Traditionalists blast pontiff for contradicting Vatican I and selling out to Eastern Orthodox
In one of the most surprising statements of his pontificate, Pope Leo XIV is setting aside the primacy of the Bishop of Rome to promote ecumenical unity between Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Christians.
Leo’s address to Catholics and Eastern Orthodox pilgrims at Castel Gandolfo on July 17 has delighted Christians seeking full communion between Rome and the East, but upset traditionalist Catholics who argue that the Eastern churches should accept papal supremacy.
“Unity among those who believe in Christ is one of the signs of God’s gift of consolation; Scripture promises that ‘in Jerusalem you will be comforted,’” Leo told participants of the Orthodox-Catholic Ecumenical Pilgrimage, citing the prophet Isaiah (66:13).
“Rome, Constantinople, and all the other Sees are not called to vie for primacy, lest we risk finding ourselves like the disciples who, along the way, even as Jesus was announcing his coming passion, argued about which of them was the greatest,” he added, alluding to Mark 9:33-37.
Leo delivered his address in English, his native tongue, leaving little room for Catholic apologists to argue that his words had been mistranslated from Italian. The remarks were scripted and not delivered extempore. The Holy See Press Office provided the media with the full text.
“Your pilgrimage is one of the abundant fruits of the ecumenical movement aimed at restoring full unity among all Christ’s disciples in accordance with the Lord’s prayer at the Last Supper, when Jesus said, ‘that they may all be one’ (John 17:21),” he observed.
The pope explained that ecumenical events like the current pilgrimage are possible only because in December 1965, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras had lifted the historic excommunications imposed by both Rome and the East following the historic schism of 1054.
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