Uniatism

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As Uniatism is called a proselytism , by "active mission" among bishops , clergy and members of non-Catholic Eastern Churches whose agreement with the Western Church and the Pope seeks to achieve in Rome. When the desired full union (overall unification) failed, historical uniatism aimed at the formation of partial unions in the form of churches united with Rome, i.e. in fact at the split of the traditionally existing Eastern Church through the establishment of a Catholic counter-church, which was viewed and propagated as the legal successor of its mother church .

Today, uniatism is generally accepted, also on the Catholic side, as an outdated method of union. The declaration of Balamand of the "Joint International Commission for theological dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church" adopted on June 23, 1993 rejects it both as a method and as a model for the desired unity of the two churches. On the one hand, the document excludes “for the future any proselytism and any will to expand on the part of Catholics to the detriment of the Orthodox Church” and, at the same time, recognizes that the existing Eastern Catholic Churches “have the right to exist and act as part of the Catholic community corresponds to the spiritual needs of their believers ”.

The accusation of uniatism is currently on the eastern side z. In some cases also collected if, from a Catholic point of view, it is about:

  • the establishment of a proper church administration for Roman Catholic minorities with Roman rites within the historical area of ​​distribution of the Orthodox Church, e.g. B. in Russia , or
  • the restoration of Eastern Catholic Churches after the politically supported forced union of “Greek Catholic” parishes with the respective Orthodox regional churches, e.g. B. in Ukraine and Romania .

Similar to Uniatism, the Roman Catholic Church is currently trying to convince believers and even clergy of the Anglican Church on the basis of the Apostolic Constitution of Pope Benedict XVI. Anglicanorum coetibus to unite with the Western Church and the Pope .

literature

  • The Eucharist of the One Church. Documents of the Catholic-Orthodox dialogue on the German and international level. May 27, 1989. , 3rd, expanded edition. Secretariat of the German Bishops' Conference, Bonn et al. 1995, pp. 59–67 (declaration by Balamand ).