Some are the same demands of Rome made by Orthodox polemicsts in the immediate centuries following the supposed date of the schism.
Russian Faith has a summary: 22 Changes Roman Catholics Must Make to Repent, Become Orthodox, and Join the One True Church
The restoration of ad orientem worship was not included, but it probably should have been. Many of Fr. Hopko's demands regarding supposed "doctrinal errors" seem to ignore legitimate differences in theologoumena between the Latin and the Byzantine churches. I will have to reconsider those.
The doctrinal errors concerning the papacy are important, and considered by others to be the main or primary obstacle to full reconciliation.
- Aquiesce Papal Power
- Abolish All Pretenses of Papal Infallibility
- Actively Promote a Conciliar Approach
I agree with the demands that are based on the tradition once universally observed by the Church Universal:
- Perform Chrismation/Confirmation Immediately After Baptism
- Provide Holy Communion for Infants and Young Children, Immediately after Baptism and Chrismation
- Partake of Holy Communion Consecrated at the Present Service, Not from a Previous One
Prepare Holy Communion with Leavened Bread
I have read that Rome used to use leavened bread as well; despite the claim that unleavened bread was used at the Last Supper, I don't see why Rome can't make the use of leavened bread at least optional.
Affirm New Bishops, Not Appoint Them
I think there need to be changes in how bishops are elected, but such a reform would require prior reforms of the local Church and its ecclesiology, and the Orthodox themselves need to consider what changes they should be making to church governance. So I don't think that should be a necessary condition for reconciliation.
Abdicate the Position as Head of State
With regards to the pope being a sort of figurehead and teacher of the universal teacher, I disagree with Hopko, who writes:
Then finally, in this area, I say: As leader of the world’s Christians, the pope of Rome would travel extensively. He would take full advantage of contemporary means of transportation and communication. He would master electronic media to serve his ministry in proclaiming Christ’s Gospel, propagating Christian faith, promoting ethical behavior, protecting human rights, and securing justice and peace for all people. He would be the servant of unity among all human beings, and first of all his fellow Christians, not as a unique episcopus episcoporum—that’s an expression of St. Cyprian—not as a bishop of other bishops—there is no bishop of other bishops, as was decreed already in the Council of Carthage in the third century: he is not the bishop of bishops; he is one of the equal bishops with all the others—so he would not have that position, but he would have the position as the leading bishop in the world, that Pope St. Gregory the Great called servus servorum Dei, the servant of the servants of God, among all the Christian bishops in the world.
In an age of the collapse of a "civilization" powered by fossil fuels, this sort of role as "universal teacher" will pass into history. In the age of collapse, if anyone should be exercising some sort of teaching authority with regards to some political community or unit, it should be the local bishops, but within their competence, and the Christian laity must be acknowledged as having a role within the reform of political society that is partly separate from whatever teaching authority bishops may have in that area.
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