...Home Page.
  ...About Page in English.
  ...Terra Page in [language].
   

United European Christendom

Heal the Schism Now

 

 

 

     
     

 

The chief purpose of this website is to provide and propagate information about the film United European Christendom — Heal the Schism Now.  The chief purpose of this film in turn is to make some contribution to the reunification of the Orthodox-Catholic Church and to the establishment, or re-establishment, of greater civilizational unity and integrity within Christendom, beginning with European Christendom.   This film intends to speak to the community of the Christian faithful.  In important senses United European Christendom — Heal the Schism Now is two films, rather than two parts of one film, because the two subjects stand so very far apart.  One subject, European Christendom, is hugely important.  The other subject, the Church, is incomparably more important.  Do not expect a lack of apparent contradictions in understanding how the community of the Christian faithful should proceed on these two matters. 

The first part, let us call it the first film, attempts to deal with theological, ecclesiological and other issues involved with the 5th Century schism within the Church and more especially with the Great Schism within the Church, that which by convention is dated to 1054, which unfolded between the 9th Century and the early 13th Century and beyond.  Given the issues which are involved, dealing as they do with our struggle to understand God's intentions for His Church, the disputes can not be understood as unserious.  Given the understanding shared by all Christians of God's commandment toward such unity, and reflected preeminently in the Holy Scripture reproduced on this website, the disputes can not be understood as un-surmountable. 

Current realities, as also the writings of pre-eminent thinkers in these areas and the dialogues among and programs of senior Church hierarchs, suggest that corporate re-unification is possible among the Churches of Tradition, those that have retained the Sacraments — above all the Eucharist — and  Apostolic Succession and validly ordained priesthood.  These, in ascending order in terms of numbers of people in their communities of the faithful, are (1)  the Oriental Orthodox Churches;  (2) the Orthodox Churches which are in Communion with the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople; and (3) the Catholic Church.  To this commonly agreed list, the author of this film would add a fourth group.  While the both the Orthodox Churches and Catholic Church officially try to deal with the Churches in this group by not dealing with them, indeed to the extent possible by ignoring their existence, this fourth group can be said to be those Orthodox Churches of the Byzantine-Slavonic liturgical tradition which are not in Communion with the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.  The Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Kiev Patriarchate is only the most numerous of the large number of Churches which are caught up in this ecclesiological mess.  

As important as Protestants are for Christendom, the emergence of Protestantism and the countless divisions within the western Church which began (with some small exceptions) from the 16th Century are not part of this first film.  They are though very much a part of the story which is recounted in the "second" film.  The second film invites the viewer to enter into a civilizational introspection as to what have been the costs of Christian disunity.  It consists essentially of a series of case studies in the costs of the Schism.  It also invites the viewer to engage in some informed speculation as to what Christendom, beginning with European Christendom can expect should the situation of Christian disunity continue.  How do you think we have been doing?  Heading in the right direction?

The community of the faithful will ultimately determine whether this Church unity happens or indeed fails to happen.  The Church hierarchs have their appointed roles.  They are not ready to sign a joint declaration or Apostolic Constitution or some other documents restoring Communion and unity, but even if they were to do so, absent the support of the community of the Christian faithful, such a declaration would fail, as it did in 1439 ... and the greatest church in Christendom became a Mosque. 

 

     
 
     

So you must decide.  Do you want this unity? 

Please consider this question again after you have seen the film.

     

"Division openly contradicts the will of Christ, provides a stumbling block to the world, and inflicts damage on the most holy cause of proclaiming the Good News to every creature...  To believe in Christ means to desire unity; to desire unity means to desire the Church; to desire the Church means to desire the communion of grace which corresponds to the Father's plan from all eternity. Such is the meaning of Christ's prayer: 'Ut unum sint.'" 
                              Ioannes Paulus PP II Papa Ecclesiae Catholicae, in his eponymous Encyclical from 1995

"The walls which divide us do not reach up to heaven." 
                              Metropolitan Platon of Kiev

 
     
Man proposes   God disposes

 

 

Language Button Russkii that is for Russian Language Button Deutsch that is for German Language Button Język Polski that is for Polish Language Button Ukrayinska Mova that is for Ukrainian Language Button Italiano that is for Italian Language Button Español that is for Spanish Language Button Français that is for French Language Button Srpski that is for Serbian Language Button Hrvatski that is for Croatian Language Button Ellinika that is for Greek
Language Button Malti that is for Maltese Language Button Nederlands that is for Dutch and Flemish Language Button Magyar that is for Hungarian Language Button Belaruskaya Mova that is for Belarusian Language Button Kartuli Ena that is for Georgian Language Button Gaeilge that is for Irish Language Button Hayeren that is for Armenian Language Button Română that is for Romanian Language Button Svenska that is for Swedish Language Button Português that is for Portuguese
Language Button Català that is for Catalan Language Button Lëtzebuergesch that is for Luxembourgish Language Button Bulgarski Ezik that is for Bulgarian Language Button Makedonski Jazik that is for Macedonian Language Button Bosanski that is for Bosnian Language Button Crnogorski Jezik that is for Montenegrin Language Button Shqip that is for Albanian Language Button Dansk that is for Danish Language Button Norsk that is for Norwegian Language Button Íslenska that is for Icelandic
Language Button Latīna that is for Latin Language Button Sardu that is for Sardinian Language Button Lietuvių Kalba that is for Lithuanian Language Button Latviešu that is for Latvian Language Button Eesti that is for Estonian Language Button Čeština that is for Czech Language Button Slovenčina that is Slovak Language Button Slovenščina that is for Slovene Language Button Suomi that is for Finnish Language Button Arāmît Armāyâ Arāmāyā  that is for Aramaic