandria, consecrated on behalf of the blessed Peter by Mark, his disciple and an Evangelist, who was sent to Egypt by the Apostle Peter, where he preached the word of truth and finished his glorious martyrdom. The third see is that of Antioch, which belonged to the most blessed Peter, where first he dwelled before he came to Rome, and where the name "Christians" was first applied, as to a new people.
This is the ancient order: Rome, Alexandria, and Antioch, in that order of primacy and authority. It was only in about A.D. 700, after the Alexandria and Antioch had fallen to the Muslims, that Rome recognized Constantinople to be the primate in the East. Before this time, that claim was consistently denied, both by Rome and by the other patriarchs (although Antioch occasionally accepted the Byzantine claim). Nowhere is this fact more clearly illustrated than in Pope St. Leo the Great's condemnation of Canon 28 of Chalcedon:
...we do also enact and decree the same things concerning the privileges of the most holy Church of Constantinople, which is New Rome. For the Fathers rightly granted privileges to the throne of old Rome, because it was the royal city. And the one hundred fifty most religious Bishops gave equal privileges to the most holy throne of New Rome, justly judging that the city is honored with the Sovereignty and the Senate and enjoys equal privileges with the old imperial Rome... ."
However, Pope Leo refused to agree to this canon and, employing a kind of "line item veto," ordered it struck from the Council documents. In this, Bishop Anatolius of Constantinople writes to Pope Leo, apologizing and explaining how the canon came to be, saying ...
As for those things which the universal Council of Chalcedon recently ordained in favor of the church of Constantinople, let Your Holiness be sure that there was no fault in me, who from my youth have always loved peace and quiet, keeping myself in humility. It was the most reverend clergy of the church of Constantinople who were eager about it, and they were equally supported by the most reverend priests of those parts, who agreed about it. Even so, the whole force of confirmation of the acts was reserved for the authority of Your Blessedness. Therefore, let Your Holiness know for certain that I did nothing to further the matter, knowing always that I held myself bound to avoid the lusts of pride and covetousness. | Patriarch Anatolius of Constantinople to Pope Leo, Ep 132 (on the subject of canon 28 of Chalcedon).
For those who wish to cooperate to accomplish Jesus' design for his Church, Mr. Bonocore provides yet another example of appropriate authority and order that is worth taking into account.
Here, one must also appreciate the fact that Byzantine Christianity is not the be-all-end-all of Eastern Christianity. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, you have no representation of the Coptic tradition, or the Syrian tradition, or the Maronite (Lebanese) tradition, or the Ethiopian tradition, or the Malankar (Indian) tradition, or the Armenian tradition, or the Chaldean (Persian) tradition. The Catholic Church, however, includes all of these traditions, as well as the Byzantine and the Antiochian traditions, along with those of the West (Roman and Gallican). Present Orthodox theology does not even represent the totality of Greek Christianity, but subordinates the Alexandrian Greek tradition to the Antiochian and the Cappadocian Greek traditions. If you accepted your Alexandria heritage, you would not have a problem with the theology of Filioque (properly understood). So, in short, you Eastern Orthodox do not speak for the entire East, but merely for the Byzantine-Antiochian tradition -- that is, part of the East. And, the part of the East that you speak for is not as old (i.e., established and certified by practice) as the Apostolic heritage of Rome.
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