Another Epic Event: Patriarch Bartholomew Will Be At The Papal Installation

Thanks to Karl for bringing this up. It looks like the first among Orthodox equals is going to show up for Pope Francis's formal installation ceremony. Given that this hasn't happened in a millennium or so, I'd say it's a pretty big deal.

We should probably say more than a few prayers for Patriarch Bartholomew and I mean aside from the ones we should be saying for the Orthodox to come back into the fold. I have a bad feeling that his attendance is going to be at great personal cost. Everything he's done seems to be met with hostility from the other Orthodox churches, especially Russia given that they see Constantinople as the only thing standing in their way of full-blown dominance in the East. He's going to get blasted for this. Maybe that will help make re-union possible. I'd imagine he's tired of being treated like crap all the time.

On another note, this is another reason why Orthodox ecclesiology doesn't work. Sure, they reject papal primacy, but they don't seem to have an idea of what the ecumenical patriarch's primacy is either. What does a first among equals actually do? From what I've seen of Bartholomew I's experience, he just gets yelled at a lot.