Page 271 - Orthodoxy Zizioulas

T H E R E L AT I O N S H I P O F T H E O R T H O D O X C H U R C H W I T H O T H E R C H R I S T I A N S
continues to perform the saving and sanctifying work… The
‘validity’ of the sacraments among schismatics is the mysteri-
ous guarantee of their return to Catholic plenitude and unity.”
Fr. Florovsky recognized that Augustine’s sacramental the-
ology was largely unknown in the East, and that Orthodox
sacramental teaching had been influenced in more recent
times by Roman Catholic scholasticism. He did not expect his
proposal to be readily accepted, yet he demonstrated convinc-
ingly that the problem is both urgent and unresolved.
Indeed, as recent debates—such as those concerning the
recognition of autocephaly in Ukraine—have shown, confu-
sion persists within Orthodoxy on this issue. The recognition
by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of ordinations performed by
former schismatics provoked strong reactions, often based on
the assumption that schismatics lack sanctifying grace. Yet
this overlooks the consistent practice of the Church—from St.
Basil and the Ecumenical Councils to later developments,
such as the lifting of the Bulgarian schism—that sacraments
are not repeated when unity is restored. As noted by great
canonists such as Demetrios Chomatenos and Nikodemus the
Hagiorite, these sacraments are regarded as “valid.”
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