Pashkov Petr

The view on the reasons for the Great schism and on the possibilities for its overcoming in the speech of st. Marcus Eugenicus at the first session of the council of Ferrara-Florence

Abstract

This article deals with the introductory speech of St. Marcus Eugenicus at the first meeting of Ferrara-Florentine Council (10.08.1438) in the context of the Byzantine tradition of understanding the causes of the Great Schism. The article shows that the saint in his speech continues the tendency of polemical theology of the 14th century, which linked the division of the Churches with the development in Latin Christianity of the concept of the Pope’s exclusive teaching power. Byzantine thinkers connected their hopes for the restoration of unity with the institution of Ecumenical Councils — with an appeal to the traditional collegial way of making decisions on issues in church life. At the same time, the very nature of schism received a diff erent interpretation depending on the dogmatic views of a specifi c polemicist: the authors of the Palamite circle interpreted it as a deviation by the Latin side from the historical tradition, while, for example, Barlaam of Calabria saw in it only an external division caused by the lack of Christian love. The article shows that St. Marcus considered the unity of the Church in Christ as a gift from God, which, however, can be preserved only by observing the principle of collegiality in church administration, the best expression of which is the institution of Ecumenical Councils. The collegial administration of the Church is according to St. Marcus a fulfi llment of the commandment of love, without the preservation of which it is impossible to keep the divine gift of the piece. In this regard, the papacy appears not just as a deviation from historical tradition, but as an institutionalised sin, and conciliar discussion is a kind of general church ascetic feat that allows one to overcome the consequences of this sin and restore the unity of the Church.

Keywords

Marcus Eugenicus, Graeco-Latin polemics, Council of Ferrara-Florence, Great Schism, papal primacy, Ecumenical Councils, ecclesiology

References

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Information about the author

Pashkov Petr

Student status: Graduate student;
Student status: Graduate student;
Place of study: St. Tikhon’s Orthodox Univercity for Humanities;
ORCID: 0000-0002-5056-5267;
Email: petrpashkov@mail.ru.