Page 286 - Orthodoxy Zizioulas

O r t h o d o x y
Furthermore, not everything within Orthodox faith and
practice holds the same level of importance for the unity of the
Church. It is thus necessary for the Orthodox to strive to clar-
ify their position—to identify, in relation to communion,
which elements are central and which are peripheral in their
faith and practice. The 20th-century developments in Ortho-
dox theology, as mentioned in the previous chapter, have
moved Orthodoxy away from confessionalism, enabling it to
seek what is essential for the Church’s unity by focusing on the
concrete ecclesial community and its structure (cf. World
Council of Churches, The New Valamo Consultation: The Ecu-
menical Nature of the Orthodox Witness, 1977). This opens new
possibilities for ecumenical progress. At the same time, non-
Orthodox members of the Council should endeavor to relate
their current faith to the mainstream of Christian tradition,
rather than disregarding it as irrelevant. Similarly, the ques-
tion “What is the Eucharist?” must be placed at the heart of the
ecumenical debate, alongside the issues of the priesthood and,
particularly for the Orthodox, the episcopacy. An important
step forward has been made with the recent Agreement on
Baptism, Eucharist, and Ministry developed by Faith and Or-
der. There is hope that, by addressing these issues as central to
ecumenism, Orthodox and non-Orthodox alike may pave the
way toward Eucharistic communion.
[4.] A more general and fundamental issue is the theologi-
cal direction of the World Council of Churches. Starting with
the Faith and Order Conference held in Lund in 1952, the
Council abandoned the previous method of asking each
Church to define its own position on a specific issue. Instead,
it sought a new approach: inviting all Churches to speak to-
gether in order to develop, as far as possible, a common doc-
trine on various matters, including theological ones. This
286