Page 278 - Orthodoxy Zizioulas

O r t h o d o x y
pope approached union from urgent political necessity. In the
final decree, the Orthodox accepted that the pope, as succes-
sor of Peter, possesses primacy over the whole oikoumene, is
Christ’s vicar, head of the whole Church, and holds plenitude
of power to govern the universal Church. The Byzantines ap-
pended mention of the rights of the Eastern patriarchs, but
this qualification did not appear in the authoritative Latin text.
The council thus gave the pope a temporary victory, but it
did not bring true ecclesial union. In the East, the refusal of
Mark Eugenikos to sign the decree became the decisive sym-
bol of Orthodox resistance, and his stance expressed the mind
of the overwhelming majority. Many who had signed later
withdrew or faced rejection. Bessarion became Roman Cath-
olic; Isidore met fierce opposition in Russia, where his failure
helped accelerate the emergence of the idea of Moscow as the
“Third Rome.” In Constantinople itself, even when the decree
of union was formally proclaimed in Hagia Sophia in Decem-
ber 1452, only a small minority accepted communion with
Rome.
Thus the Council of Ferrara-Florence ended as the last
great Byzantine effort at reunion, but it achieved almost noth-
ing lasting in either East or West. Its failure revealed once
again that union cannot be secured by imperial need, diplo-
matic pressure, or theological compromise imposed from
above. What appeared outwardly as reunion lacked inward
reception by the Church, and therefore could not endure.
278