Description
Book SynopsisOrthodoxy and the Roman Papacy offers a comprehensive examination of the papacy from an Orthodox perspective that seeks to find a way toward Church unity.
Trade Review“In Orthodoxy and the Roman Papacy: Ut Unum Sint and the Prospects of East-West Unity, not only does Adam A. J. DeVille give a historical and theological background to the thorny problem of the papacy in ecumenical dialogue; he also outlines what a reintegrated Church would look like by suggesting a way the papacy could function. Taking what both Orthodox and Catholic ecumenists have said, he paints a practical portrait of a unified Church. This is a novel and important contribution.” —David Fagerberg, University of Notre Dame
"John Paul II’s remarkable encyclical Ut Unum Sint gives occasion for a comprehensive review and analysis of the steady, though often sputtering movement toward Orthodox and Roman Catholic rapprochement in our day. DeVille identifies the major voices, the churches involved, and assesses in particular the place and role of the Papacy in this process. Orthodoxy and the Papacy does a great service in promoting the ecumenical conversation, and will be an edifying resource to all that are interested in it." —Vigen Guroian, University of Virginia
"Adam A. J. DeVille looks not only at the history of ecumenism from the Catholic side since Vatican II but also at more than a dozen of the leading Orthodox theologians internationally and their perspectives on the role and status of the bishop of Rome. Not since The Primacy of Peter: Essays in Ecclesiology and the Early Church, a collection of post Vatican II Orthodox views published over twenty years ago, has there been such an extensive and focused presentation of Orthodox points of view." —Michael Plekon, Baruch College
"The book's strengths are its contemporary focus on a topic of considerable ecumenical importance and its scholarly attention to the rich diversity of views and developments with regard to the patriarchal office vis-a-vis the papacy. DeVille's contribution is his thoroughgoing accumulation of fact and opinion in a contemporary ecumenical context. In doing so he informs readers about the depth and breadth of efforts by so many currently dedicated to restoring East-West unity in the church." —America
“DeVille has produced a first-rate example of creative theological scholarship, extensively researched and engagingly written. The sympathetic and accurate attention to Orthodox viewpoints, as well as attention to the nooks and crannies of Catholic history, make certain that Orthodoxy and the Roman Papacy will be a touchstone for future ecumenical dialogue.” —Catholic World Report
“DeVille has here meticulously gathered a cross-section of insights as seen by Orthodox and Roman Catholic theologians from 1960 to 2006 about the role of the papacy. His project responds in part to the invitation of Pope John Paul II’s encyclical Ut unum sint (1995) to examine how the ministry of the Roman pontiff might further promote church unity.” —Theological Studies
"Anyone concerned with Catholic-Orthodox unity should read this book. Indeed, anyone who wishes to understand this subject must be familiar with this book. DeVille has written an indispensible, scholarly book.” —Religion in Eastern Europe
“DeVille’s exploration of patriarchal and papal responsibilities is offered as a creative way out of the ecclesiological and ecumenical impasse in the current dialogue between the great churches of East and West. . . . As DeVille has capably shown in this study, the challenges of Ut Unum Sint are ones that we will need to heed.” —The Living Church
“He examines the relationship between the Eastern (and, to some extent, Oriental) Orthodox Churches and the Roman Catholic Church with regard to the central issue of papal primacy, in the interest of not only appraising the situation but of offering some suggestions for the future. DeVille is certainly to be commended for developing such an unusually proactive position . . . . Deville’s proposal has all the force and tidiness of a good thought experiment.” —Reviews in Religion and Theology
