Lazarus Abboud
The second problem that stands in the way of unity among the churches is the desired unity — that is, what kind of unity do we want and seek? The old form of unity? That the churches unite as they were before the fifth century? But this form of unity is impossible, and returning to before the Great Schism or before the Council of Chalcedon is currently a kind of fantasy. We must be realistic. The Orthodox will not become Catholic, the Catholic will not convert to Orthodoxy, and the Protestant will not become Orthodox. Striving for this kind of unity has brought everyone to despair, and the Week of Prayer has turned into meaningless folklore, remaining merely the memory of an annual attempt and nothing more. And if it produces anything, it produces (a grand ecumenical music concert — an idea no one can comprehend, as a presenter said on a talk show about it: who in the world is able to hold a music concert?).
The Orthodox, for example, cannot imagine this kind of unity. We Orthodox fundamentally suffer from Orthodox conflicts and schisms: we have the rupture of communion between Constantinople and Russia, and Antioch severed communion with Jerusalem (later restoring it) over the diocese of Qatar — that is, a rupture of communion over an administrative matter. What then of churches between which there are doctrinal and traditional differences? Another example: the Orthodox churches were unable to convene at the Great Orthodox Council in 2016, when the last Orthodox ecumenical council was in the year 869, that is, before the Great Schism, twelve centuries ago. For 1,154 years the Orthodox had not met in an ecumenical council, and when the Great Orthodox Council was convened after nearly a century of preparation, Antioch and Russia stayed away. If we Orthodox, of one faith, one doctrine, and one tradition, have not gathered and united, how then, I wonder, is the state of unity among churches with doctrinal and creedal differences?
Nor are the Eastern Catholic churches, which fall under the wing of Rome and under a single head, in any better condition. I mentioned the schisms in the two Orthodox churches lest the saying be applied to the article: “First take the plank out of your own eye”
But if the churches and the church leadership are sincere in their pursuit of full unity, we must first go toward the unity that is attainable — that is, direct ourselves toward what is possible and hoped for here and now, namely the unity of destiny and common concern. It is true that Christians do not agree on doctrines, but do we not have comprehensive Jesus-like values, principles of faith, ethics, and a striving for a better world that gather us under one wing? Our Teacher is one, our constitution is one — the Gospel — and our Christian calling is one: the other, service, sacrifice, and self-giving.
Does fighting poverty, injustice, tyranny, and the displacement of Christians, protecting the future of Christians, achieving social justice, working toward justice, defending the rights of human beings and children, and raising one’s voice against injustice and killing require doctrinal and theological agreements and Eucharistic unity?
The Christian is not isolated from the other Christian. Hunger, poverty, destitution, despair, tyranny, injustice, unfairness, the lack of justice, persecution, and political and social oppression are one; they afflict everyone together. Our destiny is one. While the churches pray for the old unity, the shepherds will emerge from the luxury of their conferences and will not find Christians in the East praying together.
What is required today of the churches and all Christian leadership is to be responsible and possessed of a great measure of historical awareness. Maturity requires that we work together, and unfortunately this is what we have not seen from them to this day. The churches are in one valley and our Christian people in another. The church leadership lives in the comfort of meetings, conferences, and ecumenical music celebrations, while the people live in the reality of pain and the tragedies of the East. Churches that do not move with history and engage it are hollow institutions and a burden on history.
We need to unite together and to strive together, to work for our salvation and the salvation of our homelands and peoples. I do not say here: let us celebrate the liturgy together, for the one cup comes at the end of our works, not at their beginning. Rather, let us unite together for the sake of one Levantine destiny. Here the turn has come for the Christians, not the leadership, to cry out and raise a true voice demanding that the leadership and the shepherds unite in common work and common concern.
The final question: Does working together for a better reality, fighting poverty, theft, injustice, and corruption, preventing the displacement of Christians, raising one Christian voice to build a better society, defending human rights, ensuring that Christians have a role in determining the course of history, being masters of our own destiny rather than followers of this one and that one, and building a state — does all this require a doctrinal agreement and theological conferences?