A scrupulously fair exploration of how the Catholic and Orthodox churches were split asunder—and what a path to union might look like.
In Reuniting Rome with the Orthodox Dmitri
Solzhenitsyn provides a careful theological and historical reflection on the
prospects for full communion between the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox
churches. He argues that unity is a moral and practical necessity, and that the
obstacles standing in its way, though formidable, are more surmountable than
they might seem.
With balance and precision, Solzhenitsyn:
- traces the arc of
Orthodox–Catholic relations from the churches’ shared apostolic heritage
to their growing divergence to the Great Schism of 1054;
- contends that the
breakdown was ultimately fueled as much by a failure to practice love and
charity as by doctrinal conflict; and
- finds hope for unity in
the gradually warming relations between the churches seen since the
twentieth century, as evidenced by symbolic reciprocal gestures and
genuine theological breakthroughs.
Solzhenitsyn ends by offering a constructive vision for
reunion, focusing on the core theological obstacles of papal authority and the filioque
while also addressing broader Orthodox attitudes and the practical mechanics of
reunion. In the end, he calls readers, Orthodox and Catholic alike, both to
imagine what restored communion might look like in lived experience and to
work—and pray—for unity.
