Encyclical of the Eastern Patriarchs
The reply of the four Orthodox patriarchs and their synods to Pope Pius IX’s letter of January 1848 inviting the Eastern churches to union with Rome. It rejects the papal claims and the Filioque and states the Orthodox position on both.
In January 1848 Pope Pius IX addressed a letter “to the Easterns” calling them to return to communion with the see of Rome. The four patriarchs of Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem answered in a common encyclical addressed to all Orthodox Christians and signed by the bishops of three of their synods. It lists the points on which, in their view, Rome had departed from the faith of the early councils, chiefly the addition of the Filioque to the creed and the claim to universal jurisdiction.
Section 11 answers the appeal to Matthew 16. It says that the church was founded on “the immovable rock of St. Peter’s Confession”, which it calls the common answer of the apostles, and that the charge “Feed my sheep” gave Peter no prerogative over the others. The encyclical is a primary source for the teaching of the Orthodox patriarchates in the nineteenth century. It is a controversial letter, written in answer to a controversial letter, and its language is that of polemic.
Cited in
- c. AD 29 or 32, estimated date
- c. AD 64–68, traditional date
- about AD 96, estimated date
- about AD 180, estimated date
- November AD 879 – March 880, firm date