LOS ANGELES – An institute established at Loyola Marymount University will try to heal centuries-old wounds between the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches.
The Huffington Ecumenical Institute, officially launched in February, was boosted by a $5 million pledge from philanthropist Michael Huffington. The endowment will be matched by the university over several years.
Huffington, 59, who is a member of the Orthodox Church, said he wanted to “bring orthodoxy and Catholicism closer together” so they ultimately would be able to share Communion together in a church.
“What they believe in is so very similar, in many respects, that the differences ought to be bridged, and that’s what we’re going to try to do,” Huffington said, calling himself an optimist.
The official split between the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches traditionally dates to A.D. 1054 because of political and ecclesiastical differences.
Differences span a range of theological issues. For example, the Catholic Church sees the pope as its supreme authority on Earth. The autonomous churches that constitute Eastern Orthodoxy, such as the Greek, Serbian and Romanian Orthodox churches, consider themselves both as one church and a family of churches. None is under the jurisdiction of another. Also, within the Orthodox tradition, priests can marry.
The establishment of the institute comes on the heels of Pope Benedict XVI’s November visit to Istanbul, Turkey, where the pope recommitted to working toward re-unifying the two churches.
The institute will hold symposia, conferences and lectures open to the general public, and will focus on issues such as intermarriage, intercommunion and the historic split, said Jeffrey Siker, chairman of the department of theological studies at Loyola Marymount, who helps oversee the institute.
Siker said the institute initially will focus on just the Catholic and Orthodox churches but eventually will include a “broader scope” that includes Protestant perspectives.
“We want to try to understand each other and promote a more unified vision of the Church,” Siker said.
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