Homilies on the Ecumenical Synods - The Eighth Ecumenical Synod (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

Homilies on the Ecumenical Synods

The Eighth Ecumenical Synod (879-880 A.D.)

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou 

The 8th century, beloved brethren, was a difficult century from the perspective of the State and the Church. On the one hand the western part of the Roman Empire began to separate from its eastern part, and on the other one begins to clearly see the alteration of western Christianity.

This was evident at the Eighth Ecumenical Synod, which convened in 879-880 in Constantinople during the reign of Emperor Basil the Macedonian. The President of the Synod was Photios the Great, and the representatives of the Orthodox Pope of Rome John VIII were also present.

This Synod is very important, as it is the last Synod between the Orthodox Church of the East and the Orthodox Church of the West, that is, between New Rome and Old Rome, because afterwards the Christians of the West by succession distanced themselves from the Orthodox Church.

Saints and Feasts of the Second Sunday of February

Commemoration of the 383 God-bearing Fathers 

of the Eighth Ecumenical Synod in 879-880

 

Homilies on the Ecumenical Synods - The Eighth Ecumenical Synod (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

The Myth of Only Seven Ecumenical Councils 

 

What are the Criteria for an Ecumenical Synod? 

 

Photios the Great and the Eighth Ecumenical Synod (1 of 7) 

 

Photios the Great and the Eighth Ecumenical Synod (2 of 7) 

 

Photios the Great and the Eighth Ecumenical Synod (3 of 7) 

 

Photios the Great and the Eighth Ecumenical Synod (4 of 7) 

 

Photios the Great and the Eighth Ecumenical Synod (5 of 7) 

 

Photios the Great and the Eighth Ecumenical Synod (6 of 7)  

 

Photios the Great and the Eighth Ecumenical Synod (7 of 7) 

 

Critique of Francis Dvornik's "The Photian Schism"

 

An Official Recognition of the 8th and 9th Ecumenical Synods 

 

Serbian Church Proposes for the Recognition of the 8th and 9th Ecumenical Synods 

 

The Ecclesiology of the Holy and Great Synod 

 

Saint Photios the Great Resource Page

Saint Photios the Great Resource Page

St. Photios the Great (Feast Day - February 6)

 

About 

 

Saint Photios the Great, Patriarch of Constantinople 

 

Saint Sergios the Confessor, Father of Saint Photios the Great 

 

Saint Photios the Great as a Model for our Lives 

 

Saint Photios the Great in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church 

 

Saint Photios: The Miracle and the Primacy of Truth

 

Saint Photios: The Miracle and the Primacy of Truth 

 

Two Monasteries Associated With St. Photios Recently Discovered

 

A Portion of the Skull of Saint Photios the Great

When Roman Catholics Detested Photios the Great as One of the Greatest Enemies of the Church

 

The Reasons for the Anger of Westerners Against Photios (An Article by St. Nektarios of Aegina) 

 

The Controversial Canonization of Saint Photios the Great

Teachings and Writings 

 

Homily on the Nativity of our Most Holy Lady the Theotokos (St. Photios the Great)

 

The Purity and Triumph of Orthodoxy (St. Photios the Great) 

 

Two Homilies on the Annunciation to the Theotokos Delivered by Saint Photios the Great 

 

Homily for Palm Sunday (St. Photios the Great)

 

Third Great Friday Homily of Saint Photios the Great

 

First Holy Saturday Homily of Saint Photios the Great

 

Why Did Christ at His Birth Allow Infants to be Slaughtered Because of Him? (St. Photios the Great)

Patristic Studies Requires Both Study and Practice 

 

St. Photios the Great on Exposing the Sins of Others 

 

Saint Photios the Great on the Blasphemies of Origen

 

Saint Photios the Great Against the Augustinian Doctrine of Original Sin

 

Saint Photios the Great's Encyclical to the Eastern Patriarchs (867)

 

Are Depictions of Jesus Christ With Characteristics of Other Races Allowed? (St. Photios the Great)

 

 

Eighth Ecumenical Synod

The Myth of Only Seven Ecumenical Councils

What are the Criteria for an Ecumenical Synod?

Homilies on the Ecumenical Synods - The Eighth Ecumenical Synod (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

Photios the Great and the Eighth Ecumenical Synod (1 of 7)

Photios the Great and the Eighth Ecumenical Synod (2 of 7)

Photios the Great and the Eighth Ecumenical Synod (3 of 7)

Photios the Great and the Eighth Ecumenical Synod (4 of 7)

Photios the Great and the Eighth Ecumenical Synod (5 of 7)

Photios the Great and the Eighth Ecumenical Synod (6 of 7)

Photios the Great and the Eighth Ecumenical Synod (7 of 7)

Critique of Francis Dvornik's "The Photian Schism"

An Official Recognition of the 8th and 9th Ecumenical Synods

Serbian Church Proposes for the Recognition of the 8th and 9th Ecumenical Synods

The Ecclesiology of the Holy and Great Synod


Other

Saint Ignatios, Patriarch of Constantinople (+ 877)

Saints Cyril and Methodios, Enlighteners of the Slavs

Saint Joseph the Hymnographer

Synaxarion of Saint Tarasios, Patriarch of Constantinople

Saint Nicholas I Mystikos, Patriarch of Constantinople

Saint Stephen I, Patriarch of Constantinople

Deposition of the Honorable Robe of the Theotokos in Blachernae

The Ecclesiology of the Holy and Great Synod

By Bishop Christopher of Karpasia

Before and after the convergence of the Holy and Great Synod there were expressed many different complaints and objections regarding whether the text "Relations of the Orthodox Church with the Rest of the Christian World" corresponds with the ecclesiology of the Orthodox Church.

On this question I would like to offer some initial theological thoughts, reserving to later, God willing, present something more comprehensive and integrated.

Photios the Great and the Eighth Ecumenical Synod (7 of 7)

...continued from part six.

6. The Personality of Photios the Great

When one studies the historical events that preceded the convening of the Eighth Ecumenical Synod, as well as those during and after the Synod, they will recognize the great personality of the sacred Photios. He was the dominant figure of that time and the most pensive, discerning and a great leader, who was able to see the urgency of the state of his time, and to have a sober and sensible mind. We can see this from three vantage points.

Photios the Great and the Eighth Ecumenical Synod (6 of 7)

...continued from part five.

4. The Self-Consciousness of the Synod as Ecumenical

The Synod was convened by Emperor Basil the Macedonian, was chaired by Patriarch Photios of Constantinople, was attended by representatives of the Pope and representatives of all the Patriarchates. The issues the Synod faced were doctrinal and ecclesiological, and therefore it can be safely assumed that it deemed itself to be the Eighth Ecumenical Synod. Indeed this is how it is recorded in the consciousness of the Church.

Photios the Great and the Eighth Ecumenical Synod (5 of 7)

Emperor Basil I the Macedonian (867-886)

...continued from part four.

c) The Primacy of the Pope

Previously we showed how the West expressed the Primacy of the Pope. He was not viewed as having primacy of honor, but as the Primate of the Pentarchy system, a primacy of jurisdiction, with the attempt of the Pope to impose his views throughout the Church, considering himself to have canonical management and responsibility over it.

The legates of the Pope at the Synod tried to pass on the view that only the Apostle Peter and his successors have received the authority from Christ to "bind and loose", and they have the primary responsibility over the entire Church. Within this perspective the Pope is the only source of the priesthood, and this is why Patriarch Photios had no authority as a pontif, unless it came from the Pope. In the Minutes of the Synod it shows that the Pope viewed himself above the Synod, and he was the one to specify the decisions and ratify them. Even in the letter which the Pope wrote in Latin addressed to the Synod to put forward the issue of Photios, he gave a mandate for Photios to ask forgiveness for the problems he created in the Church, and in this way the Pope truly put himself above the other Patriarchs.

Photios the Great and the Eighth Ecumenical Synod (4 of 7)

...continued from part three.

b) The "Commonitory"

The "Commonitory", which means orders and instructions, is the decisions of the Synod convened in Rome for this purpose and which were sent to Constantinople with Cardinal Peter, to be coordinated with the new decisions of the Pope by the papal legates and Eugenios who were already in Constantinople, to address the issues that were discussed at the Synod convened for this purpose. These mandates refer to ten specific issues:

Photios the Great and the Eighth Ecumenical Synod (3 of 7)

Pope John VIII of Rome (872-882)

...continued from part two.

3. The Issues Faced by the Eighth Ecumenical Synod

The Ecumenical Synod of 879-880, which is designated as the Eighth Ecumenical Synod, dealt with the issues which arose in the previous period, namely the ratification of the elevation of Photios to the Patriarchal Throne, the removal of the anathemas of the Synod of 869-870, the recognition of ecclesiastical traditions and customs of each Local Church (among which was the "all at once" ordination of Bishops), the validity of decisions of each Local Church, the place of the Bishop in the Church, the relationship between Bishops and monastics (as is shown in the sacred Canons drafted by this Ecumenical Synod), the canonical jurisdiction of the province of Bulgaria, and the condemnation of the heresy of the Filioque.

Below, however, we will highlight four important points which, in my opinion, are the quintessence of this important Synod.

Photios the Great and the Eighth Ecumenical Synod (2 of 7)

...continued from part one.

2. The Minutes of the Synod

When one reads the published Minutes of the Synod of the year 879-880, then they will understand the great value of the Synod that took place in Seven Sessions.

The First Session relates to the opening of the Synod that took place on the 14th of November in the year 879, on a Saturday, in the Grand Sekreton of the Patriarchate. There was a meeting of all the Bishops and the representatives of the Pope. This was followed by a prayer, introductions, and addresses were exchanged of initial thoughts on the issues that concerned the Church.

Photios the Great and the Eighth Ecumenical Synod (1 of 7)

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

The Synod that took place in 879-880 A.D. in Constantinople, when Photios the Great was Patriarch of Constantinople, that great patristic personage, is of great importance and is of significant interest from all sides, mainly because this Great Synod took place before the occupation of the Throne of Old Rome by the Franks and the official introduction of the Filioque, and certainly before the excommunication imposed by the Patriarch of Constantinople on the Pope of Rome in 1009. For this reason we will analyze certain points of this Great Synod, which is identified as the Eighth Ecumenical Synod; points that are of strong interest, especially nowadays.

For the study of this subject, I primarily read the surviving Minutes of the Synod, as well as various theological studies regarding this Ecumenical Synod.

Serbian Church Proposes for the Recognition of the 8th and 9th Ecumenical Synods

"You have done the work of the Holy Spirit. You have accomplished the work of the Living Triune God," wrote His Eminence Metropolitan Seraphim of Piraeus in a congratulatory letter to His Beatitude Patriarch Irenaeus of Serbia, on the occasion of the second proposal (after the Metropolis of Piraeus) to the Primates of the Autocephalous Orthodox Churches for the recognition of the Holy Eighth (879-880 AD) and Ninth (1351 AD) Ecumenical Synods at a future convening of the Pan-Orthodox Synod, perhaps in 2016.

Saint Gregory Palamas, Father of the Ninth Ecumenical Synod (2 of 3)

...continued from part one.

The Institution of the Ecumenical Synods

In the title we spoke of the Ninth Ecumenical Synod. What is the Ninth Ecumenical Synod that connects us with Saint Gregory Palamas? It is known from history that we officially have Seven Ecumenical Synods. The Ecumenical Synod is the supreme criterion of ecclesiasticity. For us Orthodox, the highest form of ecclesiastical polity is the Ecumenical Synod. Our pinnacle is not a man, such as the Pope - which is our core dispute with the papacy. Protestants abolished everything, because they did not want to keep anything from the tradition of the Church and they distort it. The papacy replaced the Ecumenical Synod with the Pope and made Ecumenical Synods an institution of the papacy, a handmaid of papal plans.

In Orthodoxy there exists and will exist until the end of history, the Ecumenical Synod as the supreme institution in its life. By "ecumenical" is meant a synod of the entire state. According to Xenophon and Greek Byzantium, or Greek Romania, the term "ecumenical" essentially meant the state (ecumenical teacher, ecumenical father, etc.). An Ecumenical Synod, therefore, is a Synod of the entire state, and it addresses major problems of faith and order within the Church. Ecumenical Synods require a crisis in the Body of the Church, which means that salvation is threatened. Then the mouth of the Church, the Ecumenical Synod, proclaims, in every instance, salvific Truth, in accord with the Fathers, the Apostles, the Prophets and the Mothers of all ages. As an example we have the First and Second Ecumenical Synods of 325 and 381, which dealt with the problem, or rather the scourge, of Arianism and the Trinitarian problem. In 381 we thus have the confession of faith, known as the "Creed", which we recite during the Divine Liturgy and in many other services. The Creed is a confession of faith that saves, that leads to theosis, based on the heresies arising from Arianism. It is not the entire faith of the Church.