Ecumenical Patriarch and Pope Francis in the Holy Land

From the very beginning of his papacy, Pope Francis has demonstrated a fundamental openness to Orthodoxy.  This openness has come in the form of large public gestures such as his insistence on the title "Bishop of Rome," the presence of the Ecumenical Patriarch at his investiture, and now in his meeting the Ecumenical Patriarch in the Holy Land and issuing with him a joint statement declaring their commitment to the reconciliation of Catholics and Orthodox begun by their predecessors fifty years ago.

As many observers have noted, Pope Francis can be seen simply as continuing the commitment to the reconciliation of the churches in the pontificates of St. John Paul II and Benedict XVI. At the same time, such things as the presence of the Ecumenical Patriarch at Francis's investiture could also indicate a desire to deepen the Catholic-Orthodox relationship in new ways.

When St. John Paul II died I wondered if the moment for Orthodox-Catholic reconciliation had passed. He had done more to address the "healing of memories" between the two churches than any pope since the Great Schism. I think it's fair to say that Orthodox responses to his reaching out to them were lukewarm. Yes, there were isolated exceptions. However, St. John Paul II died with his vision for Catholic-Orthodox reconciliation unrealized.

Although his papacy is still relatively young, I think it is already possible to say that with Francis we Orthodox have another chance to respond boldly, courageously, and creatively to God's call to reconciliation. Yes, there is the ongoing theological dialogue between Orthodox and Catholics, to which both Bartolomeos and Francis recommitted their churches in a joint communique issued on 25 May.

But reconciliation involves so much more than dogmatic agreement. Is there scope for a groundbreaking gesture by either side on, say, the fraught question of papal primacy? Yes: God is capable of surprises! However, sometimes when I look at the contemporary theological dialogues between Catholics and Orthodox, I find it hard not to side with Soloviev and say that the unity of the churches will not happen until the end of the world is at hand.

In the end, though, I can't embrace Soloviev's view that the unity of the church has to do with apocalyptic eschatology. Instead, I would say it has to do the kind of eschatology we find in the Gospel according to John, the gospel in which we find Christ's prayer that his disciples be one. That is, the unity of the church is something Christ intends for us now, as the fruit of his Resurrection. At the same time, the unity of the church also has profoundly to do with the end of the world. It points to the reconciliation of all the world with God in Christ, and it gives the world a sign of the defeat of  hatred and separation. It is both realized and apocalyptic.