Folia Canonica 5. (2002)
PROCEEDINGS OF THE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE "Tra Chiesa universale e Chiesa particolare", Budapest, 2nd February 2002 - Gennadios of Sassima: The Canonical Status of the Ecumenical Patriarch in the Canonical Order of the Orthodox Churches: Nature and Extension of its Authority
270 GENNADIOS OF SASSIMA three persons of the Trinity. The internal life of the Trinity, according to the formulation of the Fathers, is one of “perichoresis”, that is a process of mutual interpenetration of the three persons, unified with the bound of love. The three persons, accordingly, are seen as at the same time indivisible and unconfused. Transferring this into the realm of ecclesiology, we can say that as the principle of collegiality in unity has been preserved as much as the principle of independence in the Trinity of persons, this solution also obtains for the ecclesiological problem as the only correct, canonical, scriptural and traditional one. If the Church believes that it has its model in the Holy Trinity. III. The Primacy of the Church of Constantinople Orthodoxy has created the living organism binding the whole body of Orthodox autocephalous churches as sisters. The Church of Constantinople holds the position of primate amongst these churches; founded on the doctrines and canons of the Ecumenical Church, the Church of Constantinople never, in spite of all its privileges, set out to subjugate the other Orthodox Churches. All the Orthodox churches accordingly preserved the autocephalous status they received during the period of the Ecumenical Councils. While keeping their independence, they still remain in close contact and mutual union with each other and form a whole, a living organism. As a unifying and binding principle among them, uniting them with doctrines and a fundamental canonical status, ecumenical Orthodoxy preserves for each church its original autocephaly and binds them all perpetually as sisters in identical ecclesiastical aims, without lessening or oppressing the independence of any of the churches. The Church of Constantinople, which ensured for itself in history the role of bold and faithful guardian of Orthodoxy, also communicated this treasure to its neighboring peoples. It played an important role in missionary work, displaying love and meekness to the peoples enlightened by Orthodoxy. It was intelligently restrained in its dealings with the new spiritual children, whom it cared for like a mother. It conducted its missionary activity without chocking the national vitality of the neighboring peoples or compulsorily drawing them into spiritual unity by fraudulent proselytizing methods. Its methods were clear open witness to the truth, the Apostolic confession of ecumenical Orthodoxy and summoning its neighbors in full love to unity with the Lord Jesus and His Church. The Church of Constantinople rej ected absolute forms of church government and exemplified in its own higher administration an organic fusion of the individual principle in the person of the Byzantine Patriarch and the synodical principle in the permanent Holy Synod and the extraordinary synods. The synodical principle was further consolidated by the participation of the Orthodox Patri-
