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It Does No Good
for the Pope to
Grovel
by Christopher A. Ferrara
 During his
just-completed visit to Greece the Pope apologized to his “Beatitude”
Archbishop Christodolous, head of the Greek Orthodox Church, for all of the
supposed sins Catholics have committed against their “Orthodox brothers
and sisters” over the centuries, including the taking of Constantinople in
the Fourth Crusade—eight hundred years ago. Naturally, there was no
possibility of any apology by his “Beatitude” for the sins of the
Greek Orthodox Church against the Mystical Body of Christ, including the
utterly unjustified schism of the Patriarch Michael Caerularius in 1054.
The Pope
made his apology moments after his “Beatitude” had upbraided him in
public for the many sins of the Catholic Church. The Pope took this abuse
without the support of the Catholic prelates of Greece, none of whom his
“Beatitude” would allow to attend the festivities, since our
“Orthodox brothers and sisters” do not recognize the existence of the
Catholic Church in Greece, where Catholics suffer harsh legalized
discrimination in many forms.
Now, the
defenders of the novel practice of papal apologies—apologies to just about
everyone in the world for the alleged sins of just about every Catholic, living
and dead—tell us that the visit to Greece was a “historic
breakthrough.” Oh yes, it was a historic breakthrough alright—for the
Greek Orthodox! After 1,000 years of their adamant schism and rejection of the
Petrine primacy, the Pope came to them and basically groveled in an effort to
win their hearts.
Did the
self-abasing gesture work? Of course not. Within hours of the Pope’s
departure from Athens airport (where no Orthodox prelate would deign to see him
off), his “Beatitude” took a plane to, of all places, Moscow.
There he commiserated with the Russian government-controlled head of the Moscow
Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church, Aleksei II. The main topic of
discussion was how much more groveling the Pope still had to do. His
“Beatitude” Christodolous wished to assure Aleksei II that while
“The pope's trip to Greece was first of all a pilgrimage, and we had
nothing against this visit,” the Greek Orthodox had nonetheless
“reserved the right to use this moment for reminding him of the wounds
inflicted by the Roman Catholic Church on its Orthodox brothers,” and that
the Greek Orthodox “are now waiting for further positive steps from
the Roman Catholic Church.” [CWN.com news report] In other words, the
papal apology has done nothing more than whet the appetite of the Greeks for
more apologies.
According to
CWN.com “Patriarch Aleksei reacted coolly to the apology, noting that it
was addressed mainly to historical slights rather than more contemporary
events, such as the continuing controversy over the presence of Catholics in
Russia and traditionally Russian Orthodox countries.” So, the mere
presence of Catholics in Russia and “traditionally Orthodox
countries” is a matter of controversy. Therefore, the papal apology in
Greece is not nearly enough. “We will have to see how this excuse is
implemented in real life,” huffed Aleksei. The “conversion of
Russia” marches on!
Our Lady of
Fatima came to earth 84 years ago to announce the conversion of Russia,
which at that time was predominantly Russian Orthodox. Heaven itself was
telling us that the Orthodox would ultimately return to Rome and abjure their
schism. The hardness of heart shown by Aleksei and his “Beatitude”
Christodolous demonstrates that they and their fellow Orthodox prelates are in
need of conversion—not papal apologies for the rashly presumed
“sins” of long-dead Catholics. “In the end, My Immaculate Heart
will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to Me, which will be
converted.” This, not another papal apology, is what the Orthodox need to
hear, for it is precisely what Our Lady of Fatima wishes to tell them. And
there is no trace of an apology in Her message from God.
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