For the Edification of FOX NEWS
The following is in response to ignorance (or propaganda?) in
a presumed statement of history that Eastern Orthodoxy is a
second Christian religion.  Statement was  made by Fox News
November 30, 2006, Feast Day of Saint Andrew the Apostle,
First-Called of CHRIST, Founder of the Church of Byzantium.

Miami, Florida
April 29, 1965

His Eminence

Archbishop Iakovos

Archdiocese of North and South America 10 East 79th Street

New York, N. Y. 10021

Your Eminence:

                                  CBS Television. The Church of the Seven Councils

        An outstanding contribution was made to both the American people and the Eastern Orthodox Church when the Columbia Broadcasting System presented on its national television network the excellent program of "The Church of the Seven Councils" on Sunday, April 25, 1965.

        We were much gratified to see Your Eminence appear on this program in an unsolicitous manner, offering invaluable information and documentation about the nature and status of the Orthodox Church. Likewise, we were pleased to view His Holiness the Pope and His All Holiness the Patriarch of Constantinople in their historic meeting, when after some nine hundred years they initiated the memorable attempt to reunite the Church of the East and of the West.

        Without question the Christian Church has benefited by the magnanimous effort of the Columbia Broadcasting System to bring forth knowledge to the American public about the meaning and status of the church. As humble critics of the quality of the program presented, we like to express our happiness and profound satisfaction for almost every aspect of the work which achieved a thorough and realistic description of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Nevertheless, we are by the same token, as guardians of the essence and meaning of the pristine endeavor of the Emperor Constantine the Great, pillar of the Christian world, obliged to bring to light two discrepancies which occurred during the program in the historical interpretation of the facts about the following: (a) the meaning of the establishment of New Rome; and, (b) the final separation of the two Churches, namely, the Eastern and the Western. The ensuing observations are made in the hope that there shall be a major rectification in the interpretation of the facts as explained below for the benefit of all viewers who derived the profit of seeing the program; for the sake of upgrading the treatment of historical  facts and bringing forth into the world their true interpretation; and, in order to alienate the personages who appeared on the program from the erroneous interpretation of the facts, lest their very participation might appear as an approbation of the errors as stated.

        A primary purpose which the Sovereign and Imperial Order of Saint Constantine the Great serves is, in accordance with the primordial wish of Constantine, to see the Church united. But it is evident that unity can not be effected with soundness if certain historical adulterations are permitted to continue to exist. In the order by which they were stated above, the two discrepancies are clarified as follows:

        a) An evaluation of historical facts confirms that the decision of Constantine to transfer the capital of the Roman Empire from Rome to Byzantium was one of superior strategic, commercial, and political importance tending to the unity rather than to the disunity of the empire. Rome had proven to be inferior with regard to its strategic location due to its distance from the sea and thus its inadequacy in the mobilization of troops based on the perennial problem to strategists of gravity and distance. Byzantium on the other hand had much to offer being surrounded by water for both the defense of the city and of the empire as a whole, ensuring the unity and life of the empire. The commercial importance of Byzantium is of well known consequence, both before the inception of the New Roman Empire and afterward -- therefore, not requiring further treatment here. The political importance which Constantine's decision had in moving the capital to Byzantium is manifested in his immediate decision to recognize Christianity as the official faith of the empire [but not as the exclusive faith without toleration of others: Edict of Milan, February, 313 A.D.]. It is evident that his decision in this direction was with the purpose of unifying the empire in both its political and social formation. 

        From the above it is therefore concluded that the Emperor Constantine the Great cannot be attributed the fault of disunity but much rather the virtue of unity for the empire.

        b) There are two primary issues which underlie the centuries-old conflict between the Eastern and Western Churches: (1) the issue of "Primacy"; and, (2) the issue of "Sovereignty." It must be stated from the outset that the two are not compatible or interchangeable in the eyes of the Eastern Church, although they have been so in the eyes of the Western Church.

        Whereas, the Eastern Church has by early tradition honored the concept of the primacy of the Western Church in considering the bishop (Pope) of the latter as "first among equals"-- the other equal bishops being of Constantinople, Antioch, Jerusalem, and Alexandria -- it has never accepted and does not intend to accept the interpretation that "primacy" means "sovereignty." In other words, the equal in all rights church of the East (or of Constantinople) does not permit the privilege which it allows to the church of the West (or of Rome) to be interpreted as an authority of the West over the East. In fact, the East does not and needs not obey the West any more than the West must obey the East. Therefore, it is a determined fact that Rome may not and can not exert any form of sovereign power over the East, and it can only do so within the bounds of its own Western Church.

        The political interests of the West, receiving bold prominence at the opening of the ninth century under Charlemagne, were intertwined with those of the church of Rome under the guise of "primacy." That is, ambitions of  "sovereignty" of the West under the Holy Roman Empire met with the approval of the Western Church. But, the East was already the nucleus of the ancient Byzantine Empire and did not recognize as valid such aspirations as those that came from the West. Therefore, whether in the political or in the religious area, the East never recognized the aspirations to sovereignty of the West.

        On July 16, 1054 a lieutenant of the Pope with his party entered the Church of the Holy Wisdom (Saint Sophia) in Constantinople while the Patriarch with the faithful were holding services of the Divine Liturgy, and with an obvious intent to interrupt the services walked to the altar and there dropped a written aphorism against the Patriarch of Constantinople. In like manner, the lieutenant and his party departed from the sacred premises and as a final act shook off the dust from their feet, invoking divine justice. In other words, this lieutenant in the name of the Pope pretended to have the power to take such action against the Eastern Church and its Patriarch. This, of course, not being at all within his power, constituted nothing more or less than a secession of the Roman Church from the catholic and apostolic Church of Christ. It is of interest to note that the Pope whose lieutenant committed this act, had already died on April 19, 1054 before said lieutenant had even arrived in Constantinople from Rome. It is obvious then that the Pope had not been aware of the act of the lieutenant prior to the death of the former.

         The conclusion is that the Roman Church seceded from the catholic and apostolic Church of Christ by its own volition and under the ostensible action of its representative in Constantinople, and it is not correct to state that the Pope excommunicated the Patriarch of the East. Neither did the Pope perpetrate such an act nor did he have the power to do so on the basis of some presumed sovereignty.

        In closing, we state that these truths are brought forth into the light for the purpose of orienting the American mind in the proper interpretation of history, in these times of peril and of great future promise when even the Churches of the East and West struggle to unite on the basis of purity of thought and not of ulterior intent.

        Our best wishes and Love in the favor of Your Eminence reside in our hearts.

Greetings in Christ,
 

Copy to:

His Holiness the Pope
Vatican City

His All Holiness

The Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras

in Constantinople

His Holiness

Joannes Maria Van Assendelft

Patriarch of The Catholic and Apostolic Church of Antioch

Paris, France

His Holiness

Sant Kirpal Singh Ji Maharaj

Ruhani Satsang

President, World Fellowship of Religions

Delhi, India

His Eminence

Lowell Paul Wadle

Archbishop Metropolitan

The American Catholic Church

Fresno, California

His Imperial and Royal Highness
Prince Theodore IX Lascaris Comnenus
Grand Sovereign Master of the Order
of Saint Constantine the Great
Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico

The President of the United States of America

Washington, D. C.

President Harry S. Truman
Independence, Missouri

Senator George A. Smathers

Washington, D. C.

American Broadcasting Company
New York City

Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc.
New York City

                        National Broadcasting Company
                        New York City

¤ ¤ ¤ ¤

                                               May 7,1965

Rev. Mark Athanasios C. Karras Apostolic Delegate

Christian Ecumenical Unity

Order of Saint Constantine the Great

Miami, Florida

Reverend Sir:

Archbishop Iakovos, who is presently on a pastoral tour, has asked me to thank you for your letter of April 29, and for your kind comments about the CBS-TV program of April 25, '"The Church of the Seven Councils".

His Eminence very much appreciates your learned and detailed explanation about the events leading up to the Schism of 1054 with which he is in agreement. However, as you know, it is difficult to have the matter fully explained in a general program such as this was, but we

should be more careful about the very important fact that you point out.

Again we thank you for your very fine communication and very much appreciate your having sent copies to prominent personages.

                                                                                         Very sincerely yours,

                                                                                                      (signed)

                                                                                         Arthur Dore
                                                                                         Director

                                                                                         Department of Press and Information
 AD:jn

¤ ¤ ¤ ¤

LEANDER   P.  VOURVOULIAS

INVESTMENTS

PLAZA  LA  REPUBLICA  9-105

TELEFONO  35-70-15

MEXICO   I. D. F.

Consul General of Greece

Mexico, D.F., May 21, 1965

Rev. Mark Athanasios C. Karras,

The Sovereign & Imperial Order of St. Constantine the Great

Chancery of the Hellenic Exarchate

Miami, Florida, U.S.A.

Your Reverence:

                          We read with great interest the exposition presented to His Eminence Archbishop Iakovos of the Archdiocese of North & South America, through your letter of

April 29, 1965 which sheds new light on the events taken place on July 16, 1054 in the capital of the Byzantine Empire, Constantinople against the Patriarch of the Eastern Church, when he was being pressed to accept the theory of the "primacy" of the Pope of Rome.

I am glad that this fact is being brought to the attention of various celebrities including His Holiness the Pope whose reaction is awaited with interest.

It is our feeling that your study should be brought to the attention and knowledge of the members of the Order of St. Constantine the Great in this liberal country of Mexico and

I shall be thankful to you if you could send me at least ten more copies by ordinary mail at the address given above.

With my very best wishes, I am,

   Sincerely yours,

   (signed:
     Leander P. Vourvoulias,

                                                                                      Grand Cross Order of Saint
                                                                                          Constantine the Great)

Expansion of Western Civilization: from Constantine the Great to Constantinople and Byzantium and onward to America

NEW BYZANTIUM is The AMERICAS
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Constantine the Great began his eventful climb in York, England and reached the apex of his achievement in Constantinople, the City that he founded and named after himself (Constantine+Polis [city]=Constantinople).  By means of these pages, our readers travel through time, touching upon the early periods, including that of Constantine, of historical Constantinople, and of Hagia Sophia—the nexus of the Christian world—to arrive at places and events of our present day.  Our readers reach the outermost limit to which both Eastern and Western Christian groups expanded, bringing forth the flower of Western Civilization.  That limit is the Western Hemisphere as a whole, and in particular the coast of California near San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge where the two groups converged  as they approached from the North and from the South.