Catholics Should Fear Unity With The Orthodox

COGwriter leaving the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople ‘s Administrative Building May 2008

Pope Benedict XVI seems to be determined to have unity with the Eastern Orthodox.

But at what cost?

When I was in Istanbul in May 2008, I was specifically told by a representative of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople that when Pope Benedict XVI visited there, a papal representative of Benedict XVI told the Patriarch (Bartholomew I) that Rome would change all doctrines necessary to attain full unity with the Orthodox, if the Orthodox would accept papal authority. And this definitely included changing Rome’s position on the doctrines such as the Filioque clause (a clause which contains a biblically supportable position).

Hence, those associated with the Church of Rome need to understand that this means that the Vatican’s current (and likely future) leadership is willing to compromise on something that it has long held as being of “great dogmatic and historical importance.”

Since Vatican II (a major Catholic ecumenical council that ran from 1962–1965), many Catholics have been justifiably concerned that doctrinal compromise for the sake of ecumenical unity with those outside of fellowship of Rome was inevitable.

The Orthodox have long taught that the Church of Rome (known sometimes as Latins) will change doctrines to those of the Orthodox. A document known as the Anonymou Prophecy of 1053 refers to this as the:

“Deferring of the Latins to the error-free faith of the Orthodox”…

It then claims:

“The Orthodox Faith will expand from East to West” (Tzima Otto, p. 116).

Here is an explanation from Orthodox scholar H. Tzima-Otto (bolding in original):

Many Catholic prophecies speak of the victory of the ‘true Catholic faith’, while Orthodox prophecies, although they agree on everything else, predict a victory of the ‘true Orthodox faith’…When we speak of the future Council, it is bound to be ecumenical…there will come a true re-unification of the Christian Churches…This Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church is not going to be Roman Catholic as understood today…

The error-free Orthodox faith…The Orthodox did not experience a Vatican II, they did not begin to rewrite Scriptures…Hence, error-free in the sense that it has not been contaminated by satan…(Tzima Otto, pp. 120-122)

Thus, the Orthodox expect Rome to change its doctrines, because they feel that the Roman Catholic Church adopted errors from satan.

Lest any think that Dr. Tzima-Otto is simply a rogue Orthodox scholar, it perhaps should be pointed out that the Orthodox, who generally make less pronouncements than the Vatican tends to, condemned the papacy as a major heresy in an encyclical in 1848:

4. Of these heresies widely-diffused was formerly Arianism, and now is the Papacy, which, though still flourishing, shall, like the former, pass away and be cast down, and a great voice from Heaven shall cry, ‘ It is cast down.’—Rev. xii. 10…Encyclical Letter of the Eastern Orthodox, 1848. As cited in The Benares magazine, No. 31, 1851. W.H. Haycock, 1851. Original from Oxford University Digitized, Nov 24, 2006, pp. 370-371,373)

Perhaps it should be mentioned that “Rev. xii. 10” teaches about the “accuser of the brethren” (a reference to Satan in verse 9) being cast down. Thus the Orthodox officially seem to have condemned the papacy as Satan the devil.

Notice that according to another Byzantine prophet, the final (the Orthodox recognize seven previous ones) ecumenical council satisfies what “heretics” want:

Saint Nelios the Myrrh-Gusher (died 1592): During that time the Eighth and last Ecumenical Synod will take place, which will satisfy the contentions of the heretics…(Tzima Otto, p. 111).

By satisfying “heretics”, clearly this council compromises and changes the religion, which will be called “Catholic”. If heretics are truly heretics, should their complaints be satisfied?

A Catholic prophecy shows that after its church is changed (reformed below), the Orthodox will come back:

Roger Bacon (died 1294): There shall arise a…priest to reform the Church. The Greeks will return (to the Church)…there will be one fold, one shepherd (Culleton, The Prophets and Our Times, p. 149).

Furthermore, it appears that other Catholic writings suggest that it is an antipope who is involved in the imposition of a changed church:

Oba Prophecy: It will come when the Church authorities issue directives to support a new cult, when priests are forbidden to celebrate in any other, when the highest positions in the Church are given to perjurers and hypocrites, when only the renegades are admitted to occupy those positions.

Nun Anna-Katarina Emmerick (19th century): I saw again a new and odd-looking Church which they were trying to build. There was nothing holy about it…

Yves Dupont (writer interpreting A. Emmerick above), They wanted to make a new Church, a Church of human manufacture, but God had other designs…The Holy Father shall have to leave Rome, and he shall die a cruel death. An anti-pope shall be set up in Rome. (Dupont, Yves. Catholic Prophecy: The Coming Chastisement. TAN Books, Rockford (IL), 1973, pp. 115,116).

Priest O’Connor (20th century?): This final false prophet will be a bishop of the church and will lead all religions into becoming one. (The False Prophet. Living in the Final Generation. http://www.geocities.com/rebornempowered/ApparitionsofMary.htm 10/12/07)

Priest H. Kramer (20th century): In the vision of the Seer now appears a second beast rising out of the earth, having two horns like a lamb but speaking like a dragon…In other places he is called the false prophet…This prophet may re-establish the pagan Roman Empire and build the “Great Harlot”, Babylon… The False Prophet…will persuade all infidels, apostates and apostate nations to worship and adore him…Antichrist “sitteth in the temple of God” (I Thes. II. 4). This is not the ancient Temple in Jerusalem…this temple is shown to be a Catholic Church…The False Prophet will proclaim the resurrection of the Roman Empire. (Kramer H., p. 318,320-323)

All (Catholic or otherwise) should be careful, compare their teachings with the Bible, pray to God, and not accept doctrines that are unbiblical for the sake of this coming ecumenical unity.

Thus, Catholics indicate that a new type of “Catholicism” will be false to that religion. This also seems to be consistent with an Orthodox understanding of the last false religious power coming from Rome:

Bishop Gerasimos of Abydos (20th century): The army of Antichrist is made up of the worldly powers, mainly the Roman Empire, symbolized by the two beasts and the harlot woman (Rev. 11:7; 13:1-17; cf. Dan. 7:11-12)… The final confrontation with evil is presented in chapters 19 and 20…The war is waged by the beast and the false prophet. Both of these are organs of Satan, representing the political and religious authority of Rome (Rev. 13:1-18). (Gerasimos, Bishop. At the End of Time: The Eschatological Expectations of the Church. Holy Cross Orthodox Press. October 5, 2004, pp. 28-29).

To learn more specifically why American Catholics should be concerned, there is a new article on this subject is available below:

Why Should American Catholics Should Fear Unity with the Orthodox? Are the current ecumenical meetings a good thing or will they result in disaster?