EASTERN OHUECHES. 



229 



the territory of the Eastern Churches, espe- 

 cially in Bulgaria, while the Eastern Church 

 is gaining ground at the expense of the Roman 

 Catholic in Russia. The efforts of the High 

 Church party in the Anglican Church to bring 

 about an intercoramnuion between the Angli- 

 can and the Eastern Churches continues to ap- 

 pear to the friends of the movement as highly 

 encouraging. They regard the correspondence 

 between the Archbishop of Canterbury and 

 the Patriarch of Constantinople, which took 

 place in 1869, as the most important fact in 

 the whole history of the intercommunion move- 

 ments (see ANGLICAN CHUKCHES and GKEEK 

 CHUEOH). There are signs of an increase of 

 mutual friendly sentiments between the sev- 

 eral Eastern Churches, which make it probable 

 that their number will ere long be reduced by 

 a fusion. 



1. The Greek Church. This is by far the 

 most important of the Eastern communions. 

 We devote to it a special article. 



2. The Armenians. In the preceding vol- 

 ume of the AMERICAN ANNUAL CYCLOPAEDIA it 

 was stated that the Armenian Patriarch of 

 Constantinople (Bogos) had replied to the 

 Pope's letter, inviting him to attend the (Ecu- 

 menical Council, that he could not answer the 

 letter without consulting his Synod. In con- 

 sequence of this consultation the Patriarch 

 concluded to refer the matter to the head of 

 the Armenian Church, Kevork IV., the Cath- 

 olicos of Echmiadzin. The following is the 

 reply of the Catholicos. It is dated February 

 11, 1869, and first appeared in the Ararat, 

 Armenian Church paper of Echmiadzin, which 

 is the official organ of the Catholicos : 



To the Right Hon. Archbishop Bogos, Patriarch of 

 Constantinople, our dear brother, greeting : 

 We have received your letter of the 14th of Decem- 

 ber last, number 1,417, together with the translation 

 of the letter of his Holiness the Pope, Pio IX., which 

 was sent to you by his Vicar-General in your capital. 

 We have read with attention this letter, of which the 

 purport is : that his Holiness has the intention of 

 convoking, on the 8th of December next, at Kome, 

 a Council, to which he invites you. 



Chosen, although unworthy, by the inscrutable 

 will of Providence, to be one of the pastors of the 

 Christian flock, we desire, with all our soul, the unity 

 of the Church ^ and we offer our vows that peace and 

 charity may roign therein, and may banish the spirit 

 of division : for it is the property only of the enemy 

 of mankind to fight against the unity of the Church. 

 But, in attentively considering the letter of his Holi- 

 ness Pio IX., we have seen with sorrow that the 

 unity which we desire, which the Saviour of the 

 world desires^and for which He prays to His Father, 

 cannot be attained by the approaching Council. 



If Rome desires really the unity of the Christian 

 Church, she ought, as a preliminary, to search out 

 what is the cause of the divided state of the Church ; 

 why, united in one faith and one love for the Head 

 of the Church, are the members of the Church dis- 

 united among themselves, and whence comes the 

 long-lasting hostility which separates Christians ? Is 

 not the cause of this separation, as the whole world 

 knows, the aspiration of the See of Rome to a su- 

 premacy over the Sees of the East ? 



In consequence, they .whose object is the truth, 

 would desire to see his Holiness set himself to work 

 in earnest to get rid of the cause of this separation ; 



to follow in the footsteps of the holy Fathers ; and, 

 after having agreed, as it behooves him, with the 

 pastors of the Church of the East, in conformity with 

 canonical decisions, to form a distinct plan as to the 

 questions to be submitted to the Council ; and, when 

 these questions have been unanimously approved, to 

 fix the time and place of the Council. However, dis- 

 regarding what might really conduce to the unity of 

 the Church of Christ, the head of the Roman Church 

 has thought it right to publish an initiative letter of 

 invitation, and to address it to the pastors of the 

 Church, thus giving ground for the supposition that 

 he wishes to set himself up as the supreme head of 

 Christianity ; and that he does not recognize the 

 pastors of the Church of the East as his equals in the 

 hierarchy, in jurisdiction, and in the succession of the 

 Apostles, to whom yet the Holy Ghost gave equal 

 power and equal gifts. The Pope proclaims aloud 

 the throne of Rome to be the centre of unity a doc- 

 trine which the Holy and Orthodox Armenian Church 

 cannot admit, which, with the other peoples of the 

 Church of the East, recognizes our Lord and Saviour 

 Jesus Christ as the onlv Head of the Church. 



He who urges the unity of the Church, and leaves 

 on one side that which is an mdispensaole basis of 

 the Council, separates himself gradually more and 

 more, by the assertion of his imaginary personal 

 authority, from the unity of the Catholic Church; 

 and sets out from principles in opposition to those 

 which are the doctrine of the holy Gospel. To hope 

 for the establishment of true unity is not easy. And 

 will not a way be thus opened for new quarrels, for 

 a discord for which there will be no remedy, for rela- 

 tions still more hostile, which will become a scandal 

 for the world, and an occasion for the denial of the 

 holy Christian doctrine ? 



Consequently, we, who are unceasingly laboring 

 for the spiritual welfare of the people which God 

 hath confided to us, and who seek to preserve peace 

 in pur flock we, who are justly proud of our Apos- 

 tolic Church, founded by the holy Apostles Thaddseus 

 and Bartholomew, and by the prayers of St. Gregory 

 the Great, against which the gates of hell have not 

 as yet prevailed ; we consider that our duty is, of our 

 independent authority, to prescribe to you, our ven- 

 erable brother, both to refuse this invitation to the 

 Council which has not a legitimate basis, and to fore- 

 warn all the Archbishops and Vicar-Generals of our 

 Church in Turkey, not to give place to misunder- 

 standings and discord. 



We shall continue to pray from the depth of our 

 heart, as we have ever done, that Christ, the Saviour 

 of all, the Corner-stone and the Head of the holy 

 Church, who has established peace by His blood- 

 shedding and death on the cross, would call men to 

 the one evangelic doctrine, would keep His Church 

 in peace, and preserve the Armenian people from 

 hidden dangers. 



The action of Patriarch Bogos, and his 

 personal disposition to accept the invitation 

 of the Pope, excited considerable opposition 

 among his colleagues, in consequence of which 

 he tendered his resignation. It was accepted 

 by the council, upon which five of the mem- 

 bers resigned. Among them was Neres, Bishop 

 of Haskein. 



3. The N~estorians. From a learned essay, 

 recently published on this sect (Revue Catho- 

 lique, 1869) we derive the following infor- 

 mation. 



The Nestorians derive their origin, their 

 name, and their doctrine, from Nestorius, who 

 became Patriarch of Constantinople about the 

 year 427. He denied the personal union of 

 the two natures in Jesus Christ, holding that 

 the union was only a moral one, of dignity and 



