As I was surfing the internet as usual, I was shocked by the news; the death of Orthodox Patriarch Alexei II of all the Russias. It was a shock indeed since nobody knew that Patriarch Alexei was either ill or nearing death. The patriarch's death will have its effects on the ecumenical movement since it is known that he has been collaborating with Pope Benedict XVI and other Christian leaders in the ecumenical sphere. The news of the late patriarch's death travelled all over the world as Russia celebrated the feast of one of its greatest saints, Nicholas of Myra, the Father Christmas of traditional Christianity!
The breach between Rome and Constantinople took place in the 11th century though difficulties had already existed between the two sides since the 7th century. History professor J. N. D. Kelly, author of the famous Oxford Dictionary of Popes explains the breach in detail:
"The fanatically anti-Latin patriarch Michael Cerularius shut down the Latin churches in Constantinople in 1053 and launched a violent attack on western religious practices, such as the use of unleavened bread in the Eucharist. On Pope Leo IX's behalf Humbert of Silva Candida prepared a ferocious riposte, arguing the case for the Roman primacy with extensive quotations from the forged Donation of Constantine...on July 16, 1054 Humbert, in full view of the congregation, placed on the altar of the Hagia Sophia a bull excommunicating the patriarch and his supporters. Cerularius responded with counter-anathemas on July 24. The schism between the eastern and western churches is conventionally dated from this event" (Kelly, 148).
The fate of the Christian church was sealed in 1054. Since then Rome and Constantinople have had different religious leaders; the Eastern Church does not recognise the Bishop of Rome as supreme pontiff but as a great religious leader whose office unites the Christian faithful everywhere according to their own local jurisdiction. The Eastern Church is actually a conglomeration of churches and its government is very different from that of the Western Roman Church. The Patriarch of Constantinople who at the moment is Bartholomew I is the primus inter pares - "first among equals" - rather than a supreme head. The patriarch of Orthodox Russia who resides in Moscow enjoys a great deal of independence though is "doctrinally" in unity with Constantinople and the other Orthodox patriarchs.
Relations between Patriarch Alexei and Pope John Paul II were not good; however since the election of Benedict XVI to the Roman See, relations have become much better with Pope Benedict planning to visit Alexei in the near future. Therefore Patriarch Alexei's death makes sad news for the international ecumenical movement. As members of the one church which breathes with its "two lungs", let us be united with the Orthodox faithful in Russia and recommend the Patriarch's soul to the Eternal Father: May he rest in peace! Amen.